MORRIS, Minn.- If someone were to look through the UMAC record books at all-time classic and entertaining football games, it would be hard to ignore the game that the University of Northwestern and University of Minnesota-Morris Football teams played in on Saturday. It was a game that had the highest of stakes on the line and a game that saw almost everything that could happen in a football game. Unfortunately for the Eagles and their fans, they came up just short in their quest for a second consecutive unbeaten UMAC season. The UMM Cougars needed every last second of the available 60 minutes to knock off the Eagles 42-39.
The University of Northwestern finishes the 2023 season with a record of 6-4 overall and 4-1 in the UMAC. 2023 saw the Eagles pick up a nonconference win over Concordia-Wisconsin (who finished the regular season at 7-3) and then won their first four UMAC games of the season. UNW played well in front of their home fans this season, going 4-1 in the friendly confines of Reynolds Field. 2023 was also a historic season for Northwestern Football as the program celebrated 50 years of competition and multiple program records were broken on the field.
The build-up to Saturday's game between the Eagles and the Cougars was epic, and the game lived up the enormous hype that it received. Both teams entered Saturday afternoon's contest at Big Cat Stadium with a perfect 4-0 UMAC record. The winner would be crowned UMAC Champions and advance to the NCAA Division III Playoffs. The game was a high scoring, back-and-forth affair.
The Eagles' offense got off to a blistering start in the crucial contest, scoring on their first three drives of the game. UNW got the opening kickoff and went 75 yards in nine plays before
Jeremiah Staten (South Elgin, Ill./Wheaton Academy) caught a 27 yard touchdown pass from
Caden Cantrell (Snowflake, Ariz./Snowflake) to put the Eagles ahead 7-0 following
Dominic Borges' (Tualatin, Ore./Tualatin) extra point.
The Eagles' defense would force a turnover on downs on the Cougars' first possession of the afternoon. UNW's offense would capitalize by digging deep in the playbook and dialing up some trickery. Nobody in UNW Football history has ever had a better season catching the football than
Beau Burk (Ogilvie, Minn./Ogilvie), but on the Eagles' second drive, he threw a 21 yard touchdown pass to
Jaylen Brown (Cusseta, Ga./Chattahoochee County).
Trailing the Eagles 14-0, Minnesota-Morris would get a big play on their second drive of the contest. The Cougars knew they needed to score a touchdown to keep pace with UNW's fast starting offense, and they used a 68 yard touchdown run to get back in the game. The Eagles' offense was not done. For a third consecutive drive to start the game, they scored another touchdown. Brown continued his monster afternoon by scoring another touchdown, this time it was a 24 yard run that found pay dirt. When the action packed first quarter finally came to an end, the Eagles had a 21-7 lead.
The Eagles had firm control of the momentum throughout the entire first quarter. However, the game changed on a key play early in the second frame. The Cougars had the football on the Eagles' one and were trying to punch it in for a touchdown. However, they would fumble the football and
Jah'Kiing Joseph (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Heritage) was credited with coming out of the pile with the recovery. UNW had prevented UMM from cutting into the lead, but they now had the football on their own one yard line.
With the Eagles in the shadow of their own end zone, the Cougars' defense would make one of the plays of the game. They would force a safety on a UNW rushing attempt and cut the Eagles' lead to 21-9. Morris would then capitalize on good field position and score a touchdown thanks to a six yard touchdown reception on the next possession. It was a 9-0 run from the Cougars to cut the score to 21-16 in favor of the Eagles going into the half.
Once the second half started, the Cougars continued to ride the momentum that they had attained in the closing moments of the first half. Morris, to the delight of their home crowd, scored back-to-back touchdowns in just over two minutes. The Eagles, who had been in control from the opening possession of the game, now found themselves trailing 29-21.
With 8:40 remaining in the third quarter, the Eagles would begin cutting into the Cougars' lead. Borges capped off a five play, 57 yard drive with a 22 yard field goal. With 4:10 left in the third quarter, quarterback
Caden Cantrell (Snowflake, Ariz./Snowflake) plunged into the end zone from one yard out at the end of a nine play, 66 yard scoring drive. After converting the two point conversion, the Eagles had used 11 consecutive points to jump back in front 32-29.
