The Northwestern vs. Morningside series has historically been very competitive and this year’s contest will be no exception.  Last season, Morningside defeated Northwestern 10-6, but the Red Raiders still hold the advantage in the series 7-6 (0.538) 

 The Mustangs are led by Head Coach Steve Ryan who is in his fourth season at the helm.  His team is coming off a 8-3 record season that sent the Mustangs to their first-ever NAIA playoff appearance. Coach Ryan, was the 2004 GPAC Coach of the Year and the 2004 NAIA Football.net National Coach of the Year.

 The Morningside Mustang offense, which returns eight starters, is led by senior quarterback Craig Fobbe, who had a record-breaking game last weekend against Midland Lutheran.  Fobbe threw for 471 yards out of 477 total yards to break two school records.  The 2004 honorable mention All-American and GPAC Co-Offensive Player of the Year has thrown a touchdown pass in 12 of his last 13 games. Last week was not an exception.  One of his favorite targets is senior wide receiver Kyle Ortegren, who has had at least one reception in each of his 32 Morningside games.  Ortegren earned second-team NAIA All-American and first team all-GPAC honors last season, grabbing 79 passes for 900 yards and seven touchdowns.  Another offensive weapon for the Mustangs is newcomer and University of South Dakota transfer, Deontrae Johnson.  Fobbe connected with Johnson eight times last week for a total of 188 yards and two touchdowns.  Another target for Fobbe is junior wide receiver Cody Jaminet, who is on a streak of 100-plus pass reception performances.  Against Midland, Jaminet had six receptions for 121 yards, including a 45-yarder for a touchdown.  Other offensive standouts include fullback Cory Wirth, junior receiver Damon Mothershead, and a running back trio of freshman Tyler Childress, and sophomores Nick Reigle and Kevin Forristall. 

 Defensively, the Mustangs have a number of weapons.  Mike Winklepleck is a senior safety who has 15 career pass interceptions with the Mustangs and last week had five tackles and a fumble recovery.  Another defensive notable is sophomore safety Chad Hustedt, who last week had a team-high 12 tackles, two interceptions for 57 yards, and a pass breakup.  A squad of veteran linebacker and defensive linemen helped to keep Midland Lutheran to 153 yards on the ground in 38 attempts. 

 The traditionally strong and several category-leading Raider defense only allowed 243 yards of offense last week against Dakota State, 167 of which where through the air.  NWC was able to make several big plays as they intercepted two passes and had three sacks for a loss of 20 yards.  Blake Wolfswinkel led the Raiders with ten total tackles, six of which were solo stops.  He also picked off a Trojan pass in the fourth quarter that helped clinch the win. Defensive linemen Travis Wallin and Andrew Lundgren each tallied one-and-a-half sacks.  The offense was equally effective, amassing 435 yards of total offense: 243 on the ground and 192 through the air.  Keith Sietstra carried the ball 21 times for 176 yards and four touchdowns, which tied the GPAC record for most rushing touchdowns in a single game.  Quarterback Craig Hector was very efficient commanding the NW attack, completing 15 of 24 passes for 192 yards. His leading targets were Tyler Reichle (4-43) and Patrick Hanlon (3-67).