Michigan Panthers extend longest win streak in UFL with 26-22 comeback victory in Houston

The Michigan Panthers almost wilted in the Texas heat in the second half, but found a way to come out of Houston with a 26-22 win on Sunday for their fifth straight win.

The win improves Michigan to 7-2 this season and extends the longest current win streak in the UFL, but doesn't change their destiny for the next two weeks. The Panthers will end the UFL inaugural regular season on Saturday in Birmingham, Alabama, against the 8-1 Stallions and then return to Birmingham on June 8 for the USFL Conference crown and a berth in the UFL championship game.

Danny Etling, returning to the lineup after missing a few weeks with a hand injury, was 12-for-18 for 110 yards for Michigan. The plan was for him to only play about one half on Sunday.

Bryce Perkins, who played the second half for the Panthers, was 12-for-15 for 121 yards and a touchdown and also led the team with 79 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

The comeback

Down 10 early in the fourth quarter, Perkins scored on an 11-yard designed run. Perkins' one-point conversion completion to Cole Hikutini cut the deficit to 22-19 with 11:45 to play.

The Panthers came up with a stop and got the ball back late in the fourth. On a second-and-18 from Houston's 37, the comeback hopes seemed to fizzle when Perkins' pass hit the Roughnecks' Jimmy Moreland but the ball was wrestled away by Siaosi Mariner for a 4-yard gain. On the next play, Perkins escaped a blitz and scrambled 25 yards for a first-and-goal at the 8 with under 5 minutes to play. Two plays later, Perkins sprinted for a 5-yard touchdown and the lead.

The one-point conversion, again a pass to Hikutini, was successful for a four-point lead with 3:36 remaining.

On the ensuing possession, Houston got it down to Michigan's 29-yard line but quarterback Nolan Henderson rolled out backwards, slipped and fell. Breeland Speaks picked up his third sack on the day, a 16-yard loss with 30 seconds to go. Houston eventually came up empty on a fourth-and-14 from the 33, securing the win for the Panthers.

Houston got on track early in the second half, first with a long scoring play on a 63-yard catch-and-run from Nolan Henderson to Justin Hall to give the Roughnecks a 9-6 lead. Then on the ensuing possession, Perkins, who entered the game to spell Etling, threw a pass that was tipped and intercepted by Markel Roby deep in Houston territory.

Five plays later, Henderson hit Hall on a swing pass to the left for a 7-yard touchdown and a 16-6 lead after the successful extra-point attempt.

The Panthers quickly responded with a 10-play, 86-yard drive that ended with a Perkins 4-yard TD pass to Trey Quinn. That drive was buoyed by a 33-yard run by Perkins on third-and-13.

But Houston answered back to regain a double-digit lead when an eight-play, 54-yard drive ended with a 2-yard touchdown run by Mark Thompson.

A slow start

Michigan's defense set up the first touchdown late in the first quarter. From Houston's 29-yard line, Jesus Gibbs forced a fumble by running back Mark Thompson. The ball was recovered by former Michigan State football star Kenny Willekes, who returned the ball 14 yards to the 16-yard line.

The Panthers nearly gave the ball right back two plays later when Etling threw a pass into the end zone that was tipped along the sideline and intercepted. But that tipped pass came by a play that was out of bounds, negating the turnover.

Two plays after that, Nate McCrary's 3-yard run to the right reached the end zone for the game's first score and his first TD of the season.

In the second quarter, Etling was picked off when his pass over the middle hit linebacker D'Juan Hines, who returned it to near midfield. But a penalty on the return team pushed the ball back to Houston's 30.

Jake Bates, the field goal-kicking sensation from earlier in the season, missed a 39-yard field goal in the first quarter.

J.J. Molson got Houston on the board midway through the second quarter with a 39-yard field goal.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan Panthers extend longest win streak in UFL, 26-22 in Houston