St. Norbert 28, Carroll 7
DE PERE, Wis. - St. Norbert College kept a pair of lengthy winning streaks alive with a 28-7 win over Carroll University in a Midwest Conference game at a windswept Kolstad Field at Schneider Stadium.
The Green Knights (4-3, 4-2 MWC) won their 15th consecutive game in the series with Carroll (5-2, 4-2) dating back to 1996. St. Norbert also won its 13th straight Homecoming game, a skein dating back to 1999.
Both teams' offenses sputtered in a heavy crosswind that blew anywhere from 25 to 40 miles per hour through the game. Each team had 13 first downs and St. Norbert won the total offense battle with 274 yards to the Pioneers' 251 yards.
St. Norbert took a 7-0 lead late in the first quarter when Mike Fabrizio found a streaking Logan Krueger on a 49-yard touchdown pass with 4 minutes 5 seconds left in the quarter. Carroll answered with 49 seconds left in the period on a 28-yard touchdown run by Joe Beckstrand to knot the score 7-7.
Each team then traded four possessions each where neither squad gained a first down. The Green Knights crafted a nine-play 62-yard drive finished off by a 4-yard touchdown pass from Fabrizio to Krueger just 39 seconds before intermission.
St. Norbert took the opening kickoff of the second half and went 60 yards in just six plays, with Fabrizio hitting Joe Green on a 7-yard touchdown pass at the 11:52 mark. The Pioneers had stopped St. Norbert at third-and-goal from the 2 but the visitors opted to enforce an illegal formation penalty. With the extra room to operate, Fabrizio connected with Green on a slant route for the score.
The Green Knights salted the game away on the third play of the fourth quarter, when Fabrizio hit Krueger for the third time on a 5-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-1.
Fabrizio matched a career high with four touchdown passes, completing 12 of 26 passes for 128 yards. Craig Fagan rushed 19 times for 112 yards. Krueger caught five passes for 76 yards.
Beckstrand led Carroll with 89 yards rushing on 20 carries. Ryan Young completed 14 of 33 passes for 95 yards. Carroll had a whopping 20 third-down opportunities, and converted five.
Josh Vanden Heuvel paced St. Norbert's defense with 12 tackles, while Brian Feltz and Ben Nantell each had 10 stops. The Green Knights finished with nine passes defensed, with Austin Arts totaling three and Dan Sjoquist and Ryan Pepin two apiece.
