DECORAH, Iowa – Luther College missed a 40-yard field goal with just over one minute remaining as Nebraska Wesleyan was able to preserve a 27-24 victory in the first road game of the season for the Prairie Wolves football team.
 
The win marks the initial Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory in football action and is also the 500^th win in Nebraska Wesleyan football program history.
 
In the fourth quarter with the game tied 24-24 between teams both going for their first Iowa Conference win of the season, it came down to the two kickers.  NWU's Kramer Rath converted a 23-yard field goal with 6:46 left in the game to put the Prairie Wolves ahead 27-24.  Luther did drive down the field and had a shot at a 40-yard field goal, but Cory Wirth's attempt was wide right.
 
Luther got the game off to a fast start scoring on their initial drive of the game.  Quarterback Brady Letney capped the 60-yard drive on a 5-yard TD run.
 
NWU responded right away and on the second play of the drive, Joel Wiedel raced 55 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 7-7.  The Prairie Wolves would go on to score 17 unanswered points in the first half to take a 17-7 lead.  Wiedel caught a 6-yard TD pass from Ben Green for his second TD of the game, then Rath converted a 35-yard field goal in the 2^nd quarter.
 
The Norse scored twice in the 2^nd quarter to tie the game at intermission.  Wirth made a 40-yard field goal, then running back Christian Moore had a 19-yard TD to make the score 17-17 at half.
 
NWU got the ball to start the second half and promptly drove 75 yards on five plays to retake the lead. Green scored on a 4-yard run to cap the drive.  The big play of the drive was a 43-yard completion from Green to Bryce Darner.
 
Luther used a big play of their own to tie the game as Josh Herrington bolted 70 yards for a touchdown run to tie the game at 24-24 heading into the fourth quarter.
 
Nebraska Wesleyan and Luther were very similar on the stat sheet as NWU had 335 total yards, compared to 316 for Luther.  The Prairie Wolves had a balanced attack of 169 yards in the air and 166 on the ground.
 
Joel Wiedel ran the ball 28 times for 135 times with a TD and caught three passes for 31 yards with a TD.  Ben Green completed 13-20 for 169 yards with a TD and no interceptions.  Ryan Schneider made four receptions for 59 yards.
 
Preston Franzen led the NWU defense with 17 total tackles and teammate Eli Bricker added 10 tackles. 
 
The Norse, who lead the IIAC in rushing, ran for 260 yards which was 30 below their average.  They completed only three passes on the day.