Box Score Box Score

DULUTH, Minn. – Playing against its toughest Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) competitor of the year thus far, the Northwestern College football team scored a late touchdown to overtake the College of St. Scholastica 14-13 on Saturday afternoon. The Eagles handed the Saints – the 2011 UMAC Champion -- their first conference loss since Oct. 9, 2010.

Northwestern's touchdown with 5:37 left in the fourth quarter, the only offensive touchdown from either team in the game, and its subsequent extra point, brought the Eagles back from a 13-7 deficit.

NWC started the game off on the right foot, literally, as Brian Lecheler (Abbotsford, Wis./Abbotsford) returned St. Scholastica's opening kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown to give the Eagles a quick 7-0 lead. Instead of the teams matching each other's scores, Northwestern and the Saints matched one another's interceptions in the first two drives of the game. St. Scholastica's pickoff of quarterback Josh Balzer (Shorview, Minn./Mounds View) on the quarterback's first passing attempt of the game gave the home team the ball at the Eagles' 20-yard line. However, the NWC defense didn't allow the Saints to gain more than 10 yards on the drive, forcing St. Scholastica to settle for a 27-yard field goal.

That was all of the scoring fans would witness in the first half, with both teams' punters getting plenty of game action, as Northwestern and St. Scholastica combined for six punts before halftime.

Heading into the locker room, Northwestern was 70 yards off of its pace of 205 total yards per half. However, the Eagles defense was making noise on its side of the football, containing the Saints to just 68 yards of offense in the first two quarters.

St. Scholastica matched Northwestern's first quarter kickoff return for a touchdown with one of its own, as Cory Gebhard brought back the second half's opening kick 90 yards for a score, giving his team a 10-7 lead.

Mike Theismann's second field goal of the day, this time from 36 yards out, improved the Saints' advantage to 13-7 with 8:51 to play in the game. Starting on its own 28-yard line, Northwestern needed eight plays and just over three minutes to find the end zone on a one-yard rush by Tim Youtzy (Hinton, Iowa/Hinton) to tie the game. Ethan Zepp (Grimes, Iowa/Des Moines Christian)'s successful point-after attempt put the Eagles up by a point at 14-13.

Northwestern's defense made one of its biggest plays of the game on St. Scholastica's ensuing drive, as Joey Bauman (Kerkhoven, Minn./Kerkhoven Murdock Sunburg) intercepted the Saints' Tyler Harper with 2:39 left to go. The Eagles' rushing attack followed with several successful runs that earned NWC a trip into the red zone and more importantly two crucial first downs that allowed the Purple and Gold to run out the clock.

Much of Northwestern's ability to move the ball came from its success on third down, when the Eagles converted on eight of 15 opportunities. Meanwhile, the NWC defense held St. Scholastica at bay on third down, as the Saints went just three of 11. Northwestern finished with 282 total yards while holding its opponent to 194 yards.

Chris Simon-Wallace (Minnetonka, Minn./Minnetonka) led the Eagles with 68 yards on 17 carries, while Josh Sinnen (Waconia, Minn./Waconia) finished the day with 66 yards on 14 runs. In addition to his fourth quarter touchdown, Youtzy had 37 yards rushing.

Balzer was picked off twice throughout the day, but still finished nine of 17 for 123 yards. With just one catch for 37 yards, Sinnen was Northwestern's leading receiver. Brian Lecheler (Abbotsford, Wis./Abbotsford) was held to less than 90 yards for the first time this season as the senior caught just one pass for 18 yards.

Kendall Sommerlot (Pocahontas, Iowa/Pocahontas Area) led NWC with 10 tackles, six of which were solo, in addition to grabbing one of the Eagles' three interceptions on the day.

Thomas Fragale had a team-high 47 rushing yards for St. Scholastica (4-2 overall, 4-1 UMAC), who lost both of its regular running backs, Travis Nehowig and Jake Jensen, during the game due to injury.

Now 5-1 overall, Northwestern has won its last four games and maintains a perfect 4-0 in UMAC play this season. Next Saturday, the Eagles will travel to the other side of the Twin Cities to face Crown College in St. Bonifacius, Minn., where kickoff is scheduled for 12 Noon.