DUBUQUE, Iowa – The St. Olaf College football team could not overcome four turnovers in a 31-16 season-opening loss to Loras College on Saturday night at the Rock Bowl.
In the first-ever meeting between the two programs, St. Olaf (0-1) outrushed Loras (1-0) by a 126-45 margin but was just 3-for-16 on third down and threw four interceptions in the loss. While rushing for less than two yards per carry, the Duhawks gained 383 yards through the air, averaging 10.6 yards per pass attempt and 18.2 yards per completion.
Joey Helminiak led Loras to the win by going 21-for-36 for 383 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. Two of Helminiak's three touchdown passes went to Isaiah Washington, who had five catches for 168 yards. Preston Ellis also had four catches for 70 yards and a score.
Senior
Bryon Sauvy carried the ball 18 times for 81 yards and a touchdown for St. Olaf. Senior
Luke Crosby was 21-for-36 for 235 yards with one touchdown and four interceptions, with the touchdown going to sophomore
Jack Kramer on his first collegiate reception.
Junior
Alec Mahoney paced the Oles' defense with nine tackles, eight of which were solo stops, and a pass breakup. First year
Jaedon Phillips had a forced fumble and a fumble recovery, while senior
Sawyer Chell also recovered a fumble.
Loras got off to a quick start, forcing a three-and-out defensively before going 62 yards in eight plays to open the scoring with a two-yard run by Helminiak. St. Olaf used a pair of long passes from Crosby to Brunsvold to start its next possession to get in field-goal range, but sophomore
Patrick Gardner's 29-yarder hit the left upright.
After St. Olaf's defense forced a turnover on downs on the next Loras drive, the Oles held the ball for nearly seven minutes on a 15-play, 64-yard drive that ended in a one-yard plunge by Sauvy, but the PAT was no good to keep the Duhawks ahead. Later in the second, Loras took over near midfield after an interception and scored on a 13-yard pass from Helminiak to Ellis to go up 14-6.
St. Olaf made it a one-point game with 31 seconds to go in the opening half when Crosby rolled right and found Kramer in the back of the end zone on a fourth-and-goal at the two-yard line. Loras extended its lead back to eight by covering 73 yards in four plays, capped by a 38-yard pass from Helminiak to Washington with eight seconds left in the half.
After racking up over 230 yards each in the opening half, neither offense had more than 50 yards in a scoreless third quarter. Loras got added to its lead with a 22-yard field goal two minutes into the fourth quarter and held the 24-13 lead until the final minutes.
The teams combined for three consecutive turnovers later in the fourth quarter, with St. Olaf capitalizing on a fumble recovery with a 37-yard field goal by Gardner that made it a one-score game at 24-16 with 3:09 to play. On the first play after the ensuing kickoff, Helminiak found Washington for a 71-yard catch-and-run touchdown that put the game out of reach.
The Oles will head to Concordia-Moorhead for their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) opener at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 12.
