ST. BONIFACIUS, Minn. - The Martin Luther College football team secured its second consecutive Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) championship with a 53-20 win at Crown College on Saturday.

The Knights clinched the conference's automatic qualifier into the NCAA Division III Championships and at least a share of the conference title last week with a win at MacMurray, but this week earned that honor all to itself with its 16th consecutive win in league play dating back to the start of the 2018 season.

MLC won Saturday's game with a record-breaking performance on the ground as it set a new school single-game record with 522 yards rushing on 54 attempts. Both Austin DeNoyer (15 carries, 217 yards and three touchdowns) and Joshuah Kren (nine carries, 214 yards and two touchdowns) went over 200 yards on the ground in the game, and Kren also added a 26-yard touchdown reception.

With those totals, DeNoyer broke his own MLC single-season record for rushing yards with 1,298 (previous record was 1,086), while Kren pushed his season total for rushing yards to 1,010 to give the Knights two runners with at least 1,000 yards for the first time in program history. 

Kren also broke the MLC single-season record for all-purpose yards with 1,484. DeNoyer set the previous mark with 1,442 yards in 2018.

The Knights jumped out to a 28-0 lead thanks to long touchdowns by Kren (70, 26 and 54 yards) and DeNoyer (63 yards), but the Storm was able to cut the deficit to 34-20 in the third quarter.

DeNoyer put the game away in the fourth quarter, scoring twice on runs of 12 and one yard, and Brice Guse added the final points with a five-yard score with just under four minutes to play. 

Ethan Aguilar finished the day completing seven of 10 passes for 93 yards and one score. 

The defense held the Storm to only 41 yards rushing and also forced a pair of turnovers. Ian Paulsen led the charge on defense with eight tackles, including three tackles for loss. Joe Herrewig and Matt Baehman each recorded an interception. 

MLC improved to 9-1 on the season and 8-0 in UMAC play with the win. Crown fell to 3-7 overall and 2-6 in league play in defeat.

The Knights will learn their opponent in the first round of the NCAA Division III Championships tomorrow (Sunday, November 17) during the selection show that will be posted at 4:30 p.m.