CAMBRIA - For 46 minutes Cambria-Friesland controlled the game, but visiting Rio used the frantic final two minutes to put its stamp on a heart-pounding comeback.

Trailing 7-3 late in the fourth quarter, the Vikings stopped the Hilltoppers on a 4th-and-2 play and then marched 63 yards in 1 minute, 38 seconds Friday to stun the Toppers in a 10-7 Trailways Small win.

"I'm just ecstatic right now," said Rio senior quarterback Alex Brewer, who was 5-of-7 passing in orchestrating Rio's game-winning final drive. "Give it to Cambria, they played an unbelievable game. We got our butts kicked pretty much, but our line and our team, we came back when it counted and we did what we had to do to get the victory and that's Rio football."

The dramatics began when, trailing 7-3, Rio elected to punt from its own 26 with 6:15 left in the game.

Cambria-Friesland (0-4, 0-2) took control at it's own 31 and quickly moved the ball inside Rio territory. The Toppers, just looking to kill the clock, rushed three straight times and faced a 4th-and-2 at the Vikings' 35-yard line.

Cambria-Friesland coach Jim Bylsma elected to run for the first down but running back Wayne Bontrager was thrown for a 3-yard loss that gave Rio the ball at its own 37 with 1:38 to go.

"They were able to get penetration on our off tackle, which was the way the play was going," Bylsma said. "That put a little bit of wind into their sails and took a little bit out of ours and you could see we were a little bit flat-footed right after that."

The Vikings (4-0, 2-0) - who have pounded opponents this season on the ground save for this game - went straight to the passing game.

Brewer found senior running back Matt Selje in the flat for a 14 yard gain before Danny Strause rumbled up the middle for 10 yards, giving Rio 1st-and-10 at the Toppers 39. After a short run and a timeout, Brewer flung a screen pass to Strause in the flat but Strause was stopped for a three-yard loss and it seemed momentarily that might have ended Rio's chances at scoring.

Facing 3rd-and-10, Brewer tossed another screen, this time to Selje, who evaded tacklers and broke a handful of tackles for a key 27-yard gain.

Two incompletions later Brewer hit Brendan O'Malley for an 18-yard reception and then found Selje on a screen pass that gave Rio the ball on C-F's 3-yard line with 12 seconds to go.

Cambria-Friesland called timeout to prepare its defense but on the next play Selje took a handoff straight up the middle and plunged into the end zone for the winning score.

"We had run the 2 minute (drill) the last three weeks just in case we needed it and to their credit, the boys, they executed," said Rio coach Dan Strause, whose team accumulated just 92 yards of offense heading into the final drive. "It's not often that you get whipped on both sides of the ball for 45 minutes and have a chance at the end. They've (Rio players) got some guts, they've got some fight in them."

Neither team found much rhythm offensively in the first half, as both had less than 80 yards total offense.

Cambria-Friesland opened scoring on its first drive of the second half when it put together a seven-play, 62-yard scoring drive.

The drive ended when, on 4th-and-11, Toppers quarterback Mitchell Katze found Sam Wiersma streaking up the middle of the field for a 19-yard scoring strike.

Rio cut the score to 7-3 when Ben Gonzalez booted a 26-yard field goal late in the third.

Even after the score things looked bleak for a Vikings team that struggled to find any offensive rhythm.

That was until the final drive, when Cambria-Friesland wasn't able to keep up its stellar effort.

Rio finished the game with season lows in rushing yards (94) and total offense (155). The Hilltoppers finished with 229 total yards, including a game-high 92 rushing yards from Bontrager.

"If you'd a told me this team was gonna beat us passing, I'd have told you you were nuts," Bylsma said. "But in the end, you've got to give them credit. They kept their composure and marched it down on us."

RIO 10, CAMBRIA-FRIESLAND 7

Rio .................................. 0 0 3 7 - 10

Cambria-Friesland ........... 0 0 7 0 - 7

CF - Wiersma 19 pass from Katze (Klatt kick), 3rd 09:15

RIO - FG Gonzalez 26, 3rd 02:20

RIO - Selje 3 run (Gonzalez kick), 4th 00:09

TEAM STATISTICS

First downs - R 12, CF11. Total Net Yards - R 155, CF 229. Rushes-yards - R 42-94, CF 40-171. Passing Yards - R 61, CF 58. Comp-Att-Int - R 9-14-0, CF 4-9-1. Penalties-Yards - R 6-30, CF 6-55. Fumbles-Lost - R 1-0, CF 2-2

INDIVIDUAL STATS

Rushing: R - Selje 19-78. CF - Bontrager 20-92. Passing: R - Brewer 9-13-0-61. CF - Katze 4-9-1-58. Receiving: R - Selje 6-31. CF - Wiersma 1-19.

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