Jacob Kalogonis rushed for over 100 yards and Tyson Kooima accounted for three touchdowns in leading seventh-ranked Northwestern to a 28-10 road win over Valley City State in its season opener played this afternoon in Valley City, N.D. 

Northwestern improved to 37-21-1 all-time in season openers and 7-0 all-time against Valley City State. 

Kalogonis rushed 27 times for 124 yards and a touchdown, eclipsing 100+ yards for the 13th time in his career. The junior averaged over four yards per carry and also caught one pass for 19 yards. The passing  game was just as effective as Kooima competed 15-of-28 attempts for 266 yards and two scores while adding 43 yards rushing and a score. 

After a scoreless first quarter, Northwestern grabbed control with a pair of touchdowns in the second to take a 14-0 lead into halftime. Kalogonis accounted for the first touchdown on a four-yard scamper that finished off an eight-play, 54-yard drive with 8:45 left until halftime. The Raider D then forced its second consecutive Vikings' three-and-out and gave possession back to their offense near midfield. Seven plays later, Kooma connected with junior tight end Josh Fakkema for a four-yard score and a two touchdown lead. The Red Raiders converted a crucial 4th-and-one on the drive with a Kalogonis two-yard run.

Valley City State capitalized on a Northwestern turnover, its second of the game, at the start of the third quarter when they put together seven play, 37-yard scoring drive capped with a two-yard run by Louis Quinones. Leading 14-7, the Red Raider offense got back on track with an impressive 80-yard drive later in the quarter that Kooima put an exclamation point on with a seven-yard touchdown run. The host Vikings came right back with their final scoring drive when Landon Arredondo converted a 35-yard field goal attempt, cutting the Northwestern lead to 20-10 with 51 seconds left in the third. 

Northwestern put the game away with Kooima's final touchdown pass, a 29-yarder to freshman wideout Cade Moser, the first scoring grab of his career, that completed a five-play, 45-yard drive with 10 minutes left to go.

The Red Raiders dominated the stats line, totaling 443 yards compared to 241 yards by Valley City State. Northwestern had the advantage in first downs (22-13), rushing yards (177-72), passing yards (266-169) and time of possession (32-28). 

Kooima completed passes to six different receivers, led by both Canon Flores and Shane Solberg with four catches each. Jared Nelson totaled three catches for a team-high 98 yards.

Defensively, Northwestern was impressive, forcing Valley City State to punt eight times and registering three quarterback sacks. Junior linebacker Sean Powell made a career-high 18 tackles and totaled 1.5 sacks while Garrett Sayler had seven tackles. Jed Van't Hof and Colin Snyder recorded the other sacks for Northwestern. 

The Red Raiders will make a return trip to North Dakota next weekend as they open GPAC play on the road against the University of Jamestown.