Ben Freedman

Northwestern Hangs on for Victory over Augsburg | Box Score | Pictures
Sept. 9 St. Paul, Minn. – Leading 31-to-17 late in the third quarter, it looked as though Northwestern College (Minn.) would cruise to an easy non-conference victory over Augsburg College. The victory part held true as the Eagles prevailed in a 31-24 final score. However, the visiting Auggies of Augsburg battled to the end as a Northwestern interception with just seconds left finally sealed the Eagle triumph. Northwestern improves to 1-1 on the year, while Augsburg College slips to 0-1, as the game marked the 2006 season opener for the Auggies.

Northwestern broke a scoreless tie with 6:08 left in the first quarter as senior quarterback Josh Peterson (Fairmont, Minn./GHEC) connected with standout sophomore wide receiver Kyle Thomforde (Northfield, Minn.) for a 34-yard touchdown strike. The played capped off a 6-play, 61-yard drive for the Eagles. The extra point attempt failed. Still in the opening quarter, Augsburg College cut their deficit in half as Kyle Danner (Ramsey, Minn./Elk River) drilled a 20-yard field goal to make the score 6-3, still in favor of Northwestern.

The final minutes of the first half featured a scoring spree. Northwestern first added to their advantage as senior running back Ben Freedman (Wahoo, Neb.) sprinted into the corner of the end zone from 2-yards out with 2:14 left in the half to put the Eagles in front 12-3 with the point after attempt failing again. Augsburg College had plenty of punches still to throw in the first half though as the Auggies quickly marched down the field and recorded a touchdown on a 28-yard pass from quarterback Keith Hagen (Northfield, Minn.) to Jason Potts (Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) with 39 seconds left in the quarter. The scoring play ended an impressive 5-play, 49-yard drive, and made the score 12-to-10 still in favor of Northwestern. On the following kickoff, Northwestern turned the ball over on a fumble and Augsburg took advantage. Three-plays later and with just 1 second remaining in the opening half, the Auggies pulled in front as Keith Hagen hit Royce Winford (Albertville, Minn./Osseo) in the back of the end zone to move Augsburg ahead of the Eagles in a 17-to-12 score.

Ending the first half with a bitter taste in their mouths, Northwestern came out blazing in the second half as the Eagles racked up 3 touchdowns in the quarter on 3 straight possessions. Ben Freedman notched his second touchdown of the game, putting the finishing touch on a 6-play, 37-yard drive, when he dashed in from 1-yard out. Play caller Josh Peterson followed with a quarterback sneak into the end zone, giving Northwestern a 25-to-17 lead. Senior defensive back Tom Tadych (Milaca, Minn.) then took his turn as he intercepted an Auggie pass and went the distance, scampering 29-yards to give the Eagles a commanding 31-to-17 lead with 5:30 remaining in the third quarter.

After both teams exchanged possession twice without scoring, Augsburg narrowed their scoring gap to 31-to-24 as running back Arthur Minus (St. Paul, Minn./Humboldt) pounded his way across the goal line from 12-yards out to wrap up a 4-play, 43-yard drive, with 6:33 left in the clash. Fortunately for Northwestern, Augsburg squandered away their final chances to tie the game as the Auggies turned the ball over on a fumble and interception in consecutive possessions during the final winding minutes.

The box score displayed an evenly matched affair on paper. Both teams tallied 19 first downs with Augsburg racking up 351 yards of total offense, while Northwestern owned 317 yards on the afternoon. The big difference came in how the yards were earned as the Eagles grounded out 157 yards in the rushing game, compared to just 68 for the Auggies. Augsburg starting quarterback Keith Hagen completed 17-of-28 passes for 158 yards and 2 touchdowns, before being pulled with an injury. Arthur Minus took 18 carries for 90 yards to highlight the Auggie rushing attack, while Royce Winford caught 8 passes for 60 yards to lead the Auggie receiving unit. Defensively, Garett Kratz (Jordan, Minn.) and Mike Matson (Cedar, Minn./St. Francis) paced the Auggies with Kratz pulling down 11 tackles, while Matson boasted 10 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, and 1 fumble recovery.

In a very balanced Northwestern offensive attack, Ben Freedman dashed for 82 yards on 19 carries, adding 2 touchdowns. Eagle quarterback Josh Peterson was successful on 12-of-21 pass attempts for 160 yards with sophomore tight end Nathan Clanton (Minnetonka, Minn.) serving as his favorite target, collecting 4 catches for 44 yards. Freshman Andrew Magaard (Ogilvie, Minn.), senior Max Meagher (Paynesville, Minn.), and junior Steven Boggess (Grinnell, Iowa) led the Northwestern defense. Magaard added 8 tackles and 1 interception; Meagher contributed 7 tackles, 1 tackles for a loss, and a forced fumble and recovery; and Boggess tallied 7 tackles, 2.5 tackles for a loss of 15 yards, and 1 sack.

Northwestern College is now 2-1 all-time against Augsburg College and 2-0 all-time at home against the Auggies. The Eagles won for just the 5th time in their last 11 home openers dating back to 1996. Northwestern will pack their bags and head to Rockford College for a 1 p.m. kickoff next Saturday, September 16th. Augsburg College will host St. John’s University next Saturday at 1 p.m.