#23 Doane College scored touchdowns on all three of their offensive possessions in the third quarter as the Tigers pulled away for a 38-24 victory over Nebraska Wesleyan University in the 98th meeting between the long time rivals on Saturday (Sept. 22) at Simon Field in Crete, Neb.
The Prairie Wolves (1-3, 0-3 GPAC) drop their third straight game and Doane now extends their lead to two games in the all-time series. The Tigers (3-1, 2-1 GPAC) have now won three of the last four meetings between the two teams.
It was a rough start for NWU as Joe Knott intercepted a Nate Hauptman pass on the first offensive play for the Prairie Wolves and Knott returned the pick for a touchdown. Backup quarterback Tyler Francis came in for the third offensive series and led NWU down the field to tie the game. Dustin Bryant capped off the drive with a 1-yard TD run to tie the game.
Doane responded with a second quarter touchdown on a run by Clayton Moore around left end. Right before halftime the Prairie Wolves mounted another long scoring drive. This time the drive ended with a 35-yard field goal from Aaron Lorraine to make the score 14-10 with just under 1:00 minute before halftime.
Just like the previous Saturday, NWU was unable to prevent a final minute score. Doane completed two long passes then on the final play of the half Phil Thramer made a 45-yard field goal to make the score 17-10 at halftime.
That momentum carried over to the third quarter for Doane. The Tigers got three touchdowns on all three of their possessions to put the game away. Two touchdowns came on fade patterns to Tyron Curry from Jeff Weander in the corner of the end zone. One play was from 9-yards with the other 13 yards.
NWU did get two late scores in the fourth quarter to make the final score more respectable. Nate Hauptman found Brooks Erhart on a five-yard TD. Then Hauptman connected with Brian Pieper in the final minute for a 61-yard touchdown down the sideline.
The Prairie Wolves finished with 381 yards of total offense, outgaining the Tigers by 135 yards as Doane had 246 yards. NWU rushed for 92 yards and threw for 289. Hauptman finished 13-19 for 210 yards with two touchdowns, while Francis was 9-17 for 79 yards. Dustin Bryant led the NWU ground attack with 93 yards on 28 carries and a touchdown.
Doane was led by Jeff Weander who was 10-20 for 125 yards with two touchdowns. Clayton Moore had 16 carries for 95 yards with two touchdowns.
Brett Kaczor led the NWU defense with 11 total tackles.
