ST. PAUL, Minn. – The University of Northwestern opened its 2018 football campaign with a 5 p.m. match-up against Central College (Pella, Iowa) on the Eagles home turf. UNW fell to the American Rivers Conference traditional powerhouse, 49-3 in the two teams' first ever meeting.
 
It was a full house at Reynolds field, as fans were eager to cheer on a young UNW team. The Dutch offense came out strong, led by sophomore quarterback Blaine Hawkins. The Eagles lone score came in the second quarter off a Blake Mitchell (Watertown, S.D./Watertown) 20-yard field goal following an 11-play drive.
 
 At the half, Central led UNW 35-3. The notorious Eagle defense made a comeback in the final 30 minutes of action, holding the Dutch to 14 points. Senior quarterback Taylor Lindahl (Watertown, S.D./Watertown) threw for 210 yards, his longest (28-yard) pass connecting with Gavin Welch (Buffalo, Minn./Buffalo) – who picked up 67 yards on three receptions.
 
George Obitz (Florence, Ariz./Florence) recorded a team-high 12 tackles. John Rumpf (Denver, Colo./Bishon Machebeuf) tacked on a sack and forced fumble.
 
The Eagles move to 0-1 on the year before heading to the west coast for an exciting team trip to take on Claremont-Mudd-Scripps College on Saturday, September 8 at 1 p.m. (Pacific Time). Make sure to follow the game on live stream and live stats.