FROSTBURG, Md. – The past two battles between Notre Dame College and Frostburg State University had been extremely close, separated by a total of eight points, and the matchup on Saturday was no different. The two teams went back and forth in regulation and then traded touchdowns in the first overtime period. But, FSU sent the ball through the uprights in the second overtime for a 33-30 win over No. 16 NDC.

On NDC's second drive of the game, Chris Brimm connected with Jeremy Hamilton for 47 yards on a pass play to get the Falcons to Frostburg's 27-yard line. NDC would try to throw the ball three times, but could only get three additional yards against the FSU defense. Cameron Shirkey hit a 41-yard field goal to put the Falcons on the board.

After the NDC defense forced a Frostburg State three-and-out, the Falcons' offense went back to work, following the punt. Brimm connected on six consecutive pass attempts to four different receivers on a drive that took the game to the end of the first quarter and into the second. During the 65-yard drive, Notre Dame would get all the way to the one-yard line, but the Bobcats would step up, again. Shirkey was called upon and he would connect on a short field goal with 13:10 to go in the second stanza.

With his performance today, Brimm is now the NDC career leader in pass completions and pass attempts after passing Ray Russ in both categories.

Frostburg State's offense stepped up and put points on the board as they started their drive with just under two minutes to go in the first half. Quarterback Graham Walker stepped up with pass completions of 28 yards, 23 yards, three yards and then a 12-yard touchdown pass to Sean Aaron on four consecutive plays.

The Falcons then did everything they needed to do to grab the lead going into halftime, with a drive that lasted just 35 seconds. Starting on their own 33-yard line, Notre Dame moved forward, beginning with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Frostburg to move up 15 yards after a seven-yard run by Idris Lawrence. Brimm then put a pass over the shoulder of a defender into the hands of Andre Allen Jr., near the sideline to stop the clock at one second. Shirkey then ran onto the field and sent a rocket through uprights for a 46-yard field goal. That broke the program record of 45 yards, which had been set twice by Tanner Harding. The Falcons led 9-7 at the half.

After the halftime break, Frostburg State came out ready to pounce. On the first drive of the third quarter, Dayne Koontz was successful on a field goal attempt. The defense stepped up and intercepted the ball on NDC's fourth play of their drive. And then FSU's offense marched 76 yards down the field to score a touchdown and pull ahead 17-9. On the TD drive, Walker completed a 42-yard pass to Max Davis and then Aaron ran the ball into the endzone.

The first two drive of the second half for NDC resulted in turnovers, but the offense would find a way to put together a drive that fired up the NDC fans in attendance and brought energy to the sideline. The Brimm-Hamilton connection worked for a 27-yard pass and a 15-yard completion on the drive. But the most important completion of the drive was a touchdown catch by Hamilton across the middle of the field to pull within one point, 17-16.

Hamilton had 104 yards receiving and made seven catches.

FSU had to punt the ball away and NDC wasted no time taking the lead, early in the fourth quarter. Idris Lawrence ran 35 yards on five carries and Brimm completed two passes for 33 yards. On the goal line, Brimm pushed his way behind the offensive line for his third rushing touchdown of the season to give NDC the 23-17 lead, with 9:40 remaining.

The Bobcats could not get in the endzone in the final 10 minutes, but Koontz was successful on field goal attempts on back-to-back FSU drives to tie the game at 23. Sandwiched in between the offensive drives, was a big stop by the defense to force an NDC punt.

After they could not score in the final 2:12 of regulation in a tie game, NDC went to overtime for the first time since Sept. 4, 2021.

On the first play of overtime, Sean Aaron found space through the front line, made a cut to the right and hit the endzone, forcing NDC to respond. The Falcons would respond, and after three plays of short yardage, Tyris Dickerson had space to run and he scampered in from 10 yards away to tie the game at 30.

Per the NCAA overtime rules, Notre Dame got the ball right back, on the opponent's 25-yard line. Brimm found Michael Solomon for a 21-yard completion to set the Falcons up on the four-yard line. However, they could not punch the ball in and then a missed field goal put the ball back in the Bobcats' possession with a chance to win. And after three consecutive run plays set up fourth down, Koontz hit a 39-yard field goal to finish the job.

Brimm completed 24 passes, which is one below his career-high and the most passes completed in a game since 2018. He threw for 340 yards, which is the second most this season. Lawrence ran for over 100 yards for the second week in a row, putting up 111, on Saturday.

On the defensive side, Zion Hawkins set career-highs in tackles (8), tackles for loss (4) and sacks (1).

Notre Dame has another road game, next week, when they visit West Virginia Wesleyan College, in Buckhannon, W.Va. The game is scheduled for Oct. 15, at 1 p.m.