BLUFFTON, Ohio -- The game was filled with as much drama and action as a Hollywood movie.

After a heartbreaking overtime loss to Wisconsin-Stevens Point in Albion's opening game of the season that set the scene for their pursuit of their first win of the season, the Britons faced yet another contest that needed extra periods to determine the victor.

The script proved to favor Albion, as they made the 163-mile journey to Bluffton worthwhile with a 45-39 double overtime win over the Beavers despite surrendering a 26-point lead.

Bluffton marched down the field on their opening possession for a 28-yard field goal to take an early lead. Albion did the same on the ensuing possession, as Logan Grwinski notched a 33-yarder to knot the score up at 3-3.

After forcing a punt, Grwinski added a 40-yard kick to make it 6-3 with two seconds left in the first.

The Britons finally got into the end zone on a drive that only took three plays, as Ali Murray floated a short pass in the right flat to Alex Trudell who followed a convoy of excellent blocking downfield from Dilon Denison and Cameron Moore to spring him loose for the 38-yard score to go up, 13-3.

After a 56-yard quarterback rush on the first play of the ensuing drive, Bluffton's pass deep into the end zone two plays later was intercepted by Kamron Jones as he went stride for stride with the receiver and went airborn for his first career pick.

From there, the Albion attack went to work as Olivet transfer Jaylan Johnson scored his first touchdown as a Briton on a 26-yard post route on a third down pass from Murray to earn a 17-point advantage.

The Britons kept rolling after they forced a three-and-out, as it only took four plays for them to score again -- this time on a Trudell 40-yard run up the middle where he left the defenders in the dust to go up, 26-3.

Grwinski tacked on another field goal from 30 yards out with three seconds left in the half that was set up by a 35-yard connection from Murray to Moore for a 29-3 Briton advantage.

Albion's momentum was then halted to a screeching halt in the third quarter, as the script flipped.

Bluffton surprised the Britons with a short, line-drive kickoff that traveled a little over 20 yards and could not be recovered by them. The Beavers used this to their advantage, as they capitalized with a one-yard scoring run six plays later to cut the lead to 19.

Just three plays into the ensuing drive, Murray was stripped while maneuvering in the pocket as Bluffton recovered that set them up in the red zone. It ultimately resulted in a four-yard rushing touchdown five plays later to make it 29-16.

It could not get any worse for Albion when Chris Bowman's punt on the following possession hit one of his upbacks driven back by a Beaver that deflected off the upback and out of the end zone which resulted in a safety.

Getting the ball back, Bluffton marched down the field in eight plays and scored on a 39-yard passing touchdown to bring the contest to a one-possession game, 29-24, where it stood at the conclusion of the third.

An Albion punt led to a 13-yard score for the Beavers on an 81-yard drive early in the fourth where they took their first lead of the game, 32-29.

Two drives later, Jones picked off his second pass with 5:22 remaining in regulation to set up a potential game-winning drive for the Britons.

As Albion drove to the Beavers' 14-yard line, Murray was picked off in the end zone on a tipped pass that hit two players to snuff out the threat.

Using all three of its time outs on Bluffton's drive, the Briton defense held strong and forced a punt that traveled just 29 yards with just over a minute left.

Capitalizing on the stellar field position, Murray engineered a 27-yard drive highlighted by a 23-yard reception by Trudell to set up Grwinski to kick his fourth field goal of the afternoon, this time a 29-yarder with six second left to knot the game at 32-32 and force overtime.

The Britons had the ball to begin the first overtime, which resulted in a one-yard Trudell rushing touchdown that was his third consecutive carry of the drive.

Bluffton matched, as they recorded a one-yard scoring run of their own to make it 39-39.

Flipping possessions for the second overtime, the Briton defense came up big and sacked Bluffton's quarterback on back-to-back plays on third and fourth down to turn the ball over back to Albion.

The main act Trudell got his curtain call, as he was given the ball on the final three carries of the game-winning drive, the last of which resulted in a 13-yard rush that sealed the game for the Britons.

Trudell finished the game with another 100-yard rushing performance, as he notched 143 on 21 carries and three scores while adding four catches for 67 yards and a touchdown.

Murray was 21-for-38 for 280 yards and two touchdowns, while Moore led the team in receptions (7) and receiving yards (75).

Defensively, four Britons notched seven tackles, while Alex Olenik recorded six, including two sacks. Adam Mills also recorded two tackles for a loss.

Up Next
The act continues for the Britons as they face Rose-Hulman in their first home game of the season on Saturday, September 20 at noon. It is their final non-conference showdown before they face Trine in their MIAA opener the following week.