ST. PAUL – The University of Northwestern football team will look to move its season record to 2-0 when the Eagles travel to St. Bonifacius for Saturday night's Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) opener with Crown College. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m., marking the second of three-straight night games for the Eagles.
THE NORTHWESTERN FILE
The Eagles' defense came up with several timely stops and the UNW offensive attack did enough to put 14 points on the board to lift Northwestern over Augsburg in last Saturday's opener.
BJ Foster (Charles City, Iowa/Charles City) – who scored on a 3-yard touchdown plunge – rushed 26 times for 64 yards and
Cody Carlson (Dallas Center, Iowa/Des Moines Christian) hauled in five receptions for 53 yards to pace the offense.
Gideon Burnham (Alexandria, Minn./Jefferson) and
Ryan Van Maanen (Oshkosh, Wis./Valley Christian) came up with crucial interceptions deep in Northwestern territory to prevent the Auggies from getting in the end zone.
A LOOK AT THE OPPONENT
The Storm fell in their season opener last Saturday at Hamline, 29-9. Signal caller Taylor Watkins finished 18-of-30 for 202 yards and Thomas Andrews tallied a game-high eight receptions to lead Crown. Josh Brozek was in on 14 stops to highlight the defensive effort.
THE SERIES
UNW leads the all-time series 21-2, most recently defeating the Storm 35-13 last year at Reynolds Field.
IN THE POLLS
After finishing runner-up in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) a season ago, UNW was tabbed to finish second in the league in the last week's UMAC Preseason Coaches' Poll. The College of St. Scholastica was selected as the preseason favorite after putting together a perfect conference slate last fall. The Eagles and Saints will meet Oct. 15 in Duluth.
GOOD WORK, GREENER
UNW senior linebacker
Ben Greener (Foley, Minn./Home School) was nominated for the 2016 America Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Good Works Team. The Eagles' leading tackler in 2015 was one of 165 college football players nominated for the prestigious award that recognizes those committed to service and enriching the live of others.
Fans can find live links to follow the action at
www.unweagles.com.
