ST. PAUL - The Martin Luther College football team showed progress on both sides of the ball in a 38-20 defeat at undefeated Northwestern on Saturday.

UNW entered the game without allowing a point in its first three games, and the Knights finished with a season high in points (20), rushing yards (228), passing yards (155), total offense (383) and first downs (22).

The Eagles raced out to an early 10-0 lead after returning the opening kickoff for an 85-yard touchdown, and then adding a field goal later in the first half, but the Knights cut the deficit to 10-7 going into the half following an 11-yard touchdown pass from T.J. Babinec to Joshua Arndt.

After a UNW score to push the lead to 17-7, Babinec once again hooked up with Arndt for a touchdown on fourth down to cut the deficit back to three at 17-14 with just under four minutes to play in the third quarter.

The Eagles took control from that point, scoring three straight touchdowns (including one on an interception return in MLC territory) to put the game away.

Babinec finished 11-21 passing for 155 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. He also ran a team-high 23 times for 80 yards and one touchdown.

MLC finished with 228 yards on the ground. Nate Stein led the way with 18 carries for 95 yards. Josh Arndt finished with 74 yards receiving and two touchdowns on four receptions, while Ian Paulsen caught five passes for 69 yards.

Defensively, the Knights held the Eagles to three touchdown drives. Chris Dean and Nate Lindloff each finished with nine tackles, while Nate Wong and Josh VonDeylen each added eight. 

MLC fell to 0-4 on the season and 0-3 in UMAC play in defeat. UNW improved to 4-0 overall and 3-0 in conference with the win.

The Knights will return home to host St. Scholastica in the Homecoming game on Saturday, October 1. That game is scheduled to kick off at 2 p.m.