No.15 Northwestern College scored 24 unanswered points in the second quarter to earn a 31-24 road win over No.19 Doane in a GPAC match-up held at Papik Field in Crete, Neb. The Red Raiders move to 5-1 in GPAC play, 7-1 overall, while Doane drops to 2-3 in the conference, 4-3 overall.
The win snaps a two game losing skid against the Tigers and also marks the first time Northwestern won in Crete since 2010, ending a three-game road losing streak.
Trailing 21-7 after Doane scored a touchdown early in the second quarter, Northwestern scored 24 straight points over the final 14 minutes to take a 31-21 lead at the half.
Tyson Kooima connected with
J.C. Koerselman for an 11-yard touchdown pass, a play that completed a nine-play, 74-yard drive, to begin the rally.
The Raider D came up with the next big play as
Blake Eichmann forced a fumble on Doane's first play after the touchdown and
Joey Novotny recovered, giving the Red Raider offense possession at the Tigers 34-yard line. Seven plays later,
Braxton Williams kicked a 23-yard field goal to make the score 21-17 with 8:11 left in the first half. After the Raider D forced Doane to punt after just three plays on its next possession, Kooima led the offense on an eight-play, 60 yard drive capped by a 16-yard touchdown pass to
Jared Nelson, giving NWC its first lead, 24-21.
Following another Doane punt, Kooima hooked up with
Levi TeBrink for an 8-yard touchdown pass to cap the Red Raiders final scoring drive and giving NW a 31-21 halftime lead.
Doane scored the only points in the second half on a Bryce Cooney 30-yard field goal after the Tigers recovered a fumble on the Red Raiders seven-yard line. Both defenses took over thereafter, holding each other to 100-yards of offense in the second half. The Raider D forced three Doane turnovers over the final 30 minutes and also had key fourth down stop on the Tigers' final possession.
Northwestern totaled 23 first downs and 398 yards of total offense, 123 rushing and 275 in the passing game. Kooima completed 23-of-48 passes for 275 yards and matched his career-high with four touchdowns. Koerselman caught a game-high seven passes for 91 yards and a touchdown while TeBrink totaled six catches for 94 yards and scored for the second straight game. Nelson added three catches for 46 yards and two scores and Solberg had four catches for 34 yards.
Jacob Kalogonis recorded his third straight 100-yard game, rushing a season-high 32 times for 136 yards while also catching three passes for 10 yards. Kalogonis now has six 100-yard games this season.
Doane opened the game's scoring with a nine-play, 62 yard drive, finished off with a one-yard pass from Jack Shadley to Brysen Mach. The scoring drive was aided by a roughing the kicker penalty against the Red Raiders. Northwestern came back with its first scoring drive when Kooima completed a six-yard pass to Nelson with 1:29 left in the opening quarter.
The Tigers scored on their next two drives, beginning with a 37-yard touchdown pass from Shadley to Hunter Bradley. Doane then blocked a Red Raider punt, setting up a short field, and Kyle Jensen made it 21-7 with a one-yard run early in the second quarter.
Northwestern's defense forced a season-best six turnovers, led by
Tanner Machacek with nine tackles and a forced fumble. Novotny totaled six tackles and both
Sean Powell and
Jacob Jenness had 5.5 stops.
Jerod Hansen,
Bryce Van Beek an
Preslee Moy all had interceptions.
Doane accounted for 298 yards on offense, led by Shadley with 164 yards passing and two touchdowns. Drew Klein caught six passes for 79 yards and Najee Mustafaa had eight carries for 46 yards.