The NWC football team played with intensity in the Oct. 3 match-up against Macalester College, and that intensity paid off with a 31-7 win over the Scots.

Senior Kyle Thomforde tore up the turf on the opening play when he returned the kick-off for an exciting 86-yard touchdown.

Not long after Thomforde’s kick-off return, senior Ryan Long tacked on another six points when he ran four yards for a touchdown. Cody Crum capped off the play with a successful PAT, and the Eagles took a two-possession advantage.

Thomforde proved instrumental again in the second quarter when he drove 68 yards for a third Eagles’ touchdown.

Even Crum got in on the TD action when received an 11-yard pass from senior Zach Tarter to give NWC a 28-0 lead heading into halftime.

Entering the third quarter, Macalester team member Mike Snavely bagged the Scots’ only seven points of the game. The Eagles’ opponents committed four turnovers in their struggle on Reynolds Field.

Despite having a smaller possession time, NWC outplayed Macalaster overall. The Eagles boasted 190 rushing yards to the Scot’s 40 and took advantage on total yards with 376 to Macalester’s 298.

Tarter tallied 176 passing yards and one pass TD for the game, and Thomforde ended his game with five catches for 62 yards.

Northwestern met up with Martin Luther College for its homecoming. Both teams came into the game with a record of having high-scoring games, but this was not the case on Saturday when each left the field in single digits.

The Eagles fell to Martin Luther with a final score of 9-7. Unfortunately, Northwestern committed a safety halfway through the fourth quarter to give their opponents the two-point lead.

Martin Luther’s only touchdown came in the first quarter. Aaron Voss, leading rusher for the Knight’s put the seven points on the board.

The field emptied at halftime with a score of 7-0, and the Eagles came back into the third quarter ready to make a comeback. Long capitalized on a 62-yard drive and entered the end zone at the 7:45 mark.

The game looked hopeful for a while, as the Eagles played with intensity and kept the score at an even 7-7.

However, Tarter suffered a sack by Knight Steven Gurgel to give up a safety.

The Eagles were unable to take advantage of two more offensive possessions, and the costly two-point error finished the game for Northwestern. Saturday’s game marked the Eagle’s first conference loss since Sept. 30.

Although NWC only fell by two points, the stats sheet revealed that Martin Luther held an advantage over the Eagles in yardage. Conversely, the Eagles’ defense performed well to hold the Knights to only nine points.

Northwestern’s defensive team was definitely the strong point of Saturday’s game. The Eagles caused four interceptions, and sophomore defensive back Luke Delain tallied an impressive 14 tackles in addition to a fumble recovery and interception. Delain was followed by junior Noah Hadro with 12 tackles and senior Andrew Magaard with 10 tackles.

Northwestern will take Reynolds field on Saturday, Oct. 17 to face the College of St. Scholastica for the first home match-up against the conference rivals. Kick-off will be at 1:00 p.m.