Bearcat Football ties the game late, wins in second overtime, 27-24

Salem, OR - In a back-and-forth game that saw four lead changes and three ties, Willamette Football came out on top of La Verne thanks to a 35-yard field goal by Nick Beswick-Seidl in the second overtime.  It was the second field goal of the game for Beswick-Seidl, whose 21-yard attempt had sent the game to overtime tied at 24.

Willamette scored first, capitalizing on a bad snap to the punter who was tackled at his own 9-yard line, setting up a Gabriel Herrera 1-yard touchdown run three plays later.  

After La Verne tied the game 7-7 on a touchdown pass from Brian Rudden to Jimmy Rumsey, the teams traded possessions until Alex Rivera IV found Elijah Romero for a 30-yard touchdown reception that put Willamette up 14-7 with 6:14 left in the first half.  

Again the Leopards were able to respond with a touchdown on their next drive and a field goal as time expired found La Verne with a 17-14 lead heading to the break.

La Verne received the second-half kick-off and were stopped on downs at the Willamette 42.  A series of strong runs by Gabriel Herrera, Jerrick Little, and Alex Rivera IV, marched the ball down to the Leopard 7-yard line, where Cahlil Hooper took his first carry of the game into the endzone to give the Bearcats the lead again, 21-17.

Willamette was not able to capitalize on interceptions by Landon Waters and Devin Owens on the next two La Verne possessions and the Leopards took the lead back with 6:45 remaining in the game on a touchdown pass from Rudden to Adrian Vargas.

The Bearcats turned the ball over on downs on their next possession, giving the ball back to La Verne with 1:52 left on the clock.  The Bearcat defense held strong and Willamette got the ball back on its own 26-yard line after the Leopards were forced to punt.

Rivera led Willamette down the field with passes to a variety of receivers, including a 33-yard reception for Brandon Johnson on 3rd down that got the Bearcats to the La Verne 5-yard line and led to Beswick-Seidl's game-tying field goal with four seconds on the clock.

Each team missed a field goal in the first overtime and a Javi Rodriguez interception ended the La Verne possession in the second OT.  After a pass in the endzone just out of the reach of Romero, Jerrick Little rushed twice for a total of seven yards, setting up the winning field goal by Nick Beswick-Seidl.

Little led the Bearcats in rushing on the day with 100 yards, followed by 91 from Gabriel Herrera.  On the day the Bearcats outrushed La Verne 228 yards to zero, thanks to strong play by both the Willamette offensive and defensive lines.  

Rivera IV finished with 191 yards passing, including the 30-yard touchdown to Romero.  Romero led Willamette in receiving, hauling in 9 catches for 124 yards and the touchdown.  

Brandon Johnson had two catches for 37 yards, including the 33-yard catch and run to set up the tying field goal.

Willamette's next game is Saturday, September 14th, at 7:05 pm at George Fox University in a non-conference game.  The Bearcats' next home game is Saturday, September 28th, at 1:00 pm vs Simpson University (CA).