In what may have been the game of the year to this point the Onaga Buffaloes did just enough to pull out a 42-36 win at Doniphan West Friday night in three overtimes.

The Buffaloes started fast jumping out to a 14-8 lead at halftime with an opening 14-play, 65-yard drive that ended with a Zac Fisher 1-yard plunge.

Doniphan West came back after the two teams traded possessions and got into the end zone for the first time on a 31-yard touchdown pass from Trent Spiker to Cooper Jensen.

After another trade of possessions Onaga took the lead just before halftime going on a 9-play, 66-yard drive that took only two minutes and resulted in a 31-yard strike from Fisher to Caleb Dern.

Onaga seemed to take control out of halftime jumping out to a 22-8 lead on a 23-yard touchdown run from Fisher, but the Mustangs made sure they wouldn’t go down quietly on their homecoming.

Late in the third quarter Spiker threw his second touchdown pass of the game on a 14-yard strike to Carter Jensen and then with just under five minutes left in the fourth quarter Spiker ran it in from a yard out to complete the comeback.

Both teams had chances to win in regulation, but four combined fumbles in the fourth quarter sent the game to overtime.

In the first overtime period both teams scored quickly, and each got their two-point tries with the Buffloes scoring on a 10-yard run by Fisher and the Mustangs a 6-yard run from Spiker.

It was a similar story in the second story with both teams scoring touchdowns but failing on two-point tries as Onaga their touchdown on a 5-yard run by Ethan Powell and the Mustangs on a 4-yard run from Spiker.

In the third extra period Doniphan West started with the football and couldn’t get anything going turning the ball over on downs giving the Buffaloes a chance to win the game

Onaga didn’t make it easy on themselves getting hit with a false start penalty but on third down Ethan Powell put an end to the game with a 13-yard touchdown run by sneaking just inside the left front pylon.

Powell was a stud all night long rushing 34 times for 193 yards and two touchdowns, both of which came in the overtime period. Zac Fisher was also great for the Buffaloes as the freshman quarterback rushed for over 120 yards and three touchdowns while throwing another.

Doniphan West was led by Trent Spiker who completed 13-of-18 passes for 177 yards and two touchdowns while he also ran for over 50 yards and three scores.

Onaga improves to 2-2 with the win and will have Hanover at home next week while Doniphan West (0-4) will look to pick up win No. 1 on the road at Linn who forfeited their week four contest.