ST. PAUL, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris football team held the lead after the first and second quarters at Macalester College on Saturday night, but the Scots took control in the third quarter and pulled away for a 44-30 victory in the season opener for both teams.

Macalester scored on its opening drive of the game to take a 7-0 lead, but Minnesota Morris answered back with two scores before the end of the first quarter. The first came on an intentional grounding call in the end zone for a safety after Mondo Calderon supplied the pressure on Macalester quarterback Michael Nadeau. Izayah Boss later ripped off a 63-yard touchdown run and Alex Happ's extra point put the Cougars ahead, 9-7.

The two sides traded touchdowns to start the second quarter. A 25-yard touchdown pass for the Scots was canceled out by a two-yard plunge from Boss to keep the Cougars in front, 16-14. Macalester would later score on a 55-yard completion and successfully convert the two-point try to take a 22-16. The UMN Morris defense made a couple of big plays after that, ending Macalester drives with interceptions from Juan Garza and Garrett Elison. 

The latter of those two interceptions gave the Cougars the ball at the Macalester 31-yard line with less than a minute until the half. Down to the 1-yard line with four seconds to go, Marcus Reeb used the quarterback sneak and a helpful push from his pals in the backfield to break the plane with no time left. The extra point gave Minnesota Morris a 23-22 edge at the midway point.

Despite going into the half with momentum and then getting a stop to start the third quarter, Minnesota Morris would come up empty with its first three drives of the second half. By the time the third quarter ended, Macalester had scored twice and held a 36-23 lead. The Cougars had the ball to begin the fourth quarter but a Happ field goal was blocked to keep the Scots in front by 13. 

The Macalester lead grew to 44-23 with nine minutes to play before Minnesota Morris was finally able to get things moving again. A couple big passing plays set up Blake Johnson to take it in from 24 yards out and slice the deficit to 44-30 with 7:02 remaining. The Scots drained the clock after that however, and a fumble on a punt return gave Macalester a fresh set of downs. The home side was able to run the final seven minutes off the clock without allowing the Cougar offense back onto the field.

Reeb was 14-of-29 for 215 yards through the air, while adding 10 rushes for 31 yards and a score. Boss finished with 14 carries for 91 yards and two touchdowns, while Johnson had 14 carries for 83 yards and one score. Ethan Tang was the big target for Reeb on the night with seven catches for 118 yards. Defensively, Gregory Ohman led the way with 12 tackles, while Isaiah Henderson added nine.

Minnesota Morris comes home for consecutive games at Big Cat Stadium, starting on Sept. 9 with a Homecoming Weekend matchup with Hamline University beginning at 6 p.m.