It was billed as a matchup of two wide open passing attacks, but fullback James Wilson carried Blinn College to a 29-20 win over Fort Scott in the 34th Mineral Water Bowl. While quarterbacks Brian Null of Blinn and Bob Pesavento of Fort Scott struggled to throw the ball on the rainy and cold day, the Buccaneers Wilson rushed for 204 yards and scored on touchdown runs of 50 and 3 yards.

Blinn trailed for only a few minutes but it took an unusual special teams play early in the fourth quarter to turn the momentum their way. Derrus Wilson picked up a blocked extra point attempt and returned it 85 yards to give Blinn a 22-20 lead with 11 minutes to play. Null’s 15 yard touchdown run with just over 3 minutes remaining put them in control of the game.

Fort Scott erased a 7-6 halftime deficit early in the third quarter when fullback Brandon Chambers scored from 4 yards out and then ran in the two point conversion for a 14-7 lead. Blinn answered quickly when Wilson popped through a huge hole up the middle for a 50 yard touchdown run on their next possession. He scored again with 6:14 remaining in the third to give them a 20-14 lead.

Fort Scott’s Aaron Bell made three crucial third down catches as the Greyhounds drove deep into Blinn territory early in the fourth quarter. But when Pesavento tried to scramble from the 12, nose tackle Juan Prishker and cornerback Leroy Conerway combined for a crushing hit that forced him to the sideline with a concussion. He was replaced by freshman Mike Kline who ran a quarterback draw in from the seven two plays later. That’s when Wilson ran back the blocked conversion attempt to break the 20-20 tie.

Null and Pesavento both threw touchdown passes to account for the first half scoring. Null hit James Everage on a 39 yard floater in the second quarter, John Voroshilin’s kick made it 7-0. Fort Scott freshman tight end Donald Clarke caught a 3 yard Pesavento touchdown pass six minutes later but that point after attempt was blocked too, preserving a 7-6 Blinn lead.