Lincoln, Neb. – Connor Zumpfe made a sideline catch getting one foot inbounds for the game-winning 17-yard grab with 1:23 remaining to cap off a 4^th quarter comeback as Nebraska Wesleyan defeated arch-rival Doane College, 20-19, in primetime Saturday night (Oct. 5) before a raucous crowd of 1,700 at Abel Stadium in Lincoln.
 
Nebraska Wesleyan trailed 19-7 heading into the 4^th quarter but scored 13 unanswered points in the final period to defeat a nationally-ranked opponent for the second straight week.  The Prairie Wolves now are 3-2 overall and 3-1 in the GPAC while the 13^th-ranked Tigers fall to 3-2, 3-1 in GPAC.
 
The Prairie Wolves led 7-3 at halftime in an old-fashioned smash mouth defensive battle between longtime conference foes.  Neither team had over 125 yards of total offense in the first half as the defenses controlled the game.
 
Doane got on the board first as they scored on their opening offensive possession. Jordan Pederson connected on a 43-yard field goal to put the Tigers up 3-0. 
 
In the second quarter, the NWU defense came up the first of three forced turnovers as Taylor TeKolste jumped on a fumble by Doane QB Phil Hamburger.  The Prairie Wolves got a 22-yard completion to Tyler Gibson and another 22-yard completion to Dustin Bryant to get down to the three yard line.  On 4^th & goal, Joey Jones plunged ahead from the 1-yard line for a touchdown to put NWU ahead 7-3.
 
The third quarter was controlled by Doane as they held the Prairie Wolves to only 14 total yards, intercepted two NWU passes and blocked a punt for a touchdown.  The first touchdown of the second half came on a blocked punt by JerSean Walder who then picked up the ball and ran it in for a score.
 
A trick play then came back to haunt the Prairie Wolves late in the quarter as they split the lineman to the sidelines and attempted a pass, but Kam Lenhart broke on the play and picked off Tyler Francis returning the pick for six points.  The 2-point conversion failed giving Doane a 19-7 lead.
 
In typical Prairie Wolves football fashion, they bounced back from adversity and rallied the troops.  Francis completed four straight passes and got NWU inside Doane territory.  He then capped the drive with a TD pass to fullback Carlin Krienert with 12:20 remaining to pull NWU within five at 19-14.
 
After the teams exchanged punts, Doane pinned the Prairie Wolves back to their own 1-yard line with 8:50 to play.  NWU got three big first downs and flipped fields to the Doane 45 but was forced to punt.  Kelby Vandenberg pinned Doane within their own 5-yard line and a quick three and out set up NWU with a game-winning drive with 2:51 to play from their own 47.
 
Francis connected with Zumpfe on 2^nd down and Zumpfe broke out of a tackle for a 26-yard gain down to the 27-yard line.  The Francis-Zumpfe connection happened again for 15 yards giving NWU the ball at the 17-yard line.
 
On 2^nd & 5, Francis lofted a pass towards the back corner of the endzone and Zumpfe went up to grab the ball and managed to get one foot inbounds for the game-winning TD, the first TD of his career.  The two-point PAT failed making the score 20-19.
 
Doane had one final gasp, but Eric Richards intercepted a Phil Thramer pass giving the ball back to the Prairie Wolves.  Joey Jones ran for a first down to seal the win allowing the NWU students to swarm the field in celebration.
 
NWU finished with 341 total yards and limited Doane to just 175.  Francis was 24-50 for a career-high 311 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions.  It was the first time a NWU quarterback threw for over 300 yards since 2001.
 
Zumpfe finished with six receptions for 86 yards, while Austin Ruskamp caught four passes.  Starting running back Dustin Bryant had eight carries for 28 yards, but went out in the first half with injury.
 
Defensively, Brandon Reeves and Phil Latimer each had nine total tackles as they limited the Tigers to 175 yards.  Doane QB Phil Hamburger was 4-7, then was relieved by Phil Thramer who was 0-10 through the air.
 
NWU has another big game next Saturday as they travel to Seward to face undefeated and nationally-ranked Concordia.