Jacob Kalogonis rushed for a season-high 196 yards and three touchdowns while an opportunistic Raider D forced four turnovers in leading 5th-ranked Northwestern to a 28-25 win over unbeaten (RV) Doane this afternoon for Homecoming. 

Northwestern improves to 4-0 in the GPAC, 5-0 overall, and Doane drops its first game of the season to fall to 2-1 in league play, 3-1 overall. 

Kalogonis shouldered the load offensively for Head Coach Matt McCarty's squad, totaling 196 yards on 31 carries, averaging over six yards per attempt. The junior became the sixth Red Raider to rush for 3,000 yards in a career and also passed NW Hall-of-Famer Lance Baatz (1992-95) for fifth place all-time with 3,122 career rushing yards. Kalogonis reached the end-zone three times against Doane, scoring on runs of 40, one and two yards, to push his career rushing touchdown total to 30, tying Theo Bartman for eighth place all-time.

The Raider D, best in the GPAC in total yards allowed, gave up 299 yards and forced Doane into four turnovers, intercepting Tigers' quarterback Jack Kalina three times while also recovering a fumbled snap. Northwestern has now held its opponent to under 300 yards of total offense in four of the five games played. 

Battling poor field position and unable to move the ball offensively in the early going, Northwestern fell behind 10-0 in the opening 10 minutes. Following a short Red Raider punt into the wind on their first possession, Doane scored on a four-play, 43-yard drive finished off with a 32-yard pass from Kalina to Cameron Vitosh for a 7-0 lead. Two drives later, the Tigers capitalized on good field position again when Bryce Cooney kicked a 29-yard field goal with 5:20 left in the first quarter. The Raider D twarted another Tigers' drive later in the quarter on a Garrett Sayler interception at the Northwestern 11-yard line.

Still 10-0 early in the second quarter, Cooney missed on a 31-yard field goal attempt to put Doane up even more and gave the Red Raiders possession at their own 20-yard line. Northwestern's offense began to click as they marched 80 yards on just four plays and scored on a 30-yard touchdown pass from Tyson Kooima to Shane Solberg. Kalogonis picked up the first 50 yards of the drive on three straight carries. 

With the momentum back in their favor, the Raider D came up big once again as Noah Van't Hof leaped high into the air and intercepted a Kalina pass at the Northwestern 49-yard line. Three plays later, Kalogonis put Northwestern in front for good with a 40-yard run with eight minutes left in the first half. Following a Doane punt on its next possession, the Red Raiders scored on its third straight possession when Kalogonis punched it in from one-yard out to cap an 11-play, 73-yard drive with just 39 seconds left until halftime. 

Both teams were forced to punt on their opening possessions of the second half. Doane then made it a one-score game when Kalina finished off an eight-play, 31-yard drive with a one-yard run to bring the score to 21-17 with eight minutes left in the third quarter. 

Scoring came to a halt until midway through the fourth quarter when Red Raider defensive end Carter Van Gorp recovered a Doane fumble at the Tigers' 17-yard line. Kalogonis carried the ball three straight times, scoring on a two-yard run to put Northwestern back up by two scores, 28-17. Doane answered with its final touchdown, a 13-yard pass from Kalina to Garrett Sonderup, and following the two-point conversion, trailed 28-25 with just over two minutes remaining. The Tigers had one last drive stall at their own 49-yard line to ensure the Northwestern win.

Northwestern totaled 362 yards on offense, 230 rushing and 132 through the air. Kooima completed 13-of-22 passes for 132 yards and a touchdown and also rushed for 55 yards. Solberg led the receiving corps with five catches for 37 yards and a touchdown. Both Jared Nelson and Cade Moser totaled three catches each.

Defensively, Logan Richard led the way with a career-high nine tackles and also broke up two passes. Sean Powell accounted for eight stops and both Tanner Machacek and Jed Van't Hof totaled seven tackles. Sayler, Bryce Van Beek and Noah Van't Hof all nabbed interceptions.

Kalina led the Doane offense with 217 passing yards and two touchdowns while Vitosh totaled seven catches for 92 yards and a score. Chayton Crow had a big day for the Tigers' defense with 12 tackles, 2.5 for a loss. 

Northwestern will host Dordt next Saturday, Oct. 6, at 1pm.