Box Score BUCKHANNON, West Virginia -- History has officially been made: The Notre Dame College Falcons are 3-0 for the first time in program history.

After starting the 2014 campaign with consecutive wins over Fairmont State and Urbana, the Notre Dame College Falcons continued their winning ways with a 47-44 road victory over the host West Virginia Wesleyan Bobcats. With the win, the Falcons not only improve to 3-0 for the first time in program history, but also 2-0 all-time over the Bobcats.

The Falcons found themselves trailing early in the game, as Jeremy Musselman threw a 5-yard pass to Chase Blackwell to give the Bobcats a 7-0 lead. Less than 90 seconds later, the Falcons knotted the game at seven as a 13-yard run from sophomore Kenneth Butler tied the game with 9:04 remaining in the game.

With two touchdowns scored in the first six minutes of the game, the offensive fireworks would continue for both sides.

On the Bobcats' ensuing possession, Musselman threw another touchdown pass, this time a 27-yard pass to Zach Schademan, to give the Bobcats the lead again, 14-7. Senior Ray Russ responded with a touchdown pass of his own, a 10-yard throw to senior Ray. J Brown, to tie the game at 14. 

Sophomore Kyle Kaplan converted a 35-yard field goal near the end of the first quarter to give the Falcons a 17-14 lead after one quarter of play.

Scoring would come to a halt until midway through the second quarter, when Kaplan kicked a 25-yard field goal to push the lead to six, 20-14. On the Falcons' next offensive possession, Russ and company engineered a 12-play, 65-yard drive that resulted in a 5-yard touchdown pass from Russ to junior Kyle Perkins, giving NDC a 27-14 lead with 1:4 left in the second quarter.

The Bobcats would trim the lead some before halftime, as Kasper Bernild kicked a 43-yard field goal to cut NDC's lead to 27-17 at halftime.

At the start of the third quarter, the trend of offensive production continued. On the opening drive of the second half, Musselman threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Schademan to cut NDC's lead to just three, 27-24.

With NDC's lead shrinking and the Bobcats with momentum, the Falcons turned the tables with a spark plug play on special teams. On the kickoff following Musselman's touchdown pass, freshman Emmanuel Smith returned the kick 95 yards for the score to give NDC a 10-point lead again, 34-24. 

A few minutes later, the Falcons scored again as Kaplan kicked a 32-yard field goal to push the lead to 13 again, 37-24.

But the Bobcats refused to simply roll over. On WVW's ensuing offensive possession, Musselman continued his hot streak with a 17-yard touchdown pass, his fourth of the day. However, a botched PAT attempt by Bernild left the score at 37-30 heading into the fourth quarter.

At the start of the fourth quarter, the Bobcats tied the game with a 10-yard touchdown pass from Musselman to Schademan, marking the third time the two connected for a score. 

With the score knotted at 37, Kaplan broke the tie with a 40-yard field goal to give NDC a 40-37 lead with 8:23 to play. However, the Bobcats scored just 66 seconds later as Musselman tossed his sixth touchdown pass of the day, and fourth to Schademan, to give WVW a 44-40 lead with 7:04 left in the game.

Trailing by four and in dire need of a touchdown, the Falcons responded once again. 

Russ led the Falcons offense on a 10-play, 73-yard drive that was capped off with a 34-yard touchdown pass from Russ to Perkins, giving the Falcons a 47-44 lead with 3:32 remaining. From there, the Falcons defense rose to the occasion and shut off the scoring supply for the Bobcats, giving the Falcons a 47-44 road victory and their first 3-0 start in NDC football history.

Russ finished the game with 267 yards through the air on 25-of-45 passing, as well as three touchdown passes. Sophomore Mitchell Shegos led all receivers with six receptions for 67 yards, but it was Brown (3 catches/24 yards/1 touchdown) and Perkins (2 catches/39 yards/2 touchdowns) who caught touchdowns from Russ.

While the passing game was efficient for the Falcons, the running game was equally as strong as Butler had a career day. Butler proved to be a workhorse for the Falcons as he ran the ball 42 times for a career-high 235 yards and one touchdown to balance the NDC offense.

The Falcons will compete next Saturday, Sept. 27 at home for Homecoming Weekend against the visiting Charleston Golden Eagles. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.