For much of Hastings College’s home opener at the Oak Bowl against Peru State, the Broncos had their backs to the wall and Peru State built a 31-14 lead.
But in the fourth quarter, luck started to turn the tide for Hastings. The Broncos won their season opener in overtime, 37-31, at Peru State.
After a Brett Simonsen 7-yd touchdown run with less than four minutes to go, the Broncos would successfully complete an onside kick to place them at the Peru State 38-yd line, and would only need twenty seconds from one scoring play to the other, as a Eli Nappe pass found Ethan Wilborn in the endzone to cut the defecit within a field goal.
The same onside play on kickoff was drawn up, and Hastings completed it successfully, and the Broncos were able to eat up the final two minutes becore a successful 25-yd field goal from Casper Feijen to tie the contest at 31.
Peru State’s offense, which had fallen flat in the second half after hitting the 31 point mark, quickly turned the ball over on downs in the first overtime possession on three straight incomplete passes. Hastings would only need two plays to reach the endzone, with a Nappe quarterback keeper advancing to the 2-yd line, and a Simonsen punch in to give the Broncos their season opening victory.
Both Quarterbacks shook off the rust in the contest, with Nappe going 15-33 for 202 yards and a pair of touchdown tosses, both to Ethan Wilborn; while Peru State’s Colin Shields went 9-26 with 207 yards and three scores. Simonsen led Hastings on the ground with 83 yards on 27 carries and three touchdowns, including the game winning score. Marcus Dustin led the Bronco defense with 13 tackles, while Laython Shaw had 10 tackles and 1.5 sacks.
Hastings stays on the road next week, heading to Mitchell, S.D. to face Dakota Wesleyan. The Tigers defeated Dakota State today, 23-13. Hastings opens up home play on Sept. 9 against #4 Morningside, who defeated #7 Benedictine, 20-17 today.
