Hastings College got a 4th quarter touchdown run and held Nebraska Wesleyan on two late attempts to tie the game as the Broncos defeated the Prairie Wolves 31-24 in snowy conditions at Lloyd Wilson Stadium in Hastings, Neb. to close out the 2014 football season.

NWU finishes the season with a 4-6 overall record and a 4-5 mark in the GPAC to finish in a tie for 6th.

Bronco QB Jason Gaines faked a run in the middle and ran a quarterback keeper around left end to find wide open space as he cut back across the field for a 37-yard TD run with 4:21 left in the game to give Hastings the lead.

NWU converted on one fourth down conversion and reached near midfield but a final 4th down pass to Connor Zumpfe along the sideline was incomplete as the Prairie Wolves turned the ball over on downs.  The Prairie Wolf defense did force a quick three and out giving NWU one final chance as they took over at the 6-yard line with no timeouts.  On 4th & 3, a pass across the middle was incomplete to end the scoring threat.

Nebraska Wesleyan jumped out to an early 14-0 lead in the first quarter.  Joel Wiedel took an option pitch from two yards out to score the first TD and give NWU a 6-0 lead as the PAT failed.  On Hastings next possession, Wes Boettcher intercepted a pass and returned it 39 yards for a TD.  Wiedel converted the 2-point attempt making it 14-0.

Hastings would then get two second quarter touchdowns to make the score 14-14 at halftime.  The Broncos struck early in the 3rd quarter on a 36-yard TD pass from Gaines to Trevor Bohn to go up 21-14.

A key player early in the 4th quarter came on defense as Phil Latimer hit Gaines as he was attempting a pass and the ball went backwards towards the sideline where Seth Wardyn recovered the ball at the 8-yard line.  From there, Wiedel scored on a 1-yard run to tie the game.

Hastings responded and marched down into NWU territory where they were forced to attempt a field goal.  Nick Giaffoglione kicked a 41-yard attempt that hit the bottom cross bar, bounced up and over for the made attempt.  NWU did come back and drive down the field where Kramer Rath tied the game with a 28-yard field goal before Hastings scored the eventual game-winner.

Tyler Francis finished with 211 pass yards as he set new Nebraska Wesleyan school records for season and pass yards.  He was just 22-52 for 211 yards with two interceptions as conditions were horrible for the NWU pass attack.  NWU had their best rushing game of the year with 123 yards on 29 carries.  Wiedel had 70 yards on 18 carries with two TDs.

Wes Boettcher had a huge game on defense with 12 tackles and three interceptions. Seth Wardyn had 15 total tackles to lead the way.

Hastings had 425 yards of total offense with 275 through the air and 150 on the ground.