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Football comes up empty at Gustavus Adolphus

Box Score

ST. PETER, Minn. – The Northwestern College football team was held scoreless on Saturday for the first time since the 2008 season as the Eagles lost to Gustavus Adolphus College 29-0. After NWC held the Gusties to nine points in the opening half, a struggling Eagles offense didn't give its defense much rest in the third and fourth quarters, which allowed the home team to score three touchdowns.

Northwestern, who won the pregame coin toss and elected to receive the initial kickoff, looked ready for the challenge in its first drive. Cody DeBoer (Ogilvie, Minn./Ogilvie) (Ogilvie, Minn./Ogilvie) hooked up with Cody Crum (Rushville, Ill./Rushville Industry) (Rushville, Ill./Industry) on a 30-yard wide receiver pass to spark the Eagles. After the big play, NWC came up empty on its next three plays and was forced to punt, which was a common occurrence at Hollingsworth Field on Saturday.

Gustavus scored its first points of the game two and a half minutes into the second quarter on an eight-yard pass from Logan Becker to Mena Muresuk. The Eagle defense received help from its special teams, as Luke Delain (Denmark, Wis./Denmark) (Denmark, Wis./Denmark) blocked the ensuing point-after attempt and a 35-yard field goal attempt on the Gusties' previous drive to keep the score at 9-0.

Despite Northwestern's trickery on its first play from scrimmage, the Eagles couldn't string much together on offense. Just as soon as the Eagles would begin to develop some momentum, a punt or turnover would follow. Quarterback Josh Balzer (Shorview, Minn./Mounds View) (Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View) threw three interceptions in the first half, the first of which put Gustavus Adolphus in great field position to setup its first touchdown of the game.

The two teams went opposite directions in the second half: Gustavus rode big plays to score three more TDs while Northwestern continued to look for answers on offense. Amidst being on the bottom end of a 24-7 count in first downs in the game, three of the Eagles' five drives in the second half lasted just three plays. Micah Tarter (Punta Gorda, Fla./Charlotte) (Punta Gorda, Fla./Charlotte) relieved Balzer behind center for four of those drives, completing five of eight passes for 23 yards.

Coming off last Saturday's game where Northwestern amassed 261 yards, the Eagles were only able to produce 149 yards of offense against Gustavus. Despite numerous efforts by Josh Young (Shoreview, Minn./Concordia Academy) (Shoreview, Minn./Concordia Academy) and Tim Youtzy (Hinton, Iowa/Hinton) (Hinton, Iowa/Hinton), NWC recorded a mere 45 yards with its rushing attack.

Delain was busy on defense, recording a team-high 14.5 tackles in the game as the Gusties racked up 434 yards of offense. Lucas Armstrong rushed 23 times for Gustavus, earning 180 yards on the ground. Jeffrey Dubose contributed 71 yards and a score on nine rushing attempts while quarterback Logan Becker was 19 of 28 for 156 yards and a touchdown.

In two-plus quarters of play, Balzer completed seven passes for 51 yards. Chad Rusinkovich (San Clemente, Calif./San Clemente) (San Clemente, Calif./San Clemente) was the Eagles' leading receiver, catching five balls for 31 yards.

Fortunately for a battered Northwestern team, the Eagles will get a much-needed bye next Saturday before opening up their Upper Midwest Athletic Conference schedule on Saturday, Oct. 2, when NWC will host MacMurray College for homecoming. Kickoff for that game is scheduled for 1 p.m.
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