LINCOLN, Neb. – Wartburg College proved that they are once again one of the top teams in the American Rivers Conference as the Knights came into Abel Stadium and defeated Nebraska Wesleyan 42-14 in the home opener for the Prairie Wolves on Saturday afternoon (Sept. 22).
 
The Knights used a stifling defense to limit the Prairie Wolves offense to under 100 yards until late in the third quarter as they jumped out to a 42-0 lead with 499 yards of offense through three quarters.
 
NWU was able to score two late touchdowns on a 1-yard run by Shaka Taylor and a 29-yard catch by Derrick Curtis but the damage had already been done.
 
Wartburg scored on their second possession of the game as Bennett Goettsch scored the first of his three rushing touchdowns on the day.  The Knights took advantage of a poor NWU punt and only had to march 30 yards for the score. 
 
The score would remain 7-0 at the end of one quarter as the Knights missed a field goal on their next possession.  Goettsch scored on a 1-yard run with 6:33 to play in the 2^nd quarter to cap a 16-play, 94 yard Wartburg drive.  Matt Sacia found Kolin Schulte on a 74-yard TD pass for the third TD of the half then Goettsch scored again on a 2-yard run making the score 28-0 at halftime.
 
In the third quarter, Sacia threw two more touchdown passes as he found Schulte for a 7-yard TD and hit Brandan Childs for a 19-yard score.
 
Nebraska Wesleyan struggled mightily against the Knights defense as they went three and out on five of the first six offensive possessions.
 
NWU finished with 228 yards of total offense with just 46 yards on the ground.  Shaka Taylor was bottled up gaining 22 yards on 15 carries, with five catches for only 18 yards.  Jonathan Curti was 21-34 for 182 yards with a TD.  Derrick Curtis led the receivers with 85 yards and a TD on four catches.
 
Wartburg ended the game with 536 yards of offense including 200 on the ground and 336 through the air.  Matt Sacia was 21-28 for 330 yards with three touchdowns.  Kolin Schulte was the big play receiver making six catches for 144 yards.  Bennett Goettsch carried the ball 22 times for 108 yards with three touchdowns.
 
Alex Kruse led the Prairie Wolves defense making 15 total tackles, including six solo.  Jake Kittle made 11 tackles.
 
NWU takes to the road next Saturday to face Coe College in their first ever trip to Cedar Rapids, Iowa.