Lancers Rally Late to Knock Off Football

Doane Football traveled to Yankton, S.D., on Saturday to take on Mount Marty. The Lancers scored twice in the final 90 seconds to rally past the Tigers for a 27-16 win.

Mount Marty scored on the opening drive of the game, covering 75 yards on 10 plays with a one-yard touchdown run by Kaden Johnson capping the drive.

In the second quarter, Doane was able to get on the board with a Kelen Meyer (FR/Ord, Neb.) 43-yard field goal. The Lancers scored on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Clayton Byer to Trevor Fitzgerald to push the lead to 13-3 as the point after was missed. Meyer knocked in a 28-yard field goal with three seconds to go to send Doane into halftime trailing by seven, 13-6.

The first score of the second half came with 5:03 to play in the fourth quarter as Adam Wasserman (SR/Fairbury, Neb.) scored on a four-yard run and the extra point tied the game at 13-all. The Tiger drive was set up by a defensive possession that forced Mount Marty to lose eight yards on an intentional grounding sack that was followed by a net-19 yard punt.

The defense came up with another stop in Mount Marty territory on the next Lancer possession. Mount Marty went for a 4th-and-1 and Austin Simmons (SR/Boelus, Neb.) made the tackle at the line of scrimmage to give the Tigers the ball back with 2:49 to play.

Doane was able to net eight yards on three plays, setting up a Meyer 48-yard field goal to take a 16-13 lead with 1:35 to play.

The Lancers came back quickly, covering 75 yards on two plays as Byer found Rex Ryken for a 46-yard touchdown to regain the lead, 20-16. On the ensuing kickoff, Doane was unable to pick up the ball and the Lancers recovered the ball at the 15 yard line. Following a short run, Byer connected with Fitzgerald for his second touchdown, a 13-yard reception.

Mount Marty finished with 351 yards of offense with 276 coming through the air. Doane finished with 251 yards of offense.

Cruz Kirwan (FR/San Antonio, Texas) completed 17 passes for 135 yards. He found Jeremiah Payne (JR/Dallas, Texas) six times for 56 yards and Colby Frazier (FR/New Caney, Texas) five times for 27 yards.

Wasserman led the ground game with 117 yards on 28 carries. He averaged 4.2 yards per carry.

Meyer was 3-for-5 in field goal attempts, hitting twice from 40+ yards, and punted four times for an average of 49.5 yards with a long of 74.

Ty Barbazon (SR/Ocala, Fla.) led the team with seven tackles, three solo, and one tackle for loss. Jarett Boggs (FR/Fremont, Neb.) and Marcus Randazzo (JR/Fort Collins, Colo.) recorded six tackles apiece, each with five solo tackles. Owen Kuntz (JR/Crete, Neb.) picked up a sack among his four tackles.

Doane will travel to Sioux City, Iowa, on November 5, for their final road game of the year as they take on No. 1 Morningside before coming home for the final game of the season on November 12.