ST. PAUL, Minn. – University of Northwestern Football hosted the University of Minnesota Morris for a conference battle at Reynolds Field on Saturday. The Eagles took down the Cougars 31-24 to remain undefeated in the UMAC at 4-0, hand Morris their first conference loss, and surpass UMM atop the conference standings to take possession of first place with two games remaining.
 
Morris jumped ahead 7-0 in the opening quarter, capitalizing on a UNW fumble. On Northwestern's 13-yard line, the Cougars rushed to the right, turned the corner, and managed to hit the pylon in the front corner of the end zone to give UMM the first lead.
 
UNW cut into Morris' lead when Cole Uplegger (New Prague, Minn./New Prague) hit a 26-yard field goal, setting the score at 7-3. The Cougars answered with a field goal of their own in the second quarter to regain a seven-point lead.
 
Trailing 10-3, the Eagles started a drive at their own 28. Northwestern methodically worked their way down to the field with a rush-heavy approach. On a 2^nd and 7 from the Morris 44, the Caden Cantrell (Taylor, Ariz./Snowflake) found Beau Burk (Ogilvie, Minn./Ogilvie) for a 28-yard completion to the 21-yard line. After three more run plays to get to the seven-yard line, Cantrell used his legs to scramble his way into the end zone to tie the game up at 10-10 with 5:11 remaining in the half.
 
On the ensuing kickoff, the Eagles recognized a soft spot in the Cougars' special teams setup and kicked off towards it down the right sideline. The ball landed untouched and took a UNW bounce back towards their coverage team at the UMM 31-yard line, where the Eagles recovered the ball for an unorthodox 34-yard onside kick.
 
The Cougars' defense would manage to hold off the Eagles from scoring on the ensuing drive, but Nathan Fenske (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North) would later get the ball back for UNW with an interception at midfield, returning to the Morris 41-yard line to set up the Northwestern offense with 38 seconds remaining in the half. Damon Clapper (Dallas Center, Iowa/Dallas Center - Grimes) would haul in a four-yard touchdown over the middle with 11 seconds remaining to give UNW a 17-10 lead heading into halftime.
 
On their first drive of the second half, Burk hauled in a 44-yard reception to set up Northwestern at the Cougars' nine-yard line. Jeremiah Staten (South Elgin, Ill./Wheaton Academy) took it the rest of the way, rushing the remaining nine yards on two plays to put UNW up 24-10.
 
Minnesota Morris would start the next drive at their own 25 with 8:21 remaining in the third quarter. The Cougars would drive down the field and score on an eight-yard touchdown pass to the back right corner of the end zone for the final play of the third quarter.
 
Receiving the ensuing kickoff at the start of the fourth quarter, Luke Malamisuro (Cambridge Isanti, Minn./Cambridge Isanti) returned the kick 26-yards up to the 37-yard line. The Eagles proceeded to string together a 12-play, 63-yard touchdown drive, capped off by a five-yard touchdown reception in the back right corner of the end zone by Bryson James (Apopka, Fla./Central Florida Christian Academy) to give UNW a 31-17 with 8:49 remaining.
 
The Cougars put together a touchdown drive to score with 2:14 remaining, cutting their deficit to seven down 31-24. Morris elected to kickoff downfield and trust their defense to get a stop. The Cougars faith in their defense proved well founded as they picked off the Eagles on a 3^rd and 11, setting up the offense 38-yards away from the end zone with 1:57 remaining.
 
UNW needed a big stop from their defense to secure the win. The Cougars made their way to the Northwestern 29-yard line for a 4^th and 1. Needing a big play, Jeffrey Markvicka II (Brooklyn Center, Minn./Fridley) stepped up and stuffed the Cougars rush attempt for no gain to force a turnover on downs, securing the win for the Eagles.
 
Cantrell finished the day 15-of-26 for 188 yards and two touchdowns. Staten led the Eagles' rushing attack with 121 yards, averaging 4.7 per carry. Burk had a team-high 88 reception yards.
 
Brad Kulinski (Milwaukee, Wis./Martin Luther) led the Eagle defense with 12 tackles. Edward Dyer (Kissimmee, Fla./Gateway) had 1.5 tackles for loss with four total tackles.
 
Up next for Northwestern is a trip to St. Bonifacius for a battle against Crown College on Saturday, November 5, at 1:00 P.M for their final road game of the regular season. The Eagles will return to Reynolds Field on Saturday, November 12, for their regular season finale against Martin Luther.