DUBUQUE – To a man, the Coe Kohawks looked themselves in the mirror this week.

To a man, the Kohawks recognized the man in the mirror, if not the losing record.

And to a man, Coe's football team knew it was a better club that what it's shown so far this fall.

To a man, the Kohawks still know they're not where they need to be after Saturday's scary escape act against Loras College in an Iowa Conference game.

Playing confident but at times messy, Coe hit the re-set button on its season with clutch defense when it counted.

Josh Rekers threw for 337 yards and two touchdowns, Sam Lahr rushed for 126 yards and a 26-yard score, Trevor Heitland caught 11 passes for 153 yards and the Kohawk defense made a game-saving stand in the final two minutes as Coe outlasted Loras, 30-27, to crash the Duhawks' festive homecoming party at the Rock Bowl.

“A win is a win,” said Kohawks Coach Steve Staker, whose club's non-conference run included a loss to seventh-ranked Wheaton. “We'll take it.”

Rekers' 11-yard touchdown to Brandon Roseberry in the third quarter proved the difference as the Kohawks (2-2, 1-0 IIAC) won the hard way in a game Staker believes they should have put away in the first half.

“We've got room to improve and we have to do it in a hurry because we've got (defending IIAC champion) Wartburg next week,” Staker said. “Defensively, I feel pretty good.

“... A win is a win, We'll take it.”

Loras (1-3, 0-1) made the Kohawks work for 60 minutes to score its eighth consecutive win in the series.

A game that was all Coe at halftime (23-7) unexpectedly became a fierce fight as Loras stormed back from a 30-7 fourth-quarter deficit with three consecutive touchdowns.

Zach Minch busted into the end zone on a 1-yard run and then caught a 23-yard scoring pass from freshman Nolan Baumhover. With Duhawks' IIAC-worst rated defense – which kept Loras alive by limiting three promising Coe first-half drives to three Brandon Abbas field goals (from 35, 19 and 32 yards) – made a series of fourth-quarter stands to give the Duhawks' offense a prime chance to win the game in the closing minutes.

“They had all the momentum,” Staker said. “Our offense was just sputtering.”

And when Baumhover found Mikey Castoro on a 14-yard TD hookup to bring Loras within 30-27 with 4:43 left and the Loras defense followed with a three-and-out hold, Loras looked in position to win the game as it took over at its own 32-yard line with 2:09 left.

“I felt like we were going to get the score,” Duhawks Coach Steve Helminiak said. “But it didn't happen.”

Bryce Alberts and Mark Atwater fronted Coe's defensive game save with 11 tackles apiece.

“We've got to finish drives and not get complacent,” Rekers said. “In the second half, we put pressure on our defense, and they came through for us.”

But Coe's secondary – which kept Loras All-American wide receiving candidate Nate Even (who grabbed nine catches for 116 yards but no touchdowns) under relative wraps with double coverage – didn't allow Baumhover and Company to advance past their own 39 on the final drive.

“I feel we are the better football team,” said Baumhover, who threw for 193 yards and two touchdowns while splitting time under center with Nik Schulte. “I'm not bashing on Coe. They're a good football team. They won the game today. That's just how it happens.

“But I feel nine times out of 10 I'll take my team over theirs.”

But in the end, Coe claimed this wild Iowa Conference game, and the IIAC standings don't penalize or deduct for style points.

“Like Coach said, 'An ugly win is still a win,'” Rekers remarked. “We'll prepare (for Wartburg) and work to get better.”

COE 30, LORAS 27

COE         LORAS

First downs              24            20
Rushes-yards         39-126      31-93
Passing yards          348          382
Comp-Att-Int        24-47-0    35-57-1
Fumbles-lost           1-0           3-2
Punts-avg.           8-32.8       7-31.3
Penalties-yards       10-75       10-119

Coe      6   17   7   0 - 30

Loras    0    7   0  20 - 27

Scoring Plays

C – Brandon Abbas 35 FG
C – Abbas 19 FG
C – Abbas 32 FG
C – Sam Lahr 26 run (Abbas kick)
C – Elijah Phillips 60 pass from Josh Rekers (Abbas kick)
L – Danny Willis 80 pass from Nik Schulte (Mason Quigley kick)
C – Brandon Roseberry 11 pass from Rekers (Abbas kick)
L – Zach Minch 1 run (Quigley kick)
L – Minch 23 pass from Nolan Baumhover (Baumhover pass failed)
L – Mikey Castoro 14 pass from Baumhover (Quigley kick)

Individual Statistics

Passing

Coe – Josh Rekers 22-40-0, 337; Gavin Glenn 2-7-0, 11.

Loras – Schulte 16-31-1, 189; Baumhover 19-26-0, 193.

Rushing

Coe – Lahr 16-126, Colton Storia 13-28, Colton Martin 2-3, Trevor Heitland 1-minus 1.

Loras – Minch 20-68, Baumhover 3-12, Schulte 6-5, Isaac Cloward 1-5.

Receiving

Coe – Heitland 11-153, Kasumasa Ikoma 4-21, Phillips 2-69, Roseberry 2-24.

Loras – Willis 9-121, Even 9-116, Castoro 8-66, Josh Schulte 4-21.