KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - Jake Closser's interception in the end zone followed by Nolan Hair's 20-yard sprint to the nearside pylon lifted the Truman State Bulldogs to a dramatic 33-27 overtime victory over the Quincy Hawks on Saturday afternoon.
The Bulldogs spotted the Hawks a 20-0 lead and trailed 27-24 with 3:34 left to play with Quincy facing a third and two at the Truman State 34. The Hawks first tried to push quarterback Drake Davis to the first down unsuccessfully but did gain a yard and out of a timeout, Teon Dollard was gobbled up by Isaiah Estes and Mason Crim for no gain giving the Bulldogs a chance.
The drive started with a 20-yard pass from Hair to Tate Crane that moved the ball into QU territory, however Truman faced a fourth and three with 1:26 left. Hair scrambled and gained five yards to move the chains and keep the drive alive.
Truman got to the Hawks' 14, took one shot into the end zone before Grant Ross hit a line drive from 31 yards out to tie the game at 27.
The Bulldogs won the toss and elected defense to start overtime. After Dollard gained four yards on first down, Davis took their own shot for the touchdown however the pass was picked off by Closser.
On the second play of Truman's possession, Hair aligned the blockers right, then ran left around the corner and reached the purple turf for the walk-off winner.
Hair was 19-of-34 for 198 yards passing and had six carries for 27 yards. Crane and Zach Zerwig both caught five passes for 79 and 45 yards respectively and each went over 1,000 career receiving yards. Noah Copeland nabbed four second-half passes for 35 yards.
Mason Huskey had 17 carries for 61 yards and two touchdowns while his 72-yard long kick return to start the second half led to a Ross' 36-yard field goal to pull the Bulldogs to within three at 20-17.
The start of the game was not favorable for the Bulldogs. Quincy took the opening kickoff and marched 75-yards in 14 plays with Dollard punching it in from two yards out. On the ensuing kickoff, Dakar Baldwin stripped Gerry Marteen Jr. of the football and Anthony Gilpin returned it 37 yards to the Truman State three. The Hawks would need two plays and led 13-0 less than five minutes into the game.
The Bulldogs had a promising drive halted by a holding flag and ended up having to punt from the Hawks' 39. Quincy then sliced down the field for a 10-play 80-yard drive to put the visitors up 20-0 at the 1:57 mark of the first quarter.
Truman would score 24 straight points. Huskey scored from three yards and Crane caught a 20-yard pass in the second quarter. Following Ross' field goal, Huskey put Truman in front with a one-yard run after Quincy touched a Bulldog punt at their goal line and it was recovered by Marteen.Â
Quincy grabbed the lead back following another exhaustive drive of 15-plays and 75-yards with Davis using the tush push to score at the 9:22 mark of the fourth quarter.
Davis was 18-of-27 for 166 yards while Dollard gained 108 yards on 25 touches.
The Bulldogs move to 6-0 and will host nationally-ranked Indianapolis next Saturday at home with a kickoff scheduled for noon. The Greyhounds host William Jewell on Saturday evening and are at 4-0 entering that match-up.
