Rochester Community and Technical College scored a safety and touchdown in the closing 1:45 of play to nip Mesabi Range 8-7 in junior college football on Saturday.
The game, at Rochester Regional Sports Stadium, was homecoming for the Yellowjackets.
RCTC got a defensive stop and then Mesabi took a safety from punt formation with 1:45 left to make the score 7-2.
The Yellowjackets then drove 64 yards in nine plays to score the winning touchdown with 2.4 seconds to play. Josh Valla tossed a 3-yard TD pass to Randall Bailey in the front corner of the end zone for the winning score.
"That was exhilarating, tons of fun," RCTC sophomore linebacker Justin Puetz said. "That's what college football is all about."
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The comeback win prevented the Yellowjackets (4-1) from dropping their second straight game.
"What I was proud of was the fact they went out and played together as a team for 60 minutes," RCTC coach Derrick Hintz said. "It was all three units, offense, defense and special teams. It was the coaches and players."
"We really came together as a unit today," Puetz said. "We really came together as a family."
RCTC won despite committing six turnovers and rushing for minus-45 yards. The Yellowjackets did pass for 259 yards and held Mesabi (1-4) to 126 total yards.
The Yellowjackets are at Fergus Falls next Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
