Spartans Take Exciting Victory in Overtime
Nov 10, 2012 | UD Sports Info
DUBUQUE, Iowa - The University of Dubuque football battled their way back and tied for 2nd in the Iowa Conference on Saturday, but it wasn't easy for the Spartans. UD marched down the field twice in final three minutes to tie the game 28-28. Buena Vista held a 28-10 led when they scored with 6:39 left of the game. The Spartans scored on a seven yard touchdown pass from Wyatt Hanus to Tyler Rutenbeck with 2:58 to go. UD's defense held the Beavers to three and out and the Spartans tied the game on a 38 yard field goal in their next possession by Heriberto Sandoval with a minute left. In overtime UD won the toss and elected to play defense first. On fourth down, the Beavers set-up for a field goal, UD's Dylan Ramsey broke through and blocked the field goal attempt. It was the Spartans turn on offense and they moved the ball down the field and capped off senior day with a Dakota Runde one yard touchdown run to even the Spartans overall record to 5-5 and a conference mark of 4-3.
UD ended the afternoon with 445 total yards of offense (192 yards rushing and 253 passing yards). Hanus completed 23-39 pass attempts for 253 yards with Austin Morgan catching 11 for 126 yards. Kyle Acker led the ground attack with 25 rushes for 115 yards and Dakota Runde scored twice and finished with 69 yards in 12 rush attempts. Senior Mitch Mahmens broke a school record when his punt with the wind continued to roll and stop inside the Beaver five yard line for a 72 yard attempt, breaking old record of 71 yards. The slow rolling ball took 35 seconds off the clock in the first half.
Vincent Whipple led the Spartans with 10 tackles trailed closely by Ramsey who had eight tackles. UD finished with five tackles for losses of six yards. Malcolm Stewart returned a interception for 21 yards in the victory. UD scored on six of seven red zone chances, were 2-3 in fourth down chances.
The Iowa Conference ended with five teams tied for second place. UD, Buena Vista, Central, Simpson, and Wartburg all finished with 4-3 records in league play.
