GREENVILLE, Ill. – The University of Northwestern football team commenced Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) play on the road Saturday, and came out on top over the Greenville University Panthers by a score of 24-7. The win brought Northwestern to a 1-2 record (1-0 in the UMAC), while Greenville dropped to 0-3 overall and 0-1 in conference action.
 
It was the Eagles who struck first, scoring on an eight-play drive sparked by a third and 19 pass completion from Taylor Lindahl (Watertown, S.D./Watertown) to Evan Pruitt (Temecula, Calif./Rancho Christian High School) for 28 yards. The drive was capped off by a Lindahl six-yard touchdown run. A successful Josiah Donat (Elk River, Minn./Washtenaw Christian Academy) kick gave Northwestern a 7-0 advantage with 6:37 remaining in the first.  
 
UNW put together an impressive 95-yard, 11 play drive early in the second quarter to increase the lead. Orchestrated by 30 yards of rushing by Nate VanBeusekom (Arden Hills, Minn./Mounds View) and capped off on a two-yard touchdown rush by Payton Bowdry (Minneapolis, Minn./South). Donat connected on the PAT to give the Eagles a 14-0 lead. Josiah Donat (Elk River, Minn./Washtenaw Christian Academy) connected on a 23-yard field goal attempt to increase the lead to 17-0.
 
The Panthers answered back late in the second quarter when they returned a punt to the UNW 1 yard line, but started their drive at the 13 due to an illegal blocking penalty. Greenville put their lone score on the board to end that drive, closing the gap to 14-7 (Eagles) to end the third quarter.
 
Northwestern secured the win with a final fourth-quarter touchdown on a Taylor Lindahl (Watertown, S.D./Watertown) two-yard run. Lindahl finished the day 13-of-29 for 191 yards with two rushing touchdowns.
 
Evan Pruitt (Temecula, Calif./Rancho Christian High School) hauled in four receptions that covered a team-high 60 yards, while Caleb Sieben (Anoka, Minn./Anoka) grabbed three Lindahl passes for 54 yards. Payton Bowdry (Minneapolis, Minn./South) did a majority of the damage on the ground for the Eagles, rushing 18 times for 65 yards and one TD. VanBeusekom ran 17 times for a gain of 60 yards.

On the defensive side of the ball, UNW had a trio of players log six tackles on the day, Noah Nightingale (Fennville, Mich./Fennville), George Obitz (Florence, Ariz./Florence) and James Gentile (Las Vegas, Nev./Calvery Chapel). Nightingale, Ben Maki (Elk River, Minn./Spectrum), John Rumpf (Denver, Colo./Bishop Machebeuf) and Dylan Kahlstorf (Spring Lake Park, Minn./Spring Lake Park) each recorded a sack.  Ethan Bush (Bemidji, Minn./Bemidji) grabbed the Eagle's first interception on the year.

Northwestern will travel to St. Bonifacius next weekend to continue Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) play against Crown College. Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m. Fans can stay up-to-date with the UNW football program by visiting www.unweagles.com or by following @unwfb on Twitter and Instagram.