Football Erases 17 Point 4th Quarter Deficit to Defeat Bobcats in OT
Peru, NE – It was a night to remember for Hastings College football erasing a 17-point fourth quarter deficit to defeat Peru St. 37-31 in overtime on Saturday night out at the Oak Bowl.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
7 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 6 | 37 |
|
|
14 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 31 |
Team Stats
Peru State
| Game Statistics | Hastings | Peru State |
|---|---|---|
| Passing Yards | 202 | 236 |
| Rushing Yards | 168 | 145 |
| Turnovers | 1 | 2 |
| Time of Poss. | 28:50 | 31:10 |
Peru, NE – It was a night to remember for Hastings College football erasing a 17-point fourth quarter deficit to defeat Peru St. 37-31 in overtime on Saturday night out at the Oak Bowl. As it stands, this is the third largest fourth quarter comeback in school history.
Outside of the opening touchdown when Eli Nappe connected with Ethan Wilborn for a 44-yard touchdown, PSC was in control of this game leading 31-14 in the fourth quarter. But Hastings had a no quit mentality plus add in a little bit of luck and you have a story that you only see in the movies.
When Brett Simonsen took the ball into the end zone for his second touchdown of the game with 3:53 to go in regulation, a 10-point deficit is usually pretty tough to come back from without a bit of luck.
But before the luck could happen, the Bronco defense needed to come up big as the Bobcats moved to ball down to the Hastings 14 with under nine minutes to play in regulation. Two rushes and an incomplete pass led to a 31-yard field goal attempt by Mack Boekhout as he missed it wide right to give some hope to Bronco nation. Hastings then took full advantage along with a little bit of luck.
Head Coach Matt Franzen decided it was time to bring out the onside kick and Casper Feijen hit a good one but it was recovered by the Bobcats. But there was a flag as Pert St. was offsides so the Broncos got another shot at it and this time, Feijen's kick took the perfect bounce right into the hands of Wilborn and Hastings offense was back in business.
On the very first play from scrimmage, Eli Nappe found a streaking Wilborn for a 38-yard touchdown and with the Feijen extra point, Hastings now trailed by just three with 3:33 left in regulation.
Franzen decided to try his luck again with the onside kick and Feijen slipped on the kick but the PSC hands team muffed the kick and Simonsen jumped on the loose ball breathing life into the Broncos sideline once again.
On the ensuing possession, the Broncos got a pass interference penalty to move the ball to the 30. Then Nappe connected with Jake Bargen on a 10-yard completion with Simonsen taking the next three carries inside the Bobcat 10 yard line. The Peru St. defense held and Franzen sent in Feijen as he nailed the 25-yard field goal to tie the game 31-31 with :43 to go in regulation.
The Bobcats were unable to get anything going on its ensuing possession and the two teams headed to overtime.
Peru St. had the ball first in overtime and the Bronco defense came up big forcing a fourth and 14 from the 29 where the defense got enough pressure on Colin Shields as his pass came up short and the Broncos now had a chance to win.
On the first play, Nappe scrambled all the way to the Bobcat two. Following a timeout, Simonsen took the pitch and snuck just inside the pylon for the game winning touchdown as the Bronco sideline sprinted to celebrate with Simonsen as Hastings finished off the comeback victory.
Hastings finished the game with 370 yards of offense compared to 381 for Peru St.
Nappe finished the game going 15-for-33 for 202 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for another 61 yards. Simonsen finished with 83 yards rushing and a career high three touchdowns. Wilborn finished with three catches for 89 yards and a career high two touchdowns.
Marcus Dustin finished with a career high 13 tackles and half a tackle for loss. Laython Shaw finished with 10 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss while Jayden Roberts added nine total tackles and half a tackle for loss.
This is not new to this rivalry as Peru St. opened up a 21-0 lead back in 2018 before the Broncos came back in the second half to win the game 25-21.
Hastings improves to 1-0 on the year and will be back in action Saturday Sept. 9 hitting the road to take on Dakota Wesleyan with kickoff set for 1:00 pm in Mitchell, SD.
