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Football

Big first half lifts Luther over Eagles in home debut

Box Score

ST. PAUL -- Saturday's football game at Reynolds Field was a case of bigger and better as Luther College defeated Northwestern College 31-7 in the Eagles' 2010 home opener. The Norse earned their first win of the season amidst a balanced attack that produced 456 total yards including 245 on the ground.

The Eagles started the game off right, driving down the field after forcing Luther to punt in its first possession. Quarterback Josh Balzer (Shorview, Minn./Mounds View) (Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View) and the NWC offense showed promise, producing 49 yards on seven plays until the Norse's Jordan Grimm picked off a pass intended for Cody Crum (Rushville, Ill./Rushville Industry) (Rushville, Ill./Industry) at the Luther 22-yard line.

Two drives later, Luther started some offensive production of its own, driving 54 yards in a mere minute and 58 seconds to score on a Chris Reynolds pass to Steven Thompson. The Norse went on to score three more times in the second quarter, taking advantage of five consecutive NWC drives that ended in a punt. Reynolds completed 14 of his 20 passes for 173 yards in the first half as the Eagles found themselves down 28-0 at the break.

If the Eagles were able to take anything encouraging away from Saturday's game, it would be a much-better played second half. Northwestern scored its only touchdown on a 22-yard connection from Balzer to Crum midway through the fourth quarter while the Eagle defense held their opponents to 118 total yards and three points in the third and fourth periods.

NWC finished with 261 total yards on the day - 169 from the pass and 92 via the run. Balzer finished 20-of-34 for 169 yards and a touchdown, while Tim Youtzy (Hinton, Iowa/Hinton) (Hinton, Iowa/Hinton) led the Eagles with 43 yards on the ground. Crum was Balzer's favorite target, catching six passes for 81 yards. Cody DeBoer (Ogilvie, Minn./Ogilvie) (Ogilvie, Minn./Ogilvie) and Chad Rusinkovich (San Clemente, Calif./San Clemente) (San Clemente, Calif./San Clemente) finished with 34 and 21 receiving yards, respectively.

Kabakas Clark (Bartow, Fla./Bartow) (Bartow, Fla./Bartow) paced the Eagles on defense with 13 tackles, while Luke Delain (Denmark, Wis./Denmark) (Denmark, Wis./Denmark) followed with 12. Josh Swore (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Central) (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Central) and David Discher (Andover, Minn./Andover) (Andover, Minn./Andover) also hit double digits with 10 tackles apiece. Clark had two of Northwestern's tackles for a loss.

Reynolds finished 18 of 26 for 205 yards and two scores for Luther while racking up 42 yards on the ground. The Norse, who rushed for 245 yards as a team, had four players rush 10 or more times in the game. Defensively, Kyle McGivney recorded 24 tackles after the D3football.com Preseason All-American linebacker was credited for 25 tackles last week against St. Olaf.

Northwestern will go into next Saturday's game at Gustavus Adolphus College with an 0-2 deficit before beginning Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) action on Oct. 2.. Luther heads back to Decorah, Iowa with a 1-1 record. The Norse will host Coe College next Saturday.
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