The Buena Vista University (BVU) football team worked together to put an end to its two-game losing streak on Saturday afternoon by taking the lead in the final minutes to beat the University of Dubuque, 44-41. The Beavers were on the road for this crucial Iowa Conference contest.

Junior quarterback Cole Miller passed for a pair of touchdowns, and rushed for two more before removal from the field in the third quarter after a hard hit. Sophomore quarterback Jacob Wehr came into the game and threw over 100 yards, including one touchdown, while also helping to set up the team’s game-winning drive.

The Tack spoke with Wehr after the game about the contest who said:

“First I was worried about Cole’s health and was hoping he would be okay. Cole was in the back of my mind the rest of the game. I was excited for the opportunity to play and be a part of the Beavers comeback win. Opportunities like this don’t come by often and I was going to cherish every second I was out on that field,” Wehr said.

“In my excitement I tried to stay focused on doing my one-eleventh to help the team win because I knew that I had big shoes to fill. I left everything I had on the field with my teammates and it is a day that I will never forget.”

Late in the first half, the Beavers lead the Spartans 20-7, with a pair of touchdown passes to receiver TJ Lint as well as a one-yard touchdown dive from quarterback Cole Miller. With under two minutes left in the half, BVU scored their third touchdown of the contest. The Spartans responded before time would expire on the final play of the quarter settling the score 20-14 at halftime.

Within the first six minutes of the second half, Dubuque scored back-to-back touchdowns putting them in the lead 27-20. Miller took the ball into the end-zone himself from six yards out, but the PAT failed and the scoreboard read 27-26.

The Spartans scored again making the score 38-34. Halfway through the fourth quarter the Beavers would get back on the scoreboard when wide receiver Jeremiah Rice brought in a 27-yard touchdown catch from Wehr with 8:46 minutes left in the contest. The Beavers tried for two, but the run came up short.

However, this didn’t stop the Beavers from taking the lead moments later when Michael Herwig picked-off a pass and returned it 20 yards for a pick-six. The extra point was no good, and BVU took the lead 38-34.

The Spartans started their pursuit down the field, knocking almost five minutes off the clock before a three-yard touchdown run put the Spartans back in the lead, 41-38, with only 2:30 left in the contest.

On their own 28, the Beavers came back on the field to begin their journey to the end-zone. Wehr completed passes for 10 and 18 yards to start, and then on fourth-and-11, got the benefit of a roughing the passer penalty to move the ball to the Spartan’s 31.

The Beavers began the drive on 3rd-and-6, Wehr completed a pass to Lint for 15 yards down to the Spartans one-yard line. After the Beavers spiked the ball to stop the clock, Dubuque called a timeout before Wehr handed off to freshman Reed Kruse who marched his way into the end-zone for the go-ahead score with just 17 seconds left.

Dubuque started the next possession at its own 34 with 11 seconds left. The Spartans picked up a first down out to the 47 before going out of bounds with four seconds left. After BVU called a timeout, Dubuque completed a pass to the Beaver 41 before calling a timeout, to set up the game’s final play as only one second remained on the clock.

The Spartans completed a pass and got down to the BVU 10, but Brady Illg made the tackle as the time expired, securing an exciting Beaver win on the road. BVU defensive back Nick Amundson was confident from the first snap for the Beavers.

“Everyone on the team knew we were going to win that game from the first snap, which is what made us succeed in the final minutes of the game,” said Amundson.

Miller completed 25-of-36 pass attempts for 283 yards and two touchdowns before coming out of the game due to injury. He also had one interception. Wehr was 9-of-22 for 127, including one touchdown and one interception. Miller finished with 36 yards rushing on eight carries, including the two scores. Tariq Thomas was the Beaver’s leading rusher with 50 yards on 18 attempts.

Lint had a great receiving day with 12 catches for 191 yards and two touchdowns. He now has 126 career receptions for 1,900 yards, moving him into fourth in both categories on the all-time list. He now sits just six catches away from matching the recently inducted BVU Hall of Famer, Jesse Schmidt, for second on the charts. Jalen Henningsen is the program’s career leader with 201. Lint is also 100-yards shy of becoming only the fourth player in history with at least 2,000 career receiving yards.

Rice had four catches for 63 yards and one touchdown. Eric Pacheco also brought in four for 53 yards.

Nick Amundson helped lead, defensively, with 12 stops, and Tyler Prescott added eight. Herwig intercepted a pair of passes and broke up another.

Both teams combined for 1,006 yards of total offense with BVU running 30 more total plays than the Spartans (3-2, 1-2, IIAC).

Dwayne Allen, Jr., rushed for a game-high 268 yards on 23 carries, including a 73-yard carry that lead to a Dubuque touchdown. Quarterback Connor Feckley passed for 194 yards and two touchdowns, but was intercepted twice.

Buena Vista now sits at 3-2 overall and 2-2 in Iowa Conference play. The Beavers will take a break from league play next Saturday when they travel to St. Louis, Mo., to take on Washington University (Mo.) with a 1:00pm kick-off.