ST. PAUL -- Despite a 30 minute delayed start and a persistent Martin Luther College offense, the University of Northwestern made the necessary adjustments in the second half to defeat the Knights 41-27 to remain unbeaten in 2014. Martin Luther ate 34 minutes off of the clock, using its conservative, yet effective run-based offense to lead 20-13 at halftime, but UNW (3-0, 2-0 UMAC) came back with 28 points in the final 30 minutes, finding a way to stop the Knights on defense while finding the end zone four times to ultimately win by 14.
Behind the current Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Offensive Player of the Week Luke Rothe, Martin Luther looked in control throughout the first half. Rothe guided his team on a 12-play, seven-minute scoring drive to start the game, adding a 14-play, eight-minute charge in the second half. The Knights, who ran 31 times in the initial half, kept the Eagles guessing as to who had the ball with Rothe, Dan Rodewald and Matt Olson using direct snaps and tricky handoffs. While Northwestern was able to answer most of Martin Luther's strikes on offense, the defense struggled to get off the field.
Josh Sinnen (Waconia, Minn./Waconia) crossed the goal line twice in the first half before Northwestern trailed by a touchdown at the break. Sinnen's number was called again on UNW's first drive of the third quarter to cap off a nine-play, 61-yard drive to even the score. The Eagles caught a break with a Rothe fumble three plays later, and Jacob Fettig(Waconia, Minn./Waconia) made it count with a touchdown that put the home team up 26-20.
Martin Luther answered with another lengthy drive on 13 plays, but UNW responded with a 75-yard push that ultimately put the Purple and Gold – who wore their road whites – up for good. The Eagles defense was starting to find some success of its own, forcing the Knights to punt on the next possession before Fettig's third touchdown of the day with 3:45 to go sealed the deal for Northwestern.
Both teams rushed for at least 240 yards, with Northwestern finishing with 302 yards on the ground. Sinnen rushed 15 times for 118 yards and three touchdowns while Chris Simon-Wallace (Minnetonka, Minn./Minnetonka) added 90 yards on 14 carries. Fettig made the most of his goal line scampers as the sophomore rushed just four times with three of them going for scores. Quarterback Jacob Fletcher (Moorhead, Minn./Park Christian) only threw eight passes, completing five of them for a mere 65 yards, but kept the Eagles alive on third down (8-9).
Defensively for UNW, Nathan Van Zee (Moose Lake, Minn./Moose Lake) was in on 10 tackles, while six different Eagles had a tackle for a loss.
Rothe led Martin Luther (1-2, 0-2 UMAC) with 91 yards rushing and 50 yards passing. Nick Kressin had 10 tackles for the Knights, adding a first quarter interception off of Fletcher.
Northwestern will take its undefeated mark on the road next week for yet another night game, this time across town at Crown College in St. Bonifacius, Minn. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Klein Bank Stadium.
Notes: Northwestern student Jake Knotek won free tuition for a year, valued at 28,390, at Saturday's "Football Frenzy" event at halftime. Randomly selected, Knotek passed, punted and kicked his way through the uprights to become the third student to win the contest in its 13th year. Watch highlights from Knotek's tuition-winning halftime event here.
Second half adjustments lift Northwestern (Minn.) over Martin Luther
/seasons/2014/boxscores/20140920_viun.xml
2014
Martin Luther
27
Northwestern (Minn.)
41
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Martin Luther (1-2) | 13 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 27 |
| Northwestern (Minn.) (3-0) | 6 | 7 | 13 | 15 | 41 |
Sep 20, 2014