St. Paul, Minn. - The Polars Football team began their season at Hamline University, ending in a 21-28 loss.
The Polars started the game on defense, and on an early fourth and short situation Millicent Greer picks up a big tackle for loss to turn the Pipers over on downs. The next Hamline drive ended in one play after Senior
Luke Johnson forces a fumble deep in Hamline territory. Crown would recover the fumble, and turn it into points with a 32-yard field goal by
Reichen Hoekstra. Hamline would score a touchdown on the very next drive. The second quarter would begin with three straight drives ending in touchdowns, with the Polars scoring two of them. The first of these touchdowns would be on a drive that lasted just four plays for 70 yards. Quarterback
Jamarrius Courtney would begin the drive with a 28-yard run, but a 15-yard penalty would bring the play to a net gain of 43 yards. Courtney would then rush for 9, followed by two straight
Donovan Soloman rushes, the second ending in a 5-yard touchdown. Crown took a 7-9 lead, but Hamline got those six points back plus one as they were able to convert the extra point, taking the lead 14-9. Courtney would begin the last of these three drives with two chunk plays on the ground, but a spectacular catch by
Jakari Hunnecook would end in a 33-yard catch and run for six more. The Polars fail to convert on the 2-point conversion, so they would take a 15-14 lead. The Pipers then connected on a 26-yard touchdown pass with under a minute to go in the half, taking the lead 21-15 heading into halftime.
The second half saw a lot less scoring, but just as much action, with a total of seven turnovers between the two teams. Hamline scored on the third drive of the half on a 7-yard touchdown run by the Pipers running back. Forced turnovers for the Polars during this stretch between touchdowns include interceptions by
Eddie Hallowanger, and
Jaylen Gray, a fumble recovered on a botched snap by Hamline, and a fumble forced by
Tel Frisinger and recovered by
Rudy Criner. The Polars were able to score one more time before the contest finished, but it came on a scramble of 8-yards as time expired by quarterback
Jamarrius Courtney. The game would end without an extra point, ending the game at 21-28 in favor of Hamline.
Zach Brown started the game at quarterback, throwing 5 for 7 in the first quarter, but it was
Jamarrius Courtney playing three quarters at the position, going 14 for 24 with 138 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Courtney also led the Polars in rushing with 184 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries.
Devin Williams ran 13 times for 42 yards, and
Donovan Soloman found the end zone on 5 carries for 36 yards.
Carteyae Gordon led the Polars in catches with 5 for 47 yards.
Jakari Hunnecook was the only reciever to find the endzone, and was the leading reciever in yards with 50 on three receptions.
Rox Reiman caught 4 passses, and
Bryce Ternes caught 2.
Rudy Criner Led the team in tackles with 8, followed by
Jakalyn Roy (7) and
Luke Johnson (5).
The Polars play next Saturday, September 13, in the home opener against Simpson College in St. Bonifacius at Old National Bank Stadium at 1:00pm.
