Northwestern Raiders held on to their strong record of only one loss by beating the Briar Cliff Chargers 38-21, on Nov. 14 in a conference game.
Off to a shaky start, NW was down at the beginning due to an error leading to the Chargers scoring a touchdown and making it 7-0 from the get-go.
Fighting back, the Raiders totaled 422 yards and held the Chargers to 176 yards, which is a season-best for the Raider defense.
Following a defensive score by the Chargers on the third play of the game, NW came back with 38 straight points over the next three quarters.
The connection between Tyson Koomia-Shane Solberg tied the game at seven with 9:18 left in the first quarter. Freshamn Logan Meyer followed with a 15-yard touchdown run at the four-minute mark of the first quarter to put NW in the lead for good.
The Raiders scored a pair of rushing touchdowns in the second quarter to give head coach Matt McCarty’s squad a 28-7 halftime lead.
Red shirt freshman Konner McQuillan finished off a three-play, 61-yard drive with a 36-yard run on the Raiders opening drive of the second half, making the score 35-7. Freshman Eli Stader’s 34-yard field goal capped the Raider scoring early in the fourth quarter, his 11th made field goal of the season, two shy of matching the program record for field goals in a season.
To lead the Raider offense; Sophomore Michael Storey totaled four catches for 45 yards and Solberg had three catches for 39 yards and a score.
“Logan Meyer topped 100 yards rushing for the first time in his career. It was great to see a balanced rushing attack and to have four different players find the end zone.” McCarty said.
The Raider defense was led by Junior Noah Van’t Hof with 12 tackles and an interception. Freshman Parker Fryar contributed nine stops and both T.J. Jones, Sophomore, and Trevor Rozeboom, Senior added seven tackles each.
NW limited Briar Cliff to only three first downs throughout the first three quarters of play.
“Our defense played outstanding against Briar Cliff,” McCarty said. “They set the tone for the game and really dominated. It has been fun to see their continued growth.”
NW Raiders, who were supposed to have a bye week, got their game moved to Monday, Nov. 23. They will be hosting the University of Jamestown at 6 p.m. for their final game of the regular season before the long road to playoffs in the spring.
“We are excited to end the regular season at home,” McCarty said. “We want to finish the regular season by playing our best game yet.”
