No.5 Northwestern College earned a 23-3 home win over Doane in a GPAC match-up played this afternoon at DeValois Stadium. The win improves the Red Raiders to 6-0 in the GPAC, 7-0 overall; while Doane drops its second straight and falls to 4-3 in the conference, 4-5 overall.
A pair of freshmen came up big for the Red Raider offense as Garrett Packer rushed for a career-high 144 yards and two touchdowns and Michael Storey caught five passes for a career-best 113 yards.
The Raider D was as dominant as ever, matching the program record with nine quarterback sacks (set in 2000 against Dakota Wesleyan). Both Tanner Machacek and Colin Snyder totaled 2.5 sacks each, Ben Granstra and Carter Van Gorp accounted for 1.5 each and Garrett Raymon registered one. Sean Powell tallied one interception to go with five tackles as Northwestern limited Doane to 256 total yards.
Northwestern College reached the endzone on its opening drive as Drake Brezina scored his first collegiate touchdown on a four-yard run to cap a 10-play, 85-yard drive for a 7-0 lead. Powell’s interception halted Doane’s best drive of the first half at the NW 2-yard line and the Red Raiders then extended their lead to 10-0 when Braxton Williams converted a 25-yard field goal midway in the second quarter. With its offense on the move once again, Northwestern failed to convert a fourth-and-three from the Doane 13-yard line just before halftime to keep the score 10-0 at the break.
Doane scored its only points on its first drive of the second half when Bryce Cooney drilled a 25-yard field goal through the uprights to make it a one score game. The scoring drive was set up by a 68-yard run by Tigers running back Jacobi White. Northwestern responded with touchdowns on two of its final three possessions of the third quarter, both on runs by Packer. The freshman reached paydirt with a three-yard run at the 9:33 mark of the third quarter and on a career-long 54 yard run at the 2:58 mark.
The teams combined for just three first downs in the fourth quarter, leading to a 23-3 final.
Northwestern totaled 20 first downs and 446 yards on offense, showcasing remarkable balance with 213 yards rushing and 233 passing. Kooima came up big under center, accounting for over 300 yards of offense. The junior rushed for 70 yards on 10 carries and completed 16/27 passes for 233 yards. Shane Solberg continues to add his name to the record book, catching five passes for 73 yards, and becoming the program’s all-time leader in career receptions (163). The junior passed Chad Netten’s previous record (162) with a catch in the third quarter. Solberg broke the career receiving yards record last week against Concordia.
White accounted for over half of the Doane offense, rushing for 135 yards on 14 carries. Drake Davidson completed 8-of-18 passes for 94 yards and threw an interception.
