ST. BONIFACIUS, Minn. - The Martin Luther College football team overcame a slow start to defeat Crown College 35-18 on Saturday. 

The Storm had a dream start to the game, returning an interception for a touchdown on the Knights' opening offensive possession, and then pushing their lead to 12-0 on their next offensive possession on a 33-yard touchdown pass from Jared Gilmore to Ryan Swecker.

The Knights wrestled control away from that point, however, as Carson Oestreich put MLC on the board with a 54-yard run on the next possession, and Joshuah Kren opened the second quarter with a two-yard touchdown run to give the Knights a 14-12 lead.

Oestreich closed the first half with a one-yard scoring run to push the MLC advantage to 21-12 at the break, and then added a fourth-quarter touchdown run of six yards to cap a 35-0 scoring run for the Knights. Prior to Oestreich's fourth quarter score, Zach Arndt caught a 17-yard touchdown pass from Max Nordlie near the end of the third quarter. 

The teams could not have been much different in how they went about their offensive game plans. MLC ran 65 times for 272 yards and four scores, while the Storm attempted only nine rushes (for 33 yards) on the day. 

Crown did all of its damage through the air, throwing for 306 yards but needing 60 attempts to do so. The Knights completed four of 14 passes for 88 yards. Mason Cox led the receivers with 44 yards on one reception. 

Oestreich finished the day with 180 yards and three scores on 26 carries. 

Noah Nordlie led the defensive effort with seven tackles. Aiden Holien and Cooper Knoll each recorded an interception in the win.

MLC improved to 2-4 on the season and 1-1 in UMAC play with the win. Crown fell to 0-4 overall and 0-1 in league play in defeat.

The Knights will return to action next week when they travel to Finlandia on Saturday, October 16, for a game scheduled to kick off at 12 p.m.