FREMONT, Neb. -- Tyler Francis connected with Connor Zumpfe who pitched the ball to Joel Wiedel on the hook & lateral to give Nebraska Wesleyan a 37-30 comeback victory over Midland University in GPAC Football action Saturday in Fremont.

In a game that saw momentum shift back & forth on several big plays, it was the Prairie Wolves who came out on top to ruin Midland's senior day.  NWU moves to 4-5 overall and 4-4 in GPAC and the Warriors drop their seventh straight game.

Midland jumped ahead 24-3 in the first half as they took advantage of four Nebraska Wesleyan turnovers.  The key point of the game came in the final minute of the first half as Seth Wardyn intercepted a pass by Andrew Cameron and returned it into Midland territory.  On the final play of the half, Francis threw the ball to the end zone where it was deflected into the air and into the hands of Joel Wiedel to make the score 24-10 at halftime.

NWU forced a turnover on the opening possession of the second half as Brandon McGill sacked the QB forcing a fumble into the hands of Phil Latimer.  From there, the Prairie Wolves capitalized as Francis hit Connor Zumpfe for a 2-yard TD pass. The PAT kick failed to make the score 24-16.

Taking advantage of another short field, the Prairie Wolves added another third quarter TD.  This time Francis hit Shaka Taylor on a swing pass and he followed his blockers into the end zone for a 12-yard TD pass.  The PAT pass attempt failed leaving Midland leading 24-22.  Third quarter struggles continued for the Warriors as they were outscored 102-20 in the third quarter this year.

To begin the fourth quarter, the Prairie Wolves appeared to have their drive stalled near midfield.  However, a roughing the passer call kept the drive alive and NWU took advantage.  Francis found Corey Jones for a 7-yard TD pass and then Francis hit Ryan Larsen for a 2-point attempt making the score 30-24.

Midland did not give up and mounted a late 4th quarter drive to go for the win.  Using a key fourth down conversion and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty the Warriors got down inside the ten yard line.  On 4th down, Midland ran a reverse pass from Kail Walker to Nathan Schlueter with 1:44 remaining in the game to tie it at 30-30.  On the potential game-winning PAT attempt, the snap was botched and the pass attempt play was stuffed keeping the game tied.

NWU returned the kick to their own 40-yard line and got two key receptions near the out-of-bounds line from Francis to Larsen.  Then with 51 seconds left, Francis found Zumpfe along the sideline who pitched to Wiedel for the 14-yard TD.

Without any timeouts left, Midland tried one last gasp of a comeback.  The got to midlfield and on the final play of the game, Brandon McGill intercepted a pass in the end zone to seal the win.

Tyler Francis threw five touchdown passes on the day going 28-45 for 263 yards with 2 TDs.  Connor Zumpfe caught eight passes for 72 yards with a TD.  Joel Wiedel ran for 63 yards and caught two touchdown passes.

Seth Wardyn and Eric Richards both had 10 tackles to lead the NWU defense.