LINCOLN, Neb. – The No. 7-ranked Wartburg College football team (9-0, 7-0 A-R-C) used a dominant second half to move past Nebraska Wesleyan, 34-10, on Saturday afternoon at Abel Stadium.
The Knights erupted for 27 unanswered points after halftime to build a 34-3 advantage before the Prairie Wolves added a late score.
Quarterback
Leo Dodd threw for 165 yards and two touchdowns, both to
Sam Heither, who finished with three receptions for 43 yards.
Dylan Swanstrom totaled 81 all-purpose yards and a rushing score, while
Joey Anderson added two touchdowns on the ground. Defensively,
Keenan Tyler led the way with a school-record mark of 20 tackles (12 solo). Tyler's mark shatters Drew Kooi's 2013 record of 17 against Bethel.
Nebraska Wesleyan opened the game with a 16-play, 65-yard drive, but a missed field goal kept the game scoreless as Wartburg took over with 6:27 left in the first quarter. The Knights advanced to the NWU 36-yard line before a fumble gave the Prairie Wolves the ball back. Wartburg's defense forced a fourth down, and the Knights' special teams came through with their second blocked punt of the season. On the next play, Swanstrom took an end-around 19 yards to the end zone to put Wartburg on top 7-0 as time expired in the first quarter.
NWU got on the board with a 28-yard field goal midway through the second, cutting the deficit to 7-3. A missed 38-yard try just before halftime kept the score unchanged. At the break, Wartburg was limited to 102 yards of offense while allowing 147, as NWU controlled possession 21:14 to 8:46.
The Knights came out firing to start the second half, driving 61 yards on 10 plays before Dodd found Heither for an 8-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 13-3 after a missed PAT. Wartburg struck again shortly after blocking another punt, as Anderson punched in a 1-yard touchdown to make it 20-3 heading into the fourth quarter.
Dodd and Heither connected once more early in the final frame for their second score of the afternoon, giving Wartburg a 27-3 advantage with 12:09 to play. Anderson added his second touchdown run of the game with just under seven minutes remaining to push the margin to 34-3. NWU added a late 3-yard touchdown pass with 1:51 on the clock to close out the scoring.
NOTES
Wartburg finished with 301 yards of total offense and averaged 5.28 yards per play...
Sam Roose now leads the team with four interceptions...Wartburg recorded its 14th pick of the season...Tyler sits just four tackles shy of 100 on the year...The Knights remain unbeaten in the all-time series versus NWU (9-0)...Head Coach
Chris Winter improves to 52-7 in his career...Wartburg has now won 33 consecutive American Rivers Conference games.
UP NEXT
The Knights head into their bye week before returning home for Senior Day against Buena Vista University (2-6, 1-5 A-R-C) on Saturday, Nov. 15, at 1 p.m. inside Walston-Hoover Stadium. The Beavers fell to No. 18 Central earlier today in Pella.
With a win, Wartburg can clinch its fourth straight American Rivers Conference title and set a new league record, becoming the first team since Central's historic 1964–67 run to capture four consecutive crowns.
