LINCOLN, Neb. – Nebraska Wesleyan played its most complete game of the season getting a record breaking offensive performance, a special teams touchdown and a stifling defense as the Prairie Wolves earned their first conference win of the season with a 23-15 victory over Luther College in American Rivers Conference action on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 20) at Abel Stadium.
The Prairie Wolves controlled most of the game and held a 16 point lead in the 4
th quarter but Luther made a late run. The Norse scored a touchdown with a two-point conversion with 11:21 left in the game to make it an eight point game, then Luther tried to mount a game-tying drive late.
Luther had the ball at the NWU 31-yard line facing a 4
th down with five yards to go. The Norse opened the bag of tricks and tried a reverse pass but the Prairie Wolves defense sniffed it out and
Grant Bednar joined
Alex Kruse to stop wide receiver Justin Montgomery short of the first down.
With 3:25 remaining, the Prairie Wolves needed one first down to seal the victory and they did just that. On 3
rd & 10,
Shaka Taylor lined up in the wildcat formation and rumbled around left end for a 11-yard gain to get the first down and allow the Prairie Wolves to setup in victory formation.
Shaka Taylor had a historic day to go into the NWU record books. In the 2
nd quarter, Taylor broke free on a 19-yard gain that put him past Roy Jacobson as the Nebraska Wesleyan all-time leading rusher. He needed 39 yards entering the game and did that in the first half. Taylor ended the game with 127 yards on 25 carries.
NWU got off to a fast start forcing a quick three and out on the opening drive then the Prairie Wolves quickly got inside the five yard line. Three straight incompletions forced NWU into a field goal and
Jackson Hinze converted the 22-yarder to make it 3-0.
Luther got the ball back again and was forced to punt after only one first down.
Tate Schmaderer busted through the line and blocked the punt attempt as teammate
Bradley Pelkey picked up the ball and ran it into the endzone from 19 yards out to give NWU an early 10-0 lead.
Later in the 1
st quarter the Norse got on the board as Travis Vargas scored on a 6-yard TD run capping a 75-yard drive. The score remained 10-7 until late in the 2
nd quarter.
Derrick Curtis caught the first of his two touchdown receptions with 3:41 left in the first half on a 17-yard pass from
Jonathan Curti. The made the score 17-7 at halftime.
NWU could have held a much larger halftime advantage if it wasn't for two costly turnovers. Taylor fumbled at the 1-yard line as the Prairie Wolves were driving midway through the second quarter, then right before half Curti was intercepted in the end zone with 26 seconds left.
In the 3
rd quarter, the Prairie Wolves added on to their lead marching 80 yards in 12 plays. The drive was capped by an outstanding catch from Curtis on a 24-yard pass from Curti. The PAT was missed making it 23-7.
Another Prairie Wolves fumble gave Luther the ball back right at the end of the third quarter. The Norse responded by going 65 yards in 12 plays capped by a Vargas 7-yard TD run. A well designed 2-point conversion play made it a one possession game but that was as close as Luther could get.
Nebraska Wesleyan finished the game with 446 yards of total offense, getting 294 through the air and 152 on the ground. Curti was 23-33 for 294 yards with two touchdowns but did throw his first interception in conference play.
James Skerjanec caught a team-high eight passes for 87 yards. Curtis finished with five catches for 77 yards and two TDs, while Taylor caught five for 68.
The NWU defense held Luther to only 315 total yards. The Norse came into Saturday leading the league in rushing at over 245 yards per game, but they were limited to 180 yards on the ground.
Alex Kruse led the Prairie Wolves with 12 total tackles.
Heath Hovendick had eight tackles with two pass breakups and
Micah Dexter also made eight stops.
Nebraska Wesleyan will look to keep the momentum going next Saturday when they travel to the University of Dubuque.
