Week Nine
The big headline this week was the Greenville-MacMurray game, in which the Panthers were able to defeat the Highlanders in a season-altering victory. At that point, MacMurray was still eyeing down a share of the UMAC title if a few different things went their way, but Greenville shut down those hopes as much as they could with a decisive victory, in which they relied on Panther RB Paul Garrett and his 164 yards and 2 TDs rushing. Martin Luther rolled to yet another victory over Minnesota Morris, while Westminster played solidly against Crown to pull out the win. The last game I'll mention is the drubbing that Iowa Wesleyan received from St. Scholastica. Yikes. Saints QB Zach Edwards earned UMAC Offensive Player of the Week by throwing for 421 yards and 4 TDs, with three of his receivers tallying 100+ yards. The Saints surely had the potential firepower in Edwards' last season.
Week Ten
Week ten saw Westminster finish out their season, as they didn't play in week eleven, and it didn't end like they had hoped, as Northwestern found a way to drum up the victory. Iowa Wesleyan surprisingly held Greenville to 21 points, although they were shut out offensively and only were able to scrape together 44 yards of total offense, and fell to the Panthers. St. Scholastica was able to take down Minnesota Morris with ease, as Edwards threw for 391 yards and 5 TDs, and Cougar linebacker-turned-quarterback Drew Shipley performed well (314 yards, 2 TDs) but ultimately was unable to keep up with the Saints. CSS WR Mitchell Adrian snagged 15 receptions for 103 yards and 2 TDs, setting a new CSS program record for receptions in a game and earning UMAC Offensive Player of the Week. Martin Luther was able to keep their streak alive by defeating MacMurray, who was grasping at straws to keep their hope of a share of the UMAC title alive. The two-headed RB monster of Austin DeNoyer (173 yards, 1 TD) and Joshuah Kren (147 yards, 2 TD) once again delivered to crush the dreams of the Highlanders. With the victory, the Knights locked up the automatic bid to get destroyed in the DIII playoffs, but were still at risk of sharing the UMAC title if they were to lose to Crown in week eleven.
Week Eleven
Some big games to end the season, as Greenville outlasted Minnesota Morris despite a furious fourth quarter comeback by the Cougars, that ended with a failed 2-point attempt that would have put them ahead of the Panthers were they successful. Greenville RB Paul Garrett capped off a great 2019 campaign by rushing for 173 yards and 3 TDs, making 1190 yards and 13 TDs on the year, good for 2nd in the UMAC only to reigning UMAC Offensive Player of the Year, Austin DeNoyer. Speaking of the devil, DeNoyer and his buddy Joshuah Kren each rumbled for over 200 yards in their blowout victory over Crown; DeNoyer with 217 yards and 3 TDs, Kren with 214 yards and 2 TDs and also a receiving TD, which earned him UMAC Offensive Player of the Week. DeNoyer finished as the UMAC rushing champion with 1298 yards, while Kren also topped the 1000 yard mark with 1010 on the year and added 474 receiving yards to boot. Pretty impressive to have two 1000-yard rushers on a team. It speaks to the dominance of Martin Luther's running game, as they finish the regular season ranked #2 in the nation with 335.8 rushing yards per game. Northwestern whooped up on Iowa Wesleyan, with Eagle RB Payton Bowdry rushing for 101 yards and 3 TDs, falling just 8 yards short of 1000 on the season. In the final game of the UMAC regular season, the MacMurray Highlanders shocked the St. Scholastica Saints with a punch-in-the-gut win to cap off the season with a tied conference record. Those of you who are UMAC experts; shouldn't MacMurray be ahead of St. Scholastica in the conference standings due to this head-to-head win? Or is overall record the first tie-breaker? If so, that's pretty lame, especially when they wouldn't consider overall record when it comes to the automatic playoff bid. But I digress. The Highlanders finished the year off on a high note, which they were desperate for after some lofty expectations at the beginning of the year.
And so, the Martin Luther Knights once again ride off into the sunset with another championship belt tucked under their arm. If you haven't heard yet, the Knights will face the Wheaton College Thunder, who are currently ranked #3 in DIII football. Woof. On one hand, it's like "Hey! We won't face a MIAC or WIAC team this year!" (for the first time ever, by the way) but on the other hand...yikes. You can get a quick preview written by a Wheaton stooge here, in which they mistakenly referred to the Knights as the "Hawks" but have since rectified it. That's how much they know and care about the UMAC. The UMAC champion is unfortunately destined to face a much beefier opponent in the playoffs annually, and 2019 is no exception. I'll go into a bit more detail in my Martin Luther-Wheaton Preview, so stay tuned for that. In the meantime; all you Martin Luther Knight fans, coaches and players, congratulations and enjoy another successful year and championship! You'll need those happy memories during the game on Saturday.
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