DUBUQUE, Iowa - The University of Dubuque football team secured the homecoming victory on Saturday over the Nebraska Wesleyan University Prairiewolves 21-10. It may have not been the prettiest of wins, but the Spartans walked out the victor in front of large crowd of alums, parents, fans on homecoming week. A busy campus week which witnessed a big announcement on Thursday, the inauguration of the school's 12th president on Friday, and athletics hosting a pair of volleyball, soccer and a football games for the students. 

The visiting Prairiewolves scored first on a 10 yard pass with 11:27 in the first quarter to grab a 7-0 lead. UD scored on a 23 yard pass from Joey Rhomberg to Matthew Glennon at 11:39 of the second quarter to even it at 7-7. NWU re-took the lead going into halftime  with a 10-7 lead as time expired on a 40 yard field goal. UD would be the only scorer in the second half when Etwood Williams returned an interception at 9:43 of the third for a 43 yard touchdown.to give UD the edge 14-10. Kali Freeman scored with five seconds left in the third when Rhomberg found him from 28 yards out for the final points of the contest, 21-10.

Noah Roling led the Spartans ground game with 13 rushes for 72 yards. Joey Rhomberg completed 16-31 passes for 160 yards and two touchdowns. He found six different receivers with Kali Freeman grabbing five catches for 77 yards and a touchdown along with Matthew Glennon who caught five passes for 56 yards and a touchdown.

Brady Buchmann punted six times for 298 yards (49.7 avg.) and placed the ball inside the 20 yard line once and had one touchback. He kicked three balls over 50 yards to help flip the field for the Spartans. Ryan Caprez kicked off three times for 146 yards (48.7 avg.) and Bennett Harp had one kickoff for 65 yards.

The Spartans defense ended the afternoon with three sacks for losses of 18 yards and five tackles for losses of 24 yards. A key stand for the defense was on a first and goal when UD held the Prairiwolves out of the end zone and turning the ball over on downs at the Spartan one yard line with just over seven minutes left in the first half. The duo of Favien Flentroy and Jacob Garlick both led with 10 tackles and a quarterback hurry each. Ettwood Williams scored on a pick six from 43 yards and Dre Jarvis intercepted a pass and returned it for 21 yards. UD ended the day with 24 individuals collecting at least one tackle in the win.

The Spartans schedule doesn't get any easier when UD will travel to Waverly, Iowa to face top 10 ranked, the Wartburg College Knights during their homecoming on Oct. 11 with kickoff slated fro 1:30 p.m.