San Diego rallies for 30-27 victory over St. Thomas-Minnesota

SAN DIEGO — Emiliano Salazar kicked two field goals in the final 1:52 and San Diego scored the final 20 points to beat St. Thomas-Minnesota 30-27 in a Pioneer Football League opener on Saturday.

Salazar kicked a 34-yard field goal with 1:52 left to tie it 27-all.

Tre Moore sacked the Tommies' Andy Peters for a 16-yard loss on first down, and Jake Higgins recovered a Peters fumble after a 6-yard run on the next play to give San Diego (3-2, 1-0) the ball on the Tommies’ 12-yard line with 53 seconds to go. Salazar’s third field goal — a 25-yarder — on the final play completed the rally.

Ben Hoiland's 40-yard field goal was the lone score in the first quarter as St. Thomas (2-2, 0-1) grabbed the lead.

Salazar tied it with a 42-yarder four minutes into the second, but Peters answered with 12- and 51-yard touchdown passes to Quentin Cobb-Butler in the final 6:15 to give the Tommies a 17-3 lead at halftime.

Dom Nankil connected with Josh Heverly for a 41-yard touchdown to begin the third quarter, but Peters followed with a 53-yard touchdown run and Hoiland kicked a 44-yard field goal for a 27-10 lead..

Criter had a 12-yard touchdown run for San Diego and Nankil fired a 54-yard scoring strike to Cole Monach with 7 seconds left to cut it to 27-24 heading to the final quarter.

Nankil totaled 265 yards on 11-for-16 passing. Heverly had five receptions for 149 yards and Monach finished with 117 on nine catches. Criter carried 28 times for 120 yards.

Peters had 216 yards on 14-for-26 passing. Cobb-Butler had six receptions for 132 yards.