Northwestern at Doane

• PREVIEW
• BOXSCORE

The sixth-ranked Red Raiders will travel to Crete, Neb., to play Doane this Saturday, Sept. 16, at 7:00 p.m. It is the first road game for the Raiders this season. In 2005, the Tigers upset Coach Otten's squad in Orange City by the score of 16-10. The Raiders led 8-3 after one half of play but Doane scored a pair of rushing touchdowns in the second half to take command. Both offenses struggled as the Tigers gained 218 total yards while the Raiders faired just slightly better with 232. Doane won the turnover battle as they picked off three NW passes. The Raider D sacked the Tiger quarterback five times and recorded two safeties.

Last week, Northwestern defeated ninth-ranked Morningside by the final score of 33-7. Junior quarterback Craig Hector scored five touchdowns for the second straight week, which earned him both GPAC and national player-of-the-week honors. He completed 14-28 passes for 170 yards and four touchdowns. Hector also rushed for one touchdown and has now scored ten touchdowns this season. Junior receiver Tyler Reichle caught three passes for 45 yards and two touchdowns and tight end Blake Reinke continued his dominant play as he caught a team-high five passes for 70 yards. Keith Sietstra led the rushing attack with 95 yards and also caught three passes for 18 yards, including his first touchdown of the season. Defensively, the Raider D was as stingy as ever, holding the Mustangs to just six first downs and 153 total yards. Senior linebacker Blake Wolfswinkel led the charge with 7.5 tackles and earned GPAC defensive player-of-the-week honors. The Raiders forced three turnovers as Grantley Samuels and Austin Janssen each recovered a fumble and Jordan Van Otterloo registered an interception. Blake Reinke earned GPAC special teams player-of-the-week honors after averaging just under 38 yards on his five punt attempts. He placed three attempts inside the Mustang 20-yard line.

The Tigers dropped to 0-2 as they lost 7-24 to Midland Lutheran last week. Doane trailed 17-0 at halftime but cut the lead back to ten after an impressive 14-play, 99-yard drive, which concluded with a three-yard touchdown run by Alex Renshaw at the beginning of the fourth quarter. MLC, however, scored on its next possession and made the score 24-7. Doane gained 191 yards of total offense but gave up 407 yards to MLC, including 301 yards on the ground. The Tigers were also hurt by three turnovers which included two fumbles and an interception. Senior Justin Nelson, who gained 1,137 yards in 2005,  led the rushing attack with 62 yards on 17 carries. Quarterback Bryan Dutcher completed 11 of 28 passes for 98 yards and one interception. Defensively, defensive end Toby Hite led the charge with 11 total tackles.

The Raiders return home next Saturday to play Nebraska Wesleyan at 1:00 p.m.