Box Score COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. -- Northwestern College ran into the belly of the beast on Saturday, starting the 2011 season on the home turf of 25th-ranked Saint John's University.  Despite some early progress by the Eagles, the Johnnies rallied to shut NWC out 34-0 at Clemens Stadium.

Northwestern took the first possession of the game and drove 51 yards until the drive went dry at the Johnnies 23 yard line.  The Eagles forced SJU into a three-and-out situation on their first possession, but NWC returned the favor with a three-and-out of their own on the ensuing drive. Then came the home team's first score, a four yard pass from Harry Awe to Taylor Freetly to cap off an 11-play, 51-yard drive to put the Johnnies up 7-0 with 1:32 to play in the first quarter.

It didn't take Saint John's long to score again, as Connor Bruns found Sam Pederson for a 19-yard passing connection to make the score 14-0 just five minutes into the second period.  The Johnnies went on to score two more times before the halftime buzzer sounded, including a Nick Schneider three-yard touchdown run with 19 seconds remaining in the second quarter, sending the Eagles into the locker room with a 27-0 defecit.

Northwestern held the Johnnies scoreless in the third quarter, but Bruns and Peterson hooked up again at the 12:41 mark of the fourth period to finish the scoring at 34-0.

NWC's rushing attack averaged over 3.5 yards per carry, but Saint John's' ability to sustain drives with 25 first downs fueled the home team.  As a team, the Eagles amassed 215 yards of offense compared to 402 for the Johnnies.  Northwestern was never able to find the red zone throughout the 60 minutes of play.

Despite throwing for just 87 yards, Northwestern quarterback Josh Balzer (Shorview, Minn./Mounds View) (Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View) didn't throw an interception in the game while taking only one sack.  Tim Youtzy (Hinton, Iowa/Hinton) (Hinton, Iowa/Hinton) and Josh Young (Shoreview, Minn./Concordia Academy) (Shoreview, Minn./Concordia Academy) were both successful carrying the ball. Youtzy rushed 14 times for 86 yards, while Young had 10 carries for 51 yards.  Brian Lecheler (Abbotsford, Wis./Abbotsford) (Abbotsford, Wis./Abbotsford), who picked up a helmet and shoulder pads after a successful four-year career on the Eagles men's basketball team, led Northwestern with 44 yards receiving, all of which came on one catch in the third quarter.

Defensively, Sam Lepa (Cresco, Iowa/Crestwood) (Cresco, Iowa/Crestwood) led the Purple and Gold with eight tackles while Rob Reynolds (Rochester, Mich./Adams) (Rochester, Mich./Adams) and Luke Delain (Denmark, Wis./Denmark) (Denmark, Wis./Denmark) each added seven tackles.

Northwestern will return to campus to review film and work on technique for five days next week before playing its first home game of the season on Saturday, September 10, when the Eagles host Westminster College in a 1 p.m. bout at Reynolds Field.