The NW football team came away with a 33-27 victory last Saturday in overtime over the Nebraska Wesleyan Prairie Wolves.
The No. 11 Raiders advanced their record to 4-1 on the season.
The excitement started with a fumble forced by senior defensive tackle Jordan Carlson on the first play of the opening drive for the Prairie Wolves.
A few plays later the Raiders would punch it in on a three-yard run by senior running back Brandon Smith. Nebraska Wesleyan answered the score with a 32-yard field goal making the score 6-3.
Shortly after an NW interception, junior running back Theo Bartman scored from 17 yards out to put the Raiders ahead 13-3.
Nebraska Wesleyan then went for its longest drive of the game. The Praire Wolves marched 74 yards down the field and scored on a short run to make the game 13-10.
Neither team scored again before halftime.
NW came out swinging in the second half.
The Raiders scored on their first drive with a seven-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Davis Bloemendaal to senior receiver Tyler Walker to make the score 20-10 in favor of the Raiders.
The Raiders fired back from a Prairie Wolves touchdown with a 39-yard touchdown pass from Bloemendaal to Smith to put the team ahead 27-17.
Nebraska Wesleyan then scored 10 straight points to force overtime.
In the first overtime, the NW defense pulled together an aggressive stand and forced a fumble.
The contest was finished with Smith rushing in the final score for the Raiders.
The Raider defense was led by senior Nate Fischer with 9.5 tackles, eight of which were solo stops, and 1.5 sacks.
NW’s offense went for 360 total yards. Smith had 56 yards on 19 carries on the ground, 58 yards in the air and three touchdowns.
Bloemendaal passed for 250 yards on 16-28 passing and had two scores.
Walker had a career-high 153 receiving yards and one touchdown for the Raiders.
NW’s game will start at 1 p.m. tomorrow against Midland.
