WAVERLY, Iowa -- A snowy postseason battle at Walston-Hoover Stadium ended in heartbreak for the Wartburg College football team (10-1 overall), as Wheaton College scored in the final minute to secure a 28-24 win in the NCAA Division III Second Round on Saturday afternoon. 

Wheaton (10-2 overall) advances to face DePauw University (10-1) in the NCAA Third Round on Saturday, Dec. 6. 

Running back Dawson Rud powered the Wartburg offense with a season-high 167 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries. Quarterback Leo Dodd went 16-of-29 for 168 yards, with Dylan Swanstrom leading the receiving corps with six catches for 50 yards. Swanstrom added nine rushing yards and a 13-yard punt return for a total of 72 all-purpose yards. 

Defensively, Keenan Tyler anchored the unit with 15 tackles—10 of them solo—while Jason O'Boye recorded a career-high 10 stops, including a tackle for loss. 

Wartburg finished with 348 yards of total offense to Wheaton's 340. The Thunder earned 23 first downs to the Knights' 19. Wartburg committed eight penalties for 57 yards; Wheaton was flagged five times for 56. 

Rud set the tone early, breaking free for 55 yards on the game's second play to move into the red zone. He later finished the opening 7-play, 78-yard drive with an eight-yard score to put the Knights ahead 7-0. 

Wheaton responded with a hefty 17-play, nine-minute drive to even the game at 7-7. With 52 seconds left in the first quarter, Tyler fell on a forced fumble in the endzone, giving Wartburg a 13-7 lead after one. 

The Thunder threatened again early in the second quarter, but Blake Janssen intercepted Mark Forcucci in the endzone to stall the drive. Jaxson Hoppes later connected on a 33-yard field goal to send Wartburg into halftime ahead 16-7. 
Wheaton opened the second half quickly, pulling within 16-14 on an 8-play, 66-yard scoring drive. A blocked field goal attempt late in the third kept the Knights' lead at two entering the final quarter. 

The Thunder moved ahead 21-16 with 10:25 remaining before Wartburg responded. Rud broke off a 27-yard run and later punched in his second touchdown to reclaim the lead. Dodd found Swanstrom on a two-point conversion to make it 24-21 with just over five minutes left. 

Wheaton answered with 52 seconds remaining, as Matt Crider scored his third touchdown of the day to put the Thunder up 28-24. 

With the season on the line, Dodd hit Justis Bachman for 13 yards, then found Jagger Schmitt deep to reach the Wheaton 29-yard line with one second left. The final heave to the endzone was nearly hauled in, but the Knights came up just short as their season concluded in a dramatic finish. 
 
NOTES 
The Knights' four out of five losses since 2022 have come in the playoffs...Wartburg and Wheaton met for just the second time in nearly a decade (93 years)...The Knights are now 0-2 against the Thunder in the all-time series...Dawson Rud has piled up 2,412 yards through his junior season which nears the top 10 list in program history (2,692)...Keenan Tyler collected 248 career tackles, marking him eighth all-time...Tyler tallied a career-best 124 tackles which is the fourth-most in school history...As a team, Wartburg rushed for 2,262 yards with 24 touchdowns...The Knights' only two-point conversion on the 2025 season came today...Jaxson Hoppes (9) and Jackson Othmer (1) combined for 10 made field goals, which is the sixth-most in program history...Hoppes' nine made field goals sit tied for the seventh-most in a single season...Wartburg is now 18-18 in 18 appearances during the playoffs.