ORANGE CITY, Iowa – The No. 2-ranked Northwestern (2-0, 1-0 GPAC) football team celebrated senior day this afternoon and erupted for 45 points to down the Hastings College Broncos (0-1, 0-1 GPAC) to open the home slate and GPAC play on a winning note.
The Northwestern defense came to play on senior day, keeping the Broncos off the scoreboard for the first three quarters of action at Korver Field. Blake Fryar (So., Waukee, Iowa/Van Meter) tossed for nearly 300 yards (293 yards) on 24 attempts. He completed 17 of his 24 attempts for a completion percentage of 71 percent, with his longest connection finding wide receiver Canon Flores (Sr., Gretna, Neb./Gretna) for a 49-yard connection. On the day, Fryar tossed four touchdown passes and had one pick.
Northwestern came out of the gates a bit sluggish compared to typical Raider standards with the first drive of the game stalling out on the Hastings’ 43-yard line. Things would change drastically with the Raiders’ second possession of the game when Northwestern put together a solid balanced drive, mixing in throws from Fryar and Konner McQuillan (R-Fr., Leavenworth, Kan./Lansing) on the ground as McQuillan would find the endzone from one-yard out to get the first points of the game. As the first quarter wound to an end, Parker would connect with Cade Moser (Jr., Rock Valley, Iowa/Rock Valley) from 26-yards out to extend the Northwestern lead to 14-0.
The second quarter was more of the same as the Raider offense found its groove, finding the endzone to more times to extend the lead to 28-0 going into the half. It was Fryar who had his hand in both scores of the second quarter. It started with Fryar finding Blake Anderson (So., Oakland, Neb./West Point-Beemer) from 22-yards out, tossing his second touchdown throw of the game. In the final minute of the half, Fryar capped off a six play, 38-yard drive.
The shutout would be broken in the final quarter as the Broncos would find the endzone twice, but the Raiders would ruin the Bronco party with blocking one of the PAT attempts. The final frame saw some second-stringers get some action, helping the Raiders build depth heading into the thick of GPAC play from here on out.
Parker Fryar (Fr., Waukee, Iowa/Van Meter) paced the Raider defense tallying 12 tackles on the afternoon, with 11 of them being solo tackles. The Raider defense held the Broncos to only nine first downs, 88 yards rushing and under 200 yards through the air. Garrett Raymon (So., Hills, Minn./Hills-Beaver Creek) wreaked havoc in the Bronco backfield, tallying 1.5 sacks with teammate Tyler Jones (Jr., Manson, Iowa/South Central Calhoun) joining in on one of the sacks.
The Northwestern offense erupted for 440 yards of total offense on the day to Hastings’ 260 yards of offense, as Northwestern only had one more play from scrimmage than the Broncos did. Kicker Eli Stader (Fr., Cedar Grove, Wis./Oostburg) was a perfect 6-for-6 in PAT attempts, and nailed a 45-yard field goal in the fourth quarter, notching the only score for the Raiders of the quarter. Of the six Raider touchdowns, four came through the air.
Up Next: The Raiders return to action next week, Saturday, September 11 when they head to Fremont, Neb. to battle the Warriors of Midland University. Kickoff is slated for 1:00 p.m.
