DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake University football team suffered a heartbreaking loss on the final play of a 23-21 defeat to visiting Stetson University Saturday afternoon at Drake Stadium.
 
The winning play came on a Stetson fumble as time expired that Stetson's Steven Burdette recovered on the Drake 8-yard line and carried into the endzone after the Drake defense thought it had made a game-winning stop to defeat the Hatters.
 
Just 45 seconds before that play, Drake scored to take a 21-17 lead on a 76-yard touchdown pass from Grant Kraemer to Devin Cates.
 
"It's a gut-wrenching loss the way it ended, be we win together and we lose together," said Drake head coach Rick Fox. "None of us played as well as we're capable of playing today and in the PFL, you have to show up every weekend and play your best every single snap."
 
Following the touchdown, Drake was penalized for its exuberant celebration and a 21-yard return on the kickoff gave the Hatters the ball on their 35-yard line with 39 seconds remaining. Three plays and three completions by quarterback Colin McGovern later, the Hatters were on the Drake 15-yard line with nine seconds remaining in the contest.
 
Stetson (4-1, 2-1 PFL) took a timeout to stop the clock and on the next play McGovern connected with Jack Bowen at the 8-yard line. As Bowen was fighting toward the goal line while being dragged down by the defense, he lost the ball as he went to the turf. Burdette scooped up the ball and carried it into the endzone for the winning score as time expired.
 
"I told our team that when championship fighters get knocked the mat, they get up swinging," Fox said. "And that's what we're going to do."
 
The heart-breaking final minute capped a very up-and-down afternoon for Drake (3-2, 2-1 Pioneer Football League) despite 435 total yards of offense. However, 358 of those yards came in the second half as the offense struggled to get in gear early due to Stetson's defensive pressure before trying to pick up the tempo in the second half.
 
"They [Stetson] bring a lot of pressure that was getting to us and we weren't able to get them out of it," Fox said of Stetson's first-half defense. "We needed something to get them on their heels and the tempo did that."
 
Kraemer threw for 277 yards and two touchdowns in the loss while Mitch McFarlane had eight catches for 87 yards and a touchdown. Cross Robinson and Drew Lauer each ran for nearly 70 yards in the loss.
 
McGovern completed 29-of-44 passes for 271 and three touchdowns to lead the Hatters.
 
Drake's defense was led by Kieran Severa and Sean Lynch with nine tackles each. Connor Willis had eight tackles, seven of them solo, and added three tackles for loss.
 
Stetson had a 7-3 lead at halftime as the teams combined for just 225 yards of total offense. Drake scored via a 32-yard Danny Donley field goal with 4:40 left in the opening quarter while Stetson countered with 4:47 left in the half on a 12-yard strike from McGovern to Donald Parham that capped an 18-play, 81-yard drive. Parham finished the day with 112 yards receiving on 12 catches.
 
After a slow first half, the third quarter saw four scores with a touchdown and field goal from each team. The Bulldogs' touchdown came midway through the quarter when Kraemer connected with McFarlane for an 18-yard score. A successful two-point conversion tied the contest at 14-14.
 
A 31-yard field goal by Stetson put the Hatters up, 17-14, and the score remained that until the wild final minute of the contest gave the Hatters their first-ever win against Drake.
 
The Bulldogs aim to rebound from Saturday's loss next weekend when they go on the road to face PFL rival Dayton Saturday, Oct. 20. Kickoff is set for noon CDT, in Dayton.