Contact: Nathan Cameron, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications, 563-588-7243

LINCOLN, Neb. (Sept. 25, 2021) - The Loras College football team (2-2, 2-0 A-R-C) made the long haul to Lincoln, Neb. for their second American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) matchup of the year against the Nebraska Wesleyan University Prairie Wolves. After trailing by nine with just over four minutes left in the game, A-R-C Athlete of the Week Noah Sigwarth found Hareson Willis to come within two at 30-28 before freshman kicker Scott Talmadge sunk a 37 yard field goal with 30 seconds on the clock to secure the 31-30 comeback win. 

Nebraska Wesleyan put seven on the board first with 4:34 left in the first quarter on a 70-yard completion from Carter Terry to Kevin Tims with Austin Neufeld hitting the PAT to go ahead 7-0. 

In the closing minutes of the first quarter, the Duhawks responded with a touchdown of their own after holding the Prairie Wolves inside their own 13 for the whole drive, forcing them to punt from their own end zone. A muffed snap on Nebraska Wesleyan's punter saw the ball loose in the end zone for Dustin Harris to recover for six points. Nicolas Farfan sunk the PAT on the drive to tie the game at 7-7 after one quarter. 

The second quarter of the game was relatively quiet for both sides as the Loras defense held strong to keep the Prairie Wolves from reaching the end zone, seeing the only points on the scoreboard come from a Nebraska Wesleyan kick with seconds left in the half to go ahead 10-7 going into the locker room. 

Recharged from half time break, the Duhawks came ready to score more in the third quarter, putting up another seven on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Sigwarth to Mike McDevitt in just the second play of the drive to go ahead 14-10 after Farfan sunk another PAT. 

The Prairie Wolves answered in the last minute of the quarter on a 47-yard touchdown, seeing Terry find Tims again for six more points before Mason Morris blocked the PAT to hold the Nebraska Wesleyan lead to just two. 

Up by two in the fourth quarter, it was yet again the Terry to Tims connection that put Nebraska Wesleyan up by nine at 23-14 on a 49-yard completed pass with the good kick from Neufeld. 

On the kick-off after the Nebraska Wesleyan touchdown, Elijah Thomas took the return and marched it 82-yards downfield to set the Duhawks up for a 1st and goal situation to start the drive. Sigwarth took advantage of the field position and found Ty Bausch for a 5-yard completion and another touchdown to come back within two of the Prairie Wolves after Farfan hit the PAT. 

With seven minutes left in the game, Nebraska Wesleyan's Terry found David O'Connell for another completion for a 44-yard touchdown to pull ahead again by nine at 30-21. 

Putting their grit on display, the Duhawks again kept moving the ball down field, seeing the work pay off with 4:38 left in the game as Sigwarth hit Willis in the end zone for a 7-yard completion to pull back within two at 30-28. 

Nebraska Wesleyan used their final drive to try to eat away at the clock, taking advantage of Loras using all of their timeouts and having two of their own. Needing to score to pull ahead enough to seal the deal, the Prairie Wolves went for it on 4th down and four to go but Brett McWilliams slammed the door shut on the scoring opportunity with a big time sack on Terry for a turnover on downs, giving Loras the ball on their own 37. 

Sigwarth proved his worth as Athlete of the Week in the final drive of the game, targeting Marty McGovern on back-to-back passes for first downs to move the ball all the way to the Nebraska Wesleyan 26 yard line. Another completed pass to McGovern saw the ball at the Prairie Wolves' 21 for Talmadge to line up the game-winning field goal from 37-yards out. Talmadge put it right down center street for three points to put the Duhawks up 31-30 to complete the comeback win and stay unbeaten in conference play. 

The Duhawks covered 138-yards on the ground on 40 for an average of 3.5 yards per carry. In the air, Sigwarth went 28-46 for 238 yards and three TDs.  The senior quarterback also led the Duhawks in rushing yards with 19 keepers for 76 yards on the ground while Bausch and Thomas had nine carries each for a combined 82 yards. Mani Brown had five receptions in the game for 45-yard gained while McGovern led the team with 54-yards on four receptions. Finding the endzone for Loras was Willis, McDevitt and Bausch who each had receiving touchdowns on the day. 

Loras is back home at the Rock Bowl on Saturday, October 2 as they host the Simpson College Storm on Homecoming Weekend. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 PM in Dubuque, Iowa.