The Buena Vista football team was on the verge of its third straight win on Saturday afternoon inside of J. Leslie Rollins Stadium, but the Beavers saw the University of Dubuque kick a late field goal to force overtime and then eventually hand them a tough 45-37 (3 OT) loss.

Cody Miller threw touchdown passes to Charlie Flickinger and Jalen Henningsen in the first eight minutes of the game before Tyler Stolen nailed a 35-yard field goal to give the Beavers a 17-0 lead with 2:12 left in the first quarter.

The Spartans managed to get on the board in the final minute of the opening frame with a 52-yard touchdown run to make it 17-7.

Dwayne Allen Jr then made it a 17-14 contest with 4:33 left in the first half when he scampered in from two yards out.

BVU got the ball to start the second half and put together a monsterous opening drive.  Jalen Henningsen had a little trouble handling the kickoff which put BVU back on the two-yard line to begin the drive.  From there, the offense would march 19 plays in 9:18, capped by a three-yard touchdown pass from Miller to Tyler Oberreuter just prior to Miller being wrapped up by a Dubuque defensive player.

Conor Feckley, who came in having thrown for 25 touchdown passes for Dubuque, threw his first of the day with 3:20 left in the third quarter to keep the Spartans close at 24-21.

Dubuque (7-1, 5-1 IIAC) then took its first lead of the game at 28-24 when Feckley connected with Najee Toomer on a 63-yard post.

Henningsen, who finished with a team-high nine catches for 121 yards, hauled in his second touchdown of the contest from 23 yards out on a receiver screen.

The Beaver defense was tough down the stretch and eventually forced the Spartans into converting a big 35-yard field goal with eight seconds left to force overtime.

The two teams would then go on to trade field goals in each of the first two overtimes, including a 40-yard boot from Stolen.

Feckley threw his third touchdown pass of the afternoon in the third overtime and added a two-point conversion for a 45-37 lead.  BVU had its last chance and Miller had a pass intercepted in the back corner of the endzone to end the game.

Miller completed 21-of-41 attempts for 296 yards and four touchdowns.  Aside from Henningsen, Flickinger caught five passes for 98 yards.

Cody Mowery had another solid outing on the ground with 123 yards on 33 carries.  In the process, he surpassed 1,700 career yards and moved past 400 career attempts (407). 

Tyler Stolen made all three of his field goal attempts and is now 13-of-15 on the year.  He also had four punts, averaging  38.0 per kick, including three inside the 20.

Brady Illg finished with a team-high nine tackles, including 1.5 for a loss, and had a big first-half interception.  Zach Mueggenberg followed with eight tackles.

Buena Vista dips to 2-5 on the year (2-3 IIAC) and will look to bounce back and hand Coe College (8-0, 6-0 IIAC).  Kick-off in Cedar Rapids is scheduled for 1:00pm.