Contact: Emily Adlfinger, Director of Athletic Communications, 563-588-7970

WAVERLY, Iowa (Oct. 9, 2021) – Despite a third-quarter push sparked by a special teams stop and back-to-back touchdowns by Ty Bausch and a 60-yard run by Elijah Thomas, the Loras College football team (3-3, 3-1 A-R-C) was dealt its first American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) loss of the season on the road at Wartburg College (3-2, 2-1 A-R-C) on Saturday, falling to the Knights 58-21.

The Knights got on the board first with a 28-yard passing touchdown from Jace Moore to Wartburg's leading receiver JoJo McNair and an extra point by Kain Eagle. Thomas looked to get something going for the Duhawks with a 33-yard kickoff return but Wartburg's defense stopped what would be a Duhawk first down, forcing the fumble and recovering at their own 40-yard line. The Duhawks were not backing down and a strong defensive effort forced a turnover on downs to give the Duhawks a chance at a drive to end the quarter.

The Knights made an early run to start the second quarter that would see the hosts put up 35 points and take a commanding 42-point lead heading into the locker room before McNair had a breakaway kickoff return to put up another seven points for the Knights. Wartburg added one more touchdown off a punt return by Ben Bryant but the Duhawks had seen enough and shifted the momentum two drives later. Noah Sigwarth and the offense meticulously marched the ball downfield from their own 16-yard line headlines by pass completions to Mani Brown, Marty McGovern and Thomas that culminated in Bausch dancing his way into the endzone on a two-yard run. The drive took four minutes off the clock and the ball out of the Knights' possession while the extra point from Nicolas Farfan put Loras on the board.

The energized Duhawks kept the momentum rolling with a huge defensive stop on the following Wartburg drive. Holding the Knights to only nine yards, Sean Doyle blocked a Nick Deppe punt from the Knights' 38-yard line and Andrew Hefel recovered the ball, taking it 28 yards to set up Loras for first and goal. Sigwarth handed the ball off to Bausch who made it look easy on a ten-yard run into the endzone and help the Duhawks close out the third quarter with 14 unanswered points.

Wartburg tried to make another run down the field to open the fourth quarter but the Duhawks' defense forced them to settle for a 28-yard field goal. It was all the more scoring Wartburg would do for the rest of the game but the Duhawks were not done as Thomas broke away for a 60-yard run and the touchdown with ten minutes remaining in the game.

Sigwarth was 20-38 in the air for 163 yards while Thomas had 77 yards rushing and McGovern led the receivers with 66 yards on 11 targets. Defensively, Josh Kieffer had nine tackles while Dawson Charley and Brett Bower both came away with eight and Bower broke up two passes. 

The Duhawks return to the Rock Bowl for more A-R-C action on Saturday, Oct. 16 to host Coe College. Kickoff is set for 1 P.M.