Box Score

ST. PAUL – The University of Northwestern left the grass at Reynolds Field with a victory Saturday afternoon as the Eagles closed out their 2013 season with a 42-6 win over Iowa Wesleyan College to finish the campaign with a 6-4 overall record and a 6-3 mark in UMAC play. The game was the final contest to be played on the current grass field on UNW's home field as Northwestern is expected to overhaul its outdoor facilities and have a brand new turf field and stadium in place for the first game of 2014.

All 42 of Northwestern's points came after Iowa Wesleyan had scored the first touchdown of the game. The Eagles responded to Trey Todd's three-yard scoring run with six touchdowns in a period of 25 minutes and change. Joe Sutton (Minneapolis, Minn./Benilde St. Margaret's) made the first of two grabs on the day with 8:34 left in the second quarter as he caught a 25-yard pass from quarterback Jacob Fletcher (Moorhead, Minn./Park Christian). Kevin Langmade (Prescott, Wis./Prescott)'s point-after kick sailed through, and the Purple and Gold had a lead that ultimately would last for the rest of the day since the Tigers' kick attempt had failed. Sutton later rescued a 39-yard Fletcher pass that the sophomore went up to grab in between a pair of defenders at the Iowa Wesleyan 1-yard line. Fletcher completed that drive with his first of two one-yard touchdown dives over the goal line. The second quarterback sneak came five seconds before halftime to put Northwestern up 21-6 on the scoreboard.

Running back Josh Sinnen (Waconia, Minn./Waconia), who hit the 1,000-yard mark last week in the Eagles' win over MacMurray, continued to find success in the third and fourth quarters after averaging 5.6 yards per rush in the initial 30 minutes. Sinnen pushed through from the one-yard line at the 10:51 mark of the third quarter before Langmade's PAT improved the UNW advantage to 28-6 as Northwestern started to pull away.

From there on out, the Eagles started to celebrate their outgoing seniors in a big way. Jordan Padgett (Byron, Minn./Byron), typically a linebacker, lined up for a three-yard touchdown run as a fullback before receiver Justin Horsch (Cottage Grove, Minn./Park) ended the team's scoring with back-to-back catches from backup quarterback Grant Schoen (Independence, Minn. /Orono). Horsch's first catch went for 35 yards prior to a seven-yard scoring grab to end his playing career. Other Northwestern seniors were also able to get in on the action too. Isaac Meredith (Golden Valley, Minn./Armstrong) grabbed a sack, as did Evan Voekler, who played most of the game on the offensive line.

Northwestern's defense finished on a strong note, limiting Iowa Wesleyan, a new NCAA Division III member in 2013 after coming over from the NAIA, to 128 passing yards while forcing the Tigers into four turnovers, all of which were fumbles. The Eagles nearly doubled up their opponent in total yardage, 434-228.

Sinnen's 104-yard output gave the junior his sixth game this season with 100 or more yards, while finalizing his 2013 with 1,104 yards, which is good for fifth place in the program's record book. Fletcher finished 12 of 22 for 200 yards with a touchdown throw to go with his two one-yard scoring rushes. Schoen played under center for the second time this season, seeing considerably more time against Iowa Wesleyan than his previous outing against Crown on September 28. The sophomore was six of nine for 76 yards and a touchdown.

Seven different Eagles caught two or more passes in the game, with Sutton's 62 yards leading the way. Horsch finished close behind at 57 yards.

Defensively, the Eagles put together an effort that produced 10 tackles for a loss, five of which were sacks. Luke Somerlot was all over the field with eight tackles, grabbing one of Northestern's sacks on quarterback Zandro Diaz. Langmade had nine tackles to lead UNW from his linebacker position.

Northwestern's 6-3 finish in conference play put the Eagles solidly in fourth place in the final UMAC standings behind league champion St. Scholastica, Greenville and Eureka – the three teams that claimed victories over the Eagles this season. When compared to the 2012 season, UNW will not suffer near as many losses (to graduation) this year, but will need to fill starting roles on both offense and defense before 2014.