CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Coe College jumped out to an early 17-0 first quarter lead and Nebraska Wesleyan wasn't able to recover as the Prairie Wolves dropped their third straight American Rivers Conference football game in a 40-28 loss at Coe on Saturday (Sept. 29) at Clark Field in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
 
NWU pulled within 24-14 in the 3^rd quarter and had possession of the football, but a sack in the endzone gave the Kohawks a safety.  Coe would then score 16 unanswered points to go ahead 40-14 in the fourth quarter and that was too big of a margin for NWU to overcome.
 
The Prairie Wolves (1-4, 0-3) did get two touchdowns in the fourth quarter on passes from Jonathan Curti to Bradley Pelkey but that was as close as NWU could get.  They did have one other offensive possession inside the red zone but the Prairie Wolves turned the ball over on downs.
 
Coe  opened the game with a 2-yard touchdown run by Cody Russell at the 10:51 mark to get ahead 7-0.  They added a 32-yard field goal on their next possession, then closed the quarter with a 10-yard TD pass from Quentin White to Matt Kopp as the Kohawks were ahead 17-0.
 
Late in the first half Nebraska Wesleyan finally got on the scoreboard as Shaka Taylor caught a 23-yard TD pass from Curti.  Any momentum the Prairie Wolves gained was quickly taken away when White hit twin brother Colton White for a 5-yard TD pass with 29 seconds left before intermission.
 
To start the second half, the Prairie Wolves forced a quick three and out to get the ball back.  NWU marched 66 yards and capped the drive with another touchdown reception by Taylor.  This time it was a 30-yard connection from Curti to Taylor to make it a 10-point game.
 
NWU had the ball back later in the quarter deep in their own territory and Curti was sacked in the end zone that gave all the momentum back to the Kohawks.
 
Following the safety, Coe added two more rushing touchdowns.  Tyler Dralle scored from one yard out and Cody Russell had a two-yard score.
 
Nebraska Wesleyan finished with 351 yards of total offense, compared to 377 for Coe.  The Kohawks passed for 285 and rushed for 92 with NWU getting 82 on the ground and 269 through the air.
 
Jonathan Curti went 20-43 for 269 yards with four touchdown passes and no interceptions.  James Skerjanec caught five passes for 64 yards, and Bradley Pelkey caught five for 58 yards with two TDs.
 
Shaka Taylor ran for 82 yards on 16 carries and caught three passes for 57 yards with two TDs. 
 
Jacob Garnas led the Prairie Wolves defense with 18 total tackles.  Alex Kruse made 12 stops with two pass breakups and Jake Kittle had 11 tackles.
 
NWU returns home next Saturday to face Central College for Homecoming at 1 pm in Abel Stadium.