Jason Shelley rallies Missouri St. football past Northern Iowa in Missouri Valley action

Jason Shelley ran for two touchdowns then fired a 55-yard scoring strike to Naveon Mitchell with 58 seconds left in the game to lift Missouri State to a 34-27 victory over Northern Iowa in Missouri Valley Football Conference action on Saturday.

Missouri State will finish up the regular season next Saturday at Dixie State University in St. George, Utah (8 p.m. Central) ahead of the Nov. 21 FCS Playoff announcements.

Shelly’s game-winning throw on Saturday came after the Panthers’ Theo Day and Deion McShane teamed up for two late touchdowns to knot the score at 27-27.

Jose Pizano kicked two first-quarter field goals for Missouri State (7-3, 6-2), and Matthew Cook’s second field goal pulled Northern Iowa (5-5, 3-4) even at 6-6 early in the second quarter.

The Bears grabbed a 13-6 halftime lead on Tobias Little’s 1-yard TD run, capping a 12-play, 73-yard drive that took 7 minutes, 33 seconds off the clock.

Missouri State upped its lead to 20-6 on Shelley’s 3-yard TD run early in the third quarter.

Tyler Hoosman ran it in from the 2 to get the Panthers within seven points at quarter’s end.

But Shelley made it a two-score lead with an 8-yard TD run early in the final period before Day hit McShane for an 8-yard score at the 5:11 mark and an 18-yard score with 2:14 remaining.

Shelley completed 22 of 33 passes for 320 yards for the Bears, who managed only 59 yards rushing on 32 carries.

Day was 17 of 30 passing for Northern Iowa for 238 yards with two interceptions. McShane finished with six catches for 86 yards.

The Bears finished with a 5-0 home record in the regular season.