Northern State had to put in some overtime on Saturday night.
NSU edged Wayne State College 29-27 in a triple overtime thriller at a packed Swisher Field. A Jared Jacobson-to-Tanner White TD reception and a defensive stand in the third OT lifted the Wolves to the thrilling win.
"It is one that we will always remember," Jacobson said. "Obviously us winning makes it a whole lot better, just a great way to start off the year."
It was the first NSU overtime game since 2009, when the Wolves lost to Upper Iowa 42-35 in Fayette. It was the first triple overtime game in program history. NSU is now 3-3 all-time in overtime contests.
This one could have been over quite a few different times. There were four blocked field goals, including three that would have won the game.
"You never really knew what was going to happen," NSU senior safety Logan Dosch said. "Hats off go to Wayne. They played an unbelievable game."
The teams were all tied up at 14-14 after regulation. The Wolves had a chance for the win at the end of regulation, but Nathan Shaw's 46-yard field was blocked as time ran out. NSU went up 21-14 in first overtime after Terrelle Walker scored on a 6-yard TD reception from Jacobson. Wayne answered on a Nate Rogers 3-yard TD reception from QB Zach Osborn. Both teams had field goals blocked in the second overtime.
Jacobson then lobbed a pass to White in the corner of the end zone on the first play of the third extra period. White hauled in the pass for the score.
"We knew we had one-on-one opportunities," Jacobson said about the play. "Tanner and (NSU wide receiver) Chris Malsam did a great job all night and I liked my matchup and Tanner went up and made a heck of play for us."
By rule, the Wolves had to go for the 2-point conversion, which Walker scored on a pass from Jacobson. A pass interference call on the Wolves moved Wayne to 10-yard line on the ensuing possession. Charlie Davidson then scored on a 10-yard run to get his team with 29-27. The Wildcats needed to convert the 2-point conversion to extend the game, but Osborn's pass was incomplete.
"It was good coverage," Dosch said about the play. "The only place he could have thrown it was where he threw it, and he didn't get it. Hats off to our defense for making him do it. . . . hats off to our offense for getting the 2-point conversion."
Wayne State scored on the first possession of the game when Tonev Abraham scored on a 10-yard TD reception from Osborn. Neither team scored again until the fourth quarter. NSU's offense struggled for the early part of the game. The Wolves converted only six first downs in the first half.
"We really just kind of sputtered and couldn't get anything going," Jacobson said, "but a heck of a job by our defense. They really held us up the entire game."
The NSU offense got it going late. Jacobson finished with 214 passing yards. Connor Doherty hauled in six catches for 79 yards and Malsam caught three for 62 yards. The Wolves had 236 of its 302 total yards in the second half and overtime.
"Offense, kind of stumbled around a little bit," NSU coach Tom Dosch said. "We really got it going in the fourth quarter and that really carried over into overtime."
NSU finally scored its first TD of the game when Jacobson scored on a 1-yard QB sneak just three seconds into the fourth quarter. The Wolves took a 14-7 lead when John Hughes caught an 8-yard TD reception from Jacobson with 4-minutes and 47 seconds left. It didn't take long for the Wildcats to answer. Davidson scampered in from 20-yards out with 1:52 left to knot up the score at 14-all.
NSU's offense moved the ball past midfield and got into field goal range as the clock ticked down. The Wolves lined up for a 46-yard FG with two seconds left, but Shaw's kick was blocked as time expired to set up a frantic finish.
"It was amazing," Coach Dosch said. "Quite a game."
Northern State (1-0) will play at the University of Sioux Falls this Saturday in another NSIC contest.
Wayne State College (0-1, 0-1 NSIC) 7 0 0 7 13--27
Northern State (1-0, 1-0) 0 0 0 14 15--29
|First Quarter|
WSC -- Tonev Abraham 10 pass from Zach Osborn (Tyler Basch kick), 10:47.
|Fourth Quarter|
NSU -- Jared Jacobson 1 run (Nathan Shaw kick), 14:57.
NSU -- John Hughes 8 pass from Jacobson (Shaw kick), 4:47.
WSC -- Charlie Davidson 20 run (Basch kick), 1:52.
|First Overtime|
NSU -- Terrelle Walker 6 run (Nathan Shaw kick).
WSC -- Nate Rogers 3 pass from Osborn (Basch kick).
|Third Overtime|
NSU -- Tanner White 25 pass from Jacobson (Walker pass from Jacobson).
WSC -- Davidson 3 run (Osborn pass failed).
|NSU WSC
First downs 18 24
Rushes-yards 42-88 51-222
Passing-yards 214 203
Comp-Att-Int 14-37-0 19-46-1
Total Net Yards 302 425
Total plays 79 97
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0
Penalties-Yards 7-94 11-112
Punts-yards 9-27.9 7-28.9
Kickoffs-Ret Yds 1-25 0-0
Punt-Ret Yds 1-14 1-0
Third downs 4-16 10-24
Fourth downs 0-2 2-4
Red zone 3-3 4-6
PATs 4-4 3-4
|INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS|
RUSHING -- Wayne State College, Charlie Davidson 41-202; Rashad Trimble 5-25, Sean McClure 1-10, Zach Osborn 4-10; Northern State, John Hughes 19-57, Terrelle Walker 6-27, Jared Jacobson 13-49, Stephen Erlandson 2-3.
PASSING -- Wayne State College, Zach Osborn 19-46-1 for 203; Northern State, Jared Jacobson 14-37-0 for 214.
RECEIVING -- Wayne State College, Tonev Abraham 12-140, Nate Rogers 2-10, Charlie Davidson 2- -4, Joe Trouba 1-37; Northern State, Connor Doherty 6-79, Chris Malsam 3-62, John Hughes 3-41, Tanner White 2-32.
DEFENSE -- Wayne State College, Tyson McGill 9 tackles, Jeff Van Den Top 9 tackles, Nick Monzu 6 tackles, Nathan Scott 5 tackles; Northern State, Blaine Schmidt 8 tackles, Devin Olson 8 tackles, Mike Alberts 8 tackles, Ikee Sirleaf 7 tackles.
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