NEW ULM — The Martin Luther College Knights jumped out to a 28-0 lead by halftime and went on to outlast the Lawrence University Vikings, 35-7, in a DIII non-conference football game at the MLC Bowl on Saturday afternoon.
The Knights had lost their opening games the past three seasons but on Saturday they made a spectacular comeback from an opening week slump. The Knights last won their opening game on April 3, 2021 against Ripon in the shortened 2020 season that began in 2021 due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Lawrence finished 0-10 last season while the Knights went 2-8, with both teams having new faces and question marks heading into the 2024 season.
“Today was nerve-wracking for me personally and for the guys. We knew it was an opportunity and we knew it was a game we could win, but we just didn’t know what we had to bring to the field.” Said Knights head coach Paul Huebner: “The scrimmage against St. Olaf College went well, but it’s not live football, it’s not full blocks and tackles, so you need to know what’s going on. So it was really great to see the guys react to a live game today.”
“At Lawrence, their program is growing. (Head) coach Tony Aker took over during a tough time and he’s done a great job recruiting and getting players. We know each other a little bit from when I was a high school coach at Wisconsin. He was recruiting players from other schools. We thought if we played well, we had a chance to win, but we didn’t know it until the whistle blew and the game started.”
One of the new faces on the field at MLC was freshman quarterback Brady Turliff. The Knights ran the ball well, rushing 28 times for 120 yards led by Reece Roker’s 18 runs for 92 yards and one touchdown, but Turliff also had his chance to shine. He completed 13 of 22 passes for 190 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions.
The Knights went 71 yards in six plays on their first drive, ending with a 2-yard TD run by Roker, but in the second quarter, Turriff linked with Jude Pederson to score the Knights’ next two scores for a 21-0 lead. Turriff’s first TD pass was from 6 yards out and his second from 39 yards out.
“It was a big opportunity for me to come here and start and win the first game, especially in a bowl.” Turriff said. “And it just shows we have a lot of confidence in our offense this year and we have a lot of playmakers that we can hand the ball to. We’re excited.”
Pederson had four catches for 105 yards and Thomas Kelpin had five catches for 52 yards to lead the Knights to the win.
MLC’s dominating victory wasn’t just down to their offensive prowess. The defense came up with a string of big plays, including a strip-sack by Andrew Esmay that was picked off by Thomas Bulge and carried 40 yards to the end zone to give MLC a 28-0 lead just minutes before halftime.
Esmay recorded 2.5 sacks, while Bulge totaled 11 tackles and an interception.
“We have three players returning who were all-conference selections on defense.” “We’ve got some great guys in Joey Oelke, Barge and Jeremiah Stanton, and they’re all great football players,” Huebner said. “We know we can always count on those three. And then our defensive line has also played well. David Baumann played really well at inside back, a veteran leader. Aiden Zirbel is a freshman but he’s playing safety. He’s also a great football player.”
“Defensively, we had a great performance across the board. We almost threw a shutout and got two runs, we got a scoop to score, we blocked a punt, those were both defensive accomplishments. Coach (Tony) Autman, coach (Benjamin) Olson, (Lawrence) Olson and (Mitch) Mullenbach did a great job of getting the guys prepared.”
They kept the Vikings out of the end zone until the fourth quarter, when Vikings quarterback Aidan Williams connected with Alex Lippert for a 15-yard catch-and-run TD with 12:59 left in the game.
Williams completed 17 of 35 passes with a touchdown and one interception, while Jack Delzer led the Lawrence ground game with 94 yards on 14 carries.
With under three minutes left in the game and the Vikings attempting to punt, Kelpin blocked Ben Blumenthal’s punt, which Daniel Reinke recovered and ran 36 yards for a touchdown that gave the Knights a 35-7 lead.
Far from home
A graduate of Sun Valley High School in Monroe, North Carolina, Turliff traveled more than 1,200 miles to begin his school career and college football career at MLC.
The quarterback is enjoying his time at New Ulm and MLC so far and is settling in quickly.
“I love you,” Turriff said he is in New Ulm. “I love the small town atmosphere. Bowl ball in New Ulm is different. It’s a pretty crazy atmosphere right now, so we’re super excited. It was fun today.”
next time
The Knights next travel to St. Paul to play Macalester College on Saturday at 6 p.m. The Knights hosted Macalester College in Week 2 of last season and lost 56-27 after struggling to stop 6-foot-5 quarterback Michael Nadeau’s aerial attack. Nadeau completed 29 of 40 passes for 542 yards and a school-record eight touchdown passes.
