ST. PAUL - The University of Northwestern football team jumped out to a 21-0 lead and never looked back, defeating Crown College, 35-13, in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) opener for both schools Saturday night at Reynolds Field.
The UNW offense racked up 427 yards of total offense (227 pass, 210 rush) and the defense held Crown to 275 yards and 13 points in front of 2,778 fans.
A one-yard touchdown plunge from
Jacob Fettig (Waconia, Minn./Waconia) gave the Eagles their first score of the game midway through the first quarter.
Caleb Couwenhoven (Blaine, Minn./Fridley) then hauled in a pair of
Grant Schoen (Independence, Minn. /Orono) second quarter touchdown passes to put UNW on top 21-0. Couwenhoven's two touchdown receptions covered 86 yards.
Crown answered, scoring with 12 seconds remaining in the first half to cut the Northwestern lead to 21-7. Crown carried that momentum into the third quarter, as the Storm scored an early second half touchdown to trim the UNW lead to 21-13.
Zac Cash (Highlands Ranch, Colo. /Mountain Vista ) then put the game out of reach, as the senior scored in the third and fourth quarter to secure the win for the Eagles. Cash, who scored on a four-yard run and 16-yard scamper, finished with 135 yards on the ground on 20 carries.
Reigning UMAC Player of the Week Austin Stubbs (Pleasant Hill, Iowa/Des Moines Christian) then made a critical play late in the third quarter, as the junior picked off a Brandon McCormick pass deep in Eagle territory to halt a Crown drive. Seth Brown (Forest City, Iowa/Forest City) was in on nine stops, while Nick Swore (Grand Rapids, Mich./Northpointe Christian) and Luke Sommerlot (Pocahontas, Iowa/Pocahontas Area ) made eight tackles each to pace the defense. Grant Schoen (Independence, Minn. /Orono) was very efficient in his second start, as the senior went 9-for-16 for 227 yards. Petkau made some big plays down the field, grabbing three Schoen passes for 103 yards in his Reynolds Field debut – Petkau, who was a member of the men's basketball team, is in his first season with the UNW football team.
The Eagles will continue conference play next weekend when they travel to Minnesota Morris for a 1 p.m. contest next Saturday.
