The Iowa Hawkeyes are not the only college football team in Eastern Iowa with a pair of talented quarterbacks who are battling for playing time.

Say hello to Coe, which has two fine passers of its own with Josh Rekers and Gavin Glenn.

The Kohawks used both QBs Saturday and knocked off Loras, 36-10, with 469 yards of total offense and a stingy defense in the Iowa Conference opener before 2,983 fans at Clark Field.

Rekers, the incumbent and season-long starter, began the game and hit 13 of 25 passes for 157 yards. Glenn, a transfer from Minnesota-Duluth, relieved Rekers and gave the Kohawks a spark by completing 8 of 9 passes for 105 yards and two touchdowns.

"I guess we're taking after the Hawkeyes as they go with their two quarterbacks, Beathard and Rudock," said Rekers. "We'll see where it takes us."

Coe Coach Steve Staker and his son, Tyler, the offensive coordinator, planned to use both QBs Saturday, so it's not like Rekers got benched in favor of the newcomer. But do the Kohawks have a quarterback "controversy" on their hands?

"It's a good question," said Staker. "My son and I talked about this last week, what we should do. I said we need to give them an opportunity."

The Kohawks (2-2, 1-0) got off to a slow start and trailed 10-0 after the first period.

Rekers led Coe to a field goal, making it 10-3, but Glenn entered the game midway through the second period and promptly threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Elijah Phillips as the Kohawks tied the game, 10-10, with 3:57 left in the half.

Rekers returned on the next series, connected with Nicholas Lenstra on a 29-yard pass and scored himself on a quarterback sneak as Coe took a 17-10 lead at intermission.

Rekers started the third quarter, but Glenn relieved again and found Kevin Martinez for a 24-yard touchdown pass and a 24-10 advantage.

And so it went, back and forth.

Rekers, who is 6-foot-6, started last year, has more experience than Glenn, perhaps sees the field a little better and has a strong arm. Glenn, who is 6-feet tall, is a better scrambler who can make plays happen with his feet and has a good arm as well.

"We're trying to mix it up a little bit for the other teams," said Glenn. "I'm just getting an opportunity to play, so I've got to make the most of it.

"I'm getting more and more confident with the offense each week, which is a big thing."

Neither quarterback thinks there's any "controversy" on the club about who should be running the club.

"We've both been plugging away," said Rekers. "As long as we're winning, that's what really matters for us. I think we're both comfortable with where we're at right now."

Sam Lahr rushed for 110 yards and broke loose for a 23-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter as the Kohawks took command. Lahr was a little surprised when he broke through the line of scrimmage and there were no Loras defenders between himself and the end zone.

"The whole game long, you get to the second level and there's a guy there and you kind of get ready (to get hit)," he remarked. "I got to the open field and there was nothing to do."

There was nothing to do except score a touchdown.

Staker was concerned after the Kohawks fumbled the opening kickoff and helped Loras (1-3, 0-1) take the early 10-0 lead, but he liked the way his club settled down and was happy with his defense.

Coe linebacker Mitchell Berendes forced two fumbles with big hits and Matt Schmitz helped control the trenches with his performance on the defensive line. Loras finished with only 218 yards of total offense and had the ball for just 20 minutes and 54 seconds, compared to 39 minutes and six seconds for the Kohawks.

"We just played with a lot of intensity, I thought, compared to the last three games," said Coe linebacker Mark Atwater, a Linn-Mar product. "We never got down on ourselves, really, after that 10-0 start."

Nate Even, a Xavier grad, caught five passes for 63 yards for Loras and scored on a 10-yard pass play.

Coe hosts Wartburg next Saturday afternoon.

COE 36, LORAS 10

LORAS        COE

First downs               13           26
Rushes-yards          26-57       58-207
Passing yards            161         262
Comp-Att-Int         18-38-0     21-34-0
Fumbles-lost             3-2          3-1
Punts-avg.              7-27.0       3-35.7
Penalties-yards          2-17         5-50

Loras        10   0   0   0  - 10
Coe           0  17   9  10  - 36

Scoring plays

L - Nate Even 10 pass from Robert Kelly (Mason Quigley kick)
L - Quigley 20 FG
C - Brandon Abbas 34 FG
C - Elijah Phillips 3 pass from Gavin Glenn (Abbas kick)
C - Josh Rekers 1 run (Abbas kick)
C - Kevin Martinez 23 pass from Glenn (Abbas kick)
C - Team safety
C - Sam Lahr 23 run (Abbas kick)
C - Colton Benhart 23 FG

Individual Statistics

Rushing

Loras - Carrier 17-48, Cloward 7-20, Kelly 1-minus 5, Willis 1-minus 6.
Coe - Lahr 22-110, Philizaire 6-54, Storla 13-45, Ferring 6-23, Rekers 6-minus 7, Glenn 3-minus 7, Team 2-minus 11.

Passing

Loras - Kelly 18-38-0, 161 yards
Coe - Rekers 13-25-0, 157 yards; Glenn 8-9-0, 105 yards.

Receiving

Loras - Even 5-63, Willis 4-27, Powers 3-34, Schulte 3-31, Carrier 2-2, Cloward 1-4.
Coe - Heitland 4-72, Phillips 4-41, Lenstra 3-48, Christenson 3-45, Roach 2-15, Lahr 2-11, Kopp 2-6, Martinez 1-24.