Box Score

MILWAUKEE -- The Northwestern College football team started its 2009 season off on the right foot, posting a fourth quarter comeback to defeat Wisconsin Lutheran College 44-27.  Down 20-17 late in the third quarter, the Eagles scored 27 unanswered points to beat the host-Warriors in both teams' season-opening game.

If anyone had the presumption that Saturday's game would be a repeat of Northwestern's 43-7 blowout from last year's bout between the same two teams, Wisconsin Lutheran was successful in proving those people wrong for almost three quarters.  The Warriors scored the game's first points, capitalizing on what was an early issue for Northwestern in penalties.  Wisconsin Lutheran's Philip Chaltis missed a 32-yard field goal on fourth and nine, but the Eagles were called for a late hit, despite the thought that the kick had been partially blocked, which would negate the penalty.  NWC's infraction gave the Warriors new life, which resulted in a touchdown pass from Zach Shaw to Josh Ferrell.

After a failed extra point attempt, Northwestern's Kyle Thomforde (Northfield, Minn./Northfield High School) (Northfield, Minn./Northfield) ran the ensuing kickoff back 85 yards for a touchdown.  However, that run was called back when the Eagles were called for a holding penalty.

Cody Crum (Rushville, Ill./Rushville Industry) put the Eagles up 17-6 with a 44-yard field goal, the longest successful kick of the junior's career.  Crum had previously made a 44-yard attempt in 2008.

Wisconsin Lutheran quickly answered Crum's field goal after the Eagles followed their own score with a squib kick.  The Warriors marched 53 yards downfield in 68 seconds, closing out the first half with a touchdown pass by Shaw, cutting Northwestern's lead to 17-12 after 30 minutes of play.

The Warriors gave Eagle fans somewhat of a scare in the third quarter, coming out like they meant business.  Shaw found Ferrell in the end zone on Wisconsin Lutheran's second drive of the half to give their team the lead at 20-17.  An uncharacteristic Zach Tarter (Crystal Falls, Mich./Forest Park High School) gave Wisconsin Lutheran chances as he threw his second and third interceptions of the day on back-to-back drives.  Luckily for Northwestern, WLC failed to convert on all three of their field goal or a PAT attempts through three quarters, allowing the Eagles to escape their own offensive and defensive breakdowns and start a comeback.

Crum (Rushville, Ill./Rushville Industry) corralled a 55-yard bomb from Tarter midway through the fourth quarter, giving Northwestern a 31-20 lead.  Fueling Northwestern's revival, Taylor Swanson (Monticello, Minn./Monticello High School) (Monticello, Minn./Monticello) recorded his second interception of the day on Wisconsin Lutheran's next play from scrimmage, taking the football into the end zone for six points to boost the Eagles to a 38-20 advantage.

Rahnee Dennard (Mesa, Ariz./Brophy College Prep) (Mesa, Ariz./Brophy College Prep) ran for the Eagles' fourth unanswered score on a 27-yard scamper with 3:07 to go in the fourth quarter.  A blocked point-after attempt left the score at 44-20 in favor of NWC.  Wisconsin Lutheran made a push in the game's final few minutes, scoring on a one yard run before Northwestern came out on top 44-27 as time expired.

Northwestern recorded 25 first downs in the game compared to Wisconsin Lutheran's 18.  The Eagles amassed 471 yards of offense while NWC's defense held their opponents to 268 yards in their 2009 debut.  Despite the Warriors controlling the third quarter, Northwestern held a 14-minute advantage in terms of time of possession.

With 79 yards receiving in the game, Thomforde broke the Northwestern all-time receiving yards record, which was currently held by Josh Lundeen.  Lundeen, who played with Thomforde for two seasons, amassed 2,382 yards from 2004-2007.

Thomforde wasn't the only Eagles player to make a record for himself, as Tarter bested Jeff Waggoner's (1997-2001) all-time record of 445 completions in a career.  Tarter now leads that category with 453 completions.  The Northwestern quarterback finished the day 20 of 29 for 301 yards and three touchdowns.  The 301 yards also put Tarter in first all-time for career passing yards at NWC, surpassing Waggoner's mark of 6,419.

Ryan Long (Dassel, Minn./Dassel-Cokato) (Dassel, Minn./Dassel-Cokato), who finished the 2008 season with just under 1,000 yards rushing, led Northwestern on Saturday with 81 rushing yards.  Long was joined in the backfield by Dennard, who rushed 14 times for 75 yards and a pair of scores.

Joining Thomforde in the receiving corps was Jake Rusinkovich (San Clemente, Calif./San Clement High School) (San Clemente, Calif./San Clemente), who caught two of Tarter's three touchdown passes to go with 49 yards.

Defensively, Jake Stroud (Basehor, KN/Hillcrest Academy) (Basehor, Kan./Hillcrest Lutheran Academy) and Kyle Nash (Fergus Falls, MN/Hillcrest Lutheran Academy) (Fergus Falls, Minn./Hillcrest Lutheran Academy) paced NWC with nine tackles apiece.  Nash tallied 2.5 tackles for a loss including a sack, while fellow linebacker Andrew Magaard (Ogilvie, Minn./Ogilvie High School) (Ogilvie, Minn./Ogilvie) recorded two tackles for a loss amidst his total of seven for the day.

With the win, Northwestern begins its season 1-0.  Next Saturday, Sep. 12, the Eagles will travel to Indianola, Iowa to play Simpson College, one of the two teams to beat NWC during the 2008 season.  Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.