Northwestern held a halftime lead but was outscored 17-0 in the second half as the Red Raiders lost to No. 8 Doane 24-12 on the final game of the season at DeValois Stadium.
NW opened the day’s scoring at 7:21 mark when senior Jonathan Kodama connected with junior Levi TeBrink for a score, but the extra point was blocked giving the Raiders a 6-0 lead.
Doane took an early second quarter lead on a 2-yard touchdown rush. The score made is 7-6 in favor of Doane. Kodama again connected with TeBrink with 1:30 remaining in the first half but failed to pick up the two-point conversion, leaving the score at 12-7.
NW forced Doane to punt on the ensuing drive, got the ball back and drove down the field but failed to score from the Doane 11-yard line.
Doane capitalized on its first drive of the second half on a seven-yard touchdown pass to make the score 14-12. The Doane defense came up big on the ensuing drive by intercepting a Kodama pass and returning it for a touchdown.
Doane finished the games scoring on a 21 yard field goal with nine minutes left in the fourth quarter to make it 24-12. The Red Raiders drove the ball into Doane territory twice during the final 10 minutes of the game but were unable to score either time.
NW outgained Doane (403-208) and tallied more first downs (20-17) but also committed two turnovers. Kodama completed 26 of 48 passes for 356 yards, and two touchdowns along with a pair of interceptions.
TeBrink compiled a big day receiving the ball with a career high 128 yards on seven catches and two scores. Sophomore Jared Nelson caught a career high six balls for 97 yards. Meanwhile, freshman Jacob Kalogonis led the rushing attack with 70 yards on 20 carries.
Seniors Josh Treybal and Nick Acoba led the Raider defense with 6.5 tackles apiece. Fellow senior Sam Van Ginkel tallied five stops and two sacks. Junior Blake Eichmann snagged an interception along with 2.5 tackles.
NW will close out their season next week with a trip to Sioux City to face No. 4 Morningside.
