Box Score

Galesburg, IL – The Prairie Fire fell behind early against St. Norbert College and couldn't recover in a 42-7 Midwest Conference loss on Saturday at the Knosher Bowl.

The Green Knights (1-1, 1-0 MWC), coming off of a 41-0 loss against John Carroll University -- their first offensive shutout since 2002 -- put Knox in a 14-0 hole with a pair of first quarter touchdowns.  The first score was on a 54 yard run at the 11:30 mark followed by an 85 yard interception return with 3:11 remaining in the stanza.

St. Norbert added a pair of rushing touchdowns in the last six minutes of the second quarter for a 28-0 lead at halftime.
The Green Knights extended the lead to 35-0 on a 68 yard pass play for a touchdown 1:19 into the third quarter followed by a 2 yard run into the end zone with 6:50 to play in the stanza for a 42-0 advantage.

Knox (0-2, 0-1 MWC) prevented a shutout when sophomore quarterback Luke Oosterbaan (Palos Heights, IL, Marist) hit senior tight end Neal Moon (Kahoka, MO, Clark County) with a 31 yard touchdown pass with 5:32 in the contest.  Senior kicker Phil Tallman (Park Ridge, IL, Maine South) connected on the extra point attempt to conclude the afternoon's scoring.

St. Norbert had 454 total yards of offense to the Prairie Fire's 296.

Senior running back Derek Mortensen (Crystal Lake, IL, Crystal Lake South) led the Prairie Fire ground game with 141 yards.  Mortensen has rushed for at least 100 yards in seven consecutive games dating back to last season, one game short of the school record of eight originally set by Drew Sherman (1998-99). Mortensen also tied Matt Hayden (1994-97) the record of 12 games of 100 or more yards rushing in his career.

The Knights rushed for 291 yards and threw for another 163.

Oosterbaan completed 10-of-23 passes for 119 yards and two interceptions.  Sophomore Ilir Emini (Yorkville, IL, Yorkville) caught five passes for 54 yards to lead the Knox receiving corps.

St. Norbert won the turnover battle by forcing three and committing none.

The Prairie Fire marched on offense to the Red Zone three times but came up empty each time.  Two of the possessions were thwarted by turnovers.  The Green Knights, meanwhile, scored all three times they were inside the Knox 20 yard line.

Junior safety Will Ruzicka (St. Louis, MO, St. Mary's) led the Knox defense with eight tackles.

View photos of the game with St. Norbert and the  2013 season

The Prairie Fire will get another tough test next Saturday on the road at Carroll University. 

The Pioneers (2-1, 0-1 MWC) fell at Ripon College 22-20 on Saturday after racing out to a 17-0 lead.  The kickoff in Waukesha, Wisconsin is at 1:00, and the game will be streamed live at http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/carroll.portal#

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