ST. BONIFACIUS, Minn. --- Crown Football won their 2019 Homecoming Game with a statement game on Saturday, blowing out Upper Midwest Athletic Conference affiliate member Iowa Wesleyan University 35-0. The 35-point margin is the biggest Storm margin of victory since 2009.Crown Football is currently undefeated in Old National Bank Stadium this season after defeating Beloit in September. Similar to that Beloit game, the defense came up with an incredible four interceptions (all in the first half) and forced seven turnovers to defeat the IWU Tigers. 

The Storm struck first on their third drive of the contest when Crown capitalized on a fumble recovery after junior defensive end Abraham Mayo fell on the ball for a new Storm possession starting deep in Tiger territory.  From there, sophomore running back Avory Caruthers was able to find the end zone for a two-yard score (Caruthers' fifth straight game with a touchdown). After the Tigers got the ball back, senior defensive back Sebastian Alvarado intercepted a pass and nearly took it to the house, but luckily it only took first-year back Ameer Lee two rushes to make it a 14-0 Storm lead. 

In the second quarter, the Storm weren't able to capitalize when junior Corey Huard picked off a pass, but later Avarado came around the right tackle and charged the quarterback, forcing an errant throw that ended up in the hands of junior Cody Ricketts, which the Storm made full use of after sophomore quarterback Jared Gilmore capped a short drive with a quarterback sneak score. 

"We're feeling good, we really worked well up front today and were able to make some plays," said Gilmore. "We're ready for some more victories."

On the next Crown possession, Gilmore found first-year receiver Cole Mistretta for a 20-yard touchdown pass, and before you could blink the Storm had a 28-0 lead going into the halftime break after first-year defensive lineman Ugo Egwim had an interception on the last play of the first half. 

In the second half, the Tigers finally figured out how to slow down the Crown scoring as Caruthers was the only score as he rushed for his second touchdown of the contest.  

"It feels good, we've finally been putting it together," said Alvarado. "We have a lot of guys who want to win and they give it everything in practice and it shows on Saturdays."

Gilmore was the leader in the passing game with 200 yards in the game and a touchdown pass. Lee led the rushers with 51 yards, and Mistretta once again led the wideouts with 124 receiving yards. 

First-year Junior Doe, junior Micah Moyer, and senior Joe Duffy led the defense with seven tackles each. Duffy led the team with 2.5 tackles for loss and split a sack with Mayo. Doe had the only Storm forced fumble of the game and recovered it himself. Jesse Synoground led the defensive backs with two passes broken up; Alvarado led the team with two quarterback hurries. 

The Storm had 18 first downs in the contest compared to the Tigers' 12. The rushing yards were fairly even with Crown edging Iowa Wesleyan 123-102. The biggest difference in yardage was in the passing game, as Crown's 213 passing yards towered above the Tigers' 84. In fact, the Storm defense had more yards on Iowa Wesleyan pass attempts than the Tigers. 

Saturday's win is the second time in the last four years that the Storm have won their homecoming contest, and look to continue a winning streak at home with UM-Morris coming to Old National Bank Stadium next Saturday.