When Charlie Sadler said his Northern Illinois football team would pass the ball more, he wasn`t kidding.
In Saturday`s spring game, Rob Rugai and Ron Reichert were a combined 22 of 45 for 304 yards as the White blanked the Black 16-0.
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Rugai, the No. 1 QB heading into next fall, was 7 of 15 for 130 yards. The senior from Chicago also ran for a game-high 71 yards on 18 carries and a 5-yard touchdown. Reichert, a redshirt freshman, was 15 of 30 for 174 yards for the Black team. Another redshirt freshman, Scott Carlson, recorded 18 tackles.
Northern won its second straight Mid-Continent Conference men`s tennis crown Saturday, downing Western Illinois 5-1 in the title match in De Kalb. The victory was the 14th in a row against league competition. NIU`s Chuck Merzbacher was named Mid-Con coach of the year, and freshman Marty Engel was selected player of the year.
Freshman left-hander Jeff Schmitt tossed a five-hitter and Tom O`Neill homered as NIU (15-29, 5-11) blanked Cleveland State 11-0 Sunday to salvage a double-header split.
After sweeping Wisconsin-Green Bay 8-1, 4-2 Friday, the softball team split with De Paul on Sunday. The Huskies (25-20-2, 8-2 in the North Star Conference) dropped the opener 3-0 before scoring two insurance runs in the seventh inning of the nightcap en route to a 4-2 victory. Kristin Vandenhouten improved to 11-5.