PELLA, IOWA – The University of Northwestern football team hit the road to Central College for its opening contest of the 2019 season. Despite holding the Dutch scoreless in the fourth, the Eagles suffered a 42-12 loss, spearheaded by a six touchdown performance from Central quarterback, Blaine Hawkins.
 
Northwestern begins the year 0-1 after facing the American Rivers Conference powerhouse. The Dutch came in second in the ARC in scoring average in 2018 (averaging 35.8 points per game) and returned eight of 11 starters from last year's defensive lineup.
 
After a scoreless opening four minutes of action, the Dutch got on the board at the 10:52 mark after a five play, 28-yard drive resulted in Hawkin's first touchdown pass. It was the second quarter that did the most damage to the Eagle defense as Central tacked on two more unanswered touchdowns to go up 21-0 with seven minutes remaining in the half.
 
Sophomore quarterback, Damon Clapper (Dallas Center, Iowa/Dallas Center - Grimes), put an end to the Dutchmen's run – leading the charge on an eight play, 75-yard drive. After completing a game-best 43-yard pass to KJ Downey (Blaine, Minn./Blaine), Clapper ran it in himself for a five-yard TD rush to lessen the deficit to 14 (21-7) with under three minutes to play in the half.
 
Central didn't back down. With halftime looming, Hawkins completed five straight passes and led Central downfield 60 yards in two minutes to add a fourth touchdown, sending the Eagles into the locker room trailing 28-7.
 
The Eagle defense was back in business in the second half, holding Central to two touchdowns in the 30 minutes of action. Northwestern was able to put together the final two scoring plays of the contest – first on a Blake Mitchell (Watertown, S.D./Watertown) 35-yard successful field goal and lastly, on a safety following Central recovering a fumble in their own end zone.
 
Payton Bowdry (Minneapolis, Minn./South) led the running efforts, picking up 72 yards on 13 attempts. Damon Clapper (Dallas Center, Iowa/Dallas Center - Grimes) added 63 yards rushing and completed 12 passes for 116 yards.
 
On the defensive end, Felipe Ramirez (Faribault, Minn./Faribault) led the way, recording 14 tackles. Carter Michaelson (South St. Paul, Minn./South St. Paul) was credited with Northwestern's lone sack in the contest and Jacob Brown (Blaine, Minn./Blaine) added an interception, returning it 14 yards.
 
Northwestern will kickoff against Claremont on Saturday, Sept. 14 at 12 p.m. Live stats and video will be available on www.unweagles.com.

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