ST. PAUL, Minn. — The football team struggled to generate offense and fell behind early Saturday afternoon as Northwestern-St. Paul rolled to a 40-10 victory over the Panthers at Reynolds Field.
The Eagles scored touchdowns on each of their first two possessions and never looked back, building a 14-0 first-quarter lead before taking a 20-3 advantage into halftime. Northwestern-St. Paul added 13 points in the third quarter and another touchdown early in the fourth to put the game out of reach.
Greenville's lone first-half points came on a 31-yard field goal by
Derek De Haan with 4:42 remaining in the second quarter.
The Panthers added their only touchdown midway through the fourth quarter when
Leonard Holton capped a 67-yard drive with a 3-yard scoring run.
Northwestern-St. Paul controlled the game statistically, outgaining Greenville 480-158 and piling up 280 rushing yards. The Eagles finished with 29 first downs and averaged 6.9 yards per play.
Greenville managed just 22 passing yards on two completions while relying primarily on its ground game.
Jashaun McKinley led the Panthers with 68 rushing yards on 17 carries.
Jaden Foote provided a spark late, rushing for 28 yards on two carries and completing a 13-yard pass during the fourth-quarter scoring drive.
Defensively, Greenville forced two turnovers.
Isaiah Harbert forced and recovered a fumble in the second quarter, while
Jamarion Cobbins recovered another fumble in the third.
Julian O'Malley and Cobbins paced the defense with 12 tackles apiece, and O'Malley recorded Greenville's lone sack.
Greenville fell to 3-4 overall and 2-2 in conference play. Â The Panthers travel to Minnesota-Morris for a game next Saturday at noon.
