If Trevor Cunningham's feet were just a little bigger, Northwestern might be 3-0. Instead, after falling just inches shy of a crucial first down with just 4.8-seconds left to play, the Tigers dropped a 34-27 decision to Palisades Friday night at Tiger Stadium.

Deven Bollinger's pass on a fourth-and-six from the Pirates 9-yard line was caught by Cunningham right at the sideline. When chains were brought across the field and stretched out, Cunningham had missed the first down by just about an inch, giving the ball to Palisades."In all honesty, I didn't see where his feet were," said Tiger head coach Josh Snyder. "I was just sure that the play we called would have been enough for a first down, but we came up short. I would have liked to see how it would have played out if we had gotten that last shot at the end zone."Throughout the game, the two teams traded big plays. Palisades took an early 3-0 lead before the two teams traded touchdowns in the second quarter to leave the Pirates up 17-14 at the half. Northwestern came into the game only having scored six first half points and Snyder thought the effort was better, but not good enough."Once again, we came out lazy," said Snyder. "Last week in the second half, we had guys swarming after the ball, there would be five or six guys running down the play. Early tonight, we had 10 guys giving up on the play sometimes."Northwestern seemed to take control in the second half, scoring on their opening drive when Bollinger hit Cunningham on a 43-yard pass that Cunningham pulled away from a Palisades defender at the five and went into the end zone. Hunter Miller's point-after made it 21-17 Northwestern. Cunningham scored again on a 57-yard pass play with 6:40 left in the third, putting the Tigers up by 10.Palisades dominated the fourth quarter, scoring 14 unanswered points, with the last strike coming on a 60-yard pass play from Ethan Brader to Drew Nickles.While Snyder would have liked to see what his team could have done with one final play near the goal line, he admitted that without the mistakes they made throughout the game, it might not have come down to that. The Tigers were flagged for 75 yards, including two personal fouls and three encroachment penalties on the defense, one of which came on a fourth-and-two that gave Palisades a new set of downs at the Northwestern 12. Jared Colletti took the handoff on the next play and ran into the end zone."Just too many mistakes," said Snyder. "They're a well-coached team and they'll take advantage of those things."PENALTY PROBLEM ... After having 48 penalties for 484 yards all of last season, Northwestern has now been penalized 20 times for 167 yards through just three games.RECORD SET ... Bollinger set the Tigers' single-game passing record, throwing for 292 yards, besting Mike Heintzelmann's 264 yards in 1975.IT'S A GIRL ... Coach Snyder and his wife Lacey welcomed their third child, Brynn Taylor Snyder late Thursday night. The Snyders have two boys, Trey and Slade.