MONTICELLO, Ark. - Northwestern Oklahoma State not only has a flair for the dramatic, they seem to be developing a taste for victory, too.

Edgar Colmenares booted a game-winning, 30-yard field goal (watch the video) with less than a second on the clock as the Rangers beat Arkansas-Monticello 38-35. The win was their fourth-straight to close out the 2012 season. Three of those have come by a touchdown or less.

"We stepped up and answered a challenge – especially in the second half," said Northwestern head coach Alan Hall (watch postgame interview) "I thought in the last two quarters we really played inspired football."

Colmenares' kick came at the close of a perfectly-executed final scoring drive. After Monticello tied the game at 35 with 4:19 remaining, the Rangers put together a 13-play, 66-yard march.

Quarterback Kyle Jech hit Taylor Hooper for 11 yards to move the ball to midfield. Running back Zachry Doyle – playing in place of an injured Jared Jackson – squirted through the left side for 17 yards. With just over a minute remaining, Jech found Avery Morris for nine more at the Monticello 25, as the Rangers zeroed in on a game-clinching field goal try. Javari Liggins rushed twice more for 17 yards, and when the dust cleared, Northwestern was inside the Monticello 15 with under 10 seconds to go.

The Boll Weevils called a time-out, hoping to ice Colmenares, but it didn't seem to phase him. The junior kicker sent the ball straight through the uprights and sent the Ranger sideline into an uproar.

Northwestern (4-7) dropped its first seven games to open the season but now has its longest winning since 2010. Better yet, they'll carry the streak and momentum into 2013.

"It means a lot – especially in recruiting," Hall said. The kids will have confidence and believe in what they're doing and what we're doing. We can push them that much harder in the off-season."

With the senior running back Jackson out of the lineup, Liggins and Doyle responded with outstanding efforts. Liggins rushed for 185 yards – 169 of them in the second half – on 28 carries. Doyle was equally  brilliant, tallying 112 yards on 15 attempts.

"It's been that way all year long," Hall said. "One guy goes down, someone else seems to step up. A few weeks ago it was Avery Morris. Tonight it was Liggins and Doyle."

Jech completed 15 of 33 passes for 169 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Avery Morris caught four passes for 24 yards, the last of which resulted in a four-yard touchdown and a 35-28 Ranger lead with 6:32 to play. Taylor Hooper logged three catches for 45 yards. Chris Chamberlain (2-50), Cameron Allen (2-28), Jeremiah Carter (2-13), and Doyle (2-9) also caught passes.

Senior linebacker Eric Feemster finished his career with a team-high nine tackles and ended the year with a team-best 84. Freshman Derrick Thompson added a pair of sacks.

The Rangers scored first on their second possession, getting plays from several different sources on a 12-play, 76-yard march. Jech hit Chris Chamberlain for 28 yards to move the ball to the Monticello 14. Doyle capped it with his first career touchdown run.

The freshman Doyle came in with only 23 attempts for the season but was electric, averaging over seven yards per carry.

Monticello was quick to answer. Damon Wicker dialed up Jamal Nixon across the middle, and the Boll Weevils' top receiver took care of the rest, breaking a pair of tackles and winning a diagonal foot-race to the right pylon for a 63-yard score. That tied the game at 7-each with 3:38 to go in the first quarter.

Monticello recovered the ensuing kickoff on a pooch kick to the Ranger 36, but they couldn't capitalize. On the very next play, Chris Ladd stepped in front of Wicker's pass for an interception.

The Boll Weevils regrouped on their next possession, moving 84 yards in nine plays. Nick Williams gained the final chunk with some help from his blockers, who sealed off the left edge. Williams' 26-yard touchdown run made it 14-7 Monticello with 10:19 left in the second quarter.

Northwestern evened the score just over four minutes later with some help from the hosts. After Doyle ripped off back-to-back double-digit gains on the ground, a facemask penalty moved the ball to midfield. Jech scrambled for the chains on a fourth-and-five, as the Rangers moved inside the Monticello 30.

The drive might have stalled there when Jech's pass to left sideline was broken up by Greg Wilson, but Wilson was flagged for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and an automatic first down. The Weevils added a defensive pass interference flag just two plays later, setting up a short touchdown run from Javari Liggins.

Monticello – the GAC's least-penalized football team coming in – committed 7 fouls for 149 yards in the first half and finished the game with 180 yards in penalties.

Monticello went back in front just three minutes before halftime, thanks to a 73-yard kick return by Ivory Washigton. Kicker Kevin Ditch saved a touchdown with a shoestring tackle at the 16, but the Weevils scored soon after on Williams' one-yard run. That sent Monticello into the half up 21-14.

Neither team did much to start the third quarter. Liggins changed that in a hurry on Northwestern's third possession, breaking loose on consecutive carries for 16 and 43 yards. The last moved the Rangers to the Monticello 8. Then came perhaps the strangest play of the year.

Jech threw toward the endzone but was intercepted at the goal line by Anthony Turner. Eager to make amends, the Ranger quarterback made a beeline toward the ball carrier and jarred it loose with a big hit. Chamberlain recovered for Northwestern at the seven-yard line and dove across the pylon for the touchdown.

That made it a 21-all game with 6:12 to play in the third quarter.

Monticello went 70 yards in eight plays go back in front, 28-21 at the 3:01 mark of the third.

The Rangers evened the score again with 9:00 left in the fourth quarter. Jech capped an 11-play, 78-yard scoring drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Allen.

The Weevils kept momentum, though, blocking Colmenares' extra point to keep the lead at 28-27.

The Northwestern defense forced a season-high four turnovers. The last was a big one. Donavon Guidry stripped a Monticello ball carrier from behind and Charles Snider recovered to snuff out a Weevil drive at the Monticello 32.

Liggins carried three times for 29 yards to move the ball down the three, and Jech did the rest. He found Morris in the front-left corner of the endzone for the go-ahead score, giving the Rangers their first lead since early in the game.

Jech completed a two-point conversion to Allen in traffic to put the Rangers back on schedule, 35-28, with 6:32 remaining in the game.

Monticello tied it up with another big play to Nixon (who finished with eight catches for 186 yards). His 44-yard screen pass on 2nd-and-20 set up a 12-yard touchdown run by Wicker with 4:19 to play.

Enter the Ranger offense and ultimately Colmenares to win the game.

The victory snaps a 10-game road losing streak for Northwestern and gives them their first road victory over a GAC opponent.