The Red Raiders suffered their second defeat of the season as they were upended by #15 Morningside, 33-7. NWC, ranked eighth in the last poll, drops to 7-2 overall with one game left in the regular season. Morningside ends their regular season with an 8-2 record and looks to be a lock as one of the sixteen qualifiers in the NAIA Football Championship Series.
Miscues haunted the Red Raiders as they committed six turnovers and also missed a field goal on their first offensive possession which would have given NWC a 3-0 lead. Morningside opened the scoring in the first quarter when Tyler Childress scored on a three-yard run to go up 7-0. Kicker C.J. Gradoville made the score 10-0 on the Mustangs next possession before the Red Raiders responded with an impressive 12 play, 70-yard drive, capped by a one-yard run by Craig Hector, to cut the lead down to 10-7. The Big Red defense forced the Mustangs to punt on their next two possessions but with the Raider offense driving, Morningside intercepted a NWC pass in their own end zone as time expired to end the scoring threat and a chance to tie the game.
Both teams were forced to punt after their first offensive possessions in the second half. On NWC's second possession, the Mustangs blocked a Red Raider punt and recovered it at the NWC 10-yard line. Three plays later, Childress scored his second touchdown of the game on a 15-yard pass from Ian Gilworth with 8:56 left to play in the third quarter. Trailing 17-7, Northwestern's offense marched down the field to the Morningside 30-yard line but a Hector pass was intercepted and the drive was stopped. From there, it was all Morningside has their offense put up 10 more points and their defense forced four more Red Raider turnovers and gave up just 20 yards in the fourth quarter.
For the game, NWC gained 275 total yards, 207 of which were through the air. Taylor Malm led the ground attack with 34 yards on nine carries. Hector completed 17 of 32 passes for 207 yards but was intercepted five times. Tyler Reichle led NWC with six catches for 50 yards and Seth Moen added five receptions for 97 yards. Defensively, T.J. Lensch recorded 7.5 tackles while Kadrian Hardersen and Scott Stahl each added seven. The Red Raiders recorded three sacks, one each by Andrew Lundgren and Paul Lundgren.
Northwestern returns home to play Doane on Saturday, Nov. 10, for their regular season finale. Kickoff is slated for 1:00 pm. The Red Raiders need a win over the Tigers to have a chance at qualifying for the postseason.
2008 media guide
