Box Score GREENVILLE, Ill. – Northwestern College looked as if it was going to make the 10-plus hour return trip back to St. Paul with a win, but a dismal fourth quarter for the Eagles led to a 27-23 Panthers victory.  NWC led 23-0 with Greenville on the goal line at the end of the third quarter, and things went south from there as the host institution fit 27 unanswered points into the final 15 minutes of play.

Northwestern found the end zone three times on offense, as quarterback Josh Balzer (Shorview, Minn./Mounds View) (Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View) hooked up with Chad Rusinkovich (San Clemente, Calif./San Clemente) (San Clemente, Calif./San Clemente), Josh Young (Shoreview, Minn./Concordia Academy) (Shoreview, Minn./Concordia Academy) and Brian Lecheler (Abbotsford, Wis./Abbotsford) (Abbotsford, Wis./Abbotsford) on passing plays that crossed the goal line.  After Balzer's 41-yard connection with Lecheler, the Eagles increased their lead with a safety on defense.

Cue the fourth quarter, when Greenville scored four touchdowns, all on the ground.  The Panthers, who have now won six straight games, scored on runs of three, 30, 24 and five yards, the last of which came with just over a minute remaining in the game.

Northwestern ran 71 plays for 319 total yards, while Greenville countered with 92 plays for 545 yards.

Balzer finished 18-34 for 245 yards and three touchdowns to finish the season with 19 touchdowns to six interceptions.  Young had 23 yards worth of rushing before suffering an injury, yielding to Josh Sinnen (Waconia, Minn./Waconia) (Waconia, Minn./Waconia), who eventually led the team with 39 yards rushing on 11 carries.

Balzer hooked up with Rusinkovich nine times for 109 yards and the score. Rusinkovich surpassed Josh Lundeen's single season record of 961 receiving yards in the game, and becomes the new program leader at 977.  Balzer and Lecheler connected for 90 yards on four passes.

Defensively, Sam Lepa (Cresco, Iowa/Crestwood) (Cresco, Iowa/Crestwood) and Evan Entler (Las Vegas, Nev./Mountain View Christian) (Las Vegas, Nev./Mountain View Christian) led the Eagles with 13 tackles apiece, while Josh Swore (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Central) (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Central) had another standout performance on the defensive line with 10 tackles, one of which was for a loss, and a fumble recovery. Six Northwestern players had seven or more tackles in the game.

NWC wraps up its 2011 season at 6-4 (6-3 UMAC), up from 1-8 a year ago to tie the program record for the best comeback.