YANKTON, S.D. – The No. 2-ranked Northwestern College football team (6-0, 5-0 GPAC) stays perfect on the season with a dominant 56-17 win over the Mount Marty Lancers (0-5, 0-5 GPAC) behind 354 yards passing and four touchdown passes from quarterback Blake Fryar (Jr., Waukee, Iowa/Van Meter).
The Northwestern passing game was clicking on all cylinders as the Raiders had two passes of 45+ yards on the afternoon. The first huge connection featured Fryar connecting with Cade Moser (Sr., Rock Valley, Iowa/Rock Valley Community) in the second quarter, two and a half minutes before the break. In the fourth quarter, Fryar found freshman wide receiver Tanner Schouten (Orange City, Iowa/Unity Christian) for 47-yard connection.
In an unexpected twist to begin the game, it would be the Lancers striking first in the contest with a field goal with 4:04 remaining in the opening quarter. The Raiders would not let Mount Marty hold the lead long as Fryar found Michael Storey (Jr., Spencer, Iowa/Spencer) for a 27-yard touchdown score with 1:35 left in the first quarter.
Early in the second quarter, junior running back Konner McQuillan (Leavenworth, Kan./Lansing) would find the endzone for the first time in the game capping off a seven play, 67-yard drive, extending the Raider lead to 14-3.
The Raider defense would make its presence felt yet again, making it the third time this season the defense has recorded a pick-six. With 10 minutes remaining in the half, defensive lineman Jessen Reinking (Jr., Kingsley, Iowa/Kingsley-Pierson) would get his hands on a pick, returning it 20 yards for the touchdown.
Less than three minutes later, the Raiders would celebrate another touchdown as Moser was on the receiving end of Fryar’s second touchdown toss of the afternoon for a 39-yard connection.
Mount Marty would punch in their first touchdown of the day with 2:49 left in the half with quarterback Torren Deverick finding Jonah Miyazawa for the score, but the Raiders would take a 28-10 lead into the locker room.
The second half would also be all Northwestern, as the Raiders outscored the Lancers 28-7 in the final two quarters of play. Early in the third quarter, McQuillan broke off a 56-yard touchdown sprint down the sideline, out running the entire Mount Marty defense.
Fryar would end the game with two more touchdown tosses. He first found tight end Blake Anderson (Jr., Oakland, Neb./West Point-Beemer) near the end of the third quarter from 16 yards out extending the Raider lead to 42-7. With 13 minutes left in the game, he would find Storey for the second time in the game, this time from 45 yards out, giving the Raiders the demanding 49-17 lead.
The final Raider score of the contest was a 3-yard scamper as Isaiah Robinson (Fr., Garretson, S.D./Lincoln) would find the endzone extending the lead to the final score of 56-17.
Fryar ended the day 21-28 passing with 354 yards and four touchdown passes. Storey collected two of those scores, with Moser and Anderson both having one touchdown reception. The Raiders had three rushing scores on the day as McQuillan found the endzone twice and Robinson found it once. For the second time this season, McQuillan eclipsed the 100-yard mark with 103 yards on 17 carries, and finding the endzone twice.
Defensively, the Raiders now have 12 interceptions on the year and four defensive touchdowns. Parker Fryar (So., Waukee, Iowa/Van Meter) led the team with 10 tackles, including one tackle for loss on the afternoon. Reinking was ferocious complimenting with his pick-six by living in the backfield for a game-high 2.5 tackles for loss.
Up Next: The Raiders are set to enter their bye week next week and will hit the field again on October 16 as they travel to North Dakota to take on the Jamestown Jimmies in a Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) clash.
