Box Score

Northwestern College totaled a season-high 556 yards in earning a 42-6 home win over Briar Cliff in a GPAC match-up played tonight under the lights of DeValois Stadium. The win improves the Red Raiders to 1-1 in conference play, 1-3 overall. 

Photo gallery: vs Briar Cliff

Jonathan Kodama completed 21-of-27 passes for a career-high 336 yards and three touchdowns. The senior eclipsed 300 yards for the second time this season. T.J. Spykstra caught a pair of touchdowns, Paul Hutson scored a pair of rushing touchdowns and the freshman Jacob Kalagonis reached the endzone for his first career touchdown to highlight the Red Raider offense.

Sam Van Ginkel registered one of the Raider D's three sacks on the day and in doing so, became the program's all-time leader with 30.5 for his career, breaking the old mark (30) set by Riley Kleinhesselink in 2001.

Northwestern scored on its second possession when, following a short Chargers' punt, Hutson scored on a 19-yard run on just the second play of the drive for a 6-0 lead. The Raider D forced BCU into a 3-and-out and scored a safety after a botched snap on the punt attempt rolled into the endzone.

Following the kickoff, the Red Raiders marched down the field via back-to-back completions from Kodama to tight end Levi Ettleman, setting up a five-yard touchdown run by Kalagonis. Northwestern converted its two-point conversion on a pass from Conner Delfs to Ettleman for a 16-0 lead. 

The Raider D came up with a big play on BCU's next possession as Tanner Machacek forced and recovered a fumble on a quarterback sack at the Chargers' 25-yard line. Six plays later, Hutson scored his second touchdown, this time on a one-yard run to make the score 23-0 at the end of the first quarter.

Briar Cliff turned the ball over on downs on its next drive and the Red Raider offense capitalized, scoring five plays later on a 19-yard pass from Kodama to Jared Nelson. Northwestern added a touchdown on its final drive of the first half, going 77 yards on just three plays, highlighted by a 25-yard scoring toss to Spykstra for a 35-0 lead. 

Northwestern dominated on both sides of the ball in the opening half, accounting for nearly 300 yards of offense and limiting BCU to under 100 yards. 

The Red Raider offense finalized their scoring when Kodama connected with Spykstra for a 28-yard reception with two minutes left in the third quarter. Briar Cliff scored its only touchdown at the 13-minute mark of the fourth quarter on a 15-yard pass from Jared Ford to Noah Ylagan. 

Northwestern gained 147 yards rushing and 409 yards through the air, averaging 7.8 yards per play. Kalagonis rushed 11 times for 61 yards and a score while Hutson carried the ball 12 times for 53 yards and two scores. Ettleman set a career-high with seven catches for 122 yards, as did Reggie Carter with six catches for 77 yards. Spykstra added five receptions for 105 yards and two touchdowns. 

The Raider D limited BCU to 236 yards and a mere 3.4 yards per play. Josh Treybal led the defensive effort with six total stops and a sack while both Machacek and Blake Eichmann totaled 4.5 tackles. Machacek and Sam Van Ginkel registered sacks. 

Jared Ford completed 17-of-36 pass attempts for 206 yards and a touchdown. Briar Cliff was held to 30 yards rushing on 34 attempts. The Chargers fall to 0-2 in the GPAC, 1-4 overall.