For three quarters, Wayne State played its best football game of the season against Upper Iowa on Saturday.

 
Unfortunately, football is a four-quarter game.

 
The ‘Cats watched as their 17-7 lead turned into a 24-24 tie, and then a 34-31 loss in double overtime against the Upper Iowa Peacocks on Saturday at Bob Cunningham Field.

 
The loss drops WSC to 4-6 on the season and 1-5 in the NSIC South. The loss insures the third consecutive losing season for the ‘Cats, and was their third consecutive Egg Bowl loss as well.

 
And this was a tough loss to take.

 
“Our kids played hard, and it was one of our best games,” coach Dan McLaughlin said. “We hung in there through the overtimes, but (Upper Iowa) just capitalized in the end.”

 
Redshirt freshman Taylor Reedy was named Egg Bowl MVP for Wayne State. He completed 32-59 pass attempts for a 351 yards and three touchdowns, all career highs. Unfortunately, he also threw one interception in the second overtime period, and that proved to be the difference in the end.

 
“Our receivers did a good job catching the ball and running routes for (Reedy),” McLaughlin said. “We didn’t run the ball well like we have recently, and we needed the passing game.”

 
After Upper Iowa kicked off the scoring midway through the first quarter, WSC’s defense got them on the board, as Jonathan Bland scooped up a tipped backwards pass for a 37-yard touchdown that tied the game into the second quarter.

 
The ‘Cats were able to take a 14-7 lead into the locker room, as Reedy found Tayib Toussaint for a 20-yard strike in the closing seconds of the first half.

 
A career-long 41-yard field-goal from Sam Simon in the third quarter gave WSC a 10-point lead headed into the fourth quarter.

 
After Upper Iowa came back to cut WSC’s lead to 17-14 early in the fourth, Reedy found Marcel Dunson on a 42-yard bomb that seemed to end the game, putting the ‘Cats on top by 10 points with under seven minutes to play.

 
But Brent Lammers drove his Peacocks on a 78-yard drive that took less than two minutes off the clock, and capped it off with his third touchdown pass of the day to cut the deficit back to three.

 
After a WSC three-and-out, Upper Iowa was able to do just enough on offense to settle for a game-tying field-goal that sent the contest to overtime.

 
“Our defense was just tired at the end,” McLaughlin said. “We just needed to pick up one first down and the game would have been over, but we hung in there.”

 
In the first overtime, a tired ‘Cats defense surrendered a quick touchdown, putting the pressure back on Reedy.

 
Reedy and the offense responded, converting on an unreal fourth-down attempt to Toussaint, before finding senior Jonathan Parks for a five-yard touchdown to send things to a second overtime.

 
On WSC’s second play in the second overtime, Reedy made his only mistake of the contest, throwing an interception into the hands of Peacock defensive back Nick Corley.

 
Upper Iowa ran a few conservative running plays before kicker Brady Beuschel sealed the win with a 34-yard field-goal.

 
WSC will play its final game of the season in Mankato, Minn., Saturday, taking on the sixth-ranked Minnesota State Mavericks at 1 p.m.

 
McLaughlin said his team will head into the contest optimistic and loose, and hope to pull off the upset.

 
“The kids have already shown a great attitude this week, and they’re excited to go play Minnesota State.”

Scoring Summary

1st 07:06 UIU Portis,D. 39 yd pass from Lammers,B. (Beuschel,B. kick) 3 plays, 43 yards, TOP 0:53 7 – 0
04:43 WSC Bland, Jonathan 37 yd fumble recovery (Simon, Sam kick) 7 – 7
2nd 00:28 WSC Toussaint, T. 20 yd pass from Reedy, Taylor (Simon, Sam kick) 8 plays, 84 yards, TOP 1:18 7 – 14
3rd 08:46 WSC Simon, Sam 41 yd field goal 7 plays, 3 yards, TOP 1:46 7 – 17
4th 09:53 UIU Amis,J. 11 yd pass from Lammers,B. (Beuschel,B. kick) 7 plays, 47 yards, TOP 1:51 14 – 17 06:50 WSC Dunson, Marcel 42 yd pass from Reedy, Taylor (Simon, Sam kick) 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 3:03 14 – 24
05:06 UIU MacTaggart,T. 5 yd pass from Lammers,B. (Beuschel,B. kick) 10 plays, 78 yards, TOP 1:36 21 – 24 01:36 UIU Beuschel,B. 30 yd field goal 13 plays, 45 yards, TOP 2:27 24 – 24
OT 15:00 UIU MacTaggart,T. 13 yd pass from Lammers,B. (Beuschel,B. kick) 3 plays, 25 yards, TOP 0:00 31 – 24
15:00 WSC Parks, Jonathan 5 yd pass from Reedy, Taylor (Simon, Sam kick) 8 plays, 25 yards, TOP 0:00 31 – 31 15:00 UIU Beuschel,B. 34 yd field goal 4 plays, 9 yards, TOP 0:00 34 – 31