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NWC
Rick Busch

Football

Eagles stumble at Martin Luther, lose 9-7

Box Score

NEW ULM, Minn. -- For two teams that entered Saturday's game averaging over 30 points per contest, Northwestern College and Martin Luther College didn't prove that point to the homecoming crowd in New Ulm. Nonetheless, a Northwestern safety with 6:57 to play in the fourth quarter gave the host-Knights a two-point lead that never faltered, and Martin Luther held on to a 9-7 win. It was the Eagles' first UMAC loss since Sept. 30, 2006.

Aaron Voss opened the game's scoring for Martin Luther as the Knights' all-time leading rusher pounded a one-yard run through at the goal line to give his team a 7-0 lead. Neither of the two high scoring teams would touch the scoreboard again in the first half.

Ryan Long (Dassel, Minn./Dassel-Cokato) (Dassel, Minn./Dassel-Cokato) scored the Eagles' only touchdown of the game at 7:45 in the third quarter, as he capped a six-play, 62-yard drive to bring NWC even with Martin Luther at 7-7. Northwestern coughed up a safety -- and the game -- just under the seven-minute mark in the fourth quarter, as Steven Gurgel sacked quarterback Zach Tarter (Crystal Falls, Mich./Forest Park High School) (Crystal Falls, Mich./Forest Park) in the end zone. Despite getting two more chances on offense, the Eagles couldn't score any points, resulting in a long ride home.

Martin Luther held a 337-287 advantage in total yards. Although the Knights only scored once on offense, the home team tallied 257 of those yards on the ground. Northwestern was only able to counter with 87 rushing yards. Credit Northwestern's defense for holding Martin Luther's offense to just seven points on the day, especially with the Knights' 36 minutes of offensive possession. As a team, the Eagles had seven tackles for a loss and caused five turnovers, including four interceptions.

Tarter completed 21 of his 36 pass attempts for 200 yards, while Long had 10 carries for 73 yards. Kyle Thomforde (Northfield, Minn./Northfield High School) (Northfield, Minn./Northfield) caught nine passes for 134 yards, while Jake Rusinkovich (San Clemente, Calif./San Clement High School) (San Clemente, Calif./San Clemente) also caught five passes.

Voss and quarterback Greg Holzhueter combined for 176 of Martin Luther's rushing yards in the Knights' three-back offense. Ryan Kolander was MLC's leading receiver with five catches for 53 yards.

Defensively for Northwestern, three players had 10 or more tackles in the game including Luke Delain (Denmark, Wis./Denmark) (Denmark, Wis./Denmark), who led all players with 14. Noah Hadro (Northfield, Minn./Northfield) (Northfield, Minn./Northfield) had 12 tackles, while Andrew Magaard (Ogilvie, Minn./Ogilvie High School) (Ogilvie, Minn./Ogilvie) had 10. Delain recorded a fumble recovery and an interception, while Jake Stroud (Basehor, KN/Hillcrest Academy) (Basehor, Kan./Hillcrest Lutheran Academy) picked Holzhueter off twice.

Northwestern (3-3 overall, 1-1 UMAC) will go back to the drawing board almost instantly to prepare for its first-ever home contest against the College of St. Scholastica next Saturday, Oct. 17. Martin Luther, who currently shares the UMAC North Division lead with St. Scholastica at 2-0 in UMAC play, will travel to Crown next Saturday.
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