North Mahaska scored twice in a matter of two minutes to upend WACO of Wayland 27-14 in a Class A non-district football game Friday. The win capped a night that was a tale of two halves for the visiting Warhawks.

North Mahaska (3-1, 0-1) was trailing 14-13 with 1 minute 52 seconds to play in the third quarter. North Mahaska junior quarterback Dylan Boyle hit senior Tyler Smith on an 84-yard pass and sophomore Chaz McBirnie added the extra point to give the Warhawks the lead.

On the ensuing kickoff, WACO sophomore Jordan Vradenburg mishandled the kick and trapped WACO at their own six-yard line. After two runs for loss, junior quarterback Nathan Shelman tried to throw the ball away and tossed it into the hands of North Mahaska senior Brett Fisher’s hand at the WACO seven.

Two rushes by junior Joseph Agan moved the ball and scored on his second carry. In a span of 2:35 The Warhawks had grabbed the lead.

North Mahaska led at halftime 13-7, but had not played well. It was a different story in the second half.

“It was a tale of two halves,” said North Mahaska coach Steve Ehret. “We didn’t make the plays in the first half. I challenged them at halftime and they answered.”

North Mahaska was able to keep WACO from gaining much momentum forcing four fumbles, but the killer moment came when Fisher picked off the pass and Agan answered with the final score.

Senior Nolan Ferguson and Agan led the North Mahaska rushing attack with 62 and 81 yards respectively.

WACO (1-3, 1-0) was led in offense by Lucas Robinson, who rushed seven times for 33 yards and caught four passes for 67 yards. Tad Morrow rushed 22 times for 67 yards.

North Mahaska received help from both sides of the ball to propel it to the victory. Fisher led the defensive charge with two solo tackles; six assists and two fumble recoveries and an interception. Ferguson had eight tackle assists and a recovery. Jacob DeCook had nine tackle assists and Jacob McCulley had two solos and six assists. John Sims had two solo tackles and five assists.

“It really was a team effort,” said Ehret. “We got help on special teams, defense and offense. I thought Joseph was tremendous in his first start.”

North Mahaska will host Green Mountain-Garwin in their homecoming contest Friday at New Sharon.

North Mahaska 27, WACO 14

No. Mahaska 7 6 7 7 — 27