Miami of Ohio holds off Northern Illinois late, 27-24

Oct 19, 2019, 11:14 pm

OKFORD, Ohio -- Jaylon Bester ran for two touchdowns and Sam Sloman kicked two fourth-quarter field goals that allowed Miami of Ohio to hold off Northern Illinois, 27-24 in a Mid-America Conference battle Saturday afternoon.

Marcus Childers nosed in from a yard out to put Northern Illinois up 10-0 with 3:08 left in the second quarter, but the RedHawks answered with a 10-play, 75-yard drive capped by Bester's 1-yard run to make it 10-7 at intermission.

Miami (3-4, 2-1) took the second-half kick and marched 90 yards in eight plays and scored on a 45-yard pass from Brett Gabbert to James Maye.

Childers and Bester traded third-quarter touchdowns and Miami pushed its lead to 27-17 with just under six minutes to play after Sloman converted from 34- and 37-yards out.

Chiders, who threw for 144 yards on 14-for-23 passing, added a late 10-yard scoring pass to Cole Tucker to set the final score for Northern Illinois (2-5, 1-2).