Bounce Pass Makes ESPN in 2009
by Alex Dawson, Athletic Communications Intern for Sports Information Office
2005-2013, Games 91-99
Doane won three of nine games played against Nebraska Wesleyan from 2005-2013. The Prairie Wolves evened the series record in 2008 and 2010, but never managed to take control of the series lead. Following the 99th game, the all-time series record stands at 47-46-6 in favor of Doane. Wesleyan has not led since 1971 but in 2014 has the chance to once again tie the record when the teams clash for the 100th time in 118 years.
Tiger Head Coach for 21 seasons Fran Schwenk left in May 2005 as Doane's all-time wins leader (114-87-3). Under Schwenk the Tigers beat Wesleyan on 10 occasions. Former Husker star Tommie Frazier took on coaching duties at Doane in 2005, and that year the Prairie Wolves won an overtime thriller at Abel Stadium 19-12 following a 12-12 tie at the end of regulation. The winning touchdown was scored by running back Cody Hoegh when he ran through the middle of the Tiger defense for a 13-yard score. The final whistle blew when Wesleyan safety Josh Strehle intercepted Tiger quarterback J.R. Artozqui on Doane's first offensive play of overtime. Despite the loss the Tiger defense managed to hold Wesleyan to 67 yards rushing throughout the game, limiting the Prairie Wolves to 13 yards in the first half alone. Doane opened the scoring with an Artozqui to Michael Stutzman touchdown pass after running back Justin Nelson ran for 36 yards and was taken down at the 2-yard line. The extra point attempt was blocked and regained by Prairie Wolf Curtis Coatman who ran the length of the field for a defensive 2-point score making the score 6-2. A 32-yard field goal for the Prairie Wolves was followed up with a touchdown from Hoegh from 6 yards out, making the score 12-6 at intermission. Artozqui threw passes to Jamaal Major and Mark Rogge for gains of 35 and 32 yards before sneaking in from the 1-yard line for a touchdown to even the score. The extra point attempt was blocked. A 31-yard field goal attempt from Tiger Justin Bailey was blocked in the fourth quarter and at the end of regulation as the score stood at 12-12. The victory was Wesleyan's third in-a-row against Doane. Before the game junior Logan Papik was quoted in the Doane Owl on the rivalry with Wesleyan; "Imagine the most hated person that you can think of and then being able to hit that person for an entire football game and have it be legal. That's what it's like when you play Wesleyan."
In 2006, the Prairie Wolves shutout the Tigers, 19-0, at Doane's Homecoming in front of 1,500 fans at Simon Field. Doane was limited to eight first downs by the Wesleyan defense. Justin Nelson, the leading Tiger rusher, was sidelined due to illness. A clumsy punt attempt by the Tigers was recovered by Wesleyan's Paul Seger at the Tiger 23-yard line midway through the second quarter. Five plays later, the Prairie Wolves were in the end zone when quarterback Zac Rabe ran the ball in from 4 yards out. After the Tigers failed to convert on a fourth-and-1 situation at their 40, Wesleyan gained possession and took 10 plays to score, the 6 points coming from a 5-yard pass to Steve Fox. On the first play after the ensuing kickoff, Brandon Minch returned a Tiger fumble for a 20-yard touchdown.
In December 2006, Matt Franzen took over coaching duties at Doane. His first match coaching against Wesleyan came in 2007 at Abel Stadium where the Prairie Wolves defeated the Tigers convincingly, 46-7. Going into the game, Wesleyan was ranked 22nd in the NAIA. Doane scored its first points of the season (in its second game) when reserve running back Tim Reed ran 10 yards for a touchdown with 3:28 left to play in the game. The Prairie Wolves took a 6 point lead late in the first quarter when a threatening Tiger drive was stopped with an interception in the end zone. Wesleyan's first four possessions of the game resulted in two turnovers, but the Prairie Wolves still managed to score three touchdowns in the final eight minutes of the first half to make the score 26-0 at halftime. Touchdowns were scored on Wesleyan's first two possessions of the third quarter to put the game away.
