Senior Quarterback Vaughn Gesing as always made football a big in his life.  From his days playing catch with his Dad, to throwing touchdowns for the Duhawks, the Waukon, Iowa senior wants football to be a part of his life for a long time.

Too little too late led the Duhawks to their second straight loss last weekend against Coe College, 34-6, leaving them with a 3-5 record with two games left.
Coe, ranked 16th in the nation coming into the game, proved that the Iowa Conference’s top-ranked offense is tough to slow down once it gets rolling.
Unfortunately, the Duhawks also did not get off to a terrific start. It did not take Coe long to capitalize after Loras fumbled a punt return early in the game. Cornell pounced on the fumble deep in Loras territory and proceeded to jump out to an early lead.
Junior quarterback Vaughn Gesing bounced back from the previous week against Central, when he threw three interceptions, to complete 18-of-33 passes against Coe for one touchdown and no interceptions. He collected 219 yards through the air, his first game over 200 yards passing since the first game of the season.
“Despite the score, I thought our offense did play better,” Gesing said. “We had some success moving the ball at times, but negative plays often left our drives short of the end zone.”
The offense found the end zone only once, with nine minutes remaining in the game, through a successful drive of 75 yards that was capped with Gesing connecting with sophomore running back Matt Hillard for a 10-yard scoring pass. It was Hillard’s first touchdown reception and seventh overall on the season.
Hillard also accounted for all of Loras’ yardage on the ground, as he gained 96 yards on 22 carries.
Finding the end zone for Loras prevented a shutout, but it also came too late into the game to offset the Coe offensive attack. Coe totaled 485 yards during the game and scored five times on offense, two on the ground and three through the air.
Coe quarterback Brad Boyle completed 12 passes for 251 yards, highlighted by an 84-yard touchdown reception and followed by a 49-yard touchdown reception.
“Our team dug ourselves a hole early and against a top-25 team like Coe, it is very difficult to make up an early deficit,” said Gesing. “Our offense needs to find ways to put up more points on the scoreboard.”
Loras finishes out its final two games at home and hopes to salvage the season by ending its season with two wins to give the Duhawks a 5-5 record on the season. The Duhawks will square off with Cornell at noon Saturday at the Rock Bowl.
“Our goal is to first of all have a great week of practice,” said Gesing. “But first, we must rebound after two tough road games against ranked opponents and find a way to get a big win against Cornell this week.”

Coming off of a bye week the Duhawks traveled to the 15^th ranked Central College where they lost 27-6, struggling to find a way to beat the Dutch defense.

Loras, 3-4, came into the game with two straight victories against in conference opponents, but Central proved to be too much for junior quarterback Vaughn Gesing and his offense. Gesing’s offensive line allowed eleven sacks during the game, 5 of which came in the first half. Coach Steve Osterberger agreed that the amount of sacks allowed during the game is something that will need to be improved on for the team to have success in the future.

“We need to be able to protect and give our QB time to throw the ball,” said Osterberger.

Along with the eleven sacks that Gesing succumbed to he spent the day completing 13 of 26 passes for 121 yards through the air. The negative of the day for Gesing and the team included his 3 interceptions, all of which resulted in three touchdowns for Central, one by the defense.

Loras’ defense looked up to the challenge of facing the top tier Central team, forcing them to punt five times during the game. Brandon Ronan stood out for the defense having his hand in eleven tackles, but it was a senior who had the highlight of the game for the team late in the fourth quarter.

Senior cornerback Nic Lloyd intercepted a pass and then tossed it back to senior safety Kile Beaver who returned it deep into Central’s field. The possession was topped off with Vaughn Gesing connecting with senior receiver Gavin Kaiser, who caught his first of the season. Coach Osterberger emphasized the play from the defense.

“Defensively we played a great game. We only gave up six points. Offensively we can’t put our defense in bad situations and spot the other team 14 points,” said Osterberger.

Offensively, Gesing was not the only one who could not get anything going. The running game seemed nonexistent with sophomores Matt Hillard and Ryan Baez combining for 52 yards on 18 carries. Hillard also added 2 receptions on the day, as did senior receiver Walt Lubuz. Senior receiver John Ingersoll added 4 receptions on the day, giving him 27 receptions through seven games this season.

Loras, fifth in the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, have three games left and will travel to Coe College for their final road game of the season.

Coach Osterberger’s message to his team for the final stretch of the season focuses on, “Winning the next three and finishing the season 6-4. We need to pick up our level of play and become more consistent.”

