MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.- The University of Northwestern Football team made their way to downtown Minneapolis on Friday night to open their season against Augsburg University. The game was originally scheduled for Saturday afternoon, but heat concerns for Saturday meant that the Eagles would play their first Friday game since October 19
th, 2018 when they hosted Martin Luther on a Friday. The Auggies defeated the Eagles 52-10 under the Friday Night Lights to open the season for both teams.
The game started with UNW winning the coin toss and deferring, so Augsburg started with the football. The Eagles were able to contain the Auggies for the first few plays of the drive, only giving up small gains. However, once the home team got to UNW's 46 yard line, they cashed in on their first big play of the game. A 46 yard touchdown pass gave the Auggies an early 7-0 lead.
The Eagles would convert a 3
rd and 11 on their first drive of the game thanks to a
Caden Cantrell (Snowflake, Ariz./Snowflake) to
Beau Burk (Ogilvie, Minn./Ogilvie) 12 yard completion. But the drive would stall out and the Eagles would be forced to punt. The game transitioned to a battle between the punters for the remainder of the first quarter as the Eagles would force a three-and-out on Augsburg's second possession but would then punt it right back to the Auggies once they got the football. Neither team would score for the remainder of the first frame and it was 7-0 in favor of Augsburg after 15 minutes of play.
The second quarter started out favorably for UNW who continued to search for some momentum on the road. The Eagles had the football when the second quarter began and their best drive of the game up until that point would finally stall out at Augsburg's nine yard line.
Dominic Borges (Tualatin, Ore./Tualatin) would drill a 26 yard field goal and UNW was on the board, trailing 7-3.
However, after that Eagle field goal, the second quarter belonged to the Auggies. A 38 yard return following UNW's field goal would set Augsburg up with great field position. They would eventually cash in with an 11 yard touchdown run, extending their lead to 14-3. Following a three and out by the Eagles, Augsburg put together a nine play drive that ended with a 19 yard touchdown pass. They would a field goal with only 10 seconds remaining in the first half to take a 24-3 halftime lead into the locker room.
In the second half, the Eagles' defense would force a three-and-out the first time they were on the field. However, later in the third quarter, Augsburg would strike for a long 66 yard touchdown pass to extend their lead.
The Eagles' offense's best drive of the game came when they got the football with 11:34 remaining in the fourth quarter. Cantrell would get the Eagles moving with a 23 yard completion to
Bryson James (Apopka, Fla./Central Florida Christian Academy), and then tried to get the ball to
Beau Burk (Ogilvie, Minn./Ogilvie) who drew a pass interference penalty.
Sivert Klefsaas (Motley, Minn./Staples-Motley) would then finish the drive for UNW with a couple of nice runs. He broke one for eight yards on third down to get his team down to the four yard line, and then finished it himself with a four yard touchdown run; his first of the season. This cut the Eagles' deficit to 38-10.
Augsburg would cash in for touchdowns on their final two drives of the game and won the contest by a score of 52-10.
Caden Cantrell (Snowflake, Ariz./Snowflake) completed 14 of his 31 passes and ended with 179 yards through the air. The sophomore quarterback spread the ball around throughout the game, completing passes to seven different pass catchers.
Beau Burk (Ogilvie, Minn./Ogilvie) led the Eagles in receiving with 7 catches for 80 yards, as
Ren Hamann (St. Michael-Albertville, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville) and
Bryson James (Apopka, Fla./Central Florida Christian Academy) each gained big chunks of yardage when they caught the football. Hamann finished with 2 catches for 46 yards and James had 2 catches for 38 yards.
Sievert Klefsaas led the Eagles with 10 carries for 40 yards and the team's lone touchdown, while
Jeremiah Staten (South Elgin, Ill./Wheaton Academy) was the other key piece in the rushing attack finishing with 9 carries for 33 yards.
Jayden Goodwin (New Richmond, Wis./Saint Croix Central) led the Eagles' defense with nine tackles and two pass breakups.
Jeffrey Markvicka II (Brooklyn Center, Minn./Fridley) finished with seven tackles and
Brad Kulinski (Milwaukee, Wis./Martin Luther) added six. Three different Eagles added four tackles apiece.
Next Saturday, September 9
th, marks the Eagles' home opener at Reynolds Field. UNW will host Concordia-Wisconsin as they look to bounce back and pick up their first victory of the 2023 campaign. Tickets can be purchased online at unweagles.com.
