ORANGE CITY, Iowa – The No. 2-ranked Northwestern College football team (9-1, 8-1 GPAC) fell in a 55-49 shootout to third-ranked Morningside (9-0, 9-0 GPAC) Saturday afternoon at Korver Field at De Valois Stadium, as both squads erupted for a combined 1,101 yards of total offense.
Despite the touch one-score loss to the Mustangs, both quarterback Tyson Kooima (Sr., Hull, Iowa/Western Christian) and tight end Blake Anderson (Jr., Oakland, Neb./West Point-Beemer) had career-record days in the back-and-forth shootout. Kooima broke his passing record set a season ago against the Mustangs with 498 yards (490, 2020), throwing for five touchdowns and a long of 63 yards. Meanwhile, Anderson broke multiple career-highs. He shattered his career-best in receptions (9) and receiving yards (146), while also bringing in two touchdown grabs.
Northwestern started the scoring on the day with a 23-yard field goal by Eli Stader (INFO) as the Raider offense stalled after a 10 play, 69-yard drive, to take the early 3-0 lead. Morningside would respond on their first possession of the afternoon, capped by a 51-yard touchdown pass from Joe Dolincheck to Reid Jurgensmeier, to put the Mustangs up 7-3.
And so, would be the rest of the day, as Northwestern took the ball back and marched it 75 yards, capped off by a Kooima to Anderson touchdown from 18 yards out to make it 10-7. Northwestern would then fall behind 21-10 before a wild turn of events.
On a 4th down & 17, Jaden Snyder (INFO) would punt and the ball would be downed at the Morningside 1-yard line. The Raider defense would step up on third down and 10 from the 1-yard line, as a forced Dolincheck pass would be picked off. However, the Mustangs were called for holding in the endzone, giving Northwestern two points on the safety.
The Raiders would get the ball back, trailing 21-12, and three plays later Kooima would throw his second touchdown toss of the day to Anderson from 41-yards out to cut the Morningside lead to 21-19. A three-and-out forced by the Raider defense would give the ball back to Kooima and company with four minutes remaining in the half. Two big chunk pass plays of Kooima to Michael Storey (Jr., Spencer, Iowa/Spencer) for 25 yards, and Kooima to Canon Flores (INFO) for 31-yards set up a Kooima touchdown rush to give the Raiders a 26-21 lead. Morningside would get a field goal before the half, as the Raiders would take a 26-24 lead into the locker room.
The third quarter would see the Mustangs outscore the Raiders 10-7, as the lone Northwestern points was a 20-yard touchdown pass from Kooima to Cade Moser (Sr., Rock Valley, Iowa/Rock Valley Community).
Morningside would seal the contest in the fourth quarter, despite the Raiders best efforts to stay within striking distance, but the Mustangs would put up 21 points to Northwestern’s 16 in the quarter. Both teams traded touchdowns in the first three minutes of the fourth, highlighted by a 63-yard strike from Kooima to Storey to cut the Mustang lead to 41-39. But an efficient Morningside offense would march down the field again, and would not allow the Raiders to get within a field goal again, walking away with the 55-49 victory.
Noah Van’t Hof (Sr., Lester, Iowa/West Lyon) recorded 11 tackles (10 solo) to guide the Raider defense. Northwestern would record four tackles for loss on the day.
Up Next: The Raiders will wrap up the regular season next weekend from Sioux City, Iowa as they battle the Briar Cliff Chargers (3-7, 3-6 GPAC) at 1:00 p.m. from Memorial Field on the campus of Briar Cliff University.
