NEW ULM, Minn. - MLC football returns from a two-game road trip to host Crown in the team's seventh game.

Inside the Matchup
MLC has a 17-11 program record vs. Crown since 2000. However, the Polars have won the last three meetings between the teams, including a Week 3 nonconference game earlier this year.

That game featured two big offensive plays for Crown that wound up making the difference. The first was an 87-yard touchdown strike on third-and-8 after quarterback Zach Brown extended the play with his legs and found Jakhari Jones open down the middle of the field in the first quarter. The second came on the Polars' game-winning drive in the fourth quarter. Brown once again evaded pressure to connect with Teegan Bartok down the left sideline. 

"The plan is in place and our guys have had more reps at executing it against mobile quarterbacks," coach Paul Huebner said. "It'll always be a challenge to contain the quarterbacks that we see week to week." 

First Win of the Season
The Knights earned their first win of the season last week at Minnesota Morris, jumping out to a 21-7 lead before watching it evaporate against a pesky Morris defense that forced multiple second-half turnovers. MLC bounced back and went on a 70-yard game-winning drive capped off by a 20-yard Gabriel Nottling field goal.

"Being resilient and knowing that the other team is going to make some plays," Huebner said. "There's good football players on every team in the UMAC and you just have to respond, focus on what's important now on [the next] snap."

Brady Turriff threw for 216 yards, which included a 12-yard touchdown to Nottling in the first half. Turriff also caught a TD pass on a trick play in the third quarter on a pass from Benjamin Vasold. Arthur Robinson put together a 117-yard day on the ground; he scored as well.

Nottling's day also included 3-for-3 on PATs, two punts inside the 20 and three touchback kick-offs, all of which helped him earn UMAC special teams athlete of the week recognition.

Turriff leads the UMAC in passing and Vasold leads the conference in receiving while Robinson sits second in rushing.

Crown in UMAC Play
The Polars share the same record as the Knights in conference play with their lone win also coming at Morris, 24-23 back on Oct. 3. Since then, Crown has dropped games to Westminster (30-14) and Greenville (27-12).

Crown is fifth in the UMAC in scoring offense (14 ppg) and fourth in scoring defense (28.7 ppg allowed), but sit last in both yards per game (221.3) and yards allowed per game (405.8).

The Polars boast one of the most disruptive players in the UMAC in Jakalyn Roy, who leads the conference in tackles for loss (10) and sacks (4.5).