ST. BONIFACIUS, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris football team won its fourth straight game on Saturday afternoon with a 27-0 victory over Crown College. The shutout was the first for a Cougar team since a 10-0 win over Martin Luther College on Sept. 8, 2012, and lifts Minnesota Morris to 4-3 (3-0 UMAC) on the season.

The interception parade started on the opening drive of the contest. Crown elected to receive and drove to midfield before Hunter Infanger intercepted Diego Narezo's downfield pass. 

The Minnesota Morris offense didn't get anything going in each of its first two drives, but the first quarter ended with the Cougars out in front thanks to a great play from Chayce Meyer. Reading a pass out to the left flat, Meyer stuck a hand up and batted the ball into the air, then grabbed it and was off to the races for 64 yards and a touchdown to make it 7-0 after 15 minutes of action.

In the second quarter, Crown had a drive halted by a tackle for a loss on a fourth and short and another one stopped by a Garrett Elison interception. On the third possession of the quarter for the Polars, Elison stepped in front of an out route and took it the remaining 12 yards to the end zone with Alex Happ's extra point increasing the lead to 14-0 at the break.

The Cougars were stopped inside the Crown 5-yard line on the first drive of the third quarter, but the Minnesota Morris defense quickly got the Polars off the field and the offense then cashed in its lone touchdown of the day. Taking over at the Crown 36, Marcus Reeb connected with Ethan Tang on a 31-yard reception. Three plays later, Keyton Johnson fought through would-be tacklers and took it three yards to paydirt for a 21-0 lead. 

The offensive woes for Crown continued on the next two drives. First, Meyer sacked Narezo and forced a fumble that was fallen on by Alex Emmrich. On the subsequent Polar possession, a fumble was picked up by Carter Maurice and taken 35 yards to the end zone to increase the Minnesota Morris edge to 27-0.

The Minnesota Morris defense picked off Narezo yet again with less than 10 minutes to play. This time it was Emmrich making a running grab on the sideline to end another Crown possession. With less than nine minutes left, the Polars went to another quarterback and were able to drive into the Cougar red zone before turning the ball over on downs. With less than one minute to play, a final Crown possession ended with a fumble ripped and recovered by Isaiah Henderson to finish things off.

All told, the Cougar defense ended the day with five interceptions and three fumble recoveries. Four other Crown drives ended with turnovers on downs. Emmrich was the leading tackler in the game for Minnesota Morris with nine (seven solo). Meyer had six tackles (four solo) and three tackles for a loss in addition to his interception return touchdown. 

Reeb went 11-of-18 through the air for 140 yards with two interceptions. Johnson had 13 rushes for 40 yards and a score. Tang was the leading receiver with six catches for 88 yards.

Minnesota Morris returns home to Big Cat Stadium next Saturday to square off with Martin Luther at 1 p.m.