Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop’s Alex Johnson (51) tackles Central Raiders’ Austin Dent during a prep football game in Winthrop on Wednesday night. The Raiders won 49-28 in three overtimes.

WINTHROP — After missing his lone field goal try late in the fourth quarter, Central Raiders kicker Andrew Eggers made up for it in a third overtime to lift the Raiders to a 49-48 win over Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop on Wednesday night in a Mid Southeast District, West Subdistrict football game.

After GFW running back Justin Messner scored his fourth touchdown run of the night, and his third in overtime periods, the Thunderbirds were stopped short of the line on a 2-point try to lead 48-42 in the third overtime period.

Raiders quarterback Jack Strickfaden then took one pass to find receiver Austin Dent for a 10-yard TD to tie the game, setting Eggers up for the PAT. A GFW timeout didn’t shake Eggers as he connected on the PAT to give Central the win and help the Raiders finish their regular season unbeaten.

Eggers did finish a perfect 5 of 5 on his PATs for the night, but his 33-yard field goal attempt late in the fourth quarter went wide left, giving the Thunderbirds the ball back with less than two minutes to play and one timeout from their own 20.

Messner broke off a nice 26-yard run to get the Thunderbirds near midfield, but after using their one timeout left, the Thunderbirds ended regulation with quarterback Dominic Rose getting sacked.

In regulation, Garret Schmidt rushed for two TDs for the Thunderbirds, while Swenson had one TD run.

Swenson got the Thunderbirds on the board first on the second GFW play of the night with a 61-yard TD run. A 2-point catch by Easton Taylor gave the Thunderbirds an 8-0 lead with 9:14 left in the first quarter.

Strickfaden connected with Austin Dent on a 22-yard TD pass the next drive, and the PAT made it 8-7 with 6:21 to play in the opening quarter.

NYA then took a 14-8 lead near the end of the first quarter after a 13-yard TD run by Hunter Sudheimer. Rose didn’t throw the ball much in the game but completed two big passes midway through the second quarter, one a 14-yarder to Ashton Buboltz and the second to Schmidt for 45 yards to set GFW up at the Raiders 1-yard line. Messner then pushed his way into the end zone to tie the game.

GFW took a 20-14 lead with 1:56 left in the half on a 2-yard TD run by Schmidt. Rose picked off a deep pass by Strickfaden late in the half to help GFW carry the 20-14 lead into halftime.

Strickfaden found Brayden Dent on a 6-yard TD pass in the third quarter and the Raiders led 21-20 after the PAT.

Late in the third and backed up deep in their own territory, Swenson appeared to have broken loose for an 89-yard TD run. A block in the back penalty was called, however, negating half of the run.

Despite calls to pick the flag up, the call stood and GFW was forced to continue working towards the end zone. Swenson didn’t let the penalty bother him as he broke off another solid run of 27 yards. A few players later, Schmidt found the end zone again on a 1-yard TD run and then a 2-point run to give GFW a 28-21 lead.

Strickfaden completed a deep pass to Brayden Dent down the sideline for 38 yards the next Central drive and Lucas Conser hauled in a 6-yard catch to help the Raiders tie it up moments later after the PAT.

It was the final regular season game for both teams, but it felt a lot like an early playoff game. The two teams won’t see each other in the playoffs, however, as GFW will prep for the Section 2A playoffs and Central the Section 4AA playoffs.

The Central Raiders of Norwood Young America finished their regular season 8-0 and will be the No. 2 seed in their section behind also-unbeaten St. Agnes. Section 4AA playoff seedings are determined by QRF.

Mayer Lutheran finished the regular season 5-3 overall and 3-1 in Section 2A, while GFW finished its regular season 6-2 overall and 2-1 in the section, an identical record of 2A’s Lester Prairie.

Section 2A playoff seedings will be determined Thursday morning, while playoffs begin Tuesday.