ROCKFORD, Ill. -- The Rockford University football team took on the St. Norbert College Green Knights on Saturday afternoon for homecoming. After a back-and-forth first half, both offenses stalled in the second and St. Norbert finally edged out the Regents, 28-14.
Ryan Vasavilbaso was busy, throwing the ball 51 times. He completed 24 passes for 354 yards and two touchdowns.
The running game never got going.
Malik Gordon led the team on the ground with 25 yards on 11 carries.
The Regents' top two targets showed out in front of a packed crowd.
Kenny Moten-Barden came up with a number of huge plays, hauling in seven catches for 138 yards and a score.
Napoleon Williams once again led the team in receptions with nine, and also crossed the century mark with 117 receiving yards.
Joey Alvarez paced the middle of the defense, totaling nine tackles and one tackle-for-loss.
Ethan Rager wreaked havoc on the edge with six tackles, two TFLs, and a sack.
Ahlin Gilbert finished with seven tackles, 1.5 TFLs, and recovered a fumble.
After a Rockford three-and-out to start the game, St. Norbert would draw first blood on its opening drive. Tanner Hora found Adam Westberg for a 47-yard touchdown to give the Green Knights a 7-0 lead.
The Regents followed that up with a long scoring drive of their own, traveling 75 yards in 13 plays. Vasavilbaso sliced and diced his way down the field, eventually finding Moten-Barden on a fade ball in the back left corner of the end zone for a five-yard touchdown to tie the game.
Rockford's happiness was short-lived. Jacob McVane returned the ensuing kickoff 82 yards to put SNC back in front. The Regents would block the point after to keep it a 13-7 ballgame.
Still in the first quarter, the scoring wasn't done yet. RU marched down the field again, finding pay dirt with a nine-yard touchdown connection from Vasavilbaso to
Justin Winkler, the first catch of his Rockford career.Â
The Regents held a 14-13 lead after the first quarter. The offenses started to slow, trading punts to start the second period. The Green Knights' three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust offense took off a chunk of clock before another Hora to Westberg touchdown made it 20-14.
That was the score for much of the second half. It turned into an entirely new football game, with penalties and punts becoming the norm. The first six drives of the second half all resulted in punts.
The Green Knights finally found the end zone with 6:18 left in the game. Their drive was given new life multiple times by Regent penalties. McVane punched it in for his second touchdown and St. Norbert converted the two point conversion to go up two scores.
Rockford made it all the way to the SNC 1-yard line on its final drive and were unable to punch it in, turning the ball over and downs and giving St. Norbert its third conference win.
The Regents will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 17, after a bye week. They will play Concordia Wisconsin at 1 p.m. at Sam Greeley Field.
Â
