Box Score MINOT, N.D. – A crazy play ended a wild home opener for Minot State University.

Minot State's Wayne Peters (Sr., WR, Carson, Calif.) caught a tipped pass while flat on his back in the end zone to cap a wild 23-17 triple overtime win for the Beavers over Augustana College Saturday in front of 2,031 fans at Herb Parker Stadium.

"It was a big break to get," said MISU head coach Paul Rudolph. "It's pretty tough on whoever loses a game like this. I can remember being in a double overtime game, but not a triple overtime. I thought our guys handled it pretty well and we were able to come out on top."

Peters, who caught two TD passes in overtime, caught the 22-yard touchdown after the Vikings' defensive back Justin Brown tipped a pass from MISU quarterback Zac Cunha (So., Rocklin, Calif.) just inside the goal line. It fell into his hands along the sidelines prompting an eruption from the Minot State bench, who mobbed Peters in the end zone.

"I just wanted to make sure I was in bounds, that was my biggest goal," Peters said of the catch. "We called all verticals and thought we would have an advantage somewhere and it turned out that Zac felt I had had the match up he wanted."

Cunha echoed Peters on both the design and the result of the game-winner.

"I didn't see it because I got hit, but we wanted to run verticals and see if we could get a matchup in our favor," he said. "Wayne made an unbelievable play."

The game-winning touchdown was set up by a huge defensive stand for the Beavers on the Augustana College possession to start the third overtime. Augie had a 1st-and-goal from the MISU 7, but failed to score. Minot State's Logan Jones (Sr., DL, Lethbridge, Alberta) and Chad Marshall (Sr., LB, Hazen, N.D.) held Vikings QB Trey Heid on a 3rd-and-goal from the 1 on third down and Jeff Buchert (Sr., DB, Plainfield, Conn.) stopped Heid after he fumbled the snap on fourth down.

"Our defense didn't give up too much," Rudolph said. "They have that three-headed monster running the football and that makes it tough, but I thought out defense really played pretty darn good for the most part."

Both teams missed field goal attempts in the first overtime and both scored in the second overtime. Peters caught a 7-yard strike from Cunha on Minot State's possession in the second OT and Heid rushed for nine yards for the Vikings' score.

The Beavers offense took a while to get going, but had a big lift right before half to take a 10-3 halftime lead. After getting a 24-yard field goal from Brian Gutierrez (Jr., K, Granada Hills, Calif.) following a 12-play, 68-yard drive on the first play of the second quarter, the Beavers got the game's first touchdown and MISU's first of the year. Porter Sturm (So., WR, Roy, Mont.) hauled in an 11-yard pass from Cunha with just 28 seconds to play in the half. Sturm set up the TD with a 39-yard pass down the sidelines from Cunha, the biggest play of the young season for the Beavers.

"We needed to keep going to that (the deep ball) and had some other shots in the second half as well," Rudolph said. "It certainly got the monkey off our back on the offensive side. They forced us to be a little one-dimensional in the first half."

Minot State's defense put the Beavers into position to win as they held Augustana College to just 17 first downs for the game and 93 yards rushing. The Beavers held AC to just three points on a Lucas Wainman 28-yard field goal in the first quarter through three quarters of play.

Heid was the leader offensively for the Vikings as he finished with 46 yards rushing and a score and threw for 189 yards and a TD. CJ Ham added 29 yards rushing. Niklason caught six passes for 63 yards and the one score.

Jarvis Mustipher (R-Fr., RB, Melbourne, Fla.) and Randel Barber (So., RB, Maricopa, Ariz.) rushed for 61 and 44 yards respectively as the Beavers finished with 104 yards on the ground. Cunha had a solid second game as he threw for 202 yards and three TDs and one of his two interceptions was in the end zone on a Hail Mary heave to end regulation. Peters caught eight balls for 93 yards, while Sturm added four catches for 69 yards.

"This was a great way to open the season at home," said Peters. "It was a great environment to play in."

The Beavers defense was paced by Marshall, who ended with 13 total tackles. Buchert finished with nine and Kewon Tapp (Sr., DB, San Pedro, Calif.), Josh Weidler (Sr., LB, Velva, N.D.) and Cooper Helm (So., DB, Wenatchee, Wash.) all added seven stops.

Minot State will be back on the road as they travel to Southwest Minnesota State for a rare Friday night game, taking on the Mustangs at 6 p.m. in Marshall, Minn.

"This was a good win for our guys. We started believing in ourselves and found out we can play," Rudolph said. "We need to keep that going."