Saints are Defeated as the Eagles Soar to the Top

Northwestern College Eagles at College of St. Scholastica Saints
This game between the Northwestern College Eagles and the College of St. Scholastica Saints was designated as the game of the year with its major conference championship implications and D3Football.com also predicted it would be a "Surprisingly Close Game". Both teams had put out strong performances in their first four games of UMAC play and this matchup was perhaps the only obstacle to be overcome on the road to the NCAA Division III Playoffs. The Saints were riding a 17-game UMAC win streak and with a stalwart defense were expected to have a slight upper-hand. Northwestern, formerly an elite team in the UMAC, had gone 11-17 in the last three seasons but came out to play this year and was on the rise after a strong 4-1 start.



(Photo credit to Channing Smith Photography LLC)



Game day finally came in Duluth, MN on a chilly fall day with temperatures in the low 40's and kickoff was at 4:00 pm. By 4:01 pm, the Eagles took a 7-0 lead after a 94 yard kickoff return by Senior WR Brian Lecheler. The next two drives were short and ended with an interception by both teams which ultimately led to a 27 yard field goal by current UMAC FG leader, Saints' K Mike Theismann, making the game 7-3 only four minutes into the game. After a Saints' interception by defensive back Jake Turkowski, neither offense could get the ball moving and each had to punt three consecutive times before halftime came around. With only 78 yards of Saints offense and 116 yards by Northwestern heading into the half, this game was clearly not going to be a high-scoring affair.

(Photo credit to Brooke Krautbauer)

After some rest, adjustments, and halftime pep talks, the teams came out and started the second half in  nearly identical fashion to the way the game began as the opening kickoff was returned for a touchdown. This time however, it was the Saints' Junior WR Cory Gebhard returning the kick 90 yards to the endzone, giving St. Scholastica a 10-7 lead just seconds into the 3rd quarter. Northwestern's offense responded poorly with a quick 3-and-out and punted the ball back to the home team. The Saints started the drive strong and quickly moved the ball into Northwestern territory with a 23 yard Tyler Harper pass to RB Thomas Fragle. However any momentum gained from this drive was quickly lost as a personal foul penalty sent the Saints back across the 50-yard line onto their side of the field. On the next play, a pass to Nick Thiry fell incomplete and although several players and the game announcers were calling for pass interference after some contact, no flag was thrown. On the next play, Harper was under pressure and threw the ball into the waiting arms of Northwestern LB Joey Bauman to end the drive. Three plays and a punt later by each team and the Eagles had the ball at their 19 yard line. Northwestern called nine consecutive run plays to push 31 yards to the Saints 43 yard line, but were unable to convert on 3rd down and were forced to punt it away just as the 4th quarter began.

The Saints began the quarter with a strong drive, making it down to the Northwestern 13 yard line before the Eagles defense stood strong and forced the Saints to bring out their kicker again. After a delay of game penalty, Theismann booted the ball 36 yards through the uprights for his second field goal of the day to give CSS a 13-7 lead with just under nine minutes remaining in the game. Northwestern received the kickoff and began the drive from their 28 yard line. On third down, QB Josh Balzer completed a 23-yard pass to RB Chris Simon-Wallace who crossed over into Saints territory and out of bounds at the 47 yard line to give NWC a fresh set of downs. On the next play, Balzer connected on a screen pass, this time to RB Josh Sinnen who then scampered all the way down to the 10 yard line for a 37-yard gain. Three plays later, the Eagles RB Tim Youtzy found himself in the endzone after a 1-yard rush to tie the game at 13-13 before an Ethan Zepp extra-point gave Northwestern the lead with 5:37 remaining on the clock.



(Photo credit to Channing Smith Photography LLC)



After a touchback on the kickoff, St. Scholastica appeared to be ready to take back the lead and had the Eagles defense on their heels as they quickly moved out to midfield and with a effective no-huddle offense. Unfortunately, the drive was brought to an abrupt halt as Tyler Harper connected again with Northwestern LB Joey Bauman for his third interception thrown on the day. With 2:39 remaining, the clock was now the biggest opponent of the Saints as Northwestern's powerful running game moved the ball down the field and despite three Saints timeouts, worked the clock down to all zeroes to give the Eagles a 14-13 victory and snap the Saints 17-game UMAC winning streak. As the clock expired, the Northwestern players leapt for joy and celebrated the huge victory with each other, while the Saints players wandered back to their sidelines stunned as the implications of the loss sunk in. Northwestern continues to be undefeated in conference play on the year and will head to St. Bonifacius, MN to face the Crown College Storm next week. St. Scholastica will have a long road trip down to Missouri to take on the Westminster College Blue Jays and attempt to begin a new conference winning streak.