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Zach Tarter
Caleb Williams for D3Sports.com

Football

Eagles' eight-game winning streak at UMAC Dome Day snapped by Greenville

Box Score

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Northwestern College football team coughed up its chances to win its ninth straight UMAC Dome Day game on Friday night as turnovers and mental errors led to a 26-20 loss to Greenville College. Eric Hehman, Greenville's head coach, out-dueled one of his own college coaches in Kirk Talley, as Hehman played for Taylor University when Talley was an assistant with the Trojans.

Three big fumbles, the last of which killed a promising 16-play, 78-yard drive, haunted the Eagles as they tried to make a comeback versus the Panthers. Northwestern's first blunder came on the its second play of the game, as an Eagles  was Greenville's gain. The Panthers drove 59 yards to score on a 13-yard pass play to score first.

The Eagles' Cody Crum (Rushville, Ill./Rushville Industry) (Rushville, Ill./Rushville), who was dealt a blow before the week even started due to a family loss, put Northwestern on the board as he kicked the first of two field goals through with 2:02 left to play in the first quarter. Esteban Camarillo broke the goal line on a one-yard run in the second period and Greenville went up by 10 at 13-3.

Northwestern's Ryan Long (Dassel, Minn./Dassel-Cokato) (Dassel, Minn./Dassel-Cokato), who fumbled midway through the second, turned his negatives into a positive as he brought the Eagles within three points with a four-yard run. While the NWC offense was still celebrating, a defensive breakdown allowed Greenville to sneak a 28-yard touchdown pass in to cap off a 69-yard drive that took 40 seconds, as the Panthers took a 19-10 lead going into halftime.

Mark Mitchell's three-yard touchdown run gave Greenville an even bigger cushion, as the team who drove the longest to Minneapolis led 26-10. Northwestern started a comeback midway through the third quarter, as Tyler Hetland (Osakis, Minn./Home School) (Osakis, Minn./Home School) caught a 25-yard TD pass from Zach Tarter (Crystal Falls, Mich./Forest Park High School) (Crystal Falls, Mich./Forest Park) to cut Greenville's lead to 26-17. Crum added another three-pointer -- this one from 33 yards out -- to bring the Eagles within six with over 17 minutes left to play.

Northwestern stopped Greenville on 4th and goal at the 1-yard line on the next possession, and ate 8:15 off the clock on offense before Tarter lost the ball on a sack, which ultimately ended the game as the scoreboard read Panthers 26, Eagles 20.

Despite the loss, NWC bested Greenville in total yards, 389-372. While Tarter completed 20 of his 28 passes for 309 yards, Northwestern averaged just 2.1 yards per carry on the ground. Greenville finished with a nearly flawless balanced attack, tallying 154 rushing yards and 218 passing yards with no turnovers.

Hetland was the Eagles' leading receiver, finishing with 101 yards on four catches. Kyle Thomforde (Northfield, Minn./Northfield High School) (Northfield, Minn./Northfield) and Crum each had five catches in the game.

Long rushed 17 times for 60 yards and a score, while Rahnee Dennard (Mesa, Ariz./Brophy College Prep) (Mesa, Ariz./Brophy College Prep) added 23 yards on 11 carries.

Defensively, Andrew Magaard (Ogilvie, Minn./Ogilvie High School) (Ogilvie, Minn./Ogilvie) led Northwestern with 12 tackles. Luke Delain (Denmark, Wis./Denmark) (Denmark, Wis./Denmark) had 11 tackles and Kyle Nash (Fergus Falls, MN/Hillcrest Lutheran Academy) (Fergus Falls, Minn./Hillcrest Lutheran Academy) and Noah Hadro (Northfield, Minn./Northfield) (Northfield, Minn./Northfield) both chipped in 10. Defensive linemen David Discher (Andover, Minn./Andover) (Andover, Minn./Andover), Matt Kramer (Stratford, Wis./Stratford High School) (Stratford, Wis./Stratford) and Mike Owczarek (Watertown, Minn./Watertown-Mayer) (Watertown, Minn./Watertown-Mayer) all recorded sacks in the game.

At 5-4 in 2009, Northwestern finds itself in somewhat unfamiliar territory as the Eagles haven't posted a four-loss season since 2004. Not only will NWC get an extended weekend due to not having a game on a Saturday, but the team will also get an additional week of rest and preparation. Northwestern will wrap up its season on Saturday, Nov. 14 when the Eagles take on the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul.
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