Tyson Kooima threw a pair of fourth quarter touchdown passes and Northwestern scored 28 second half points in defeating Doane 35-14 in a road game played today at Papik Field in Crete, Neb. Head Coach Matt McCarty’s team won its fourth straight game and improved to 4-1 heading into a showdown against Midland next weekend. Doane slips to 2-4 this season.
Kooima, who came into today’s game tied with Curtis Krull (1970-73) for first within the Raider program with 84 career touchdown passes, is now the program’s all-time leader with 86. The senior broke the record with 14:53 left in the fourth quarter when he connected with Shane Solberg for a 42-yard touchdown, their 38th scoring pass / catch combo as Raiders. Kooima later threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to his senior tight end Josh Fakkema with 4:08 left on the clock.
Konner McQuillan and Drake Brezina both scored rushing touchdowns in the final half as the Raiders built up a substantial lead, 35-7, with under four minutes left to go.
Both teams were hurt by turnovers in a first half that ended tied 7-7. Northwestern had 1st-and-goal on its first two possessions only to throw an interception and get stopped on fourth-and-goal. The Raiders third drive ended with a fumble and the short field led to Doane’s first score, a 28-yard touchdown pass from Adam Wasserman to Izai Celestine with 4:33 left in the opening quarter.
Still down 7-0, the Raider D turned the momentum in Northwestern’s favor as Lorenzo Jones forced a Doane fumble that was recovered by Parker Fryar and returned 47 yards for a touchdown, tying the game at 7 just before the half.
Following a Doane punt on its opening drive of the third quarter, Northwestern took the lead for good with a 4-play, 75-yard drive finished off with a McQuillan one-yard touchdown run. The Raider D stopped the host Tigers on fourth down on ther next drive and Head Coach Matt McCarty’s squad then began its longest drive of the day, a 9-play, 83-yard possession, that ended with Kooima’s scoring pass to Solberg on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Leading 21-7, Northwestern safety Jaden Snyder recovered a Doane fumble at the Tigers’ 4-yard line. Two plays later, Brezina scored on a two-yard runto push the lead to 28-7. On the ensuing kickoff, Northwestern sophomore Blake Anderson forced another Tigers fumble that was recovered by Fryar at the Doane 25-yard line. Six plays later, Kooima connected with Fakkema for an eight-yard touchdown pass to cap the Raider scoring.
Doane scored a late touchdown with 54 seconds remaining on a pass from Drake Davidson to Celestine.
Northwestern totaled 390 yards, 120 rushing and 270 through the air. Kooima completed 16-of-23 pass attempts for 270 yards and two touchdowns. Solberg was the primary target, totaling 10 catches for 179 yards and a score. Fakkema (3 catches, 43 yards, TD) and Michael Storey (2 catches, 50 yards) were the other top receivers. McQuillan had 14 carries for 63 yards and a score.
The Raider D was exceptional all game, holding Doane to 256 total yards and forced the Tigers into four turnovers. Tanner Oleson had 10 tackles while Fryar accounted for nine stops, two fumble recoveries and one quarterback sack. Trevor Rozeboom and Jaden Snyder added seven tackles each.
Wasserman led Doane with 142 yards on offense and one touchdown pass.
