MACOMB, Ill. -  Week three of the spring slate saw the Western Illinois football team welcome the third-ranked North Dakota Fighting Hawks to Hanson Field Saturday (March 13), and freshman Iosefa Pua'auli had himself a two-touchdown game in the 38-21 setback. 

"Our guys did a really good job starting the game, giving their guys some different looks in terms of the run game. I think we had some success," said head coach Jared Elliott. "The problem is when you're playing a team like North Dakota, such an explosive football team, there are certain things that they create you to do. They are going to isolate one-on-ones, and they were able to find some of those things. We lost some one-on-one plays, but I think we came out with the right plan. 

"Third down was the name of the game today on both sides of the ball. There were way too many third and long situations. We have to execute better, put our kids in better positions, but there are no excuses for that. Third and long is a dream that you want to get into on defense. We had plenty of opportunities to stop drives and get them off the field, and we didn't. And we had plenty of opportunities on offense to stay on the field and did not. We've got to be much better in the critical downs of the game." 

Time of possession favored North Dakota, 12 to three, in the first quarter, and while it used the extra minutes to hold Western to 25 yards of total offense, the advantage didn't necessarily translate to points.

The Fighting Hawks held a 7-0 lead at the end of the frame and sandwiched two scoring drives around a Leatherneck touchdown in the second. The period saw the freshman Pua'auli walk into the endzone for his first career score (7:24), and a late play by the Leathernecks' special teams unit put them in position to add another. 

Western recovered two fumbles in the opening half, the latter on a dropped punt fell on by Justin Hall. He put his team at UND's 28-yard line with 1:13 to go -- Western's second drive in North Dakota territory -- and it ended with a 44-yard field goal attempt that traveled wide left. 

The Fighting Hawks held a 21-7 edge at halftime. 

Powering his way up the middle, Pua'auli doubled down on touchdowns after a four-yard run in the third quarter.

Western is off to Illinois State next Saturday for an 11 a.m. game. 

NOTES

- Western finished 3-for-9 in third down conversions, while UND went 8-for-12; several of its successful opportunities were third and long (third and nine; third and 10; third and 16; third and nine) 
- Adam Fellner booted a 71-yard punt in the first quarter, the seventh-longest in WIU history. 
- Dallas Daniels scored a touchdown for the second time in as many games and leads WIU's wide receiver corp with two. 
- Dennis Houston finished with 108 receiving yards on eight receptions, his third career game with 100-plus.
- Justin Nutof and Michael Lawson were the only athletes with 10-plus tackles, recording 13 and 12, respectively; the total tied Nutof's career-high and also marked his fourth career game with 10 or more. 
- Connor Sampson completed 33 passes, the third most in Western's single-game history. He currently holds the top three marks after posting 34 in the season-opener against Missouri State and 34 at Illinois State a year ago. He finished Saturday's game 33-for-47 with 336 yards. 
- Western Illinois is 45-88-1 all-time against ranked opponents, with a 30-68 mark in conference play.