Snow College started the season picked to finish at the bottom of the Western States Football League. Instead, it will finish as one of the top 10 teams in the nation.
Trailing by nine with less than five minutes in the game, the 11th-ranked Badgers came back to defeat 14th-ranked Ricks College 29-26 Saturday in the Real Dairy Bowl.Former Skyline quarterback Joe DuPaix led the Badgers to their second three-point victory over the Vikings this season with clutch passing and scrambling with the game on the line.
"Once he tucks it away we have a chance," said first-year Snow coach Keith Uperewsa, whose Badgers finished at 9-2.
DuPaix was forced to tuck it away several times in the fourth quarter as Ricks covered his receivers and brought heavy pressure from the line. The Vikings (8-4) probably wish they had let him pass.
Trailing 26-17 with four minutes on the clock, DuPaix was flushed out of the pocket, which resulted in a scrambling 40-yard touchdown.
Ryan Bloxham missed the extra-point leaving Ricks with a 26-23 lead, the same final score as their previous game, but this time not to Snow's advantage.
Snow's defense, which had been solid except on two long touchdown pass plays, forced Ricks to punt, giving DuPaix another chance with two and a half minutes left.
On fourth-and-8 from Snow's own 40, DuPaix eluded a Vikings' rush to pick up another 40 yards. Three plays later, he hit Lance Mickelsen with a 15-yard touchdown pass for the games' winning and final score.
"DuPaix is the heart and soul of that team," Walker said.
The Badgers felt their heart and soul was overcoming the adversity they have faced together this season.
Their program funding was cut and their former head coach quit during recruiting season, leaving the Badgers short of new talent.
"This is a team full of walk-ons," DuPaix said. "We knew we weren't getting any stud athletes. We just had what we had. Guys go to Snow to play football because they love football."
Defensive lineman Kris Smolinski, who helped shut Ricks down and recorded a sack felt vindicated.
"It was satisfying, they were trash talking all week about they were going to kill us," he said.
"Even today we had to earn their respect," added DuPaix.
Ricks started the scoring with a 49-yard Jesse Neville field goal, a Real Dairy Bowl record.
Snow countered with a 15-yard DuPaix touchdown run. Before the half, Ricks' quarterback Jeremy Livingston hit Kameron McClusky for a 52-yard scoring strike. Snow tied it at 10-10 with a 31-yard Bloxham kick.
In the third quarter, Snow took a 17-10 lead on a 1-yard Alex Arona run.
Ricks then capitalized on DuPaix's two turnovers with a one-yard Livingston run and a 24-yard Neville kick setting up the game's dramatic finish.
DuPaix finished the day with 105 yards rushing on 16 carries for two touchdowns. He also completed 26 of 39 passes for 208 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions.