Doane’s defense limited Nebraska Wesleyan to just 130 yards of total offense as the 21st-ranked Tigers defeated the Prairie Wolves 27-3 before a large crowd of 1,905 on homecoming Saturday (Sept. 24) at Abel Stadium in Lincoln.
The Tigers pick up their first win over the Prairie Wolves in Lincoln since 2002 and improve to 4-0 on the season and move to the top of the Great Plains Athletic Conference standings. NWU falls to 2-2 overall and 1-2 in the conference.
Nebraska Wesleyan’s defense kept the Prairie Wolves in the game, despite allowing 447 yards of offense to the Tigers. In the first half, Doane had 163 yards of offense but were held to a pair of Andrew Nielsen field goals.
Another drive was stopped on the final possession of the half as Seth Wardyn intercepted a Anthony Dunn pass at the NWU 4-yard line and returned it to the Doane 34. After a Tiger personal foul, the Prairie Wolves got a 36-yard field goal from Steven Anderson as time expired in the first half to make the score 6-3 at halftime.
Anthony Dunn threw three touchdown passes in the third quarter finding Jeremiah Saffold from 25 yards out, hitting Tyler Davis from 10 yards out and throwing to Tyrone Curry from 20 yards.
Meanwhile, NWU quarterback Nate Hauptman was injured right before halftime and missed the entire second half. Ethan Myers took over as the signal caller then was replaced by Jeremy Belk. Myers was 0-3 with an interception, while Belk was 2-14 for 11 yards with two interceptions.
Nebraska Wesleyan also was held in check in the ground game as they rushed for just 55 yards on 28 carries. Freshman Nate Jones made his first appearance of the season and led NWU with 22 yards on seven carries.
Doane also was hit by the injury bug as GPAC Player of the Week and starting running back Alex Dose had just three carries before suffering a leg injury. Filling in for Dose, Clayton Moore had 21 carries for 73 yards, while Tyler Davis rushed 10 times for 58 yards.
Dunn finished 22-41 for 285 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Three different Tiger players had five receptions.
For the NWU defense, Brett Kaczor had a huge game recording 15 total tackles with an interception. Tyler Schultz had 11 tackles for the Prairie Wolves with Tanner Smith and Phil Latimer each recording nine.
