New Ulm, MN - For a third consecutive week the MLC football game went down to the final few possessions in the fourth quarter and while the Knights had success pulling off the previous two games with wins, Saturday's home game against Northwestern didn't go in favor of MLC as the Eagles won 24-17.

MLC had two critical fumbles near the red zone in the second and third quarters as the Knights were positioned to at least get a field goal on either drive to take the lead, but the Eagles defense came up with two big fumble recoveries. 

MLC was first to reach to the end zone as Arthur Robinson punched it in from the 1-yard line that was set up by a 38-yard pass completion from Brady Turriff to Benjamin Vasold. With the Knights up 7-0, Northwestern came back methodically themselves to tie it up 7-7 after a 9-play 84-yard touchdown drive.

The MLC pass rush made a big difference in the first half especially, pressuring the Northwestern quarterback, Basil Demco, on many of his dropbacks.

After heading into halftime up 10-7, Northwestern was the first squad to score in the second half as the Eagles responded to their forced fumble with a quick drive that resulted in a 15-yard touchdown pass from Demco to Braeden Little to make it 17-7.

Despite the deficit, MLC didn't fold and scored 10 unanswered points to tie things up at 17-17. On the touchdown drive, Turriff was in rhythm with his receivers to get the Knights into the redzone. The Knights were able to cash it in with a 17-yard touchdown scamper from Robinson on the outside on 4th down and 2.

MLC had looked like they could score another touchdown on their next offensive possession after the defense forced Northwestern to punt, but the Eagles prevented that near the goal line as the Knights were forced to kick a 24-yard field goal from Micah Koschnitzke. 

The ensuing drive, Northwestern was fueled by Demco and the quarterback made plays happen including a pair of long scrambles which ultimately gave his the team the win over the Knights when the senior ran it in from 13 yards.

MLC had an opportunity to send the game into overtime, but Northwestern got a turnover on downs with the Knights at the 12-yard line of the Eagles.

Turriff passed for 252 yards through the air and his top target of the day was Vasold, who reeled in eight receptions for a career-best 137 yards. Thomas Koelpin grabbed five passes for 65 yards.

Ethan Melso led the Knights with nine tackles as Jeremiah Stanton and Carson Burow each finished with seven stops. Andrew Esmay returned from injury and was active as a pass rusher, finishing with five tackles (1 TFL). Tyler Case and Nathan Schmidt were also disruptive in the front seven with five tackles as well.

MLC will now go on the road to face Crown College, where they will have a chance to avenge its earlier loss to the Polars. The Knights will play them at 1 p.m. on Saturday, November 8.