PCM scored twice in the final minutes of Friday night’s season-opener at Roland-Story, but had to hold the Norse out of the end zone on a two-point conversion attempt in order to hang on for a 27-26 victory.

Ethan Kain caught consecutive touchdown passes from quarterback Nate VandeWall, and made a game-changing interception between the two scores to give the Mustangs the go-ahead opportunity; but the Norse needed just over thirty seconds to respond, scoring on a pass play of their own to pull within one point. Roland-Story had been shaky on extra point attempts all evening, and opted to go for the win, but PCM junior linebacker Dillon Bruxvoort swatted away a pass to the outside on the two-point conversion to seal the win.

The Mustangs finished with 324 yards of total offense, with VandeWall going 20-for-34 through the air for 227 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. The aforementioned Kain caught both touchdown passes, finishing with 7 catches for 62 yards. Teammate Zach Uhlenhopp also had 7 receptions and tallied 81 yards. On the ground, junior runningback Blake McWilliams carried the load, rushing for 93 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries.

The win gets PCM off to a 1-0 start to the season. They’ll take on Knoxville in Monroe next Friday night.

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