APPLETON, Wis. — The Lawrence University football team dominated the second half and rallied for a 14-5 nonconference victory over Finlandia University on Saturday on Ron Roberts Field at the Banta Bowl.
Lawrence (1-1) picked up 200 yards of offense and limited Finlandia (0-2) to just 43 yards total in the final 30 minutes. The Vikings trailed by two at the half but controlled the ball in the second half as Finlandia had trouble mounting any offense.
Lawrence rookie quarterback Philip Santiago scored his first collegiate touchdown to put the Vikings ahead in the third quarter, and Pat O’Mahoney added his second field goal of the day in the fourth quarter for the final margin.
Santiago, who played just the second half, completed 7-of-15 passes for 82 yards and ran four times for 36 yards. Donnel Haley led the Lawrence rushing attack with 14 carries for 61 yards, and rookie Zavieh Harrell sparked the offense with seven carries for 45 yards, all but one coming in the second half.
Trevor Spina caught five passes for 58 yards to lead the Vikings’ receivers.
Cameron Copeland paced Finlandia with 21 carries for 76 yards. Quarterback Eddie Yearby was 10-for-22 for 60 yards and threw three interceptions.
Linebacker Jake Gostisha made two interceptions, both coming on spectacular diving plays, for the Vikings and finished with seven tackles, 1.0 tackles for loss and a pass breakup. Jake Lueck added seven tackles for the Vikings before leaving the game with an injury.
Finlandia led 5-0 thanks to a Lawrence fumble that was covered up by the Vikings in the end zone for a safety and a 23-yard field goal.
Haley’s 39-yard run set up O’Mahoney for a 34-yard field goal to trim the margin to 5-3 early in the second quarter.
The Vikings then put together a seven-play, 59-yard drive for the game’s only touchdown late in the third quarter. Santiago completed passes of 21 yards to Spina and 15 yards to Cole Erickson to set the Vikings up at the Finlandia 16-yard line. Santiago ran in untouched on the next play for the touchdown, and Wes Hetcher passed to Erickson for the two-point conversion for an 11-5 lead.
Lawrence got the ball back to start the fourth quarter and moved 65 yards in 10 plays to the Finlandia two. The big play on the drive was Harrell’s 34-yard run to the Finlandia 15. The Vikings had to settle for O’Mahoney’s 19-yard field goal and a 14-5 edge.
Yearby threw an interception, completed on a diving catch from Dante Reese, on the next play from scrimmage. Finlandia’s defense held, but the Lions couldn’t move the ball on their final two possessions. Lawrence limited the Lions to just eight yards the last two times they had the ball to close out the win.
For the second straight week, the Vikings held an opponent to less than 200 yards of offense as the Lions finished with 173. Lawrence, which held Finlandia to 1-of-12 on third down, had 282 yards of offense.