Box Score

Northwestern College came up just short in its upset bid against No.5 Morningside, falling 14-13 to the Mustangs this afternoon at Olson Field in Sioux City, Iowa.

Trailing 14-7, Northwestern's defense forced the Mustangs to punt for a GPAC-record 14th and final time, giving the Red Raider offense the ball at the Morningside 44-yard line with 3:34 left to play. Seven plays later, Jacob Kalogonis scored on a 1-yard run to make the score 14-13 with 1:43 left on the clock. Craig Bruinsma helped set up the score with a clutch 33-yard pass to Jared Nelson on third down giving the Red Raiders a first down. 

Down one, Northwestern elected to go for two but Bruinsma's pass fell incomplete as Morningside held on to its one point lead. The Mustangs recovered the ensuing onside kick and the outstanding effort by Northwestern came up a bit short.

Northwestern outgained Morningside by nearly 100 yards (349-259) and held the advantage in both first downs (18-11) and time of possession (31-29). The Mustangs, however, took advantage of six Northwestern turnovers which led to all 14 of Morningside's points. 

The Raider D was dominant all game long, limiting the Mustang's top scoring offense to 41 points and nearly 400 yards below their per game average. Northwestern registered four sacks, one each by Sam Van Ginkel, Josh Treybal, Nick Acoba and Jed Vant' Hof. They also recorded three turnovers and forced Morningside into eight, 3-and-outs. The 14 points scored by Morningside was the lowest since the final game of the 2013 season.

Scoreless after the first quarter, Morningside's defense came up a big play as Luke Gibbs intercepted a Jonathan Kodama pass and returned it 73 yards for a touchdown. The scored remained 7-0 until midway into the fourth quarter when Morningside scored again off one of the craziest plays of the season. Mustangs running back Tyler Kavan fumbled after a 23-yard gain and was picked up by Northwestern defensive back Donavan Weldon, who returned it 39 yards before attempting a lateral to a teammate but was recovered by Kavan, who scampered 59 yards for the unbelievable touchdown and a 14-0 lead.

Down but not out, Northwestern's offense responded with an impressive 5-play, 81-yard drive capped by a 42-yard touchdown pass from Kodama to Levi TeBrink. Kodama also completed passes to Reggie Carter (23 yards) and Sean Kleinwolterink (18 yards) on the drive. 

The Raider defense came up big one last time, forcing Morningside to punt after three plays, setting up the final scoring drive for NWC. 

Kalogonis led the Northwestern offense with 22 carries for 117 yards and a score. The freshman finished the season with 831 rushing yards, averaging nearly six yards per carry. Kodama completed 14-of-38 passes for 198 yards and one touchdown against four interceptions. Carter caught four passes for 59 yards and both Kleinwolterink and TeBrink totaled two catches each.

Kavan led Morningside with 25 carries for 98 yards and a touchdown while Trent Solsma completed 18-of-33 passes for 163 yards.

Acoba led the Raider D with seven tackles and both Logan Richard and Brad Gaudy recorded a career-best six tackles. Van Ginkel closed his career with 39.5 sacks, both a GPAC and school record. Northwestern ends the season with a 4-4 GPAC record, 4-6 overall. Morningside improves to 8-0, 9-1 overall.