The NIU Spring Showcase on Saturday was more than the glorified practice it’s been for the past decade or so.

It was an actual game. Sure, there was a running clock in the first half, but instead of 7-on-7 drills and positional work throughout the one time most fans get to see the NIU football team in the spring, fans got to see 11-on-11 game action.

And that game went down to the wire. Even with some clock mismanagement late, Team Huskies had a chance to tie but Brady Davidson’s pass to Tavaris Coles went just off his fingertips, preserving Team NIU’s 17-10 win.

Here are five things from the game that stood out.

High-energy spurt in early fourth produces two INTs, fumble in 30 seconds

It’s hard to absolve the offense of fault when there are two interceptions and a fumble in 30 seconds. But during a wild stretch early in the fourth, it just seemed everybody on the field was simply running on adrenaline overdrive.

Not to mention an offensive player forced the fumble.

It started with a halfback pass. Both teams had been flirting with the option once or twice, but junior running back Telly Johnson finally liked what he saw and went deep to Kenji Lewis. Yassine Falke was there for the interception.

But Lewis slapped it out of Falke’s hand. Fortunately for Team Huskies, Falke reacted quickly and recovered the ball.

Unfortunately for Team Huskies, Brady Davidson threw an interception on the first play of the next drive. True freshman and early enrollee Jack Murray, with the green sticker on his helmet indicating he’ll have the communication with the coaches, read the pass and got the ball back for team NIU.

Jalen Macon, Johnson form formidable duo

The quarterbacks were captains of the teams and got to draft their players. Macon and Ean Hamric were captains of Team NIU, and presumably used a high draft pick on Johnson.

Team NIU scored a touchdown on its first possession, running into little trouble doing so. Macon even ran a draw on third-and-2, highlighting a lot more misdirection both squads used - although the play action was a lot more evident with Macon, presumably because he’s the one who had Johnson on his roster.

Macon also had a touchdown run, taking it in from three yards for the go-ahead score early in the fourth quarter.

Amari Williams has first interception of day on pure hustle play

Macon threw an interception, though credit Amari Williams for the takeaway more than Macon for making a mistake.

Macon launched a bomb to Lewis – Lewis and junior wide receiver George Dimopoulos seem to be establishing themselves as the deep threats. The pass hit him right on the sidelines. Williams didn’t give up on the play and ended up wrestling the ball away from Lewis.

Now, it would likely be overturned on review. Still a great high-energy play by Williams.

Amari Washington makes things tough for Davidson

From the first play of the game, the Team NIU defense was keeping Brady Davidson under pressure.

Good luck keeping track of individual stats in a spring game like this, but it looked like Amari Washington got to Davidson on that first play. He definitely got to him in the final minute and nearly intercepted him a couple of plays later.

Washington is a redshirt freshman from Bettendorf who saw limited action and forced a fumble last year.

This is going to be Telly’s team

We’re hearing a lot about throwing the ball and going vertical and stretching things and whatnot. But one thing is still clear.

Johnson is still a beast. He ran for 712 yards last year and 424 the year before. In 17 career games, he’s averaging 5.4 yards per carry and has eight touchdowns.

Johnson may not get many more passing opportunities after the interception. But he was impossible to bring down all day, extra impressive considering these were non-contact drills. He’s strong, he’s elusive, he’s the No. 1 back.

On his touchdown on the first drive of the game, he looked to be in from five yards out. Nope, he was ruled down at the 3. Team NIU went back to him, and he looked to be in again. Nope, down at the 1. Third time’s the charm, right? He plowed in this time around.

After high usage on that first drive, he was used sparingly the rest of the game. Which is smart, because it sure seems his usage is going to be sky-high when the season starts.