Pride make big plays but Pioneers big second half decides the outcome
DUBUQUE, Iowa - Starting a two-game homestand with their first Heart of America Athletic Conference foe visiting Dalzell Field on Saturday afternoon, the Clarke University football team fell 51-26 to Heart South Division opponent MidAmerica Nazarene University.
The Pride produced one of their strongest halves of football on their way to leading 20-10 with just under two and a half minutes left in the second quarter after the final near 5:30 of the opening 30 minutes saw four touchdowns scored, two by each team after the Pride had led 7-3 through a quarter of play.
After the Pioneer struck first with a 38-yard Luke Hardman field goal, the very next play for Clarke would be a 75-yard touchdown pass from Carson Estrada to Jackson Ostrander-Krier on a well executed play action pass and quick strike to Ostrander-Krier on a go-route out of stacked receiver set as the senior would have nothing but green in front of him after catching the ball near the 50 yard line and winning the foot race to pay dirt.
The Dubuque native would produce his best game of the season with five catches for 102 yards and a pair of touchdowns as the first quarter strike was his first scoring play of the 2025 season after entering his final season with five career receiving touchdowns.
Nearly a full quarter later, MNU would regain the lead with 4:20 left in the half when running back Devin Andrews scored from 38-yards out to make it 10-7 in favor of the visitors as Andrews led a potent rushing attack for the Pioneers as he averaged 9.5 yards per carry with 133 total yards on 14 attempts with two touchdowns.
Clarke would answer immediately on the ensuing kickoff when last week's big receiver for CU, Riley Hawkins, would receive the kickoff on his own seven yardline and go the entire 93 yards completely untouched for just the second kick return touchdown in program history and first kick return touchdown for the Pride at Dalzell Field in the seven seasons Clarke has played since starting the program in 2019.
Looking the completely seize the momentum back in their favor, the Clarke special teams produced another key play in the first half when kicker Gustav Nordberg-Risto executed a surprise onside kick that wouldn't be fielded cleanly by the Pioneers and eventually recovered by the Pride on the MNU 43 yard line.
Using the short field to their advantage, Estrada would find Ostrander-Krier for that second touchdown in the form of a 21-yard strike on a wheel route to give CU the 10-point lead that was previously mentioned with 2:25 remaining in the half.
From that point on, the Pioneers outscored Clarke 41-6, including allowing MNU to score five-straight touchdowns, starting with MidAmerica Nazarene scoring just before the half ended when quarterback Drew Miller found Quinn Nieman for an 18-yard touchdown strike to cut that Clarke lead to just three at the break at 20-17.
The opening kickoff of the second half would see MNU get their own kick return touchdown when Aiyo'n Carter went 90 yards for his second kick return score of the season and just 12 seconds into the third quarter, Clarke was no longer leading and MNU wouldn't relinquish their lead for the remainder of the game.
That score wouldn't start the full run that MidAmerica Nazarene would eventually go on to pull away in their victory as the teams would trade punts and turnovers on downs the last of which coming with the Pioneers on the doorstep of another score on the one yard line as they would go for a quarterback sneak by Miller but he would fall to the ground shy of the goal line to give the ball back to CU, still just down 24-20.
Able to only gain three yards in attempt to get out of the shadow of their own end zone, a Nordberg-Risto punt would only get to the Clarke 25-yard line, providing MNU with a short field, where they would cash in on Andrews' second touchdown of the day, this time on a 17-yard run on just the second play of the drive, putting the score at 31-20.
Three fourth quarter touchdowns, all on the ground from freshman Aaron Johnson, who didn't see the field until the final period of the game to finish with 66 yards on nine carries with those three scores, the Pioneers would leave no doubt on the way to their third win of the season.
Clarke's lone score in the second half came on a Caleb Perry 65-yard touchdown rush in the fourth quarter to make the score 44-26 at the time as Perry would finish with his first 100-yard game in a Pride uniform after transferring from MidAmerica Nazarene prior to this season.
On the defensive side of the ball for CU, Marcus Plair set a new career-high with 12 total tackles, nine solo tackles and three assisted tackles, while also producing a sack-fumble in the first half as well as breaking up a pass and producing a quarterback hurry.
Pride football will remain home for their next game in a week when NAIA No. 4 Benedictine College visits Dubuque for a 1:00 p.m. CT kickoff at Dalzell Field on Sept. 20.