But with Nadeau graduating this spring, the Knights had a new quarterback to watch on Saturday, and both teams had some new faces and question marks heading into the 2024 season.
“Today was nerve-wracking for me personally and for the guys. We knew it was an opportunity and we knew it was a game we could win, but we just didn’t know what we had to bring to the field.” Said Knights head coach Paul Huebner: “The scrimmage against St. Olaf College went well, but it’s not live football, you don’t have full blocks and tackles, so you need to know what’s going on. So it was really great to see the guys react to a live game today.”
“At Lawrence, their program is growing. (Head) coach Tony Aker took over during a tough time and he’s done a great job recruiting and getting players. We know each other a little bit from when I was a high school coach at Wisconsin. He was recruiting players from other schools. We thought if we played well, we had a chance to win, but we didn’t know it until the whistle blew and the game started.”
One of the new faces on the field at MLC was freshman quarterback Brady Turliff. The Knights ran the ball well, rushing 28 times for 120 yards led by Reece Roker’s 18 runs for 92 yards and one touchdown, but Turliff also had his chance to shine. He completed 13 of 22 passes for 190 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions.
The Knights went 71 yards in six plays on their first drive, ending with a 2-yard TD run by Roker, but in the second quarter, Turriff linked with Jude Pederson for the Knights’ next two scores to take a 21-0 lead. Turriff’s first TD pass was from 6 yards out and his second from 39 yards out.
“It was a big opportunity for me to come here and start and win the first game, especially in a bowl.” Turriff said. “And it just shows we have a lot of confidence in our offense this year and we have a lot of playmakers that we can hand the ball to. We’re excited.”
Pederson had four catches for 105 yards and Thomas Kelpin had five catches for 52 yards to lead the Knights to the win.
MLC’s dominating victory wasn’t just down to their offensive prowess. The defense came up with a string of big plays, including a strip-sack by Andrew Esmay that was picked off by Thomas Bulge and carried 40 yards to the end zone to give MLC a 28-0 lead just minutes before halftime.
Esmay recorded 2.5 sacks, while Bulge totaled 11 tackles and an interception.
“We have three players returning who were all-conference selections on defense.” “We’ve got some great guys in Joey Oelke, Barge and Jeremiah Stanton, and they’re all great football players,” Huebner said. “We know we can always count on those three. And then our defensive line has also played well. David Baumann played really well at inside back, a veteran leader. Aiden Zirbel is a freshman but he’s playing at safety. He’s a great football player, too.”
“Defensively, we had a great performance across the board. We almost threw a shutout and got two runs, we got a scoop to score, we blocked a punt, those were both defensive accomplishments. Coach (Tony) Autman, coach (Benjamin) Olson, (Lawrence) Olson and (Mitch) Mullenbach did a great job of getting the guys prepared.”
They kept the Vikings out of the end zone until the fourth quarter, when Vikings quarterback Aidan Williams connected with Alex Lippert for a 15-yard catch-and-run TD with 12:59 left in the game.
Williams completed 17 of 35 passes with a touchdown and one interception, while Jack Delzer led the Lawrence ground game with 94 yards on 14 carries.
With under three minutes left in the game and the Vikings attempting to punt, Kelpin blocked Ben Blumenthal’s punt, which Daniel Reinke recovered and ran 36 yards for a touchdown that gave the Knights a 35-7 lead.
Far from home
A graduate of Sun Valley High School in Monroe, North Carolina, Turliff traveled more than 1,200 miles to begin his school career and college football career at MLC.
The quarterback is enjoying his time at New Ulm and MLC so far and is settling in quickly.
“I love you,” Turriff said he is in New Ulm. “I love the small town atmosphere. Bowl ball in New Ulm is different. It’s a pretty crazy atmosphere right now, so we’re super excited. It was fun today.”
next time
The Knights next travel to St. Paul to play Macalester College on Saturday at 6 p.m. The Knights hosted Macalester College in Week 2 of last season and lost 56-27 after struggling to stop 6-foot-5 quarterback Michael Nadeau’s aerial attack. Nadeau completed 29 of 40 passes for 542 yards and a school-record eight touchdown passes.
But Nadeau graduated this spring, meaning the Knights will be turning their attention to a new quarterback on Saturday.
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