ST. PAUL - The Martin Luther College football team earned its first win over Northwestern-St. Paul since 2009 on Friday by the score of 21-6.

The Knights dominated the first half, building a 21-0 lead as the defense forced two turnovers and held the Eagles to 88 total yards.

Austin DeNoyer accounted for the first two MLC scores. He scored on a four-yard run on the Knights' opening drive to give MLC a 7-0 lead, and then pushed that lead to 14-0 with 6:56 to play in the second quarter on a 34-yard touchdown reception.

Zach Bloomquist tossed that second-quarter touchdown to DeNoyer, and then added the team's third score late in the second quarter with a three-yard touchdown run.

The Knights remained ahead by 21 until late in the third quarter when the Eagles struck for a 70-yard touchdown pass.

Defense ruled in the fourth quarter, as both teams forced turnovers in their own territory to keep the score clean in the final 15 minutes as the Knights closed out the win.

DeNoyer finished the day as the team's leading rusher (92 yards on 19 carries) and receiver (seven catches for 61 yards). Elliott Butler added 18 carries for 66 yards, helping the Knights finished the day with 242 rushing yards against the stingy UNW defense.

The MLC defense forced four turnovers in the game. Grant Freese recovered a fumble inside the MLC 10-yard line in the second quarter to help keep the Eagles off the scoreboard, and Ian Paulsen forced a fumble in UNW territory shortly after that led to Bloomquist's rushing score. Jared Witkowiak and Ben Arndt each recorded second-half interceptions.

The win marked the sixth in a row by the Knights this season, setting a new program record for the longest winning streak in a season. 

MLC improved to 6-1 on the season and 5-0 in league play with the win. UNW fell to 3-5 overall and 3-3 in UMAC play in defeat.

The Knights will return to action on Saturday, October 27, when they travel to Minnesota Morris.