We're nearly to the mid-point of the season already, and most UMAC teams are still looking to push over .500, with the only teams breaking that point being St. Scholastica and Martin Luther. Never thought you'd hear me say that, eh? Lets get down to the nitty gritty of week four.
Westminster 20, St. Scholastica 23 - The Saints and their fans all gave out a collective "phew" at the conclusion of this one. Westminster shocked the nation by gaining a 13-3 lead before St. Scholastica got into gear and took control. The Blue Jays still made it close with QB Trent White's 2nd TD run with 3:44 left in the contest to pull within three, but were unable to complete the comeback. In a game with no turnovers and 17 combined punts, somebody had to finally grind out the dub. White led Westminster in the scoring department with a passing TD and two rushing scores, while RB Kalyn Davis ground out 109 yards rushing on 23 attempts. For the Saints, QB Zach Edwards had a solid day with 262 yards and a TD through the air and a rushing TD for good measure. Fun fact of the game: CSS WR Aaron Olson caught a touchdown pass in his 18th consecutive UMAC game. Huh. Not too shabby.
Iowa Wesleyan 7, Minnesota Morris 13 - For a while, I thought the Cougars might be the first UMAC team to go scoreless throughout the season. While I've been pretty harsh on the Cougs, I seriously am happy that they finally got a few monkeys off their back in this one. It's not fun being stomped on. So congrats on the "spoiler" Morris, you've earned a slight lessening of mocking from me. Morris was only able to accumulate 271 total yards of offense in the win, with QB Justin Masloski accounting for 227 yards and 2 TDs passing and WR Nathan Sheridan catching 8 passes for 88 of those yards. Defensively, UMAC player of the week Carter Wattenhofer stood out with 6 tackles, 3 TFL, and 3 sacks. While Iowa Wesleyan was able to out-gain Morris with 282 yards, QB DeMarcus Collins was the only player able to scrounge up more than 50 yards, with 142 yards passing and 55 yards rushing. The Tigers have a long way to go, and now will strive to be the non-0-10 team in the UMAC.
Martin Luther 63, Greenville 28 - The Knights romped over the Panthers, with Martin Luther QB Zach Bloomquist taking over the game and earning UMAC player of the week and was named to the D3football.com Team of the Week to the tune of 289 yards and 2 TDs passing and 79 yards and 3 TDs rushing. Six other Knights also scored touchdowns, including WR Josh Arndt who caught 4 balls for 133 yards receiving. TE Gregoire Franchomme finally got back into the mix for the Panthers, catching 8 passes for 111 yards and 2 TDs, with QB George Harris slinging the rock for 186 yards and 3 TDs, but also tossing 3 picks. Panther returner Myles Kanipes also earned UMAC player of the week honors by returning a kickoff 80 yards for a TD, but it wasn't enough to keep up with the up-and-coming juggernaut that is the Martin Luther offense. It'll be interesting to see if they can keep it up and challenge for the conference crown.
Northwestern 38, Crown 18 - All things considered, this game was a tad closer than the score suggests. Crown's defense allowed 465 yards to a poor Eagle's offense, but they didn't receive much support from their offense and weren't able to keep the score close. Here's what I mean by my first observation: Northwestern started 7 drives throughout the game on Crown's side of the 50, and only obtained 17 points out of those drives. This game could have been out of hand even more than it was if not for Crown's defensive resilience/Northwestern's offensive ineptitude. Eagle QB Taylor Lindahl was able to find the end zone through the air for the first time this year, but added another interception to his UMAC leading total of 9 on the year and ended the game with 281 passing yards, while WR Evan Pruitt caught 7 passes for 169 yards and 2 TDs and WR Gavin Welch also caught 3 passes for 111 yards and a TD. Crown showed some fight, but it's tough to be competitive in a game that you rush for -21 yards; the Storm have had a tough time getting any ground game going this year, gaining only 129 total rushing yards through four games. The Storm's offensive bright spot was WR Domonique Guy, who caught 6 balls for 181 yards and 3 TDs. Crown has a uphill battle to climb out of the UMAC cellar, but they do have a few winnable games this year. Not-so-fun fact of the game: Crown's last victory was October 15th, 2016 against Minnesota Morris, which is 714 days ago as of today (9/29/18). The Storm will hope to avoid going two full years without a victory, as two of those winnable games come up in the next few weeks: Iowa Wesleyan today and Minnesota Morris next weekend.
Congrats to the Cougars on screwing up my picks! While I wasn't perfect before this week, I like to think I know the UMAC pretty well, so any incorrect pick hurts my heart a bit. I challenge all you players and coaches reading this to smash my heart to little bits. Prove me wrong. As of right now though, I'll hold my head high with a 12-2 pick record. On that note, lets move on to week five's previews and picks!
MacMurray at Northwestern - This is actually a tough one to pick. MacMurray was thought to be a UMAC crown contender, getting 4 first place votes in the UMAC pre-season coaches poll, but fell to Rockford in a non-conference opening game, whom Martin Luther beat the following week. That little snippet isn't a guaranteed indicator that MacMurray is down this year, but it makes you wonder. Northwestern will have some confidence going into this one, rolling over their rival Crown last week, but their offense isn't much improved from a year ago. I think MacMurray's defense will be able to stifle the Eagles in a low scoring affair, but the Highlanders will claim victory, 14-3.
Crown at Iowa Wesleyan - Another cellar battle as the Storm roll into Iowa to battle the Tigers. Iowa Wesleyan took a tough L last week to Morris, but this week will be at home and will be looking for their first 2018 win. As I mentioned previously, Crown is not only looking for their first win in 2018, but their first win in 714 days dating back to 2016. This game will come down to who is hungrier for it. I think Crown pulls out a close one, 27-24.
Greenville at Westminster - The Blue Jays impressed in Duluth last week, battling back and forth with the powerful Saints. I think they've got some serious momentum going for them with their new stadium, which will make them tough to beat at home this year. I think they'll pick apart the Panthers and win this one easily, 35-14.
St. Scholastica at Martin Luther - This is definitely the UMAC football game of the week. The Saints have been the perennial powerhouse in the UMAC until last year, when they were unseated by the Eureka Red Devils, who rode off into the sunset as champs. They will obviously be searching for redemption this year, but struggled to fend off Westminster at home last week. Strange things happen in the pit in New Ulm, and Martin Luther looks to be legitimate contenders for the UMAC crown. This will be the ultimate test for the Knights, as they look to prove to everyone that they belong in the top tier of the UMAC. I think the Knights will be able to pull this one off, but it won't come easy. Martin Luther takes a hard fought battle, 28-24.
I won't be able to attend any games this weekend, but I'll try to keep updating everyone on scores as best as I can through Twitter. Good luck to everyone this weekend, and may the odds be ever in your favor.
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