Box Score Box Score

ST. PAUL – Northwestern College put up a fight, but the Eagles ran out of gas against the College of St. Scholastica in a 35-7 final score on Homecoming Saturday at Reynolds Field. After just seven points separated the two teams at halftime, the Saints scored 14 points in each of the third and fourth quarters to remain undefeated in 2011.

Fans in attendance would have hardly known Northwestern and St. Scholastica both averaged 35 or more points per game, as the two combined for seven points and just 193 total yards in the first half. The Eagles defense really stepped up against the NCAA Division III's top quarterback in terms of pass efficiency rating, the Saints' Alex Thiry, as the visitors were held to just five passing yards in the first half.

The second half was a different story though, as St. Scholastica took advantage of a wearying Eagles defense that played more than nine minutes in the third quarter and more than eight in the fourth.  Josh Young (Shoreview, Minn./Concordia Academy) (Shoreview, Minn./Concordia Academy) had Northwestern's only touchdown of the game, running in for a one-yard score to cap off an 11-play drive to put the Purple and Gold within two scores of their opponent at 21-7.

The Eagles looked to have the Saints offense wrapped up on the ensuing drive, but Keegan O'Neill took the wind out of NWC's sails with a 28-yard touchdown reception on fourth down to give St. Scholastica a 28-7 advantage. Jake Jensen then took the Saints on his back, rushing five consecutive times for 58 yards and a score to account for the 35-7 score.

Despite the 28-point margin, the Northwestern and St. Scholastica were nearly even in first downs, with the Saints posting 13 and the Eagles 12. Neither team made it to 300 total yards, although St. Scholastica was close at 296. NWC was held to a season-low 186 total yards.

Eagles quarterback Josh Balzer (Shorview, Minn./Mounds View) (Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View) finished 17 of 28 for 120 yards to go with a pair of interceptions, his second and third on the season.  Chad Rusinkovich (San Clemente, Calif./San Clemente) (San Clemente, Calif./San Clemente) was Balzer's biggest target, catching eight passes for 55 yards, including a key 14-yard reception on third and 11 from the Northwestern 1-yard line in the second quarter.  Young, taking most of the Eagles' carries after an injury in last week's game against Minnesota Morris took Tim Youtzy (Hinton, Iowa/Hinton) (Hinton, Iowa/Hinton) out of today's contest, finished with 18 rushes for 51 yards.

Defensively, Josh Swore (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Central) (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Central) led the way for Northwestern with nine tackles, 1.5 sacks and two tackles for a loss from his defensive end position.  Luke Delain (Denmark, Wis./Denmark) (Denmark, Wis./Denmark) was right behind with eight tackles.

For St. Scholastica (5-0 overall, 4-0 UMAC), Thiry finished 12-16 for 150 yards and four TDs. O'Neill had all but 34 of those yards on five catches to go with two scores.  Jensen rushed 29 times for 148 yards while three Saints had 10 tackles on the day.

Northwestern (3-3 overall, 3-2 UMAC) returns to the drawing board to make adjustments for next week's home game against Crown College.  The Eagles will host their final contest at Reynolds Field in 2011 next Saturday at 1 p.m.