MORRIS, Minn. -- The Lawrence University football team hit on two long touchdown passes and made three late defensive stands to carve out a 21-17 nonconference victory over the University of Minnesota-Morris in the season finale Saturday at Big Cat Stadium.
Lawrence freshman wide receiver Nate Nelson caught touchdown passes of 61 and 48 yards from Nick Maxam, who also hit Jeremiah Johnson with a 12-yard scoring pass. Nelson finished with four catches for 140 yards. Maxam was 11 of 18 for 170 yards and three touchdowns.
Nelson got the Vikings (2-8) on the board when he caught a 61-yard touchdown pass from Maxam with 5:35 left in the first quarter. The Cougars tied the game at 7-7 when Nate Holleman hauled in a 16-yard scoring pass that capped a 10-play, 62-yard drive.
Morris (4-6) led 10-7 when Matt Frelich intercepted Cougars quarterback Ted Hoffman at the Morris 19-yard line late in the third quarter. Maxam hit Johnson with a 12-yard scoring pass three plays later to give Lawrence a 14-10 lead.
The Cougars then hit on a big play of their own when quarterback Derrick Foss connected with Holleman for a 60-yard scoring pass on the ensuing possession, and Morris led 17-14.
Another turnover helped Lawrence get the lead back. Mike Gostisha forced a fumble by Robert Koranda, and Gostisha recovered for the Vikings at the Morris 28-yard line.
After a sack, a loss of six yards and a delay of game penalty, Lawrence faced third-and-30 at the Morris 48. Maxam fired a long bomb to Nelson, who made a nice adjustment to make the catch and then made several tacklers miss for a touchdown and a 21-17 Lawrence lead with 9:17 left.
The Vikings then made three defensive stands to preserve the victory.
Morris moved from its own 33 to a first down at the Lawrence 8. The Vikings stacked up Koranda for no gain on first down, and Foss then threw three straight incompletions to stop the drive. Wes Otte broke up Foss' pass to Brady Rose on fourth down to give Lawrence the ball back.
Lawrence was forced to put, and Morris took over at the Lawrence 49 with 5:20 left. Morris moved to the Lawrence 11 and faced fourth-and-7. Foss' pass was complete to John Russow, but Andy Frelich and Greg Pater stopped him short of the first-down marker and Lawrence took over on downs.
The Vikings were again forced to punt, and Morris got the ball back at the Lawrence 45 with 36 seconds left. Foss completed a pair of passes, and Morris had a first down at the Lawrence 9 with 13.9 seconds left. Safety Brian Janssen intercepted Foss on second down to seal the victory.
Jeff Nichols led the Lawrence defense with nine tackles, including two tackles for loss and a sack. Jordan Burke added eight tackles, and Janssen had seven.