BELOIT, Wis. – The Macalester College football team returned to its winning ways with a 21-14 triumph at Beloit College Saturday afternoon at Strong Stadium. The Scots, who saw their four-game winning streak end last week in a loss to Lake Forest, improve to 6-2 overall and 5-1 in the Midwest Conference. The Buccaneers fall to 3-5 overall, 2-4 MWC.

On Macalester's second possession of the game, the Scots traveled 66 yards on 15 plays, culminating in a one-yard run by sophomore receiver Alec Beatty (Topeka, Kan./Topeka) for a 7-0 lead. Sophomore quarterback Cody Petrich (Lansing, Ill./Thornton Fractional South) connected with senior receiver Tre Nowaczynski (Hales Corners, Wis./West Allis Central) twice for 15 yards, and junior running back Matthew Bonazzoli (Swampscott, Mass./Buckingham Browne & Nichols) ran three times for 26 yards in the drive.

Beloit tied the score early in the second quarter on a 19-yard touchdown pass from Danny May to Ryan Sughroue. The Buccaneers drove to the Scots' 15-yard line with time winding down in the first half, and attempted a field goal. But Macalester blocked the attempt, and ran down the clock with the score tied 7-7 at halftime.

Macalester took the second-half kickoff and moved into Beloit territory. The drive included a fourth-down conversion with a seven-yard pass from Petrich to Beatty to the Buccaneer 15 yard line. On the next play, Petrich ran it in from 15 yards out to put the Scots on top, 14-7. Beloit looked to answer on its next drive, advancing to the Scots' 1-yard line. But Macalester stopped the Bucs on 4th-and-1 to take over on downs and keep Beloit from scoring. The Scots then went 98 yards on 15 plays, capped by a 6-yard touchdown pass from Petrich to sophomore receiver Jonathan Knee (Lynnfield, Mass./Lynnfield), to make the score 21-7.

The Macalester defense held on another fourth-down attempt at its own 27, but did yield a touchdown drive that ended on a 7-yard May pass to Ethan Conley with 43 seconds remaining. The Scots ran out the clock, defeating Beloit for the third straight season. The victory also is the 45th at Macalester for head coach Tony Jennison, which ties former coach Dwight Stuessy (1937-38, 1946-56) for the most coaching wins in the program's 123-year history.

Petrich was 16-for-35 for 148 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He also led the Scots in rushing with 41 yards on eight attempts. Beatty and senior receiver Garrett Eichhorn (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) each caught five passes. Senior defensive lineman Nick Egersdorf (Rochester, Minn./Mayo) added to his sack total with another sack, giving him 11.5 on the season. First year safety Kiante Miles (Yukon, Okla./Mustang) led the defense with nine tackles. Beloit's Mason Dixon rushed for 125 yards and caught five passes for 62 yards.

Macalester plays its final home game of the season on Saturday, Oct. 29 against Cornell College. The Midwest Conference game starts at 1:00 p.m. at Macalester Stadium.