Russow runs wild over PrincipiaNEW ULM -- It was a first half the Martin Luther College football team would rather soon forget.

The Knights, who were celebrating homecoming, did not give their fans a good first impression as they fumbled the ball five times in the first half and lost the ball four times. To make matters worse, one of the fumbles was stripped out of quarterback Dan Lange's hands by Josh Steele and the 230 pound defensive lineman rumbled 72 yards for the score, giving the Panthers a 13-3 lead with 12:40 remaining in the first half.

However, Joel Russow grabbed the reins for the Knights and rushed for 209 yards and three touchdowns as MLC improved to 5-1 overall and 3-1 in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference. The 209 yards and the 3 rushing touchdowns were both season highs for Russow. Even more amazing is he accomplished the feat with less than ideal field conditions due to rain most of the game.

"It was pretty slippery and it was hard to get some footing," Russow said. "We tried to protect the ball because we knew it was going to be slippery. It was just real difficult."

"I think everybody was really fired up for the game," last week's UMAC defensive player of the week Jon Beilke said. "We prepared for them just like any other team. Their record was 1-4 coming into the game, but we can't look past them."

After Noah Bater's field goal early in the first quarter, Principia took the lead after Steele recovered his first of two fumbles. Later, Shawn Brown scored from 19 yards out to make it 7-3, where it remained at the end of the quarter.

In the second quarter, Steele stripped the ball from Lange after he bobbled it on the snap and followed his blockers in for the score, giving the Panthers a 13-3 lead on the failed PAT.

With 2:17 left, Russow took the pitch from Lange and swept outside to the left. After finding a hole, Russow was able to follow his upfield blockers and score on a 82-yard run on the Knights' first play from scrimmage following a punt. The conversion failed, making it 13-9.

"That's all the blockers," Russow said. "My feet were getting heavy. I was getting tired and those guys just kept blocking. Hats off to them. It was their touchdown."

The Knights had a golden opportunity to grab the lead after forcing the Panthers to punt. From the 50, Lange stepped aside and fired a pass to Nate Hochmuth, who in turn threw to a wide-open Noah Bater, who bobbled the ball but eventually held on and was brought down at the Panther 1. The Knights tried to run the ball in with nine second remaining, but couldn't score and the score stayed at 13-9.

The Knights retook the lead in the third quarter when Russow scored on a 6-yard run.

"My job was easy," Russow said. "When those loads are huge, all I have to do is follow and they did a great job."

Then, with 4:36 left in the third quarter, Russow scored from one yard out, giving the Knights a 24-13 lead.

"We knew things were working, we just had to protect the ball and we gotta get jobs done," Russow said. "The O-line was telling us where to cut. Everyone played together and pulled together."

"We didn't get panicky at halftime and we just said we could do this and we didn't make the mistakes," MLC coach Dennis Gorsline said. "We executed I guess."

The Knights pulled another play out of their bag of tricks as Lange pitched to freshman back-up quarterback Phillip Scriver. Scriver faked out the defense when he looked to run, then found Paul Stuebs open for the touchdown. The Knights led 31-14 after the score.

"He's a freshman quarterback and he's a good quarterback," Gorsline said. "I haven't played him because our games have been so tight. We put him in at fullback and we ran that option pitch, and he made a nice pass, and it seemed like he was throwing the ball better."

The Panthers scored a touchdown with 4:39 left and the MLC reserves scored with 2:17 left. Samuel Martin scored on a 3-yard run to make the final margin 38-20.

David Dodge had 12 carries for 77 yards and Bater had three carries for 52 yards. Lange rushed for 53 yards and Scriver passed for 64 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Bater also caught two passes for 64 yards.

MLC (5-1, 3-1) is at Crown College Saturday.

Russow runs wild over Principia defense