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Saturday, November 24, 1962
Northern Illinois Huskies - DeKalb, Illinois
vs. Adams State Indians - Alamosa, Colorado
Northern Illinois quarterback, George Bork, was the nation's top collegiate passer in 1962. The Huskies threw on nearly 80% of their plays and had racked up almost 2,500 yards and 22 TD's on the way to an 8-1 record.
But Adams State could throw too. Their quarterback, Bob Hidalgo, had passed for over 1,150 yards, so they decided to try and beat the Huskies at their own game.
For more than half of the 13th Mineral Water Bowl that looked like a poor decision. Bork led the Huskies to a 20 point third quarter lead before Hidalgo sparked an amazing fourth quarter comeback and Dave Ochoa kicked the winning field goal with only 1:48 remaining.
Northern Illinois scored twice in the second quarter as Bork and his favorite receiver, Hugh Rohrschneider connected on a 24 yard pass. A few minutes later Jack Dean caught a five yard touchdown pass to take a 12-0 lead. The Huskies defense pressured Hidalgo and kept the Adams State offense off the board.
When Bork hit Richard Bader with a 69 yard bomb early in the third quarter and Rohrschneider caught a 2 point conversion to give the Huskies a 20-0 lead, it looked like the rout was on.
But Hidalgo led the Indians on a quick 8 play drive to make it 20-7 at 6:35 of the third quarter. Then Bork was hit as he was throwing to a wide open receiver and ASC's Ron Porterfield picked off the wobbling ball and returned it to his own 46. It took Hidalgo only five plays to cut the lead to 20-14 as he hit Leon Riddle from five yards out.
The Indians defense began to bother Bork and the NIU running game was ineffective. They couldn't keep the ball long enough for their defense to rest and Adams State was charging. Three times on their 57 yard game tying drive, the Indians converted fourth down plays. Hidalgo's third TD pass came just three minutes into the fourth quarter. Ochoa's PAT attempt for the lead was blocked and the score was tied at twenty.
The ball changed hands four times before ASC managed the game winning drive. A roughness penalty and a 25 yard Hidalgo to Carl Fetters pass moved them to the NIU 27. But Hidalgo was sacked back to the 42 and out of field goal range. On the next play Hidalgo escaped a Huskie defender and threw a seventeen yard strike to the 25.
With the crowd on its feet, Ochoa kicked from the 32 yard line at an angle to the left. "As soon as I kicked it, I had a good feeling." he said after the game. And so did the fans who had seen one of the bowl's most exciting comebacks.
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