The Tigers were shutout again in 2008 for the sixth straight loss to Wesleyan by a score of 23-0. The game was played at Wesleyan's Abel Stadium and saw the Tigers with possession of the ball in Wesleyan territory just five times in the game. Doane sacrificed four turnovers; three from interceptions and one from a fumble. The Prairie Wolves scored two touchdowns in under three minutes in the first half, opening the game with a 68-yard nine play drive that culminated with Jordan Stutzman's 1-yard touchdown plunge. An interception minutes later resulted in Stutzman's second touchdown, from 23 yards out. Wesleyan kicker Zach Egger kicked a field goal before halftime to give the Prairie Wolves a 17-point lead. Phil Schroer intercepted Tiger quarterback J.R. Artozqui for a 48-yard touchdown in the second half of the game to end the scoring. With the win, the Prairie Wolves tied the all-time series record 44-44-6.
The Tigers won their first game in seven years against Wesleyan with a 38-17 victory in 2009. Coming off a 78-14 loss to Morningside the Tigers regained control of the series lead with an offensive outburst at Simon Field. Quarterback Anthony Dunn completed 24-of-33 passes for 274 yards and three touchdowns, connecting with Tyrone Curry nine times for 142 yards and Jeremiah Saffold eight times for 123 yards. Dunn was named GPAC Offensive Player of the Week for his efforts. Andrew Nielsen started the scoring for Doane with a field goal before the Tigers resorted to a lateral pass play that resulted in a touchdown for Curry. Dunn threw a backwards pass to Jeremiah Saffold who then threw 47 yards to Curry for the touchdown. Trevor Wit then forced a fumble on the ensuing kickoff and Brian Luera recovered it at the Doane 34-yard line. Two plays later Dunn threw to Saffold for the 64-yard touchdown to put the Tigers up by 17. The Prairie Wolves responded with back-to-back touchdowns of their own on drives of 49 and 58 yards to bring the deficit to three points. The Tigers turned to the backwards pass play a second time but with a new twist as Dunn intentionally BOUNCED the pass to Saffold who picked it up on one hop. WATCH THE PLAY HERE (bottom of the list) The NWU defense hesitated long enough to allow Curry to sneak behind the defense for a 51-yard reception. The play was featured on ESPN's College Football Live. Dunn finished the drive with a 17-yard touchdown pass to Eamonn Feeney before halftime, making the score 24-14 at the break. A Wesleyan field goal opened the second half scoring before a 72-yard drive from the Tigers ended with a 41-yard passing touchdown to Curry. Michael Vargas then scored on a 4-yard touchdown run to give the Tigers a comfortable 21-point lead that remained intact until the end of the game.
In 2010, the two teams met at Simon Field for their 96th matchup. Wesleyan took the victory, 34-14, in a game that saw the Tigers penalized 14 times for a total of 119 yards. Head Coach Matt Franzen said after the game, "The penalties and turnovers were costly – in particular, the penalties we inflicted on ourselves were ridiculous" (Crete News). The win evened the all-time series record at 45-45-6. Wesleyan's Steve Fricke scored a 1-yard touchdown to open the game which was followed up with an 11-yard touchdown for Dalton Thyfault from a Nate Hauptman pass. An 82-yard Doane drive was capped with a 1-yard touchdown for Jaremy Puthoff to make the score 14-7 at halftime. Wesleyan came back with an 8-yard touchdown run from Matt Sharkey, to which Doane responded with a 24-yard touchdown pass from Anthony Dunn to Eamonn Feeney. The score was 21-14 when Wesleyan hit back-to-back field goals. "We maybe pushed (the rivalry) too much as coaches and didn't emphasize just playing the game," Franzen commented (Crete News). Dunn and co-quarterback Reid Rando completed 20-of-36 passes for 185 yards with two interceptions for the Tigers.
