Lincoln, NE - As is common in the Nebraska Wesleyan - Mayville State series, Saturday's game came down to the wire, with the Comets defeating the Prairie Wolves 20-13 in overtime. The loss drops NWU to 0-2, while Mayville State improves to 2-1. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

First half
After kicking off to start the game, Nebraska Wesleyan's defense set the tone early, forcing punts on Mayville State's first two drive. The Black and Gold opened the scoring on their second possession, marching 19 yards in eight plays and settling for a 44 yard Jace Winkler field goal. Following the field goal, the teams traded punts on their ensuing possessions, before Mayville State drove to the NWU 42 yard line. Facing a 2nd and 11, the Comets ran the ball, but fumbled and as the scrum cleared, Diego Juarez has recovered the ball. However, the Comet defense continued to frustrate the Prairie Wolf offense as NWU went three and out and had to punt back to Mayville State. The defenses forced punts on the next two possessions before Nebraska Wesleyan stopped Mayville State on a fourth and one. However, on Nebraska Wesleyan's ensuing drive, Connor White was picked off and after a short return. Mayville State set up shop on the NWU 43 yard line. The Comets proceeded to march down the field and score on a one yard touchdown run to go up 7-3 with just 17 seconds remaining in the first half. NWU would take a knee and run out the first half clock. 

Second half
Nebraska Wesleyan was forced to punt on their first drive after halftime, and after a 38 yard punt, Mayville State began their next drive on their own 33 yard line. The Comets then marched on a nine play, 67 yard touchdown drive to go ahead 13-3. The PAT was blocked by Dillon Moralez and then recovered and ask he was being tackled, lateraled the ball to Julius German who took it and  ran it back for two points which cut the deficit to eight. For the next 18:19 of game time, neither offense could muster a long drive as the teams traded possessions. After forcing a punt, NWU had just over four minutes to put together a 78 yard game tying touchdown drive. The Prairie Wolves were up to the task, as Connor White led his team on an 11 play drive that was capped off by a six yard touchdown pass to Jaheim Felder which made the score 13-11. The Prairie Wolves tied the game on a pass from White to Corbin Horner. After forcing a punt, NWU had one more possession to try and win in regulation, but a 60 yard Jace Winkler field goal was off the mark and the game went to overtime. 

Overtime
The Comets had the first opportunity in overtime and cashed in immediately, scoring on their first play on a 25 yard pitch pass. The pass from the Comets was the first completion of the game for Mayville State. On NWU's overtime possession, Connor White's second pass attempt was picked off and Mayville escaped with a 20-13 victory.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Total Yards: MSU 251 | NWU 235
Passing Yards: MSU 25 | NWU 181
Passing Touchdowns: MSU 1 | NWU 1
Rushing Yards: DSU 226 | NWU 54
Rushing Touchdowns: DSU 2 | NWU 0
First Downs: DSU 12 | NWU 15

PLAYER STATS
Connor White (QB): 22-35, 181 yds, 1 td 2 int
Trystin Myers (RB): 11 att., 54 yds, 4.9 ypc.
Jaheim Felder (WR): 7 rec, 60 yds, 1 td
Dillon Moralez (DL): 9 tackles, 2 solo, 7 assisted, 1 TFL

UP NEXT
Nebraska Wesleyan will travel to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to play Coe College on Saturday, September 20th. Kick off is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.