Alpine, TX- Arizona Christian struck gold in their first ever overtime game as a program and collected their first win of the season with a 30-27 overtime victory over NCAA Division III Sul Ross State on Saturday.  Junior Gerrit Groenewold threw for 255 yards with a touchdown and rushed for the game winner.

The Lobos (1-2) turned the opening drive of the game into a ten play touchdown drive for an early 7-0 edge.

But the Firestorm (1-1) quickly responded with a nine play 73 yard drive capped by a three yard run stretched across the goal line by Senior Quinta Thomas.  Junior Derek Brush tacked on the extra point to create a 7-7 tie.

Brush added a 33 yard field goal for the first ACU lead of the night two minutes and change into the second quarter.

SRSU cashed in the next ten points including a 42 yard field goal by Adam Cruz as time expired for the half and Sul Ross headed to the locker room with a 17-10 cushion.

Like their first drive of the game, Arizona Christian converted their opening drive of the second half into seven points.  Sophomore Alan Freeman returned the second half kickoff 31 yards and Arizona Christian was in business.  Thanks to a balanced attack of five runs and five passes, the Firestorm used 10 plays to cover the 61 yards to the end zone.  Sophomore Damario Fair delivered the final three yards with a run left for the TD.  Another Brush extra point and the teams found themselves tie at 17 with 11:27 remaining in the third.

An 11 play 83 yard TD drive was the counter for the Lobos who used a nine yard catch to move ahead 24-17.

Over the course of the next five and a half minutes, the Firestorm grounded out 13 plays and 85 yards.  Rolling to his right, Groenewold connected with Junior Justin Carroll on a three yard game tying touchdown pass to create a 24-24 tie with 31 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

After the teams exchanged field position without a score through most of the fourth quarter, ACU took over with 1:43 remaining in regulation.  Five plays later, thanks in large part to a 34 yard Groenewold to Thomas catch and run, the Firestorm lined up for the game winning field goal attempt at the four yard line with five seconds remaining.  But the kick missed wide right.

With the miss, Arizona Christian headed into the first overtime session of the program's three year history. 

The Lobos converted a field goal for a 27-24 lead.  A forced fumble by Junior Coleman Griffith resulted in a nine yard loss for SRSU to stall their drive and make them settle for a field goal.

Needing to convert at least a field goal to keep the game alive, ACU saw their first two plays result in no yards gained.  Then Groenewold found Junior Scott Kuhn along the sideline for a 19 yard gain.  Two plays later, Groenewold ran right up the middle for the game winner behind the blocks of Freshman Isaac Fudge and Sophomores Gabriel Estrada II and Josh Cronk.

Senior Donovan Smith was Groenewold's favorite target with five catches for 65 yards.  Thomas finished as the game's rushing leader with 89 yards on 19 carries.

Defensively, Sophomore Austin Schleier led the way with eight tackles- all solos.  Senior Kori Hurd and Junior Chris Oatman both recorded six tackles.

Getting the monkey of his first college win as a head coach off his back, Coach Jeff Bowen stated, "What an amazing effort by the entire Firestorm team.  We had several opportunities to call it a night but the guys just kept fighting.  We had several players step up and perform well.  Overall, anytime you come home with a victory it's a great trip."

Next Saturday, the Firestorm will head off to Grand Rapids, MI, to meet up with Davenport University.  Kickoff is set for 11:00 am EDT which means a bright and early 8:00 am start time locally in Arizona.