St. Norbert 43, Grinnell 40

Oct 23, 1999

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Grinnell St. Norbert

GRINNELL, Iowa — It might be a tall statement, but Saturday's Midwest Conference matchup between St. Norbert and Grinnell may have been one of the best games in the illustrious 79-year history of the league.

Comebacks, rallies, big plays, drama. So many different things happened in St. Norbert's 43-40 overtime win against the Pioneers at Rosenbloom Stadium you'd need Roget's Thesaurus to come up with enough adjectives.

St. Norbert rallied from a 31-9 third-quarter deficit to take a 37-31 lead with 2:49 left on Tim Pierret's 20-yard touchdown run. But Grinnell, the defending league champion, would not go down quietly, scoring a game-tying touchdown on a 32-yard touchdown pass from Troy Dougherty to Matt Roberts with 1:17 left.

St. Norbert came up big again when the Green Knights' Jason Thorn broke through the line to block the potential go-ahead extra point.

Nathan Solmose gave Grinnell a brief 40-37 overtime lead on a 28-yard field goal, but Pierret hit Mike Krueger on a 25-yard touchdown pass on St. Norbert's first play of overtime to seal the win and move to 6-0 in the MWC.

St. Norbert rolled up 564 yards of total offense and 29 first downs. Pierret rushed 14 times for 103 yards and one score and completed 18 of 36 passes for 296 yards and four touchdowns. Krueger caught five passes for 99 yards, while Brian Kuhar caught four passes for 108 yards and two touchdowns.

Dougherty led Grinnell by completing 28 of 54 passes for 395 yards and three touchdowns. Grinnell had 43 yards rushing on 30 carries.