Novi's football team fell to 0-5 after a 41-6 home loss to Hartland on Friday, Sept. 25.

The Wildcats trailed big for most of the game but put together a 70-yard scoring drive late, as Patch first reported. Senior quarterback Cody Walker found receiver Dante Darling for the touchdown to finish the drive, giving Novi its only points of the night.

Darling finished with 99 receiving yards and the score, according to MaxPreps.

Senior defensive back Alex Abler has been the Wildcats' most productive defender all season — he posted 17 tackles in the Aug. 28 opener against Traverse City Central, 14 tackles and an interception against Salem on Sept. 3, 11 tackles and an interception against Canton on Sept. 11, and 13 tackles with an interception in the Sept. 18 loss at Northville.

The defeat left Novi at 0-4 in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association, seventh in the KLAA West standings. Hartland improved to 4-1.

First-year head coach Logan Pawloski's squad has now lost eight of its last nine games stretching back to the 2025 season, when the Wildcats went 3-6. Novi has scored 55 points and allowed 207 through five games in 2026.

The 2026 campaign is Novi's final season in the KLAA before the program moves to the Oakland Activities Association (OAA) in 2027.

The late touchdown drive still offered a glimpse of what Walker and Darling can do when the passing game connects. Darling has been Walker's top target all year, catching nine passes for 91 yards against Canton on Sept. 11 and four for 54 yards in the opener.

Novi travels to Belleville (3-2, per MaxPreps) on Friday, Oct. 2, at 7 p.m. The Wildcats then return home to face Plymouth on Friday, Oct. 9, and Dearborn Fordson on Friday, Oct. 16.