College Football: Luther 20, St. Olaf 3 (Game Recap)

St. Olaf College lost its home football opener on Saturday (Sept 13) 20-3 to Luther College from Decorah, Iowa. Missed opportunities cost the Oles the chance at victory.

Luther College ground out a 20-3 victory over St. Olaf College at Manitou Field in Northfield Saturday. The Norse rushed for 239 yards on 57 carries. Each of Luther's two fullbacks averaged seven yards per rush. Luther threw just five passes, with one going for the first touchdown of the game.

The Oles made it into the red zone three times, but had just a 22-yard field goal from senior Ezra Coughlin (Hibbing, MN) to show for it. St. Olaf turned the ball over twice and had a misplay on a punt that led to first touchdown for Luther. The Oles had just three penalties in the game, but were costly in allowing a key Norse drive to continue.

St. Olaf senior wide receiver Joel Reinhardt (Eagan, MN) caught a single-game school record 19 passes. Junior quarterback Nate Penz (Rochester, MN) went 35-for-48 through the air for 209 yards. His long completion went for 12 yards. Sophomore linebacker Colten Yahn (Longwood, FL) led the Oles with ten tackles. Senior defensive lineman Colin Brown (Orlando, FL) had two tackles for a loss. (full boxscore)

St. Olaf opens MIAC play Saturday September 20 at defending conference champion Bethel. Listen for the play-by-play with Roy Koenig and Mark Gelle on KDHL AM 920, kdhlradio.com and on the FREE RadioPup app.