NEW ULM, Minn. - The Martin Luther College football team showed its quality in all three phases in a 49-0 shutout win over Minnesota Morris on Saturday.

The Knights honored their 14 seniors before the game as they prepared to play at home for the final time in their career, and the veterans did not disappoint once the game started.

The defense that features eight senior starters held the Cougars to only 57 yards on 47 plays en route to the Knights' first defensive shutout since the 2015 season opener against Maranatha Baptist. UMM ran for a first down on the second play of the game, but did not record another first down until the final minute of the fourth quarter. 

On offense, the Cougars tried to commit defenders to stop the running game, which opened up space for quarterback Ethan Aguilar to make plays down the field. 

Aguilar opened the scoring with a 49-yard touchdown pass to Joshuah Kren, and then hit Benjamin Hodel for a pair of second quarter scores to push the lead to 21-0.

Kren and Austin DeNoyer added rushing scores later in the second quarter, and Aguilar opened the second half with an eight-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 42-0.

Micah Otto finished the scoring with 7:46 to play in the third quarter when he recovered a fumbled punt snap and ran down the sideline for a 59-yard touchdown on fourth down and nine.

Aguilar finished the day 11-14 passing for 229 yards and three scores. DeNoyer led the Knights with 85 yards on 12 carries, while Kren caught two passes for 103 yards.

Seniors CJ Fury and Jonah Schlomer led the defense with six tackles apiece. Fury also finished with 2.0 tackles for loss and one forced fumble. Cornerbacks Ben Arndt and Aiden Holien each recorded one interception, while Ben Riegsecker, Tristan Pankow and Keith Brassow each had one sack.

MLC improved to 7-1 on the season and 6-0 in UMAC play with the win. UMM fell to 1-7 overall and 1-5 in league play in defeat.

The Knights will return to action on Saturday, November 9, when they travel to MacMurray for a game scheduled to start at 12 p.m.