Fayetteville, N.C. - In USA South football action, N.C. Wesleyan and Methodist University traded touchdown drives in the final two minutes with the Monarchs coming out on top by a 31-28 score. Senior quarterback Dustin Midgett threw for a trio of touchdowns, the latter of which gave Wesleyan a 28-24 lead with 1:51 to go. Unfortunately, the Monarchs countered with an 8-play, 70-yard gamewinning drive that culminated with a 13-yard TD pass from Dylan DeGroot to Emontie Dears.
Methodist had previously held a 21-14 lead at the half. NCW freshman Ben Dorfman caught a 22-yard scoring strike from Midgett for the game's first score, while rookie tailback Antonio Owens rushed for a 2-yard TD in the second quarter.
The Bishops knotted the score at 21-21 in the third quarter on a 5-yard touchdown pass from Midgett to senior John Young, only to see the Monarchs' Brandon Torres boot home a 42-yard field goal early in the fourth for a 24-21 lead that would stand until the 2-minute mark. Shortly thereafter, Midgett hit sophomore Ty-Traveon Roberts with a 52-yard completion, and Chris Richardson's point-after gave NCW a 28-24 advantage.
After MU's gamewinning drive left the Bishops with just 29 seconds to work, the Monarch defense held strong by forcing a pair of incompletions, a sack, and a 10-yard run that drained the clock.
Midgett completed 15 passes on the day, including five to freshman Slade Dale that racked up 127 of his 320 yards passing. Defensively, Kenyon Johnson managed eight tackles, while as a team, NCW tallied a season-high ten tackles-for-loss and four sacks.
Wesleyan (1-5, 1-2 USA South) returns to action next Saturday versus Greensboro College. The Bishops will be celebrating their 2015 Homecoming with kickoff slated for 1:00pm.