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It was a Hall of Fame finish. Hamline QB Tim Bona found TE Phillip Sherman through a maze of players on the last play of the game to lift Hamline to a wild 23-17 win over St. Olaf at Klas Field.
Earlier in the day, HU welcomed the newest members of its Hall of Fame. HU RB Austin Duncan, who may join that group some day, rushed for 191 yards and a TD as part of Hamoine's 471 yards of total offense. Duncan's TD was the 25th of his career, breaking the tie he held with Dave Hawkinson (1982-85) for most career six-pointers.
It was a tight game from the start. The Oles led, 3-0, after a quarter but Hamline took the lead as Naji El-Araby zipped into the end zone from six yards out. St. Olaf came back with a TD of its own for a 10-7 lead. The Pipers appeared posied to regain the lead shortly before halftime but a fumble at the STO 1 ended the drive.
Forrest Coughlin's 22 yard field goal was the only scoring of the third quarter, thus setting up the wild finish.
Coughlin, filling in for injured Kyle Johnson, put the Oles in a hole with a punt that was downed at the STO 3. Then J.J. Strnad went to work. After runs of one and siox yards, Strnad broke free for a 90-yarder that gave St. Olaf a 17-10 advantage.
The Pipers came right back. Taking advantage of a short kickoff, HU went 50 yards with seven playds with Duncan, who now has 1,106 yards rushing for the year, bursting into the end zone on a 17-yard dash with 6 1/2 minutes remaining.
Afrter an exchange of punts, the Oles mounted a charge, getting as far as the HU 33 before the Piper defense stiffended and turned the ball back to the offense with 43 seconds left.
Bona, who was 25-for-37 for 243 yards, started out with a strike to Hoyfal Adam that moved the ball to the HU 46. The Pipers moved to the STO 38. Bona threw two incomplete passes and connected with El-Araby on a sofrty that put the ball at the 35 with one second left. The junior quarterback then scrambled around and spotted Sherman, who had five catches on the day, in a pile of bodies in the end zone. the ball landed perfectly in Sherman's arms, setting off a wild celebration.
Hamline, gunning for its first .500 season in two deacdes, improved to 3-5 overall, 1-5 in the MIAC. The Pipers play at Augsburg (3-5, 2-4) next Saturday. They finish the season at Klas againhst Carleton on Saturday, November 15. Both games start at 1:00 p.m.