DULUTH, MINN. – The Mayville State University Comets struck first, and often in the first half, but it was the College of St. Scholastica (CSS) Saints who won, scoring twice in the final five-and-a-half minutes of the fourth quarter to tie it, and then on a 25-yard pass by Zach Edwards to Reese Jansen, to take the win 42-35 in non-conference play, in overtime. The loss is the first against the Saints, as Mayville State defeated CSS in 2018 33-29 in Mayville.

"It was an exciting football game," head coach Jeff Larson said. "There were a lot of ups and downs. Our guys played hard and, unfortunately, came up one play short."

Gino Musick started the scoring, with 4:55 left in the first quarter, with a four-yard run, capping off an 11-play, 80-yard drive that took 4:25.

Creighton Pfau, quarterback for the Comets, then took to the air for a pair of touchdowns, the first at the six-second mark of the second quarter, when he found Darrel Wilson for a 25-yard pass, and then, five minutes later, Pfau found Jacquante Pitts for a 14-yard pass, putting the Comets ahead 19-0 early in the first half.

Edwards then took over, with back-to-back touchdowns in under two minutes.

The first, coming with just over four minutes left, was a four-yard run, capping off a seven-play 37 yard drive that spanned just over four minutes. Just minutes later, exactly 1:58 later, Edwards connected with Eddie Lee for 10 yards, pulling the Saints to within five points.

The third quarter saw Mayville State and CSS battle, but it was CSS that struck first blood, as Edwards scampered from a yard out, pulling ahead 21-19 with 4:39 left.
Pfau and the Comets then chewed up the next three minutes, capping off a 11-play drive with a 12-yard pass from Pfau to Pitts, putting Mayville State ahead 25-21 with just 58 seconds left in the first quarter.

Mayville State then dominated the opening stages of the fourth quarter, led off by a Josh Portillo 24-yard field goal, followed up by another passing touchdown from Pfau to Pitts, pushing the Comets comfortably ahead 35-21, with the Comets looking like they were headed to a 2-0 record.

CSS had other plans.

With just under 5:45 to go, Edwards and the Saints were driving. With just under 20 yards to go, Edwards found Mitchell Adrian for a 14-yard TD pass, pulling the Saints to within seven points, 35-28.

After Mayville State surrendered the ball to CSS, the Saints then chewed up two minutes worth of clock.

Edwards again found the endzone and Eddie Lee for an eight-yard pass, tying the game with 1:03 left in regulation.

The two teams would then battle through one set of overtime before the winning pass came into the hands of Jansen.

Pfau finished 24-of-41 passing for 353 yards and four touchdowns.

Musick was one of five rushers for the Comets and led in rushing, with 13 rushes for 74 yards and the lone rushing touchdown for the Comets.

Five comets had receptions, led by Pitts with nine receptions for 150 yards and three touchdowns, followed by Wilson's seven receptions for 99 yards and one touchdown.

With the loss, Mayville State drops to 1-1 on the season, and will return home for a Saturday afternoon matchup against Trinity Bible College, with kickoff scheduled for 12 p.m. at Jerome Berg Field. After that, the Comets are on the road for two games, first in North Andover, Massachusetts, where the Comets will take on Merrimack College on September 21, followed by their NSAA opener on September 28 in Aberdeen, taking on the Presentation College Saints.