Box Score

ST. PAUL -- Northwestern College used a 33-0 halftime lead to earn its seventh straight win in a 47-26 victory over Martin Luther College at Reynolds Field on Saturday afternoon. The Eagles owned a 345-69 halftime advantage in total yardage before eclipsing the 500-yard mark in a game for the first time this season.

Northwestern needed just seven passes completed to rack up 252 yards and five touchdowns, most of which came in the initial 30 minutes. Brian Lecheler (Abbotsford, Wis./Abbotsford) was the benefactor of three of those passes, the first of which came one minute and 21 seconds into the game as the Eagles turned a third-and-16 situation into a 62-yard bomb from Josh Balzer (Shorview, Minn./Mounds View) that resulted in NWC's first score. Northwestern finished its second drive of the day with a touchdown as well, with Chris Simon-Wallace (Minnetonka, Minn./Minnetonka) capping off a 46-yard drive with a three-yard run on fourth down.

Northwestern started all of its drives with great field position. Of the five drives that followed a Martin Luther kickoff, the average Eagles' start was their own 49-yard line. NWC's second drive of the second quarter followed that average as Balzer came under center at the 39-yard line. Five plays later, the Purple and Gold pulled a little trickery out of its pocket as Tim Youtzy (Hinton, Iowa/Hinton) successfully completed a 39-yard halfback pass to Matt Dammann (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) that resulted with Dammann diving into the end zone.

Lecheler added his second long scoring play of the day three minutes later, hauling in a 50-yard pass from Balzer to increase the Eagles' lead to 27-0 with 3:18 left to play in the half. Northwestern snuck in another touchdown before halftime, as Garrett Ostrom (Woodbury, Minn./Stillwater)'s third catch of the season was good for 68 yards and the Eagles went into the break with a 33-0 advantage.

Martin Luther entered the third quarter a different team, scoring 12 points in the first 8:10. Quarterback Luke Rothe connected with Micah Plocher for an 11-yard score after a 16-play, 75-yard drive before a Northwestern fumble gave the ball right back to the Knights at the MLC 22-yard line. Josh Rathje rushed for 65 yards on Martin Luther's second play of the drive, setting up a Rothe to Scott Henrich 13-yard touchdown pass to make the score 33-12 in the Eagles' favor.

Northwestern bounced back to maintain its margin on the scoreboard though, as Balzer marched the Eagles downfield and successfully hit Dammann on a screen on the left side for another score. Martin Luther answered with a one-yard run before Josh Sinnen (Waconia, Minn./Waconia) found pay dirt on a 17-yard scamper that wrapped up the Eagles' scoring at 47 points.

Martin Luther got one last touchdown after the Knights were successful for the third time on fourth down as Austin Eisenman completed a pass to Chris Arndt for 11 yards, setting up an Eisenman to Dan Rodewald 19-yard connection.

Northwestern finished with 280 yards rushing, 136 of which happened in Sinnen's shoes on 16 carries as the sophomore averaged 8.5 yards per attempt. Simon-Wallace and Youtzy combined for 100 more yards and a touchdown on the ground.

Lecheler's 128-yard day brought him to 736 yards on the year, moving the senior into the program's top 10 for single season receiving yards. Speaking of top 10s, Balzer's four touchdown passes bumped the quarterback into fourth place for single season TDs, one shy of the his own 2011 mark of 19 scoring passes.

Defensive backs Austin Warner (Fridley, Minn./Fridley) and Marshall Repp (Minburn, Iowa/Perry) were at the top of the tackles list, with each tallying eight. Valentine Awasom (Coon Rapids, Minn./Blaine) also had an eight-tackle day. Of Josh Swore's five tackles, three went for a loss. As a team, Northwestern broke up nine passes while causing six quarterback hurries.

Rathje led Martin Luther with 86 yards on seven carries, netting 12.3 yards per attempt. Rothe finished 12 of 29 for 143 yards and two scores for the Knights, who fell to 2-6 (0-6 UMAC) following the loss.

Northwestern, now 7-1 overall and an undefeated in UMAC play, will head back out on the road for the last time of the regular season next week when the Eagles play Eureka College in Eureka, Ill. Following a nearly-eight hour drive on Friday, NWC will face off against the Red Devils, who lost to Greenville College on Saturday, at 1 p.m. on Oct. 27.