St. Norbert 28, Carroll 21 (OT)
DE PERE, Wis. - St. Norbert College football fans might need to start keeping some nitroglycerin tablets handy every Saturday.
One week after topping Ripon College with a touchdown with 12 seconds remaining, the Green Knights needed overtime to top Carroll University 28-21 in overtime in a Midwest Conference game at Kolstad Field at Schneider Stadium.
The Green Knights (3-1, 3-0 MWC) scored on the first play of overtime when James Tringali hit Joe Green for a 25-yard touchdown pass. The Pioneers (3-1, 2-1 MWC) had a second-and-8 at the St. Norbert 12 on their series when a bad handoff resulted in a fumble recovered by St. Norbert's Peter Latham to end the game.
St. Norbert set a school record with its 16th-straight win in the Carroll series, surpassing the 15 straight wins against Lake Forest College from 1987 to 2001.
St. Norbert took a 21-14 lead into the fourth quarter and had a chance to seal the game on Randy Hill's 42-yard field goal attempts, but the try hit the crossbar with 8:26 left to keep it a one-possession game.
Carroll's Justin Butterfield was intercepted by Anthony Parker on the next series, but St. Norbert was forced to punt. The Pioneers' Andrew Fix then returned the punt 48 yards to the St. Norbert 43, and Carroll cashed in on a 16-yard touchdown run with 2:08 remaining.
St. Norbert got off to a good start when the Green Knights started their first possession of overtime at the Carroll 4 following a 48-yard punt return by Green. Austin Williams scored from one yard out for a 7-7 lead.
The Pioneers answered with a six-play drive, all rushing, finished by a 4-yard run by Williams with 9:24 left in the first quarter.
The Green Knights responded again, scoring on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Tringali to Bryon Betts to finish an 11-play drive that saw the Green Knights convert a fourth-and-4 at the Carroll 26.
Carroll scored with 2:54 left before halftime to make it 14-14 when Wililams scored on a 3-yard run to finish a 32-yard drive set up by a St. Norbert fumble in its own end. Neither team would score again until Tringali hit Michael Heim on a 4-yard touchdown with 5 seconds left in the third quarter.
St. Norbert outgained Carroll 304-285 and had the ball for 31:27. Tringali completed 20 of 37 passes for 226 yards and three touchdowns, but was sacked four times for 31 yards in losses. Green caught eight passes for 104 yards and one touchdown.
Williams led Carroll with 23 carries for 101 yards and three touchdowns. Butterfield completed 13 of 27 passes for 110 yards and two interceptions.
