Contact: Jenna McElroy, Sports Info & Social Media Intern, mcelroy@midwestconference.org
DE PERE, Wis. – St. Norbert College won the 2018 Midwest Conference (MWC) Football Championship with a 10-7 win over Monmouth College Saturday afternoon. The Green Knights also receive the league’s automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III Playoffs.
Games between Monmouth and St. Norbert tend to be a defensive battle as showcased by last year’s championship game where the Scots won 9-6 in overtime. The Green Knight defense came up big as it recorded six interceptions and its sixth touchdown of the season to lead the team to victory.
The St. Norbert defense entered the game ranked fourth in Division III with five defensive touchdowns and added to that total on the opening series of the game. On the fourth play of the game, Ben Kornowski intercepted Scots quarterback Hayden Nelson and returned it 43-yards to the end zone. St. Norbert then forced a four-and-out and the offense went to work.
The Green Knights went 72-yards with 36 coming on the ground to advance to the Scots 7-yard line where Spenser Thompson-Meyers made a 24-yard field goal for the quick 10-0 lead. St. Norbert nearly added to that score after Nelson threw his second interception of the day. On the next play, Drew Rhodes appeared to connect with Drew Chavarria for a touchdown but it was called back for pass interference and the Monmouth defense was able to come up with the stop.
Late in the second quarter, the Scots would get an interception of their own but were unable to get on the board before halftime as they entered the break still trailing by ten. After the scoring surge by the Green Knights in the opening ten minutes of the game, things settle down into the classic defensive battle over the second and third quarters.
St. Norbert came up with the big plays as the Green Knights Joe Peterson intercepted two more Nelson passes and downed a punt on the three-yard line but Monmouth’s defense held St. Norbert at bay until the offense could get on the same page. The Scots had tough field position after the downed punt at their own three-yard line but Nelson connected with Yansay Williams for a huge 82-yard touchdown pass and cut the deficit to three.
Monmouth’s offense was twice marching down the field in the fourth quarter as the Scots looked to take their first lead of the game but Nelson was picked off both times, including Joe Peterson’s third of the game. The sixth interception came with 4:21 remaining and St. Norbert turned to their ground attack to run out the clock. The Green Knights rushed 43-yards on nine plays including a big 26-yard run from David Lox to seal the win.
Rhodes led the Green Knights with 81-yards rushing on 26 attempts with the Scots DeAndrew Wright just edging him out for the game-high as Wright gained 82-yards on 22 carries. Lox rushed 50-yards on only four carries, while Nate Ihlenfeldt and Matt Galanopoulos both added 47-yards. Rhodes completed 12-of-23 passes for 119 more yards and Galanopoulos had a game-high five catches for 44-yards while Chavarria hauled in three for 50 yards.
Nelson finished 12-for-27 passing for 156 yards and a touchdown but threw six interceptions. Williams led the team with 88-yards receiving thanks to his big 82-yard TD receptions and Jacolby Maxwell added 39-yards on four catches.
Defense was the main highlight of the game as Peterson caught three intercpetions and Ben Kornowski, Nate Essman, and Hunter Prokash also contributing a pick each. Matt Barrett led the Green Knights with seven tackles
followed by Matt Gurgone with six.
Defensively for the Scots, Clark Gaden recorded a game-high 12 tackles along with an interception. Jack Lucas was next with eight stops followed by Josh Perschall’s seven including a game-best three tackles for a loss.
St. Norbert’s next game will be in the NCAA Playoffs with the location and opponent being announced during the Sunday selection show at 4:30 pm broadcasted on ncaa.com.