ST. PAUL – The University of Northwestern overcame a five-game curse on Saturday, coming back from a 21-7 deficit to defeat Greenville College 35-28. After getting run over in the first half, the Eagles kept the Panthers off the scoreboard throughout the final 30 minutes, scoring three touchdowns on offense to beat Greenville at Reynolds Field for the first time. The victory for Northwestern overturned a string of five fourth quarter losses to the Panthers since 2009.
Greenville, who entered the game averaging 330 rushing yards a week, had over 100 yards on the ground before five minutes had ticked off the clock. Jacob Battaglia burst down the sideline on the Panthers' second play from scrimmage in what would be a bulldozing half for the visiting team.
Northwestern picked up a mental takeaway with a fourth-and-one stop of the Panthers on the Eagles' six-yard line, but the Purple and Gold's offense had its struggles early on. Northwestern's first two drives produced just 10 yards, and Greenville blocked and recovered a Kevin Langmade (Prescott, Wis./Prescott) punt in the end zone to make it a 14-0 score with 6:27 still to play in the first quarter.
UNW came into Saturday without injured running back Josh Sinnen (Waconia, Minn./Waconia), and seemed to drop more runners on the depth chart as time went on. Chris Simon-Wallace (Minnetonka, Minn./Minnetonka) went down in the second quarter, then it was Jacob Fettig (Waconia, Minn./Waconia), prompting quarterback Jacob Fletcher(Moorhead, Minn./Park Christian) to take on some footwork of his own with a 17-yard scoring dash that put the Eagles on the board.
As far as the ground game went, Northwestern was finding room on the outside with its sweeps, but Greenville continued to succeed up the middle as the 5-11, 220-pound Nathan Callaway charged up the middle for five and six yards at a time.
Greenville elected to punt only on the rarest of occasions, allowing the Eagles to force the Panthers into more turnovers on downs. After its first quarter stop, UNW again rejected Greenville early in the second, but starting quarterback Eric Northey connected with receiver John Dudley on the next drive to put the Panthers ahead 21-7. Northey was knocked out of the game in Greenville's next effort, and Battaglia stepped in to assume the play-calling duties under center for the rest of the day.
Fletcher hooked up with Joe Sutton (Minneapolis, Minn./Benilde St. Margaret's) for a seven-yard scoring play to put Northwestern back in contention before Greenville used the clock to its advantage in the second quarter, finishing off a 14-play, 76-yard drive 18 seconds before halftime to lead 28-14 at the break.
Northwestern needed a strong start to the second half, facing not only an uphill battle on the scoreboard but also needing to tame its six penalties from the initial 30 minutes of play. The suddenly sustained Eagles squad went 60 yards in its opening drive of the third quarter, with the second of four Fletcher-to-Sutton scoring connections being the 13th play of the charge. Northwestern scored the same way two drives later to even the score at 28-28.
Greenville's production in terms of gained yardage nearly came to a halt as the game went deeper. Linebackers Seth Brown (Forest City, Iowa/Forest City) and Ben Greener (Foley, Minn./Home School) picked up key tackles on two fourth downs to put the ball back into Northwestern's hands, but no stop was bigger than when the Eagles forced the Panthers to punt with 1:28 to go in the game.
With UNW controlling its own fate from here on out, Fletcher went deep on the first play, missing Caleb Couwenhoven(Blaine, Minn./Fridley), but Greenville was charged with a 15-yard pass interference penalty. Fletcher followed with a 14-yard rush and a completed pass for eight yards to put the Eagles on Greenville's 15 yard line. Jesse Donahue(Pine Island, Minn./Pine Island) rushed for five yards to get a first down at the 10 before Northwestern offensive coordinator Bryan Johnson called for a first down fade route that resulted in Sutton's fourth TD catch to win the game.
Greenville got one more shot with 26 seconds remaining, but Kyle Anenson (Chanhassen, Minn./Chanhassen)picked off Battaglia's downfield heave to give the Eagles their first victory over Greenville since 2000.
The Panthers, who had 353 total yards at halftime, were held to just 98 in the second half. Northwestern's 174-yard output at the same time was just one yard off of the Eagles' first half production, but the difference between the two segments seemed monumental. Northwestern had 13 second half first downs compared to just four for Greenville. The Panthers, who went 1-of-3 on fourth down in the first half, struck out in both second half attempts.
Fletcher finished 20-of-34 passing for 194 yards and four touchdowns and no interceptions, connecting with Sutton eight times. The sophomore had 102 yards with all four scores to lead western's receiving corps. In terms of rushing, six different players combined for 153 yards with Fletcher being the Eagles' top runner.
Luke Sommerlot (Pocahontas, Iowa/Pocahontas Area ) had a career-high 18 tackles to pace Northwestern's defense, with Nathan Van Zee (Moose Lake, Minn./Moose Lake) adding 17 as the Eagles linebackers were on their toes all day trying to stop Greenville's run-option offense. After a 106-yard first half, Callaway finished with 133 rushing yards. Battaglia also had a 100-plus yard running day to help the Panthers finish at 273 as a team.
The Eagles' win puts both Northwestern and Greenville at 5-1 in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) standings with the Purple and Gold improving to 6-1 overall. Northwestern, who has played in the confines of its home stadium the last two weeks, will head 500 miles south to Fulton, Missouri next Saturday to face Westminster College in a 1 p.m. kickoff.
Northwestern (Minn.) reverses curse against Greenville in 35-28 win
/seasons/2014/boxscores/20141018_xzkp.xml
2014
Greenville
28
Northwestern (Minn.)
35
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greenville (5-2) | 14 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 28 |
| Northwestern (Minn.) (6-1) | 7 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 35 |
Oct 18, 2014