Trailing 14-0 with the reserves in the game and just over one minute showing on the clock, Grand Forks Red River was playing out the string of another close loss Friday at the Bismarck Community Bowl.

Then, out of a cloudless sky, lightning struck twice and the Roughriders, who were physically whipped all night by the Century Patriots, rode away with a shocking 15-14 win.

In less than a minute, Red River blocked a punt and returned it for a score, recovered an onside kick, put togther an unlikely scoring drive and converted a two-point conversion.

"Basically the game was over, but we got a stop with the two (subs) in there," Red River coach Vyrn Muir said. "We got the stop and the block. It was just things that happened that you wouldn't think would happen."

Chris Dingle's 25-yard touchdown catch from Sam King with :18 left and his PAT reception were the game-winning points for the Roughriders, who scored twice in 47 seconds.

The first score was on a blocked punt and return for a touchdown by Wyatt Meyer with 1:05 to play.

Then the Roughriders recovered an onside kicked and turned things over to Dingle.

"We've never been a major team, you know," said Dingle, who had four catches for 44 yards on the winning drive. "Everyone stomps on us. We had to prove ourselves, going for two is what we had to do."

They really had nothing to lose after being kicked around for the first 47 minutes. The only thing Century didn't do was put more points on the board, and that was as much the Patriots' doing as anything the Roughriders did.

That's why, with the game on the line, Muir went for two instead of the tie.

"In this game where they were kicking our butts, why go into overtime," Muir said. "And we've been in this situation before."

Century outgained Red River 234-39 on the ground and 148-144 through the air. It had 22 first downs to 10 for the Roughriders.

Quarterback Hunter Johnson ran 12 times for 93 yards and completed 11 of 19 passes for 148 yards. But he threw an interception in the end zone on first-and-goal from the 4-yard line in the first quarter.

"We had way too many blown chances and made way too many mistakes," said stunned Century coach Ron Wingenbach. "We probably didn't deserve to win. If we get the punt off and get field position, it's probably over."

But Meyer, playing in a borrowed helmet after leaving his at home, started the comeback by racing in untouched for the block and running to the end zone for the score. Aaron Nash's PAT made it 14-7.

After Zach Solheim recovered the onside kick, King and Dingle marched the Roughriders on a series of short passes.

Century piled up 244 yards of total offense in the first half but had only seven points to show for it.

On fourth-and-8, Jack Bietz went high to haul in a 14-yard touchdown pass from Hunter Johnson with 9:39 left in the first half. The play capped a eight-play, 60-yard drive.

Another Century drive ended at the Red River 9-yard line.

Red River's comeback was even more amazing considering two of its key offensive players were in the hospital as the game ended.

Running back Ben Prout suffered a dislocated wrist and was taken away following his second carry of the half with 11:09 left in the third quarter.

On the next play, receiver Elby Pope suffered a back injury trying to make a catch near the sideline. He was placed on a backboard and removed by ambulance with 10:59 left in the quarter.

The two had accounted for 81 of the Roughriders' 104 yards, Prout with 40 rushing yards and Pope with 41 receiving.

Muir called Pope's injury a "serious spine injury" following the game.

Century appeared to lock things up with 3:59 remaining when Bruce Govig scored on a 3-yard run. Goving had been the workhorse on a 15-play, 76-yard drive that chewed up 7:05 of the clock. He had 57 of his 63 yards on the drive.

The teams turned things over to non-starters on their next series, leading to Meyer's punt block and the Roughriders' winning drive.

"We couldn't keep them inbounds," Wingenbach said of the final series. "They were out of timeouts, all we had to do was tackle them inbounds."

Dingle said it was a case of taking what Century gave. "They were playing off me a little bit and coach kept calling the play. Catch and get out of bounds was all I was supposed to do."

King, who was 10-for-25 for 144 yards, kept completing short out patterns, mostly to Dingle, who kept getting out of bounds.

On first-and-10 from the 25, King lofted the ball to Dingle on a corner route to get within 14-13.

Dingle ran a down-the-line pattern in the end zone and King put the ball on the money to complete the comeback.

"We were just taking simple steps to get down the field and when we got that shot we made the play," Muir said.

Red River 0 0 0 15 - 15

Century 0 7 0 7 - 14

Individual Scoring

First Quarter

No Scoring.

Second Quarter

Century: Jack Bietz 14 pass from Hunter Johnson (Johnson kick), 9:39.

Third Quarter

No Scoring.

Fourth Quarter

Century: Bruce Goving 3 run (Johnson kick), 3:59.

Red River: Wyatt Meyer 30 blocked punt return (Aaron Nash kick), 1:05.

Red River: Chris Dingle 25 pass from Sam King (Dingle pass from King), :18.

Team Statistics

Red River Century

First downs 10 23

Rushes-yards 28-39 46-234

Yards passing 144 148

Passing 10-25-1 11-19-1

Fumbles-lost 0-0 2-2

Punts-average 6-41.0 2-38.0

Penalties-yards 4-32 4-27

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Red River - Sam King 5-(minus 15), Ben Prout 13-40, Tyler Gefroh 2-0, Ryan Todhunter 1-1, Chris Waind 7-13. Century - Hunter Johnson 12-93, Jack Bietz 1-4, Bruce Govig 14-63, Cody Willits 12-60, Seth Erickson 4-10, Tony Navarro 1-2, Joseph Leard 2-2.

Passing: Red River - King 10-25-1, 144 yards. Century - Johnson 11-19-1, 148 yards.

Receiving: Red River - Matt Lee 2-39, Elby Pope 2-41, Chris Dingle 5-61, Waind 1-3. Century - Garret Jacobs 3-54, Jack Bietz 3-34, Govig 1-9, Jake Glass 1-9, Kyle Knutson 2-31, Brandon Gates 1-11.

Records: Red River 1-1, Century 1-1.