Trailing 7-3 with 55 seconds and no timeouts left in the fourth quarter, freshman quarterback
Carter Boyer came off the bench to direct a five-play, 89-yard drive for the Scots' third Midwest Conference title in five years under head coach
Chad Braun.
The Scots had taken a 3-0 lead late in the second quarter on
Joey Biel's 32-yard field goal, but the Green Knights answered on their ensuing possession. St. Norbert marched 75 yards, taking just five plays to find the end zone when David Lox took it in from six yards out. The Knights' drive began with a 35-yard throw from Greg McClanahan to Samuel Staehling.
Neither team was able to gain much ground in the second half before the Scots manufactured "The Drive."
Facing a fourth-and-one at the Monmouth 11, St. Norbert's conversion was stuffed when
Aubrey Vaughan and
McCauley Johnston stopped Knight's back Jadon Sackman for no gain, giving the Scots the ball on downs.
Enter
Carter Boyer.
Boyer quickly found sophomore receiver
Jake Uryasz for a 50-yard gain to the St. Norbert 40 and
Nathan Graham for a five-yard pickup on the first two plays, moving the ball to the St. Norbert 35. Two more throws to Graham and Uryasz, plus a pass interference call on the Knights moved the ball to the St. Norbert five, setting up the winning throw. Boyer's shortest completion of the drive for the final five yards to Uryasz produced the winning TD with two seconds left.
The win propels the Scots into the NCAA tournament for the third time in Braun's five-year head coaching career. Monmouth's opponent in the first round to be held on Nov. 23 will be announced at 4:30 p.m. Sunday on NCAA.com.