Week 5 Game Recaps

Martin Luther College Knights at Eureka College Red Devils

This matchup between two of the middle-of-the-pack teams in the UMAC was expected to be a close game. And in most closely competed games, the team who makes fewer mistakes pulls out the victory. That theory held true in this game as Eureka converted three Martin Luther turnovers into 13 points and won the game 22-12. Both teams committed 10 penalties each and Eureka had more yards punting (275) than total offense (248) so there were few, if any, good offensive statistics in this game. But on defense, the Knights did have three players with double digit tackles, led by 15 from Senior DB Benjamin Olson. The Red Devils improve to 4-2 and are now tied for 2^nd place in the UMAC.

Presentation College Saints at Crown College Storm

The Storm picked up their second win of the year over the Saints in a sloppy 41-20 win. With 7 turnovers and nearly 200 yards in penalties between the teams, its obvious that there is a lot of work still needing to be done by these young teams. Leading Crown to victory was RB Amos Schmidt who put up 139 yards rushing and 2 TDs, but this was done on 43 rushing attempts for an average of only 3.2 yards per carry. QB Wes Safford also contributed with 244 yards through the air but with only a 38% completion percentage. Crown will need to improve its offensive efficiency if it hopes to be competitive in the UMAC the rest of the season.

MacMurray College Highlanders at Greenville College Panthers

The Highlanders did not come away from Greenville with a win, but they did play surprisngly well and showed they do have some fight left in them as they only lost to the Panthers 34-27. Greenville's running game was effective as always, putting up 316 yards rushing with two RBs - Immanuel Gamble and Steven Glover - surpassing the 100-yard mark. On the other side of the ball, MacMurray had its first 100 yard rushing game of the season as RB Patrick Hall accumulated 140 yards and a score while Highlander WR Deshonta Smallwood had an impressive game receiving with 4 catches for 134 yards and 3 touchdowns. If MacMurray can keep up this improved play, they may be able to snap their 6 game losing streak as the struggling Westminster Blue Jays come into town after a bye week for MacMurray. Greenville moves to 3-1 in conference play and heads up to New Ulm, MN next week to face Martin Luther College.

Westminster College Blue Jays at University of Minnesota-Morris Cougars

The Cougars two-quarterback led offense has struggled to be effective all year, but whatever adjustments they made this week made a difference as QBs Derrick Foss and Daniel Gerrigan combined for 316 yards on 22 of 37 passing for 5 TDs and 0 interceptions. Most of their yards went to Junior WR Brendan Foss as he amassed 182 yards and 3 TDs on 12 receptions. Defensively, the Cougars pounced on the Blue Jays running game and recorded 9 tackles in the backfield and limited the Westminster running game to -5 yards. Without a run game, the Blue Jays were forced to pass the ball and although they gained 246 yards through the air, they were fairly predictable and only averaged 5 yards per passing play and threw 3 interceptions. Both teams now stand at 3-3 overall.