Box Score

EUREKA, Ill. – The Northwestern College (Minn.) football team escaped defeat from Eureka College on Saturday, posting a nail-biting 21-17 victory despite committing four turnovers in the game. The win, which was NWC's eighth straight, gives the Eagles a share of the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Championship at a minimum with the chance to earn the league title outright next Saturday against Greenville College.

With the Eagles leading by what turned out to be the 21-17 final margin, Northwestern gave the ball back to Eureka on its final three drives of the game either by way of a turnover on downs or on a missed 29-yard field goal to end the third quarter. Fortunately for the visitors on the scoreboard, the Red Devils – and their NCAA record-setting quarterback in Sam Durley – couldn't find the end zone as the Eagles were able to run out the clock following Alex Zeller (Plymouth, Minn./Armstrong)'s interception with 1:52 left to go.

Northwestern scored on its first possession of the game after the Eagles defense forced Eureka to punt after a three-and-out to start the day. NWC needed just four plays to cross the goal line, as Chris Simon-Wallace (Minnetonka, Minn./Minnetonka) got free in a 30-yard run that gave the Purple and Gold a 7-0 lead following Ethan Zepp (Grimes, Iowa/Des Moines Christian)'s point-after attempt.

Eureka answered back in its ensuing possession, using a 17-play, 55-yard drive to tie the score on Zach McCoy's one-yard touchdown run. Northwestern answered quickly again, this time with quarterback Josh Balzer (Shorview, Minn./Mounds View) connecting with Brian Lecheler (Abbotsford, Wis./Abbotsford) on a 38-yard pass on the Eagles' fourth play from scrimmage of the drive.

The Red Devils started the second quarter with a successful field goal attempt, as Travis Huber's 23-yard attempt sailed through the uprights. NWC's defense had done its job of keeping Durley and Co. off the field that drive, but Eureka recovered Brian Lecheler (Abbotsford, Wis./Abbotsford)'s fumbled punt return attempt on the Northwestern 28-yard line to give the Red Devils new life, which led to points on the scoreboard.

Things were mostly quiet for the rest of the period with the exception of a pair of interceptions. Balzer's second-and-six pass got picked off by Eureka's Wes Robinson, only for the Eagles' Mitch Swanson (Monticello, Minn./Monticello) to return the favor as he took a pass away from Durley two plays later before Northwestern went into the locker room with a 14-10 halftime lead.

Another interception by Swanson in Eureka's first drive of the third quarter gave NWC a chance to score, and score the Eagles did as Josh Sinnen (Waconia, Minn./Waconia) ran the ball 11 yards into the end zone on Northwestern's first offensive play.

Trying to keep pace, the Red Devils responded with another sustained drive that ended in a touchdown, with Durley diving across the goal line from a yard out to keep his team within striking distance at 21-17. Less than a minute later, Northwestern looked like it was going to create some space on the scoreboard with Simon-Wallace streaking down the sideline on a big rush before fumbling at the Eureka eight-yard line to give the ball back to the Red Devils. Northwestern's defense did its part though, allowing Eureka to make it only to the 50-yard line before forcing the Red Devils to punt. The Eagles made another big play towards the end of the quarter, as Kendall Sommerlot (Pocahontas, Iowa/Pocahontas Area) forced a McCoy fumble that landed in the hands of Nathan Van Zee (Moose Lake, Minn./Moose Lake) at the Eureka nine-yard line. After NWC was unable to gain any yardage, Zepp came on for a 29-yard field goal try, which sailed left.

That wouldn't be the final time that Northwestern found itself in the red zone, as the Eagles faced a fourth-and-goal situation at the 10-yard line midway through the fourth quarter. Head coach Kirk Talley elected to go for it, and Balzer's pass to Matt Damman went incomplete.

Durley, who threw for a record-736 yards in Week 1 against Knox College, had 90 yards to go to get his team ahead with 2:48 to play. After a 31-yard completion on first down and another three-yard rush, NWC's Zeller leaped in front of his receiver to pick off the quarterback on the left side to give the ball back to Northwestern. Tim Youtzy (Hinton, Iowa/Hinton) rushed three consecutive times to pick up a first down before the Eagles found themselves in the victory formation as time expired with the same 21-17 on the scoreboard.

The two teams were fairly close in passing yards (243-224), but Northwestern held a strong upper hand in running yardage with a 188-97 advantage, therefore taking a 431-321 advantage in total offense. While all three of Northwestern's running backs found success, Sinnen emerged as the leader with 115 yards and a touchdown on 13 attempts, an average of 8.2 yards per carry. Simon Wallace, who had a 94-yard rush negated due to a holding penalty towards the end of the second quarter, finished with 43 yards on 10 tries.

Balzer finished 13 of 22 for 243 yards and a TD to go with one interception on the day, hitting six different receivers in the process. Lecheler caught four passes for a team-leading 70 yards, while Simon-Wallace turned in 67 yards on one reception.

Defensively, Joey Bauman (Kerkhoven, Minn./Kerkhoven Murdock Sunburg) and Van Zee both had double-digit tackles on the day. Bauman's 12 tackles tied the game high, while Van Zee shared a sack with Josh Swore (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Central), who added eight tackles of his own. Valentine Awasom (Coon Rapids, Minn./Blaine), Austin Warner (Fridley, Minn./Fridley), Luke Sommerlot (Pocahontas, Iowa/Pocahontas Area ) and Kendall Sommerlot (Pocahontas, Iowa/Pocahontas Area) each had at least eight tackles apiece in the win.

Durley was 20 of 37 for 224 yards in the loss for Eureka (4-5, 3-4 UMAC). Jordan Kindred and Cody Followell both had at least 80 receiving yards for the Red Devils.

Now 8-1 overall and 7-0 in the UMAC standings, Northwestern has one game remaining on its regular season schedule as Greenville will come to Reynolds Field on Nov. 3 for a 1 p.m. contest that will have playoff implications on the line. An Eagles victory would give NWC its 12th outright conference championship and an automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Tournament. A Greenville win and a St. Scholastica victory over Minnesota Morris would create a three-way tie atop the league, which would prompt a random draw (the final tiebreaker rule in the UMAC Football Guidelines) to determine which of the three teams moves on to the playoffs. Losses by both Northwestern and St. Scholastica next Saturday would give Greenville the nod to advance to November 17th's first round game.