ST. PAUL, Minn.- The University of Northwestern Football team entered Saturday's game with Westminster College with one goal in mind: take care of business and set up a battle of UMAC undefeated teams next Saturday in the regular season finale. The Eagles accomplished their goal defeating the visiting Blue Jays at Reynolds Field by a score of 36-18.
Saturday's victory improves the Eagles to 4-0 in conference play this season and they are sitting in first place in the UMAC standings. However, the Eagles are not alone in first place. The Minnesota-Morris Cougars are also 4-0 in conference play and both the Eagles and the Cougars have one regular season game left. Who is Northwestern's opponent in their regular season finale? You guessed it, the Minnesota-Morris Cougars. Next week's game between the Eagles and the Cougars will crown a UMAC Champion and send the winner to the NCAA Division III Playoffs.
Before the Eagles began to prepare for the Cougars, they first had to dispatch the Westminster Blue Jays. It was an unseasonably warm, early November day at Reynolds Field and the Eagles celebrated Senior Day. UNW will be saying goodbye to 14 fantastic seniors at the end of the 2023 season and those seniors were honored for their hard work and dedication to UNW Football during the pregame festivities. The 14 seniors that were honored at Saturday's game were:
Paul Berglund (Brillion, Wis./Brillion),
Dylan Brouillard (Blaine, Minn./Blaine),
Collin Currier (Waconia, Minn./Waconia),
Zach Gordy (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake),
Joylus Harris (Brooklyn Park, Minn./Park Center),
Ethan Hugare (Ellsworth, Wis./Ellsworth),
Brad Kulinski (Milwaukee, Wis./Martin Luther),
Tyrone Maxwell (Brooklyn Park, Minn./Osseo),
Jack Megason (Atascadero, Cali./Atascadero),
Parker Schmidgall (Hancock, Minn./Hancock),
Augie Schmitt (Geneseo, Ill./Geneseo),
Zane Schlabach (Keystone, S.D./Rapid City Christian),
Jeremiah Staten (South Elgin, Ill./Wheaton Academy), and
Bryce Teckmeyer (Lincoln, Neb./Lincoln Christian). UNW Football is extremely grateful for all that these seniors have done for the program.
On the field, the action started very early for the Eagles' offense.
Beau Burk (Ogilvie, Minn./Ogilvie) entered the game needing only one receiving yard to become the first player in school history to have 1,000 yards receiving in a single season. Burk, as he has his entire career at UNW, did not make Eagle fans wait long before he came through. He caught a 13 yard pass from
Cody Duffy (Columbus, Ga./Chattahoochee County) on the first play from scrimmage and the milestone was out of the way early. Later in the drive,
Jeremiah Staten (South Elgin, Ill./Wheaton Academy) would break off a 29 yard run and would get tackled at the two yard line. He would plunge into the end zone on the next play and thanks to a
Dominic Borges (Tualatin, Ore./Tualatin) extra point, the Eagles led 7-0.
With 6:36 left in the first quarter, Westminster would answer. The Blue Jays struggled to complete passes down the field against the stout Eagle secondary throughout the game, but about halfway through the first quarter, they would complete their biggest pass play of the game. The Blue Jays scored on a 33 yard touchdown pass but would miss the extra point and the Eagles hung on to a slim 7-6 lead.
There was a lot of action in the final three minutes of the first quarter. First, Borges drilled a 21 yard field goal to extend UNW's lead to 10-6. On the ensuing Westminster drive,
Luke Malamisuro (Cambridge Isanti, Minn./Cambridge Isanti) made one of the most impressive plays of the season for the Eagles. He would intercept a pass at UNW's own 28 yard line. The senior would then begin to bob and weave his way through traffic, and thanks to incredible blocking from his defensive teammates, would take the football back 72 yards for an improbable pick-six. The interception was the fourth of the season for Malamisuro which is a team high and good enough for second overall in the UMAC.
Now leading 17-6, the Eagles would regain possession with 5:25 left in the first half. UNW took over possession at the Blue Jays' 30 yard line thanks to an interception and a 17 yard return by
Elijah Simmons (Kissimmee, Fla./Gateway). The Eagles would need only one play to turn that turnover into a touchdown. Duffy hit Burk for a 30 yard touchdown and the Eagles had stretched their lead to 24-6 going into the half.
Neither team would score in the third quarter and the first score of the second half wouldn't come until there was 12:55 remaining in the fourth quarter. Borges made his second field goal of the afternoon, this time from 31 yards out, and UNW's lead grew to 27-6.
Westminster would answer three and a half minutes later with a touchdown to cut the lead to 27-12 pending the extra point. The Blue Jays would opt to go for two after missing an extra point earlier in the contest. On the two point conversion attempt, the Blue Jays would fumble the football.
Jah'Kiing Joseph (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Heritage) was in the right place at the right time and scooped up the football and was off to the races. He took it back 95 yards for two points for the Eagles. The scoreboard now read 29-12 in favor of the home team.
On the following Eagles' possession, it was the Blue Jays' turn to scoop and score. They picked up an Eagles' fumble and ran it back 23 yards for a touchdown. They would attempt a two point conversion once again, and once again, it was unsuccessful.
The Eagles' lead had now been cut to eleven when they took possession with about nine minutes left in the contest. Duffy would deliver another long strike down the field to deliver the knockout punch in the contest. This time, it was
Ren Hamann (St. Michael-Albertville, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville) on the receiving end of the Duffy pass. It was a 50 yard touchdown strike that would bring the game to its final score of 36-18.
Cody Duffy (Columbus, Ga./Chattahoochee County) played extremely well at quarterback in his first career collegiate start. He finished the game 15-23 for 202 yards and two touchdowns.
Beau Burk (Ogilvie, Minn./Ogilvie) continued his historic season with yet another brilliant performance. The junior had 12 catches for 136 yards and a touchdown.
Jeremiah Staten (South Elgin, Ill./Wheaton Academy) carried the load for the Eagles on the ground and finished with 13 carries for 78 yards and a touchdown in his final game at Reynolds Field.
Naketa Ellington (Richland, Ga./Chattahoochee County) joined Malamisuro and Simmons with an interception in the contest. Simmons also recovered a fumble as the Eagles' defense forced four turnovers on the afternoon. UNW's defense finished with three sacks with a trio of seniors all picking up one:
Brad Kulinski (Milwaukee, Wis./Martin Luther),
Paul Berglund (Brillion, Wis./Brillion), and
Zane Schlabach (Keystone, S.D./Rapid City Christian).
UNW will now begin preparations for their biggest game of the season. The UMAC's top two teams will go to battle in Morris, Minnesota on Saturday, November 11
th. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00pm at Big Cat Stadium.
