DE PERE – St. Norbert College played keep-away in the second half and posted a tough 24-17 win over Benedictine University in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference game at an overcast Schneider Stadium.
The Green Knights held possession of the football for 20 minutes 47 seconds in the second half to rally from a 14-10 halftime deficit.
St. Norbert took the lead on its second possession of the second half, taking advantage of short Benedictine punt to start on the Eagles' 39-yard line. The Green Knights needed seven plays to score on
Will Darden's 1-yard plunge.
Michael Meneguzzo (pictured) found
Bennett Schmidt for 19 yards on a third-and-15 scenario to keep the drive going and then hit
Connor Kelly on another 19-yard strike to move St. Norbert to the Eagles' 4 to set up the touchdown.
The Green Knights scored a possession later when Meneguzzo found
Jacob McVane wide open for a 49-yard touchdown and a 24-14 lead with 16 seconds left in the third quarter.
Benedictine cut into the deficit with a 29-yard field goal by Leonidas Gamino with 8:20 left. St. Norbert took over on its own 21-yard line after the kickoff and put together a drive that nearly ran out the clock. The Green Knights converted a pair of third downs and eventually punted back to the Eagles with just 42 seconds to go, melting 7:31 off the clock on a 13-play drive. Benedictine would get to the St. Norbert 41, but a pair of Hail Marys into the end zone fell incomplete.
The Eagles took the opening kickoff and moved 78 yards on seven plays to score on a 4-yard run by Dino Stephens. The Green Knights would answer a couple of possessions later when Meneguzzo hit
Joey Weber in the back of the end zone on a 4-yard touchdown pass with 4:49 left in the first quarter.
Benedictine took advantage of a muffed punt and scored on a short 15-yard drive on a fourth-down score from a yard out by Stephens with 4:34 left before halftime. The Green Knights got points back before intermission, moving 54 yards in 11 plays to get three points on a 36-yard field goal from
Tyler Juergensen for a 14-10 count going into halftime.
St. Norbert led Benedictine 315-282 in total offense, with 194 of its yards coming in the second half. The Green Knights were also 8-for-15 on third-down conversions. Meneguzzo completed 21 of 27 passes for 216 yards with two touchdowns.
Jason MacIntyre caught four passes for 42 yards,
Joey Weber four passes for 22 yards and one touchdown and
Will Darden four passes for 14 yards.
Jacob McVane rushed 16 times for 88 yards and also caught three passes for 62 yards and one touchdown.
Philip Jacobs completed 13 of 26 passes for 188 yards for Benedictine, while Stephens rushed 23 times for 95 yards and two scores. Tristan Weglarz caught five passes for 50 yards.
John Seitz led St. Norbert with eight tackles, while
Brian Treacy had six stops.
Dylan Elsing registered St. Norbert's lone quarterback sack.
