APPLETON, Wis. -- The Lawrence University football team was likely left wondering Saturday what might have been in its homecoming showdown with Beloit College on Ron Roberts Field at the Banta Bowl.
    A wild final play of the first half nearly resulted in a Lawrence touchdown, but Beloit survived that moment before grabbing the momentum and posting a 34-14 Midwest Conference victory.
    With Beloit up 20-14, the Bucs drove to the Lawrence 18-yard line in the final seconds of the first half. Beloit lined up for a 25-yard field goal, but Rafael Cervantes' kick was blocked by Carter Rivers. 
    Jacob Stanley scooped the ball up at the Lawrence 16 and started racing up the near sideline with a phalanx of blockers. Stanley spun away from one defender, nearly stepped out of bounds and was inside the Beloit 10-yard line when he was finally tripped up. He went down just two yards shy of the end zone with no time left on the clock.
    Beloit then took the opening kickoff of the second half and drove down the field for a touchdown with quarterback Jacob Shafer plunging in from a yard out to give the Bucs a 27-14 lead. Lawrence struggled to move the ball as it had in the first half, and Beloit tacked on another score late in the third quarter for the final margin.
    Lawrence quarterback Aidan Williams went 21-of-30 for 249 yards and a touchdown. Alex Lippert was his favorite target with nine catches for 139 yards and a touchdown. 
    Pat Thompson barreled his way to 70 yards on 18 carries and a touchdown to lead Lawrence's ground game.
    Linebacker Jon Pasquarello and safety Kolbe Gelvin both posted double-digit tackle games. Pasquarello piled up 13 tackles, including eight solos, and Gelvin added 11 stops.
    Rivers had a big game with nine tackles and the blocked kick. Stanley finished with eight tackles, and Zekhi Millad had seven stops, including a sack, 2.0 tackles for loss and a fumble recovery.
    Beloit scored on its opening drive of the game, but the Vikings answered immediately. Lawrence drove 72 yards in seven play, and the big play was a 37-yard completion to Jake Spencer to the Beloit five-yard line. Thompson ran it on the next play to tie the game at 7-7.
    The Bucs scored to take a 14-7 lead after one quarter, and Beloit scored early in the second quarter for a 20-7 edge. 
    Lawrence bounced back and took the next possession for a touchdown. Williams hit Lippert for 19 yards to the Beloit 28, but it looked like the drive would stall. Facing third-and-11, Williams found Lippert for 29 yards and a touchdown to trim the lead to 20-14 with 10:19 left in the opening half.
    The teams then traded punts, and Lawrence recovered a Beloit fumble before the wild sequence to end the first half.
    Lawrence is back at home next Saturday when it faces Illinois College in an 11 a.m. kickoff in the Banta Bowl.