Defense drains Northwestern in top-10 victory

SIOUX CITY, Iowa – Colton Dreith recognized his advantage on the defensive line and seized the moment in the fourth quarter for the Morningside University football team on Saturday.

Dreith, a redshirt junior D-Lineman from Storm Lake, sacked Northwestern quarterback Hayden Groos for six yards with less than 90 seconds left. That play was one of many that allowed the sixth-ranked Mustangs to beat the No. 9 Red Raiders 13-7 at Elwood Olsen Stadium.

The sack came on second down with 10 yards for the Red Raiders, and before that, the Mustangs couldn't sack Groos, simply because he threw the ball so quickly after the snap.

Dreith – who had two sacks for 23 yards – hoped there was a chance to get to the backfield.

"I turned the edge hard just like I'm coached, and I got the sack and got a lot of momentum there," Dreith said. "When we're in two-minute scenarios, it's pretty important for us to get sacks."

The Mustangs' defense held the Red Raiders away several times on third down, as Northwestern was 5-for-18 on third down conversions. They also held the Red Raiders' offense to 206 total yards, and just 15 net rushing yards.

"Our coaching scheme was perfect," Dreith said. "We did everything we practiced, and the only thing that was going to beat us happened on that touchdown. This is just one small step of what we're trying to do."

Cade Harriman had the most tackles for the Mustangs with 11 total, including five solo. Landry Phipps and Isaac Pingel each had seven. Pingel and Cale Pittenger also collected a sack.

"(The defense) just played great together," head coach Steve Ryan said. "They made stops when they needed to. They were assignment sound and they didn't lose people."

Morningside jumped out to an early 10-0 lead. Trevor Paulsen broke the ice with a 38-yard field goal with 1 minute, 31 seconds left in the first quarter that ended an eight-play drive.

Paulsen also added a third-quarter field goal, and that one was a 44-yarder that put the Mustangs up 13-7.

Then, the only touchdown scored by the Mustangs came at the 14:03 mark left in the first. Morningside started off that drive at the Northwestern 47-yard line, and needed four plays to find the end zone.

Quarterback Zack Chevalier found Jakob Nelson for 37 yards, and Nelson made a contested catch and caught the ball in the painted area for the score after husting down the home sideline.

"We practiced that play all week," said Chevalier with a smile. "I tried not to get too excited, and I just put it up there to let Jakob Nelson do what he's been doing all year."

Nelson led the receiving corps in yards with 86 on four catches. Drew Sellon caught seven passes for 58 yards.

Chevalier was 22-for-37 passing for 217 yards.

"We knew our defense was going to have our back, and they had our back the entire day," Chevalier said. "The guys played lights out with so much energy today. I wanted to win this one so badly. When I came to Morningside, this was the game you hear about. This one is special, for sure."

Max Hough led the rushing attack with 94 yards on 26 carries, and his longest rush was for 19 yards.