GAME NOTES: Fresh off a bye week, the Snow College football team will take on No. 12 Butler Community College in the NJCAA Game of the Week Saturday in El Dorado, Kansas.  The matchup is scheduled to kick off at 12:30 MDT and will air live on ESPN+.
 
The Badgers are coming off a thrilling 43-30 victory against Lackawanna College Sept. 14.  Snow College scored the game-winning touchdown with just seven seconds remaining to defeat the No. 13 Falcons and improve to 4-0 overall to begin the 2024 season.
 
Through five weeks of the season, the Badgers tout the nation's number one offense as they are scoring an average of 57.8 points per game.  Snow College has scored 43 points or more in each of their first four games of the season.  This is the first time the team has scored at least 43 points in four consecutive games since the first four weeks to begin the 2021 season.
 
Defensively, the Badgers have allowed an average of just 10.0 points per game to opponents.  This ranks sixth among qualifying teams in Division I.  Snow College finished last year as the sixth-best defense in the country.
 
Snow College quarterback Donnie Smith paces the nation in touchdown passes through the first five weeks of the season with 15.  Smith has thrown for a total of 871 yards while going 60-99 through the air.  Smith finished second in touchdown passes last season with 26.
 
As a team, the Badgers lead the country in total rushing yards with 967.  They are also third in the nation in rush yards per attempt at 6.4 and second in rushing touchdowns with 15.
 
Snow College is also the best team in Division I in red zone efficiency.  The Badgers have converted on all 20 of their trips to the red zone to start the season.
 
LAST TIME OUT: Snow College needed just 49 seconds to score the game-winning touchdown and earn a 43-40 victory against No. 13 Lackawanna College Saturday in Scranton, Pennsylvania.  An Adonis Tillman 1-yard rushing touchdown with just seven seconds remaining sealed the deal for the Badgers.
 
Snow College entered the top-15 matchup following a 62-0 victory over the U.S. Air Force Academy Preparatory School last weekend in Ephraim.  The Badgers improved to 3-0 after three consecutive shutouts to begin the season.
 
For the second time this season, the Badgers returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown.  It was nearly a carbon copy of the first play of the 2024 season as Shandon King took the kickoff 93 yards to the house, giving Snow College an early 7-0 lead.
 
The Falcons responded quickly on their first drive from scrimmage.  They used a couple of chunk plays on the ground and culminated the drive on a 13-yard passing touchdown.  The PAT was errant, and Snow College held a 7-6 lead.
 
The Badgers were forced to punt on their first drive of the game but got the ball back nearly instantly.  Brooks Esplin picked off a pass from Falcons' quarterback Wyatt Hagan and Snow College took over near midfield.
 
A trio of short plays preceded a 46-yard passing touchdown as Donnie Smith found Kache Kaio, who streaked down the field and found the endzone, extending the lead.  The Falcons again responded with a touchdown on their next possession and Snow College held a 1-point lead.
 
The Badgers found pay dirt once again in the waning seconds of the first quarter.  They sustained a 12-play, 65-yard drive, which saw Smith and Reggie Frischknecht connect on a 12-yard passing touchdown.  A personal foul by Lackawanna on the play allowed the Badgers to go for two from the 1-yard line.  It was successful, and Snow College went up 22-13.
 
The momentum of the game swung back to the Falcons in the early seconds of the second quarter.  After Snow College forced a punt, the punt was muffed and allowed the Falcons to take over at the Badgers' 2-yard line. Lackawanna scored on the next play to cut into the deficit, 22-20.
 
The Badgers failed to gain a first down over their next two possessions, being forced to punt each time.  Lackawanna took their first lead of the game with under five minutes to play in the second quarter as they drilled a 41-yard field goal to take a 23-22 advantage.
 
The two teams exchanged punts, and the Badgers had a chance to score going into halftime but were pinned deep in their own territory.  They completed three first downs, but a Smith pass was intercepted and the Falcons were set up at the Snow College 20 with 12 seconds to play.  They connected on another field goal, this time from 37 yards, to take a 26-22 lead into the break.
 
Lackawanna took the first drive of the third quarter deep into Badger territory but was forced to attempt another field goal.  This attempt from 28 yards away was blocked, and the Falcons came up empty.
 
Snow College went for it on fourth down on their first possession of the second half but was stopped short and gave the ball back to the Falcons.  They capitalized and scored three plays later to take a 33-22 lead – their largest lead of the game.
 
The Badgers wouldn't go away, though, and put together their largest drive of the game.  Smith started the drive, completing a trio of passes for a total of 47 yards.  From there, the ground game took over, rushing the ball five straight times and eventually finding the end zone on an Isaiah Lauofo 1-yard run.
 
Both teams exchanged punts before exchanging interceptions to begin the fourth quarter.  The Badgers eventually got the ball back with under 10 minutes to play.  The drive gained momentum on a 41-yard pass play from Smith to Frischknecht to set the Badgers up inside the Lackawanna 10. 
 
The Badgers ran the ball three times but were stopped short each time.  They elected to go for it on 4^th-and-goal from the 2-yard line.  Smith found Kaden Eggett and the Badgers retook the lead, 36-33 with 5:27 to play.
 
Snow College kept the momentum in their favor on the subsequent Falcons' possession.  BJ Inmon intercepted Hagan and the Badgers took over with 2:47 left and needing a first down to ice the game.
 
After the first two plays of the drive, the Badgers were faced with a 3^rd-and-16 from their own 35.  Smith found Matt Wilson who was stopped two yards short of the first-down marker.  Snow College went four it on fourth down needing just two yards to secure the win.  The Falcons' defense came up with the stop and took over with 1:44 to play.
 
Moving quickly down the field, Lackawanna faced a 2^nd-and-15 from the Badgers' 33.  Hagan lofted a pass down the right sideline.  The Badgers' defensive back tipped the pass, but in the end, the Lackawanna receiver came down with the ball in the back of the end zone, giving the Falcons a 40-36 lead with just 56 seconds to play.
 
After the kickoff return and a 15-yard personal foul penalty against the Falcons, the Badgers started the drive at the Lackawanna 38-yard line.  Smith found De'yhare Overstreet for 27 yards through the air to reach the Falcons' 35-yard line. 
 
A 13-yard rush from Wilson and a 21-yard pass to Overstreet set the Badgers up at the 1-yard line with 12 seconds to play.  Tillman finished the job for Snow College, who took a 43-40 lead with just seven seconds remaining, securing the victory for the Badgers. 
 
Smith finished going 18-30 with three touchdown passes.  He leads the NJCAA with 15 touchdown passes on the season.  Frischknecht caught four passes for 62 yards and his NJCAA-leading sixth touchdown reception of the season.

UP NEXT: Snow College will head to Council Bluffs, Iowa and take on the two-time defending national champion Iowa Western Community College Oct. 5.  

Tha Badgers are just 1-6 all time against the Reivers and have lost each of their last four meetings.  IWCC earned a 20-13 victory against the Badgers last season in Ephraim.  The No. 2 Reivers are 3-1 overall this season with their lone loss coming against No. 1 Hutchinson Community College.  The top-5 matchup is scheduled to begin at 12:00 p.m. inside Titan Stadium.  For video streaming and live stat information, visit snowbadgers.com.