> Box Score

MARSHALL, Minn. – Northern State's Nathan Shaw booted a 36-yard field goal with one second remaining in the game to lift the Wolves to a dramatic 46-43 victory over Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday night in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference football at the Schwan Regional Event Center.

NSU (2-2 NSIC) finished the game with 539 yards of offense, rushing for 264 yards and picking up 28 first downs. Nicholas Truen led the Wolves with 129 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries. Jared Jacobson also had a strong game, completing 27 of 35 pass attempts for 275 yards and one touchdown, while also rushing for 57 yards and two touchdowns.

SMSU (1-3) racked up 432 total yards, but three turnovers proved to be too much to overcome. Charlie Kern completed 31 of 43 passes for 298 yards and four touchdowns, but was intercepted three times. Jordan Cross caught a game-high eight passes for 55 yards, while Nathaniel Huot had seven catches for 64 yards and one touchdown. The SMSU rushing game was led by Tyler Tonderum's 66 yards on 10 carries.

The heart-breaking loss was the second for SMSU this season in the final 30 seconds. SMSU dropped its opening game at U-Mary 19-18, on a game-winning field goal with 23 seconds remaining.

NSU converted 9 of 17 third-down conversions in the game and were also 4 of 4 on fourth down. SMSU was also outstanding on third down, converting 13 of 16 conversions and were also one of one on fourth down.

The game-winning drive by NSU spoiled a dramatic comeback attempt by SMSU. The Mustangs tied the game at 43-43 with 3:07 left in the fourth quarter on a Kern to Adam Olson 33-yard touchdown pass and was followed by a Kern pass to Huot for the 2-point conversion.

NSU started its game-winning drive with 2:59 on the clock at its own 20-yard line. Following a first down, the Wolves later faced a fourth-and-one at their own 40-yard line with 1:03 left, but Jacobson sneaked across the line of scrimmage to pick up the first down and keep the drive alive. On the next play, Jacobson completed a huge 24-yard pass to Conner Doherty setting up first down at the SMSU 35-yard line. Two plays later, NSU converted a third-and-one with 13 seconds remaining setting up the ball at the SMSU 24-yard line. Following an incomplete pass to stop the clock with 11 seconds left, NSU set up for a 41-yard field goal by Shaw. Shaw's game-winning kick attempt missed wide left, but on the play, SMSU was called for off-sides, giving NSU a second chance. Shaw didn't miss a second time, drilling the game-winning field goal to stun a big Ag Bowl crowd of more than 3,600 fans.

The SMSU special teams came through with the game's first big play as Andrew McReynolds returned a punt following NSU's first possession for a school record 89 yards for a touchdown to give the Mustangs a 7-0 lead. It was SMSU's first punt return for a touchdown since Blake Wilson had an 80-yard return for a touchdown on Aug. 29, 2009.

NSU answered in a big way to quickly tie the score midway through the first quarter as Stephen Erlandson scored on an 11-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 7-7.

The score remained tied until the second quarter when NSU took its first lead of the game on a Jared Jacobson 51-yard touchdown pass to Jared Hannigan with 12:39 left in the second quarter.

SMSU came right back with its own scoring drive, moving 65 yards on 11 plays, with Charlie Kern completing a 4-yard touchdown pass to Ashanti Payne on third-and-goal with 9:46 left in the half. The PAT was missed keeping NSU in the lead at 14-13.

NSU added to the lead on its next drive with Truen plowing through for a 2-yard touchdown to make the score 21-13 at the 7:14 mark.

Kern was intercepted on SMSU's first play of the ensuing possession, setting up NSU at the SMSU 24-yard line. The Wolves made the turnover hurt as Jacobson scored on a 1-yard run with 5:05 remaining to extend the lead to 28-13.

SMSU came back with a huge drive before the half converting a pair of third down conversions, including a Kern 6-yard touchdown pass with 1:30 left in the half to cut the deficit to 28-20 at halftime.

NSU intercepted Kern on SMSU's first drive of the second half, taking over at the SMSU 37-yard line. The Wolves had to settle for a Shaw 30-yard field goal to make the score 31-20.

SMSU cut into the lead on its next drive with Kern completing a pair of passes to Huot on third-down, including a 17-yard strike on third-and-12 from the NSU 29-yard line. Kern would close the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run and then tossed a 2-point conversion pass to Tommy Steidler to trim the lead to 31-28 with 7:43 left in the third.

NSU then answered with the first of two long, time-consuming drives in the second half. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Jacobson broke free on a fourth-and-five from the SMSU 9-yard line to score and give the Wolves' a 37-28 lead following a missed PAT. The drive covered 75 yards on 16 plays, consuming nearly eight minutes off the clock.

Once again, SMSU had a response, this time driving 78 yards on nine plays with Kern finding Huot for a 15-yard touchdown pass to make the score 37-35 following Mike Wenk's PAT.

The Wolves would gain the momentum right back, picking up a key third-and-six from near midfield and then later converting a fourth-and-one from the SMSU 31-yard line to keep its drive alive. Truen capped the 56-yard, 11-play drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to make the score 43-35 with 5:18 left. SMSU was able to keep it a one possession game as McReynolds broke free and blocked the PAT.

The blocked kick proved to be huge, as SMSU—which started its next drive at its own 16-yard line with 5:11 remaining—moved the ball down to the NSU 33-yard line with 3:16 remaining. Facing fourth-and-four, Kern found Adam Olson near the sideline and the senior broke free and ran down the sideline for a touchdown to make the score 43-41 with 3:07 left. Kern then found Huot open in the end zone on the 2-point attempt to tie the game.

Casey Hertz and Tyler Flud each recorded a game-high nine tackles for the Mustangs, while Alex Oliver added nine tackles.

Southwest Minnesota State will open NSIC South Division play next Saturday at No. 3 Minnesota State (4-0). Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. at Blakeslee Stadium in Mankato.