The football team is eager to re-introduce itself to the Loras community after three weeks on the road. The fact that this weekend marks Homecoming is even better.
The Duhawks were throttled this past Saturday by perennial Iowa Conference power Wartburg. Loras’ 34-0 loss was the second straight loss for the Duhawks, who haven’t played at home since Sept. 4.
The Duhawks could not get the chains moving in the right direction for most of the game. Wartburg was able to pick up 383 yards total, while Loras was held to just 130 yards.
The game looked promising for the Duhawks in the first quarter after an interception by junior linebacker Zach Myers. And Loras’ defense was just as tough as Wartburg’s, as the two teams fought to a scoreless tie in the first quarter.
Wartburg, now 4-0, answered with two long drives in the second quarter. The drives were 16 and 11 plays on back-to-back possessions, with both drives resulting in two short touchdown runs by Wartburg running back Reese Thompson.
Coach Steve Osterberger took some positives with how the team played in the first half, as his team trailed 13-0 to one of the best teams defensively in the conference.
“We did some things really well and the players played extremely hard,” he said. “We just need to get points when we have a chance.”
Junior quarterback Vaughn Gesing, who completed just 5-for-21 passes for 48 yards, had a rough day trying to find an open receiver through the Wartburg defense. Gesing threw two interceptions and was unable to connect with his number-one target, senior wide-receiver John Ingersoll.
“After watching film, it was tough to sit there and see the potential. We have to be a good football team if we are rolling on all cylinders, but we tend to hurt ourselves,” said Ingersoll, “Our offense needs to tighten up at all positions, because when we have time to throw the ball, we are a successful offense that can be very dangerous and beat anyone.”
Gesing also found himself in a hurry  for most of the game, and he was sacked six times. Loras’ trio of sophomore running backs occasionally found some running room, but it was few and far between. Johnny Jackson led the team in rushing yards with 49 yards on 11 carries, followed by Matt Hillard with 10 carries for 45 yards, and Ryan Baez contributing 29 yards on 13 carries.
The Duhawks say they will not be deterred by their 0-2 start in the conference as they return to the Rock Bowl for homecoming.
“I know we will respond this week, and that we are fully capable of beating Buena Vista and getting back on track,” Ingersoll said. “ It is vital that our offense produces this weekend and I feel confident that will be the case.”
The big game starts at 1 p.m., with festivities for students in the Smyth Turnaround before the game starts.

Not many members of the football team expected to have a 1-2 record right now. 

After a tough 14-7 loss against Simpson, the Duhawks are glad there is a lot of football to play.

The Simpson Storm capitalized on three Loras turnovers to win their first game of the season. The game was the first Iowa Conference game for both teams.

Playing at home, the Storm were ready for Loras. Simpson started the game with a successful scoring drive that helped set the tone for the game. The drive was capped off with a 6-yard touchdown run by running back Austin Schmidt.

The time of possession favored the run-happy Storm, who controlled the ball for 33 minutes of the game, as compared to 27 minutes for Loras. 

One of the positives for the Duhawks was a second-quarter fumble recovery by sophomore Kyle Kirchoff at the Simpson 23-yard-line. The fumble was forced by junior Frank Pereiro. The turnover sparked a scoring drive that culminated with a 2-yard touchdown run by first-year running back Matt Hillard, his fifth of the season. 

But Simpson regained the momentum and “stormed” down the field in a 12-play, 67-yard drive that ended with running back Michael Chia’s 1-yard touchdown dive. 

On back-to-back possessions in the second quarter, Loras drives ended abruptly after junior Vaughn Gesing threw his third and fourth interceptions of the season. 

Simpson held a 14-7 lead at halftime, and neither team scored in the second half as the momentum teeter-tottered between the two teams. Coach Steve Osterberger said the offense struggled to sustain drives. 

“After a loss, no one is really satisfied with their performance, Gesing said. “We all feel as though we could have played better on Saturday, and we are determined to fix the mistakes that are costing us games.” 

Osterberger also noted Loras’ inability to muster a potent running attack. It was partly a testament to the play of the Simpson defense throughout the game, but Loras had much better success rushing the ball in its first two games. 

Sophomore Ryan Baez was able to net 45 yards on 12 carries, while Hillard had 30 yards on eight carries.

“There were a couple of turnovers in the game, but some negative plays also put us in some tough situations as an offense,” Gesing said. “If (the opponent) gets you into second- and third-and-longs, they have the upper hand.”

Gesing completed 13-of-27 passes for 169 yards. He also was sacked six times. He and his teammates believe that the team cannot afford any more slip-ups the rest of the season. 

Osterberger also expects tough play from his team. 

“I think each week it will be a battle in the Iowa Conference. I also believe it will be difficult for anybody to go undefeated in the conference,” Osterberger said. 

The Duhawks will be on the road again Saturday for a game against perennial power Wartburg. The kickoff is at 1 p.m. in Waverly.