MOORHEAD, Minn. — Senior receiver Adam Jiskra's 24-yard touchdown reception with 1:20 left was the game winner as the Minnesota State University Moorhead football team edged Augustana, 35-34 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action Saturday at Scheels Field at Nemzek Stadium.

MSUM (3-0, 3-0 NSIC) is 3-0 for the first time since 1987 while Augustana fell to 2-1 overall and in the league. It is the first Dragon win over the Vikings in four meetings.

"It's exciting to have the program be 3-0 and be in a position we haven't been in almost 30 years," MSUM head coach Steve Laqua said. "I was proud of how the players played. Now we have to continue to move the program forward and keep getting better."

MSUM's defense intercepted Augustana quarterback Trey Heid four times, including a crucial one by redshirt freshman safety Michael Strand in the final half minute to end a Viking threat.

Sophomore quarterback Demetrius Carr, starting in place of the injured Jake Hodge, had a career day in helping MSUM earn the win. He was 25-of-29 passing for a career-high 446 yards and four touchdowns.

Jiskra had six catches for 93 yards and three scores, while senior running back Zayne Medhaug had five catches for 109. Junior receiver Cory Ambrose had four catches for 114 yards while sophomore receiver Damon Gibson had three catches for 64 yards.

"Demetrius did a great job of staying within the offensive system and executing the plan flawlessly," MSUM head coach Steve Laqua said.  "He did a good job of spreading the football around and our receivers did a lot of great things after the catch."

Strand had two interceptions to lead the defense while junior safety Jesse Beilke and senior cornerback Chris Binford had one each. Junior linebacker Aaron Bohl led MSUM with nine tackles with Strand adding eight. Sophomore defensive tackle Jake Busse had 1.5 sacks.

"Any time the defense can create four turnovers, that puts you in tremendous position to win," Laqua said.

MSUM trailed 32-28 after Augustana's Lucas Wainman connected on his third field goal of the day with 4:03 left.  The Dragons took over on their own 30-yard line after the kickoff and were faced with a third-and-16 at their own 25-yard line.

Carr found Jiskra for a crucial 16-yard gain on third down to keep the drive moving. He added two completions to Ambrose for 10 and seven yards to bring the Dragons past midfield. Moments later, Carr — who was 5-for-5 for 69 yards on the winning drive — found Jiskra in the end zone from 24 yards out, giving MSUM a 35-32 lead with 1:20 left.

"I was really proud of how our players battled through the adversity of falling behind," Laqua said. "I thought our offense showed tremendous poise to put that final drive together."

The drama was far from over as Augustana had three timeouts remaining and more than one minute showing on the clock. The Vikings drove down to the Dragon 30-yard line but Bohl tipped a Trey Heid pass, and Strand was there to make the interception to snuff that scoring threat.

The Vikings used their three timeouts after three Dragon run plays. With seven seconds left and a three-point lead, MSUM elected to run the time off the clock and take a safety, which still left them with a one point lead. Gibson ran the seven seconds off the clock and ran out of the end zone with no time left to make the final score 35-34.

MSUM scored quickly, just 2:31 into the game, when Carr hit Jiskra from 25 yards out. With redshirt freshman kicker Joe Tjosvold's extra point, MSUM led 7-0. Augustana added a field goal to make it 7-3 later in the quarter, but the Dragons answered again when Jiskra caught a 4-yard pass from Carr to push the lead to 14-3.

The Dragon advantage grew to 21-3 in the second when freshman running back Herman Gray scored his first career collegiate touchdown from one yard out to cap off a four-play, 80-yard scoring march.

The Vikings added a touchdown later in the quarter to climb within 21-10, which was the halftime score.

The momentum turned in the third quarter, however, thanks to a pair of Dragon turnovers and a safety. The Vikings scored MSUM 19-7 in the third to take a 29-28 lead.

Augustana moved the ball down to the Dragon 1-yard line with a chance to go up by at least seven points, but a crucial tackle for loss by senior safety Garrett Shelley pushed the Vikings back to the 7-yard line. The Vikings had to settle for a field goal, making it 32-28 with 4:03 left, setting up MSUM's dramatic game-winning drive.

MSUM outgained the Vikings 521-356, including 446-125 through the air. MSUM was 9-of-13 on third downs while the Vikings were 5-of-12.

The Dragons head south on Sept. 26 to face unbeaten Southwest Minnesota State. Kickoff is at 6 p.m.  in Marshall, Minn.

Steve d'Eustachio Stat of the Game:The Dragons are now 3-0 for the first time in exactly 28 years. The 1987 Dragon outfit won at Concordia 31-22 on Sept. 5, won 23-21 the following week vs. Wisconsin-Stout, then beat Nebraska-Kearney 16-6 on Sept. 19, 1987.