WINONA, Minn. – One second separated the Winona State football team from an upset victory in its home finale Saturday, but one second was enough for a touchdown as time expired as the Warriors fell 35-34 to Augustana at Altra Federal Credit Union Stadium.

Holding a three-point lead with under two minutes to play and facing a third and 19 at the Augustana 34-yard line, Jack Nelson found Cameron Johnson for 17 yards to bring up a 4^th and 2. Carter McCauley then kicked a 34-yard field goal to up WSU's lead to 34-28 with 1:39 to play.

Augie would start their final drive at their own 29 with 1:34 to play. The first play resulted in a seven-yard sack by Lauden Wood. But Augustana QB Trey Heid drove the Vikings down to the WSU nine yard line with under 20 seconds to play. With time still running off the clock, Heid scrambled for three yards and went out of bounds at the six yard line with one second remaining on the clock. Jeff Brown and the Warrior defense had an opportunity for a sack to end the game on the final play, but Heid evaded the pressure and floated a pass to the middle of the end zone, finding Charlie Hayes for the tie, with the ensuing extra point completing the 35-34 victory.

It was a wild first half filled with turnovers and big plays. WSU's first three drives resulted in interceptions, but Augustana was unable to capitalize much, as an 80-yard trick-play pass from wide receiver Alan May to Josh Mikes brought the score to 7-7 after the first quarter.

Mikes struck again early in the second quarter when Nelson found him for a 68-yard connection to move up 14-7. The teams traded scores in a back-and-forth game, as Augie tied it back up less than two minutes later with a 51-yard touchdown pass from Heid to Greenway.

WSU retook the lead with 6:19 to play when Eric Birth leaped over Augie defenders and the pylon at the goal line for a 21-14 advantage. A one-yard run by Augie's CJ Ham with under a minute to play knotted it up at 21-21 at halftime.

Early in the third quarter, Jack Nelson set a new WSU record for single-season passing yards, surpassing Drew Aber's mark of 3,004 in the 2007 season. That drive culminated in a Carter McCauley field goal for a 24-21 lead. WSU grabbed the game's first two-score game late in the third when Alan May caught a 22-yard pass from Nelson in the corner of the end zone for a 31-21 lead. Ham later had his second 1-yard touchdown to get it back to three before the wild finish.

Mikes recorded the second 200-yard receiving day of his career and the eighth all-time by a Warrior, hauling in five catches for 203 yards and a pair of scores. Mikes now has 31 touchdowns in his career, moving into third place on the all-time list and one behind Scott Peters for second.

Nelson, despite the first four interception day of his career, went 21-for-33 for 318 yards and a pair of touchdowns while being sacked just once.

Ian Murray led the Warrior defense in tackles for the second straight game with a career-best 16 tackles, a beautiful one-handed interception, a half sack and a tackle-for-loss.

Nickai Poyser and Mike Imperiale each had 13 sacks, while Andrew Spencer added 11. As a defensive unit, WSU racked up five sacks compared to just one from the Vikings.

Winona State (5-5) brings its season to a close next Saturday when it travels to Marshall, Minnesota to take on Southwest Minnesota State at 1 p.m.