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

DE PERE, Wis. (Sept. 4, 2021) – The Loras College football team's (0-1) senior leadership stepped up in the season opener at St. Norbert College (1-0) on Saturday with quarterback Noah Sigwarth and wide receiver Marty McGovern getting the Duhawks on the board, but the Green Knights tacked on a late touchdown in the final minutes to come away with a 21-14 victory.

Neither team was able to get much going in the first quarter until an interception by Brett Bower helped get the Duhawks on pace for a five-minute drive to close out the quarter, headlined by a 19-yard completion from fifth-year senior captain quarterback Sigwarth to Je'von Williams to get inside the Green Knights' 25-yard line. In the second quarter, it took nearly the entire period for either team to gain momentum and it swung in favor of St. Norbert who took a 7-0 lead off a 28-yard rush by quarterback Ben Kohl for the touchdown with 1:38 left before the half.

Loras got out to a slow start in the second half but Sigwarth and senior Kabryn Cook got things going for the Duhawks on their second drive, with an 18-yard completion for a first down before adding two more first downs with a 17-yard completion to senior Mike McDevitt and a 13-yard pass to McGovern. McGovern stayed a hot target for Sigwarth and after a completion just out of bounds on second and goal on the Green Knights' five-yard line, the pair connected again to put the Duhawks on the board with a touchdown for McGovern.

St. Norbert had two short possessions following the touchdown and the Duhawks took one attempt away after Bower recovered a fumble on the punt return at St. Norbert's 16[yard line with 3:43 left in the third. A 12-yard completion to Elijah Thomas helped set up the Duhawks in the red zone and Sigwarth took matters into his own hands to capitalize on the possession, making a five-yard run to the endzone to give Loras a 14-7 lead with 2:34 left in the quarter. The lead did not last long as the Green Knights continued to battle to defend their home turf and scored a kickoff return touchdown off a 95-yard run by Joe Jung to tie the game.

Heading into the fourth quarter, neither team was able to get through the other's defense for the majority of the period until St. Norbert broke through for a four-yard quarterback rush to lead 21-14 with 3:45 to play. The Duhawks looked to get one last shot at the endzone but the Green Knights regained possession and held on as time expired in the first game of the 2021 season.

Sigwarth was went 17-31-2 for 167 yards with one touchdown and rushed for one touchdown. McGovern had 43 yards on four receptions with one touchdown followed by Williams with 30 yards and Mani Brown had 30 yards in his collegiate debut. Defensively, Josh Kieffer had seven tackles while Bower, Brett McWilliams, Sam Jones and Jack Foley each had a tackle for loss. Jones also added a sack and Bower nabbed an interception in addition to the fumble recovery. On special teams, Nicolas Farfan tallied 381 punting yards on 11 attempts and Zak Talbot posted 180 kickoff yards, averaging 60 yards per kick. Bausch had 72 yards on kickoff returns, headlined by a 42-yard return.

The Duhawks play their home opener on Sept. 11, hosting the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in a non-conference matchup inside the Rock Bowl. Kickoff is set for 1:00 P.M.