Wildcats coach Chuck Parsons said that even though he wanted to win, he still takes many positives out of the game.
In their first two games, Grand Rapids had scored more than 100 points.
 Wildcats quarterback Cole Lanham keeps the ball for a gain Saturday for the North Dakota State College of Science. Lanham threw a touchdown pass to tie the game with five minutes to play in the game, but Grand Rapids, Mich., CC came back to win 35-28. photo by Scott Sorum Advertisement |
The Wildcats got on the board first after kicking to Grand Rapids to start the game.
Daniel Washington intercepted a Raiders pass and returned it untouched for a score to give the Wildcats the lead.
Sergio Garcia added the extra point to make it 7-0 in favor of NDSCS.
After a long kick off return into Wildcats territory, Grand Rapids evened the score on their second offensive play of the drive.
A 22 yard touchdown run by Grand Rapids made the score 7-7 with only a minute gone by in the first quarter.
The Wildcats punted back to Grand Rapids and the Raiders took the lead.
Starting from their own nine yard line, the Raiders used their option offense to make big gains.
The fourth play of the drive resulted in a 45 yard touchdown run and a 14-7 Raiders lead.
Tyrell Massey returned the kick off to the Wildcats' 40 yard line.
From there, Wildcats' quarterback Cole Lanham gained six yards on a run.
Then Lanham hit Cecil Doe, Massey and James Fields for completions and positive yardage.
Brian Miller finished the drive with a 21 yard touchdown run.
Garcia's extra point kick was blocked, so the Wildcats trailed 14-13.
Grand Rapids extended their lead on the next possession.
Their option offense and a Wildcat penalty gave the Raiders the ball deep into Wildcats territory.
Grand Rapids converted on a two yard touch down run and led 21-13.
Massey returned the ensuing kickoff for the Wildcats 85 yards to the Grand Rapids 14 yard line.
The first quarter ended with the Wildcats looking at a fourth down and a field goal attempt.
During the break, NDSCS decided to go for the first down instead of the field goal.
The attempt was no good, so the Wildcats had to turn the ball over to Grand Rapids at their own five yard line.
NDSCS forced the Raiders to punt and got the ball back in good field position.
Starting from the Raiders' 42, Lanham ran to the Raiders 21 yard line.
From there, Miller scored his second touchdown of the game with 11:28 remaining in the half.
Garcia's kick was good and the Wildcats pulled to within a point, 21-20.
After a wild first quarter of scoring, the game suddenly became a defensive struggle.
The teams went to the half, and well into the third quarter before another score.
Grand Rapid added to their lead with a touchdown with 1:52 left in the third quarter and the Raiders led 28-20.
In the fourth quarter, the Wildcats defense kept the Raiders from scoring.
After the Wildcats got the ball back, they mounted a drive and kept the chains moving.
Lanham connected with Doe on a 44 yard catch and run in which Doe shook off potential tackles.
Lanham hit Montez Wilkerson in the end zone and the game was tied at 28 with 4:31 left to play.
Unfortunately, Grand Rapids scored on their final possession to take the win.
The Raiders moved the ball after getting the kick off and connected on a long touchdown pass and pulled ahead 35-28.
The Wildcats had one last chance, but only 1:33 on the clock.
A sack and three incomplete passes gave the Raiders the ball back.
Grand Rapids kneeled on the ball twice to run out the clock.
"We're young in the secondary and that's obvious," coach Parsons said. "But the defensive line is playing excellent football. We have no shortage of talent on this team. We just need to work on being more cohesive."
The Wildcats (1-2) travel to Harper College in Palatine, Ill., for a 1 p.m. game Saturday.
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