NEW ULM, Minn. - The Martin Luther College football team overcame three turnovers, nine penalties and a power outage to defeat Minnesota Morris 14-7 in Saturday's annual Homecoming Game.
The Knights dominated the stat sheet, out-gaining the Cougars 393-181, more than doubling them in first downs (23-11), and running 89 offensive snaps compared to 53 for UMM. Three first half fumbles and costly penalties on offense that stalled drives in the red zone, however, kept the Cougars within striking distance.
Trailing 7-0 early in the second quarter,
Nate Stein capped a seven-play, 75-yard drive with a seven-yard rushing touchdown to tie the game at 7-7 heading into the second half.
The Knights took control in the third quarter thanks to an
Ian Paulsen touchdown toss to Josh Schroeder to give MLC a 14-7 lead with 7:51 remaining in the quarter.
The defense took over from there, allowing only 58 yards rushing on 22 carries while also holding UMM to 120 yards passing on 31 attempts.
Late in the fourth quarter, a power surge knocked out power on in a large area of the city, including the entire MLC campus. With the Cougars driving and the referees keeping the time on the field in the final two minutes,
Jared Witkowiak clinched the win for MLC with a leaping interception in the corner of the end zone, allowing the Knights to kneel on the ball to run out the clock.
Josh VonDeylen and
Tristan Pankow led the MLC defensive charge with 10 and eight tackles, respectively, while
Keith Brassow and
Jacob Schmidt each recorded one sack.
Daniel Gensmer recorded 1.5 tackles for loss and blocked a punt in the first half.
Paulsen led the offensive effort in his first start at quarterback this season. The sophomore left-hander ran for 95 yards on 22 carries, and also completed 15 of 29 passes for 195 yards and one touchdown.
Joshua Arndt was his leading receiver, catching six passes (all in the first half) for 106 yards. With the Cougars paying more attention to Arndt in the second half, the Knights were able to get things going on the ground with Stein (63 yards on 21 carries) and
Josh Wong (42 yards on 11 carries). Schroeder caught five passes for 34 yards and one score, while
Michael Radue finished with three catches for 45 yards.
MLC improved to 4-2 on the season and 3-2 in UMAC play with the win. UMM fell to 1-5 overall and 1-4 in league play in defeat.
The Knights will return to action on Saturday, October 14, when they travel to St. Scholastica for a game scheduled to kick off at 4:30 p.m.
