NEW ULM– The Martin Luther College defense came out strong against the high-scoring offense of Iowa Wesleyan University as MLC picked up a 42-20 win in an Upper Midwest Athletic Conference game on Saturday.

The Knights (2-1) offensively scored on their first five possessions of the game with 28 points in the first quarter alone.

MLC’s quarterback Zachary Bloomquist ran in from the right side for a 4-yard touchdown to complete an 80-yard drive as the Knights led 7-0 in the early minutes of the first quarter.

Later in the first, the Knights backfield held great coverage as the Tigers (1-2) quarterback was forced to scramble and keep the play alive resulting in a interception by Kenton Fabin of MLC. Fabin was brought down at the Tigers 29 for the first turnover of the game.

Bloomquist found Michael Radue in the back of the endzone for the 16-yard touchdown with 8:11 to play in the first quarter.

“There was a situation where we had the opportunity to go up two scores, which was big for us and harmful to their team,” MLC coach Mark Stein said.

The Knights would go into the hurry-up offense to keep the opposing team scrambling to stop the driving Knights.

Iowa Wesleyan would again turn the ball over on a fumble recovered by Josh VonDeylen for MLC just across the 50-yard line.

“Thats what our defense does — they showed up and played the ball well adjusting to the passing game,” Stein said. “Turning the ball over and giving us the short field was huge — not only in the first half but in the second when Iowa started to make the runs.”

Bloomquist would waste no time as he completed a pass to Josh Arndt, where Arndt broke a tackle at the 10 and carried the ball across the goal line. MLC held a 21-0 lead still with 6:42 left to play in the first quarter.

The Knights defense continued to set the tone on the field, forcing the Tigers to punt on a fourth-and-14 from deep in Tiger territory going three and out.

MLC, starting from the 50, ate 3 minutes off the clock from eight plays as Josh Wong carried the ball 13 yards for the touchdown. The Knights converted on a fourth down with 2 yards to go during the drive inside the Tiger 35-yard line.

Bloomquist added another rushing touchdown in the first half, running 14 yards and diving in at the goal line to beat two Tiger defenders.

The Knights tallied 199 rushing yards in the first half and ended with 337 yards on the ground on 74 attempts.

Iowa Wesleyan started with good field position on the ensuing kickoff at the MLC 49. The Tigers kept the drive going by completing a fourth down with a long one yard to go. The Tigers added 39 more yards to the drive and completed a pass to the endzone to eliminate the Knights defensive shutout as the Knights led 25-7 at the half.

The Knights defense only gave up 24 yards rushing in the entire first half also, keeping the Tigers to 88 yards in the air.

Iowa Wesleyan added 7 points in the 3rd quarter, starting a drive from its own 43-yard line as the Knights led 35-14.

With 9:29 left to play in the game, the Knights defense forced the Tigers to attempt a punt deep in Tiger territory. A scrambling kicker was then pushed out of bounds by MLC defender Clayton Fury at the Iowa Wesleyan 26-yard line.

Nate Stein ran in untouched from 23 yards to give the Knights the 42-14 lead with 8:42 left to play in the game.

Iowa Wesleyan’s Joseph Mosley received the kickoff at the 20-yard line and ran down the Tigers’ sideline for 80 yards and the 6 points to end the scoring for both teams as the Knights won 42-20.

Josh Wong led the Knights with 120 yards rushing from 20 carries and one touchdown. Nate Stein tallied 92 yards and a touchdown and Bloomquist had 90 yards rushing. Michael Radue had three completions for 72 yards in the air with one touchdown and Josh Arndt had 57 yards receiving with one touchdown.

MLC will host Greenville at 12 p.m. on Saturday.