Football Falls to Doane, 38-17

Doane gashed the Nebraska Wesleyan University defense for a season high 471 yards as the Tigers upset NWU, 38-17, in GPAC football action on Saturday (Nov. 7) at Simon Field in Crete, Neb.

The win moves Doane to 3-7 overall and gives the Tigers an edge in the historic series as they now lead NWU, 45-44-6 in 95 meetings. Nebraska Wesleyan falls to 5-4 overall, the most losses they've had in four seasons.

Doane jumped out to an early 17-0 lead just seven minutes into the game. The Tigers pulled out all the stops against the NWU defense, as the Tigers had three big trick plays. The first was a 26-yard TD pass from Jeremiah Saffold to Tyrone Curry on a double pass.

NWU finally got on the board at the 5:02 mark of the first half when Steve Fricke scored on a four-yard TD run. Fricke rushed for 127 yards on the day, filling in for star running back Kory Kahlandt, who left the game after the first series with a leg injury.

The Prairie Wolves got within one score when Ben Iske caught a 10-yard TD pass from Matt Hagge early in the second quarter to make the score 17-14. Doane responded with another touchdown to give the Tigers a 24-14 halftime lead.

Zach Egger opened the second half with a 24-yard field goal to pull NWU to 24-17, but that would be the lone score of the second half for the Prairie Wolves.

Tyrone Curry caught his second touchdown pass of the game and Michael Vargas added a late touchdown run for the Tigers' final two scores of the game.

One of the key plays of the game came in the third quarter after NWU forced the Tigers to punt. The Prairie Wolves attempted to block the punt, but roughed the punter which gave Doane the ball back and allowed them to score and make the game a three-score lead.

NWU finished with 288 yards of total offense, gaining just 105 in the second half. The Prairie Wolves had 151 rushing yards and Hagge was 14-25 for 137 yards in the air.

Doane had 471 total yards, which was the most the NWU defense had given up all season.

NWU will close out the 2009 season Nov. 14 when they host Briar Cliff University at 1 p.m. at Abel Stadium.