Austin College Football Earns First Win of 2023

ST. BONIFACIUS, Minn. - The Austin College football team went north to Crown College on Saturday, and the 'Roos will be coming back to Sherman with the first victory of Tony Joe White's tenure after topping the Polar Bears 34-23. The 'Roos are now 1-2 on the year.

The 'Roos got on the board first with a Caleb Balderas field goal after forcing a punt from Crown on the first drive of the game for the Polar Bears, with Balderas splitting the uprights at the 8:57 mark in the opening quarter. It wouldn't take long for Austin College to add to that lead, getting the ball back quickly and going ahead 10-0 after Peyton Keily escaped the rush, rolled left, and found Ashton Milton wide open in the end zone from 23 yards out at the 6:03 mark.

The margin would grow to 13-0 on another Balderas field goal just over four minutes into the second quarter, but just 11 seconds later, Crown would connect on a 75-yard touchdown pass from Diego Narezo to Christoff Seneca to cut it to a 13-7 game. Balderas added his third field goal of the opening half with 3:51 left before the break to make it 16-7, but the Polar Bears once again got a touchdown connection from Narezo to Seneca, this time from eight yards out, to make it 16-14 heading into the locker room.

Balderas notched his fourth field goal in as many attempts early in the third quarter to make it a 19-14 game, and that's where things would stand heading into the final quarter. Jaylon Talton found Dakota Lowery for a 44-yard touchdown strike with just over 11 minutes left in the game and Ben Meraz converted the 2-point attempt to put the 'Roos up 27-14, though Narezo tossed his third touchdown pass of the game to trim the Austin College lead to 27-21 with 6:20 to play. The 'Roos would find themselves facing fourth and one from the Crown 28-yard line, and that's when Christian Johnson would put the game away after the 'Roo offensive line opened up a huge hole right up the gut, with Johnson taking it to the house with 4:07 left. The 'Roos would take a safety with 58 seconds left, and Devin Holcomb picked off a deflected pass with 20 seconds left to seal the win.

The 'Roos piled up 510 yards of total offense, including 200 on the ground, led by 79 yards on 18 carries by Meraz while Johnson toted the rock 16 times for 55 yards. Peyton Keily completed 11-of-23 passes for 218 yards and a score and added 64 rushing yards on 12 carries, and Talton completed 4-of-4 passes for 92 yards. Lowery finished with five catches for 119 yards, while Grant Yudizky caught three passes for 71 yards. Jarrett Pleasant and Eliel Sandoval each had eight tackles to pace the defense, with Colton Gerken adding six stops and a pick as the 'Roos controlled the clock for nearly 41 of the game's 60 minutes.

Narezo led Crown offensively with 445 passing yards, completing 38-of-62 attempts with three touchdowns and two picks, and Seneca caught nine passes for 163 yards while Terry Warner had 10 catches for 15 yards. Nathan Tomlinson had 13 tackles to lead the Polar Bears.