WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – A pair of fumbles late in the fourth quarter helped the Lycoming College football team tie Widener University, but a school-record four overtimes later, Widener's Michael Raczak hit a 33-yard field to give Widener a 24-21 win over Lycoming on a rain-soaked David Person Field on Saturday, Oct. 1.
 
Down by a touchdown midway through the fourth quarter, the Warriors (2-3 overall, 1-3 MAC) stared down a Widener (3-1 overall, 3-0 MAC) offense that was content to run the ball, moving it to their own 35-yard line on a six-play drive, but sophomore Nick Kovalick (Woodland, Pa./Clearfield Area) forced a fumble that was recovered by junior Mike Ward (Edgewater, Md./South River).
 
The Warriors got inside the 30-yard line but a pair of incomplete passes and a sack turned the ball back over to the Pride. However, on the first rush of Widener's next drive, senior Dan Heinrichs (Pennsburg, Pa./Upper Perkiomen) forced another fumble and Ward fell on it at the 41-yard line with 2:28 left.
 
On the next play, senior Chase Whiteman (Gettysburg, Pa./Gettysburg Area) found sophomore Nick Costello (Havertown, Pa./Haverford) over the middle and Costello broke a tackle and cruised in to tie the game.
 
The Warriors forced a 3-and-out and got the ball back at their own 45-yard line with 43 seconds left, but could not move the ball back Widener's 45 before regulation expired.
 
Ward gave Lycoming a huge boost in the first overtime, picking off a pass at the one-yard line to end Widener's drive, but Lycoming's game-winning field goal attempt was blocked. In the second overtime, a roughing the passer call on a pass that Widener intercepted moved the ball to the 12-yard line for Lycoming and three plays later, Whiteman found the corner to score and make it 21-14.
 
However, Widener ran the ball six times to retie the score and both teams failed to score in the third overtime, with sophomore Khamari Williams (Gaithersburg, Md./The Avalon School) picking off a pass for Lycoming. Finally, in the fourth overtime, Widener sacked Whiteman on fourth down, then moved the ball to the 16-yard line before Raczak's low liner of a field goal.
 
Widener got on the board first with a four-play, 23-yard drive for a touchdown with 8:04 left in the first quarter after a Warrior interception. Lycoming tied the game with a 12-play, 65-yard drive with 13:25 left in the second quarter, as the drive was aided by three Widener penalties and a 19-yard catch by Costello.
 
Neither team could gain much traction on the sloppy field after that until Chris Randle capped a 10-play, 76-yard drive for the Pride with a six-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter to set up the dramatic finish.
 
Widener finished with 419 yards of offense off 225 yards rushing and 194 yards passing. Chris Randle rushed 34 times for 149 yards and two scores and Alex Krivda completed 24-of-36 for 194 yards. D'Andre Sapp caught 10 passes for 67 yards.
 
Lycoming, playing against the second-best defense in the MAC, posted 171 yards of offense. Senior Blake Bowman (Valley View, Pa./Tri-Valley) rushed 19 times for 71 yards and Whiteman finished 7-of-26 for 94 yards and a score. Costello caught four passes for 83 yards and a touchdown. Freshman Brandon Miller (Slatington, Pa./Northwestern Lehigh) had a solid day punting, posting seven punts for an average of 44.3 yards. He put two inside the 20.
 
Jordan Yi stopped six tackles, with 0.5 coming off a sack. Vince Char had five tackles and two sacks and Tyrone Bundy had five tackles and one sack. Jake Behornar added four stops, a fumble recovery and an interception.
 
Sophomore Dominic Loffredo (Jersey Shore, Pa./Jersey Shore Area) finished with 14 tackles and senior Zach Smith (Elliotsburg, Pa./West Perry) added 12 stops, one for a loss. Senior Jon Rummel (Lykens, Pa./Williams Valley) finished with 11 stops and Kovalick added nine stops, 1.5 for loss and a forced fumble. Williams added with seven tackles, a forced fumble, an interception and a breakup.
 
The Warriors get back on the field on Saturday, Oct. 8, when they head to FDU-Florham for a 1 p.m. MAC game.