With 45 seconds before time expired in the third quarter, the Cougars converted a 25 yard field goal. When the fourth and final quarter of the UMAC Regular Season commenced, the game between the conference's two top teams was tied 32-32. It was clear to everybody watching, in person or on the Cougar Sports Network, that this season finale was exceeding the hype and was going to end in a thrilling finish.
About a minute and a half into the fourth quarter, Minnesota-Morris broke the tie with a 16 yard touchdown run. Down by seven with their season on the line, Cantrell and his offense responded magnificently. The sophomore quarterback led his team on an incredible drive to tie the game. The drive went for 88 yards over 13 plays and ended when Cantrell ran it into the end zone from one yard out. Borges, as he has been all season, was solid on the extra point and the game was tied at 39-39.
With 4:29 remaining in the game, the Cougars would get a clutch 42 yard field goal from their kicker to break the tie. Morris held a slim 42-39 lead and needed to keep the Eagles from scoring for the next four and a half minutes.
Northwestern got the football at their own 23 yard line and began to mount a drive that they hoped would end in a conference-winning touchdown. Cantrell completed a couple of passes before the Eagles reached a critical moment in their season: 4
th and six from their own 38 and only 2:55 remaining. Head Coach
Matt Moore left his offense on the field, and they delivered.
Caden Cantrell (Snowflake, Ariz./Snowflake) and
Beau Burk (Ogilvie, Minn./Ogilvie) have had record breaking seasons for the Eagles, and they came through in the big moment when Cantrell found Burk for 12 yards and a first down.
Cantrell would find Burk for another 13 yard completion later in the drive before a handful of runs from
Jeremiah Staten (South Elgin, Ill./Wheaton Academy) had the Eagles deep in the Cougars' red zone.
With 18 seconds remaining in the game, the Eagles had the football on the Cougars' 10 yard line. UNW took a shot to the end zone to win the game, but the pass was intercepted at the one yard line and returned to the Cougars' nine yard line. All Minnesota-Morris had to do was kneel down once and the epic contest was over. The Cougars had edged the Eagles 42-39 to be named UMAC Champions.
Cantrell had an excellent day throwing the football for the Eagles finishing 25-38 for 337 yards and a touchdown. Burk finished his historic season with 12 catches for 115 yards while also throwing a touchdown. This dynamic quarterback-wide receiver duo provided fireworks all year long for UNW. Cantrell set the single game passing yards record with 459 yards in a game against Martin Luther. Cantrell finishes the season with 2,217 yards passing which is the fourth most in a season in school history.
Beau Burk's (Ogilvie, Minn./Ogilvie) name will be all over the UNW record books after what he did this season. Burk had 289 yards receiving in that same contest against Martin Luther which broke his own single game receiving yards record. He ended the season with 1,250 yards receiving which shattered the school record and he is the first person in school history to have 1,000 yards receiving in a game.
Jeremiah Staten (South Elgin, Ill./Wheaton Academy), one of the Eagles' seniors, ended his career with a great performance in Morris on Saturday. He had 80 yards rushing and added 40 more receiving yards. He also caught a touchdown in his final game as an Eagle.
Jaylen Brown (Cusseta, Ga./Chattahoochee County) caught a touchdown and ran for one as he finished with five catches for 100 yards.
Jayden Goodwin (New Richmond, Wis./Saint Croix Central) led the UNW defense all year long and finished with 15 tackles in the game.
Ian Ahrendt (Nevis, Minn./Nevis Public) also ended in double digits with 11 tackles of his own.
Brad Kulinski (Milwaukee, Wis./Martin Luther),
Elijah Simmons (Kissimmee, Fla./Gateway), and
Zane Schlabach (Keystone, S.D./Rapid City Christian) all had sacks in the game.
It has been an incredible run for UNW Football over the past two seasons. In 2022 and 2023, the Eagles have a combined record of 10-1 in UMAC play. The Eagles won the conference in 2022 and were only 10 yards away from repeating as Conference Champions in 2023. The Eagles will have a lot of returning players in 2024 and the future appears to be bright for Northwestern Eagles Football.
Despite bringing back a lot of talent to next year's team, the Eagles are also saying goodbye to an incredible group of seniors. Head Coach
Matt Moore and his staff are incredibly grateful for the hard work and dedication this group has shown to the program. The Class of 2023 has been integral to the Eagles' dominant run over these past two seasons.
Updates on UNW Eagles Football can be found on unweagles.com throughout the offseason.
