Cody Wilson couldn’t have dreamed of such a storybook afternoon.

In his last football game at Haskell Stadium, Wilson caught crucial pass after crucial pass as Haskell Indian Nations University outlasted Peru State, 24-21, in double overtime Saturday afternoon.

“It’ll never leave my mind,” Wilson said after grabbing eight passes for 127 yards. “This has been one of the best days since I’ve been here.”

Wilson, a 6-2, 200-pound wide receiver from Forney, Texas, was one of two HINU senior football players honored at halftime, and the only one who has been on campus for four years.

Strong safety Randy Jackson, the other senior, transferred to HINU last year from Langston University.

Wilson’s most critical catch occurred in the first overtime.

Lagging 21-14, the Indians were still on the 25-yard-line with just one down left. They had to make at least a first down or Peru State would win.

Wilson shrugged off the pressure by catching a slant pass from Kaleb Harris at the four-yard line and carrying the ball into the end zone to force a second OT period.

“We hadn’t run that play the whole game,” Wilson said, “and everything went perfectly.”

HINU coach Eric Brock had suggested the slant pattern with Wilson as the primary target.

“That gave Cody a chance to make a play,” Brock said, “and we thought we’d like to live or die with a guy playing his last game at the stadium.”

Brock also called Wilson’s number late in the fourth quarter when the Fightin’ Indians were behind, 14-7. Wilson responded with catches of 41 and 26 yards in an 80-yard drive that forged a 14-14 deadlock with 4:29 remaining.

“The kid played today like it was his first game,” Brock said of Wilson. “I knew he’d come through if we put him in a position to make plays.”

Wilson’s performance wasn’t a fluke. He ranked second in the Central States Football League with 43 receptions going into this weekend.

In the second OT period, Randy Cozad and Terrill Denny were the prime-time players.

Cozad, a freshman from Anadarko, Okla., booted a 37-yard field goal – only his third this season – to give the Indians a 24-21 lead. Utilized only on long field goal attempts, Cozad had missed five of seven attempts. But he was right-on this time.

“I wasn’t thinking anything. I just went out and did it just like in practice,” Cozad said

Minutes later, Denny initiated a joyous on-field celebration when he stole a first-down halfback pass by the Bobcats’ Mike Mertens in the end zone.

“I had taken a couple of steps up,” said Denny, a junior from Colcord, Okla., “and I saw it was a halfback pass, and I thought it could be trouble.”

Denny raced with his back to the ball, turned around and caught the ball in front of intended receiver Eli Brown.

“It was all because of pressure from (linebacker) John Sullivan,” said Denny, who logged his team-high fifth pass theft. “He put on the rush and the pass floated.”

Several minutes later, following Brock’s short on-the-field debriefing, several Indians put Wilson and Jackson on their shoulders and carried them to the locker room.

Haskell (4-6) will travel to Oklahoma on Saturday to meet Langston.