ANDERSON, Mo. — The McDonald County Mustangs made crucial plays on both sides of the ball late in the game to earn a 27-26 win over Nevada on Friday.
The Tigers entered the night ranked third in Class 4, but the Mustangs got it done in crunch time to secure a statement victory.
McDonald County scored a go-ahead touchdown with a minute remaining when Destyn Dowd found Cross Dowd on a 24-yard TD strike on fourth down.
Joshua Pacheco came up with a late-game interception that sealed the win for the Mustangs, who improved to 3-1.
It was Mac County’s third straight win after a 31-7 loss to Mount Vernon in Week 1. The Mustangs have wins over Marshfield 35-13, Rogersville 21-14 and Nevada.
Destyn Dowd completed three touchdown passes and ran for another.
The Mustangs scored on a 9-yard pass from Dowd to Isaac Behm before the Tigers got on the board on Avious Steadman’s 12-yard run.
A 19-yard touchdown pass to Dalton McClain gave the Mustangs a 14-6 lead at the break.
Nevada received a pair of touchdown runs from Jordan Johnson that gave the Tigers a 20-14 lead.
Dowd’s QB keeper from two yards out tied the game with 4:34 left.
Nevada took a 26-20 lead with just under three minutes to play on Case Sanderson’s 35-yard touchdown run. However, the 2-point conversion failed.
After the go-ahead TD pass, McDonald County’s Richard Gasca converted the PAT kick for a 27-26 lead with 1:01 left.
Pacheco’s late INT came on the 19-yard line with 30 seconds left.
McDonald County is at Cassville (3-1) in Week 5. Nevada (3-1) is at Mount Vernon (3-1) this Friday.
