This past weekend saw the 19th matchup between NW and Dordt, with NW leading the series 18-0, it almost seemed inevitable that NW would come out on top like previous years. However, every streak has to break, and this year we watched as Dordt finally beat NW on their 19th try.
The game started out promising as NW forced a turnover early with Ben Egil notching an interception, putting NW in good field position for an eventual 15 yard touchdown run by Gardner Casey. They followed this up by trading the ball back and forth before Gianna Bennet nailed a 26 yard field goal giving NW a 10-0 lead. NW finally wrapped up their scoring for the first half by returning an interception 53 yards for Pick-6. Giving them a 17-0 lead before Dordt was finally able to score with a quick 95 yard drive capped off with a 15 yard touchdown pass, making the score 17-7 at the half.
NW seemingly slowed down a bit, but still scored first in the second half with a 36 yard field goal from Gianna Bennet halfway through the third quarter. Unfortunately these would be the final points NW scored all game. NW’s defense tried to hold on, but another long drive from Dordt was capped off with another touchdown, putting NW up by only 6 as the score was 20-14. NW would have multiple chances to put the game away, but were unable to score any more points opening up the window for Dordt to take the lead, and take the lead they did, when they received the ball with only a few minutes left, the energy changed. Dordt marched down the field slicing through NW’s defense, before they were on the 5 yard line with 4 tries to score. Our defense held strong, until an untimely pass interference call on 3rd down gave Dordt a new set of downs and the ball on the one yard line. Dordt would finally punch it in with 13 seconds left, putting them up 21-20. NW was unable to capture the late game heroics needed to come back and so NW finally fell to Dordt.
Losing to Dordt drops NW down to 2-2 after an underwhelming start to the season. NW is on the road for the next couple weeks taking on Hastings and Briar Cliff before returning home to face Morningside. It will be interesting to see how the rest of the season pans out, a couple losses this early into the season might make it hard to get into the playoffs, and with hard opponents coming up, it is no guarantee we only lose 2 games. Overall, we are still semi-early in the season, and hopefully NW will see a return to form later on.
