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Football

Balanced attack gives Crown 30-24 edge over Eagles

Box Score

ST. BONIFACIUS, Minn. -- An unsuccessful on-side kick attempt ended Northwestern College's hope for a comeback victory on Saturday, as the Eagles lost their first UMAC game of the season at Crown College by a 30-24 margin. NWC scored 10 unanswered points as the fourth quarter wound down and would have had over a minute to put together a potential game-tying drive, but Cody Crum (Rushville, Ill./Rushville Industry)'s (Rushville, Ill./Industry) on-side attempt fell in the Storm's hands and Crown beat the Eagles for the first time since 1996.

The Storm's Tyler Hallbade started Saturday's scoring with an 11-yard touchdown run to cap off the home team's 15-yard, 65-play initial drive that took 6:50 off the clock. The Eagles responded with a punch of their own as Chad Rusinkovich (San Clemente, Calif./San Clemente) (San Clemente, Calif./San Clemente) ran the ensuing kickoff back 79 yards to ultimately tie the score at 7-7.

The two teams traded scores again seven minutes later, but an Eagles touchdown and a Crown field goal gave Northwestern a 14-10 lead. Josh Young (Shoreview, Minn./Concordia Academy) (Shoreview, Minn./Concordia Academy) took credit for NWC's score this time as the junior found the end zone on a six-yard run with 1:04 remaining in the second quarter. 

The Storm caught Northwestern's defense off guard, driving down the field with purpose as the first half wound down. Hallblade again found pay dirt for his team, this time receiving a 13-yard pass from Adam Hayes to allow Crown to lead 16-14 at halftime. The Storm fed off of their homecoming momentum to rack up two more touchdowns and lead 30-14 with 7:50 left on the clock in the third quarter. Five minutes later, Crum finished a 55-yard Northwestern drive with a 31-yard field goal to bring the Eagles within 13 points.

Quarterback Josh Balzer (Shorview, Minn./Mounds View) (Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View) hooked up with Rusinkovich to finish a two-minute drill that covered 90 yards with a touchdown and set up the on-side kick opportunity that ultimately failed.

Despite owning a 217-197 advantage in passing yards, Northwestern's rushing attack produced just 77 yards compared to 237 for the Storm. Crown ate up a lot of clock too, holding on to the ball for nearly 36 minutes in the game which included 13:42 of the first quarter alone.

Balzer amassed a career-high 217 yards in the air on 17 completions, but the sophomore's interceptions outnumbered his touchdowns for the fourth time this season. Rusinkovich was Balzer's primary receiver, catching eight balls for 92 yards and a score to go with 108 yards on kick returns.

Young was the Eagles' leader with 44 rushing yards on 15 attempts to go with the one score.

Hallblade finished with 129 yards on 30 carries for Crown while Hayes' statistics line revealed 16 completions on 24 attempts for 197 yards and a touchdown.

Luke Delain (Denmark, Wis./Denmark) (Denmark, Wis./Denmark) led Northwestern in tackles once again, tallying 13 in the game. Josh Swore (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Central) (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Central) had 10 tackles on the day, while Kendall Sommerlot (Pocahontas, Iowa/Pocahontas Area) (Pocahontas, Iowa/Pocahontas) chipped in nine.

Many questions have yet to be answered for Northwestern as the Eagles have completed half of their season. At 1-1 in conference action, NWC is still in the mix of UMAC teams as the league standings feature just one undefeated team. The Eagles will go back to the drawing board over the next week before welcoming the University of Minnesota, Morris to Reynolds Field on Saturday, October 16. Kickoff for that game is scheduled for 1 p.m.
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