The Luther College football team played arguably its best game of the year but were defeated by the University of Dubque 27-20 on a wet afternoon in the valley. A blocked punt that resulted in the touchdown and a first and goal late in the game that the Norse were unable to produce a touchdown, proved be the difference in the game.
After a scoreless first quarter, Luther took its first lead of the a season, when
Trent White scored on a two-yard plunge at 8:59 of the second frame. The touchdown capped off a four-play, 47-yard drive.
The Spartans answered quickly scoring touchdowns at 6:36 and 4:29 to take a 14-7 lead. Their second score was the result of a block punt on Luther's 25-yard line, that was caught in the air by the Spartans Blake Heffron on the 10 and returned to the Norse end zone for the touchdown.
The Norse leveled the score with 46 seconds left in the first half. Quarterback
Christian Hiner connected with
Anthony Thornton on a 15-yard strike. One play earlier, Hiner found
Bryce Buckley for 24 yards that ended on the Dubuque 15-yard line.
In the second half, Dubuque held a 21-14 lead after scoring touchdowns at 9:18 of the third quarter and 13:42 of the fourth.
Two minutes later, Hiner connected with Thornton for the second time, a 64-yard touchdown strike. The extra-point attempt glanced off the right upright and was no good with the score board reading 27-20 Dubuque.
Fast forward to late in the fourth frame. With 4:50 left on the clock,
Sean Medcalfe pinned the Spartans on their own one-yard line with a 44-yard punt. The very next play, the Spartans back-up quarterback Jack Ginnan, fumbled the football that was recovered by defensive lineman Dane Peterson on the Dubuque two. Unfortunately, the Norse were not able to punch the football into the end zone.
Hiner finished the game 8-of-22 for 175 yards and connected with six different receivers. Thornton tallied a game high 79 reception yards.
Trent White, who also led the rushing attack with 60 yards on 18 carries, caught three passes for 50 yards.
Defensively,
Tyler Ragan led the Norse with 13 tackles, bringing his season total to a team best 111. Ragan entered the game ranked eighth in the NCAA III for tackles per game with an average of 12.2.
Levi Flora was next with nine and
Ryan Hilby was credited with six.
Box Score
Luther will wrap up the 2025 campaign next week when it will travel to Loras College. Kick-off is slated for 1 p.m. in the Rock Bowl.
