LINCOLN, Neb. – It was not the season debut the Nebraska Wesleyan football team wanted on Saturday afternoon as the Prairie Wolves fell to Concordia College (Minn.) 34-14 in the 2017 opener at Abel Stadium.  NWU outgained the Cobbers by 42 total yards, but six turnovers were the story of the game for the Prairie Wolves.
 
A wild first quarter got the season started off to a rocky start.  Things looked promising as NWU forced a fumble on the opening offensive play of the game and took over the ball at the 29-yard line.  Three plays later the Prairie Wolves threw an interception that turned the tide.  That would be the first of four first quarter turnovers that allowed Concordia to get out to a quick start.
 
The Cobbers, picked to finish 3^rd in the highly competitive MIAC, got the scoring started with a 56-yard TD pass from Michael Herzog to Austin Maanum on a 1-play drive following a fumble.  Chad Johnson would then add a pair of touchdown runs to put the Cobbers ahead 19-0 as they missed two extra points.  They scored another TD with just over two minutes remaining in the second quarter to go ahead 27-0.
 
NWU worked the two-minute offense to perfection to close out the half and capped the drive with a Jonathan Curti to Arlie Myers 21-yard TD completion on a fade pass in the corner of the end zone.  That made the score 27-7 at halftime.
 
Concordia took their opening drive of the second half 60 yards in just three plays as Herzog hit Kevin Marzolf for a 40-yard TD pass giving the Cobbers a 27-point lead again.
 
From there, the Nebraska Wesleyan offense began to settle down and mount long drives.  A third quarter drive ended on downs inside the Cobber 10-yard line, then a 13-play drive was spoiled with an interception. 
 
The Prairie Wolves would get on the board again in the 4^th quarter as Curti scrambled to find Jackson HInze on a 9-yard TD pass to cut the lead to 20 points.  NWU tried an onside kick and Tate Schmaderer recovered to put the Prairie Wolves offense in business again.  They got into the red zone, when Curti was intercepted in the end zone to end the threat and the game.
 
Nebraska Wesleyan finished with 402 yards of total offense on 77 plays, compared to 360 yards for Concordia on 21 fewer plays.   NWU had 140 yards on the ground and 262 threw the air.
 
Making his first career start, Curti finished the game 25-44 for 262 yards with two touchdowns, but did throw five interceptions.  Junior Shaka Taylor returned to the Prairie Wolves backfield after missing all of last season with injury.  Taylor ran for 102 yards on just 14 carries before leaving the game in the second half with another injury.
 
Five different NWU receivers had four receptions on the day. Bradley Pelkey had a team-high 80 yards on four catches, Jackson Hinze and Arlie Myers both had four grabs with a TD while Derrick Curtis made four catches for 35 yards.  Taylor caught four balls out of the backfield.
 
Dakota Buss and Eli Bricker both had six tackles to lead the Prairie Wolves, while Tyler Sorensen picked up where he left off last year with two quarterback sacks.
 
Concordia, who was 12^th in NCAA III in rushing a year ago, ran for 238 yards on 45 carries.  Chad Johnson led the way with 134 yards on 14 carries with two touchdowns.  Quarterback Michael Herzog was 5-10 passing for 122 yards with two TDs.
 
NWU will have a tough test next Saturday when they travel to face Illinois Wesleyan.  IWU upset 3^rd-ranked Wisconsin-Whitewater in their opener.