Luther College junior kicker Blane Maher's 35-yard field-goal attempt drifted wide left with two seconds remaining in the game to give Presentation College a dramatic 23-22 season-opening victory Saturday afternoon at Swisher Field.
The Saints rallied from a 14-0 first-quarter deficit and outscored the Norse 23-8 in the final three quarters of play. The rally was capped by a Devin Mohn 9-yard touchdown run off a misdirection pass play with 4:48 left in the game that put the Saints up by one.
Luther countered with a 15-play drive that was extended at one point by a 26-yard fake punt run and had the ball inside the redzone with time winding down. Maher came on for his second field-goal attempt of the day -- the first attempt in the second period was blocked -- but booted the ball low and to the left.
"We fought so hard for this win," said Presentation quarterback Stephen Braswell, who was just 13-for-30 through the air with two early interceptions, but marched the Saints on the game-winning drive. "It just feels so good to win. Everybody did their part in that second half, and we ended up coming back. I gotta give it up to Luther. They came in and they fought us hard."
The Saints got a big boost out of special teams play in the win. In addition to the blocked field goal to end the first half, Presentation recovered a botched punt earlier in the quarter that went for negative yardage. The Saints recovered at the Norse 5-yardline and handed the ball off to Mohn for their first touchdown of the game.
PC went up 16-14 with 9:20 left in the third on a Braswell pass to a wide-open Matthew James, but could not convert on the extra point. That left the door open for Luther, who scored two drives later and converted on the two-point attempt to go up 22-16.
The two teams traded punts and fumbles before PC took over at midfield for the game-winning drive. Braswell and the Saints faced two third-downs and one fourth-down and long situation on that drive, but were able to convert on pass plays and the misdirection.
The Saints defense also survived a relentless Luther rushing attack. The Norse, who attempted just eight pass plays in the game, had three players with 70+ yards on the ground, led by quarterback JJ Sirios' 14 carries for 140 yards and Josh Vos' 19 carries for 110 yards and two touchdowns.
"That triple-option style offense, it's so unique, especially when you have it early in the year," said Saints head coach Andy Carr. "It was one of those situations where the guys had to respond, but they made some adjustments especially after that first quarter and held them out of the end zone and held them out of the goal posts when we needed it."
Offensively, Mohn paced the Saints running game with 17 carries for 79 yards and the two scores. Braswell completed three passes to three different receivers, including the TD strike to James.
Alex Karpstein and Austin Lake had 11 tackles apiece for the Saints' defense.
"I liked how we ran the football and I liked how our defense responded," said Carr.
The Saints remain at home to face Waldorf next Saturday in a 1 p.m. kickoff.
Luther (0-1)| 14 0 0 8--22
Presentation (1-0)| 0 10 6 7--23
|First Quarter|
LC -- Burger 5 run (Maher kick), 9:29.
LC -- Vos 14 run (Maher kick), 6:39.
|Second Quarter|
PC -- Voss 26 field goal, 5:58.
PC -- Mohn 4 run (Voss kick), 4:21.
|Third Quarter|
PC -- James 27 pass from Braswell (run failed), 9:20.
|Fourth Quarter|
LC -- Vos 4 run (Jaronik run), 14:54.
PC -- Mohn 9 run (Voss kick), 4:48.
|LC PC
First downs|25 14
Rushes-yards|69-413 30-119
Passing|18 84
Comp-Att-Int|3-8-0 13-30-2
Punts-Avg.|4-13.8 4-26.8
Fumbles-Lost|3-3 1-1
Penalties-Yards|8-74 6-52
|INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS|
RUSHING--Luther, Sirios 14-140, Vos 19-110, Burger 19-73; Presentation, Mohn 17-79, Braswell 7-21.
PASSING--Luther, Sirios 3-8-0 for 18; Presentation, Braswell 13-30 for 84.
RECEIVING--Luther, Kene Ukabiala 1-9, Vos 1-5, Casey Liveringhouse 1-4; Presentation, James 3-39, Paris Shaw 3-20, Eric Schueth 3-16.
TACKLES--Luther, Aric Elton 8, Rich Vickers 8, Matt Larson 7; Presentation, Karpstein 11, Lake 11, Dillon Wasko 8.
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