YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — No. 4 Youngstown State rallied from a pair of 14-point deficits to beat No. 9 North Dakota 31-28 on Saturday, October 31, at Stambaugh Stadium, winning on a fourth-down touchdown pass with 2:04 left, according to the University of North Dakota Athletics recap.
Beau Brungard threw for 268 yards and three touchdowns — all to Lynn Wyche-El, who caught six passes for 148 yards — as the Penguins (7-2, 5-1 Missouri Valley Football Conference) won their fourth straight game, North Dakota Athletics reported. Brungard also ran for 64 yards.
North Dakota (6-4, 3-3 MVFC) led 21-7 at halftime behind an unusual triple from quarterback Jerry Kaminski, who threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Haydn Stay, caught a 9-yard touchdown pass from backup Javance Tupou’ata-Johnson, and ran for a touchdown, according to North Dakota Athletics. Kaminski finished with 195 passing yards, 44 rushing yards and two interceptions.
The comeback started in the third quarter. An interception by Mike Wells set up a short Jaden Gilbert touchdown run, and Wyche-El scored late in the period on a hook-and-ladder play, taking a lateral from Bryan Hunt to bring Youngstown State within 28-21 entering the fourth, the Associated Press reported via KNFL/KFGO.
Andrew Lastovka’s 37-yard field goal cut the margin to 28-24, and the winning drive survived on a fake punt — Wells ran 26 yards out of punt formation on fourth down to keep the Penguins moving, according to the Associated Press report. Brungard then found Wyche-El for a 20-yard touchdown on fourth-and-19 with 2:04 to play.
Max Johnson’s interception with 1:15 left sealed the win, the Associated Press reported. Matt Lawson ran for 99 yards on 17 carries for North Dakota, which lost its second straight road game by three points to a top-10 opponent, according to North Dakota Athletics.
What happens next: Youngstown State travels to Murray State next Saturday, November 7, still alone near the top of the Missouri Valley race at 5-1 in conference play, while North Dakota returns home to face Illinois State.