LINCOLN, Neb. – Nebraska Wesleyan jumped out to a 14-0 lead early in the 1^st quarter, but the Prairie Wolves would be held scoreless the rest of the way as Loras College came into Abel Stadium and handed NWU their fifth straight loss with a 21-14 victory in American Rivers Conference football action.
 
The Prairie Wolves drop to 3-5 overall, 1-5 in league play and Loras improves to 4-4, 3-4 in A-R-C.
 
NWU held Loras on downs the opening drive of the game then marched 69 yards in only six plays, capped off by a Colby Ensz 22-yard touchdown run right up the middle of the line to make the score 7-0.
 
On the Duhawks next drive, NWU's Mike Collicott recorded the first of his two blocked punts on the day setting up the Prairie Wolves in prime scoring position at their own 49 yard line.  Jonathan Curti hit Derrick Curtis for a 47-yard gain to get down to the red zone.  Two plays later, the same connection joined up for a 14-yard TD pass to put the Prairie Wolves up by two scores and looking great.
 
Loras wasn't able to get on the scoreboard until late in the 2^nd half when quarterback Noah Sigwarth scored from seven yards out.  The score was 14-7 in favor of the Prairie Wolves at halftime.
 
In the 3^rd quarter, the Duhawks scored touchdowns on their first two possessions of the half to take the lead at 21-14.  Sigwarth scored from 3 yards out, then Jerry McDaniel got a 1-yard TD plunge for the second score.
 
NWU couldn't muster up any offense with consistency after the first quarter.  The Prairie Wolves had 163 yards of total offense on their first three drives then only had seven first downs the rest of the game.  Only one of their final eleven drives amassed more than 20 yards.
 
The Duhawks also controlled the time of possession, running 29 more plays than NWU and consuming the ball 38:25 compared to just 21:35 for NWU.
 
Defensively, the Prairie Wolves held strong and gave the offense a couple late chances.  Hayden Penny forced a fumble that was recovered by Nic Braaten at the Loras 26 yard line giving the Prairie Wolves a prime scoring chance.  NWU got inside the 10-yard line but Curti was intercepted to end the scoring threat.
 
With less than five minutes to play, the defense forced another Duhawk punt and Collicott got a piece of the ball setting up NWU at the 41-yard line.  Curti found Logan Hughes for a big gainer down inside the red zone, however Hughes fumbled to give the ball back to the Duhawks.  A penalty would have negated the gain, but the Duhawks declined and took over the ball where they were able to run out the clock.
 
Loras finished with 500 yards of total offense on 93 plays, getting 283 on the ground and 217 through the air.  Sigwarth completed 20-32 passes for 217 and rushed for 62 yards.  Jake Burgmeier was the leading rusher with 101 yards on 24 carries.
 
NWU managed only 312 yards of offense after putting up a season-high last Saturday.  Curti ended the game 22-43 for 237 with a touchdown and two interceptions.  Derrick Curtis had another huge day on his birthday with seven catches for 122 yards and a TD.
 
Jacob Garnas added to his conference leading tackle total with 14 total stops.  Conner Adams had 13 and Kaden Dawe 12 tackles for NWU.