The Tigers regained control of the series lead with a win in 2011, beating Wesleyan 27-3 at its own Homecoming celebration. An estimated 1,905 watched the game from the sidelines of Abel Stadium. With the victory, Doane improved to 17th in the NAIA with an undefeated record through four games. The Tiger defense limited Wesleyan to 55 yards rushing and 75 in the air. Prairie Wolves quarterback Nate Hauptman left the game with a broken collarbone after completing 8-of-22 passes with one interception. The score was 6-3 Doane at halftime following two Andrew Nielsen field goals for the Tigers. In the third quarter, Dunn threw to Saffold for a 25-yard touchdown. Dunn completed 22-of-41 passes for 285 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. A 10-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Davis made the score 20-3 Doane, and a 20-yard pass to Tyrone Curry gave the Tigers the 27-3 victory.
In 2012, the Tigers won again with a 38-24 victory over the Prairie Wolves. The Tiger defense forced three turnovers in the game. Wesleyan's first play of its' first possession led to an interception by linebacker Joe Knott. Knott returned the ball 8-yards for a touchdown. A 1-yard Dustin Bryant touchdown began the second quarter for Wesleyan which capped a 46-yard drive and leveled the score at 7-all. From the ensuing kickoff, Tiger Keli'i Jackson returned the ball to Doane's 44-yard line. From there, Jeff Weander connected with Jesse Ver Velde for a 19-yard completion, and sophomore Clayton Moore ran the ball 37 yards for a touchdown. A Wesleyan field goal put the score at 14-10 in favor of the Tigers before Phil Thramer kicked a 46-yard response to put the Tigers up by seven points at halftime. Moore scored his second touchdown on a 4-yard run in the second half, and Weander threw to Curry for a 9-yard touchdown pass to give the Tigers the 31-10 lead. Rob Keeney followed with a blocked Wesleyan punt, giving the Tigers possession at the 14-yard line. Weander connected with Curry again for a second touchdown pass and the 38-10 Tiger lead. In the fourth quarter, the Prairie Wolves dominated with 200 yards total offense and two touchdown passes from Hauptman of 5 and 61 yards, but it was not enough to comeback from 28 points down.
The 99th match between the rivals was played in 2013 at Abel Stadium and saw the Prairie Wolves narrowly defeat the Tigers, 20-19. A fourth quarter comeback from 12 points down gave Wesleyan a victory over the 13th-ranked Tigers. Jordan Pedersen kicked a 43-yard field goal to start the game before Joey Jones of Wesleyan managed a 1-yard touchdown. JerSean Walder blocked a Prairie Wolves punt and regained the loose ball for a 15-yard touchdown to give Doane a 10-7 lead. Another Pedersen field goal (27 yards) added to Doane's tally before Kameron Lenhart picked off Wesleyan quarterback Tyler Francis for a 15-yard touchdown. The Tigers led 19-7 with one minute left in the third quarter. An 83-yard Wesleyan drive started the fourth quarter and culminated with a 9-yard pass to Carlin Krienert to narrow the margin to five points. The Tigers forced punts on the next two Wesleyan possessions but the second punt rolled dead at the Tiger four-yard line. A Tiger punt three plays later gave Wesleyan the ball on its own 47-yard line. From there, Francis and wide receiver Connor Zumpfe connected on 26 and 13-yard pass completions. Zumpf went on to score the game winning touchdown with a catch in the corner of the end zone with 1:23 left to play, getting one foot down before going out of bounds.
118 years of rivalry football will be on display with the 100th game between the Doane Tigers and the Nebraska Wesleyan Prairie Wolves on October 4, 2014, at Al Papik Field during Doane's Homecoming Weekend. The current series record sees Doane with the one win lead; 47-46-6.
Doane vs. Nebraska Wesleyan, Games 91-99
Oct. 8, 2005 – NWU, 19-12 (OT)
Oct. 7, 2006 – NWU, 19-0
Sept. 15, 2007 – NWU, 46-7
Nov. 8, 2008 – NWU, 23-0
Nov. 7, 2009 – Doane, 38-17
Oct. 30, 2010 – NWU, 34-14
Sept. 24, 2011 – Doane, 27-3
Sept. 33, 2012 – Doane, 38-24
Oct. 5, 2013 – NWU, 20-19