Northwestern and Dordt faced each other in the Sioux County football match-up. For the 14th year in a row, the Raiders defeated the Defenders 63-28, with the Raiders scoring more than 50 points for the fifth game this season.
The Raider offense was on fire during the game, garnering 528 total offensive yards. The game opened with NW running the ball 75 yards toward the endzone. A 12-play drive ended with a 14-yard touchdown pass from senior Tyson Kooima to junior Konner McQuillan, putting the Raiders up 6-0 over the Defenders. Sophomore Eli Stader’s PAT kick was good, bringing the score up 7-0.
Raider defense was also strong against the Defenders. During Dordt’s second play of the game, sophomore Jalyn Gramstad got the first of many Raider interceptions on the Defenders quarterback, Tyler Reynolds. This marked nine straight games where the Raiders got an interception. Not even four minutes after the first touchdown, Kooima made a successful pass to junior Blake Anderson to gain a 22-yard touchdown. After the PAT kick by Stader, the score was 14-0. Dordt was finally able to get on the board with only 27 seconds left in the first quarter. At the end of the first quarter, the score was 14-7.
The second quarter saw some of the same action as the first quarter with only three touchdowns scored. McQuillan was involved with both Raider touchdowns. The first touchdown of the quarter saw McQuillan with a three-yard touchdown to bring the score to 21-7. Just under three minutes later, Kooima passed to McQuillan for an 83-yard touchdown, bringing the Raider lead to 28-7. The Defenders scored once again with only two seconds left in the half. This Defender touchdown would only bring the score to 28-13 after a failed PAT kick.
McQuillan’s fourth, and final, touchdown started as an 84-yard drive and ended with a one-yard run. The Defenders answered the 35-13 score with their own 70-yard touchdown and 2-point conversion to bring the score 35-21. Senior Cade Moser, caught a pass from Kooima for a Raider touchdown, but Stader’s kick failed. The third quarter ended with the Raiders up 41-21.
Dordt scored first to open the fourth quarter, bringing the score to 41-28. The Raiders responded with a Kooima pass to junior Michael Storey, for a 15-yard touchdown plus a 2-point conversion that expanded the Raider lead 49-28. Just under four minutes later, Kooima passed to junior Logan Meyer, for another Raider touchdown. Raiders lead 56-28 at this point. With just over two minutes left in the game, junior Blake Fryar was able to find Moser for one final touchdown to bring the final score to 63-28.
The No. 2 Red Raiders face the No. 3 Morningside Mustangs for their second to last regular season game and their last home game in the biggest match-up of the season on Nov. 6 at 1 p.m. 
