NEW ULM, Minn. – The University of Northwestern football team traveled to Martin Luther College on Saturday for their final away game of the regular season. The Eagles and Knights battled back and forth as snow fell on the field, but MLC managed to score in the final seconds to take a 27-21 victory.
 
Martin Luther opened the game with a five-minute, 65-yard touchdown drive. Joshua Kren put the Knights on the board with a three-yard rushing touchdown, but a missed extra point held MLC to a 6-0 lead.
 
The ensuing Northwestern drive started on their own 30, and the Eagles offense got to work. UNW marched down the field with efficient passing, setting themselves up at the Knight's 39-yard line. From there, Beau Burk (Ogilvie, Minn. / Ogilvie) burned his defender down the right sideline and hauled in a deep ball from Nick Drinken (Randolph, Minn./Randolph) for an Eagle touchdown. One good kick later, the Eagles led the Knights 7-6.
 
In the second quarter, the UNW defense gave the offense a gift as Brock Doering (Mapleton, Minn./Maple River) recovered an MLC fumble on the Knight's 45-yard line. Northwestern advanced to the 37-yard line, but faced a 4^th and 2. The Eagle coaches kept their offense on the field, and the offense made good on their opportunity as Jeremiah Staten (South Elgin, Ill./Wheaton Academy) burst through a hole up the middle and turned on the jets for a 37-yard touchdown run.
 
The Knights tied the game with just seconds left in the half. Starting from their own 8-yard line, Martin Luther made their way down the field through the air, connecting on receptions of 24, 18, and 19 yards. MLC eventually found the end zone with a 13-yard reception by Mike Radue with just 11 seconds remaining in the half. Trailing 14-12, the Knights chose to go for two. After a failed attempt that was negated by a pass interference penalty, Carson Oestreich ran the ball in for the Knights, tying the game at 14-14.
 
After halftime, Northwestern received second-half kick and returned it to their 37-yard line. Clutch conversions on third down and later led the Eagles down the field. A 3^rd and 5 from their own 42 resulted in a 17-yard pass to Caleb Sieben (Anoka, Minn./Anoka), a 4^th and 9 was converted with a 22-yard completion to Damon Clapper (Dallas Center, Iowa/Dallas Center - Grimes), and a 3^rd and Goal from the 1-yard line saw Drinken use his legs to score a go-ahead rushing touchdown, putting the Eagles up 21-14.
 
The third quarter came to an end with UNW up by seven over MLC. The Knights tied the game on their first drive in the fourth, rushing eight consecutive times to power their way to the end zone and evening the game at 21-21.
 
The close of the fourth reflected the final minutes of the first half, as the Knights got the ball with 3:34 remaining at their own 11-yard line. The Knights went run heavy but mixed in some potent passes along the way, highlighted by a 34-yard strike down the left sideline to bring MLC up to Northwestern's 26-yard line. A 13-yard catch set the Knights up at 1^st and Goal from the nine, and three rushes later MLC scored to go up 27-21 with just nine seconds remaining. The Eagles were unable to score with the handful of seconds left to them, and Martin Luther closed out their season at 5-1 in the UMAC.
 
Drinken led UNW through the air, completing 16 of 28 for 183 yards and a touchdown. Burk had a game-high 99 receiving yards, highlighted by his 37-yard touchdown and a 36-yard 3^rd down reception late in the fourth quarter. Staten averaged 8.8 yards per carry for the Eagles, highlighted by his 37-yard touchdown run.
 
On defense, Luke Malamisuro (Cambridge Isanti, Minn./Cambridge Isanti) led the Eagles with eight solo tackles, 10 total tackles, a pass break up, and an interception. Gavin Bowser (Roseville, Minn./Roseville) and Angel Fernandez (Northridge, Cali./Heritage Christian) each had 10 total tackles as well, with Bowser adding a quarterback hit and Fernandez recording a sack.
 
KJ Downey (Blaine, Minn./Blaine HS) had four punts for 127 yards, pinning the Knights within their own 20 twice. Blake Mitchell (Watertown, S.D./Watertown) averaged 50.5 yards per kick on his kickoffs and was a perfect 3-for-3 on point extra point attempts. Burk returned four kicks for 62 total yards.
 
Up next for the Northwestern is their season finale on home this Wednesday night, November 17, against Crown College. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. and the Eagles will be celebrating Senior Night.