To call this a Hollywood ending would not do it justice.  Hollywood would never believe this finish.

After trailing by as many as 14 points late in the fourth quarter, the Denison Big Red mounted a furious comeback that was capped off by a 29-yard touchdown pass from starting quarterback Max Paulus (Massillon, Ohio/Jackson) to back-up quarterback turned wide receiver Braden Layer (Upper Arlington, Ohio/Upper Arlington) with just 14 seconds remaining.  The passing connection between the former training camp rivals tied the contest at 24-24 and would eventually propel DU to an emotional 31-24 overtime victory over the Terriers from Henry Field.

After the touchdown from Paulus to Layer, Denison took over on offense from the Hiram 25-yard line.  On 1st-and-10 Paulus hit Lucas Graham (Zanesville, Ohio/Zanesville) for a 12 yard gain and on the second play from scrimmage, sophomore Sam Fioroni (Clarkston, Mich./Orchard Lake St. Mary's) took a pitch around the right end for a 13-yard touchdown to give the Big Red their first lead at 31-24.

The Terriers took over on offense from the DU 25-yard line and after a no-gain on first down, quarterback Brendan Rehor, who had thrown for 323 yards up to that point, was nearly intercepted on second down.  On third down Hiram was flagged for a false start, bringing up 3rd and 15 which ended in a dropped pass, resulting in one final play for the Terriers.  On that 4th and 15 from the 30-yard line Rehor threw a Hail Mary into the end zone, looking for Brendon James only to have it fall incomplete, securing the win for the Big Red.

The first half was full of "what might have been" moments for the Denison offense.  DU committed two turnovers in the red zone in the first half and a third would follow late in the third quarter with the Big Red trailing 24-10.

Despite the turnovers, the DU offense was churning up yardage all afternoon.  In the fourth quarter the offense and defense finally fell into sync, but as the seconds continued to tick off the clock in the quarter it was beginning to look as if the Big Red's comeback ship had sailed.

On Play of the Game, Part I, facing a 4th and 1 from the Hiram 33-yard line, Paulus pitched left to Fioroni who scampered 16-yards for the first down.  On the next play Paulus hooked up with Jeff Cochran (Massillon, Ohio/Jackson) on a 12-yard TD pass to cut the Hiram lead to 24-17 with 8:46 left.

On the their previous two possessions, the Terriers failed to gain a first down but this time, with the game in the balance, they started moving the chains.  Rehor converted three third down's on the drive and faced with a fourth, third down, this time with 16 yards to go from the DU 25-yard line, his screen pass to Caleb Jones was snuffed out by Adam Murray (Mayfield Heights, Ohio/NDCL) for a 1-yard gain.  Luke Russo's 42-yard field goal attempt was blocked and the Big Red took over on their own 33-yard line with just 57 seconds left on the clock.

After incompletions on first and second down, Play of the Game, Part II happened when Dan Crawford (Upper Arlington, Ohio/Upper Arlington) caught a pass that was sandwiched with a Hiram personal foul, resulting in a first down that moved the ball into Hiram territory on the 48-yard line.

A 4-yard loss on first down forced DU to burn their final timeout with 31 seconds left but on second down Paulus found his counterpart, Layer, for a 23-yard gain to get the ball to the 29-yard line.  Paulus would spike the ball on first down to stop the clock and on second down, with 14 seconds remaining, he went back to Layer who climbed the ladder for the touchdown.  Senior placekicker Kevin Schneider (Upper Arlington, Ohio/Upper Arlington) drilled the crucial extra-point to force overtime where the Big Red would make quick work of the Terriers.

Paulus' redemption song rang loud and clear with his symphony of clutch throws in the fourth quarter.  The second-year player in just his third career start threw three interceptions but he finished the day 27 of 46 for 355 yards and two touchdown passes.  Layer, who narrowly lost the QB battle to Paulus in the preseason, embodied the word "teamwork" with his fourth quarter heroics at wide receiver.  He ended the day with four receptions for 75 yards.

Not to be overshadowed was sophomore tailback, Fioroni who toted the ball 22 time for a career-high 200 yards on the ground.

Denison's offense out-gained Hiram 545 to 416 but Terrier wide receiver Glen Campbell set new school records for single-game receptions (15) and yards (217).  He also caught two of Rehor's three touchdown passes.

The DU defense was led by safeties Alex Sycher (Columbus, Ohio/New Albany) and Scott Baird (Shelby, Ohio/Shelby) who finished with 11 and 10 tackles, respectively.

Denison (3-0) will hit the road again next Saturday (Sept. 25) when they take on Case Western Reserve at 7 p.m.