CAMERON, Mo. — Staring up at a troubling deficit after his costly interception, Zach Way never wavered in his belief.

After picking himself up from the turf, the Cameron quarterback lifted his team and helped engineer a remarkable comeback effort Friday night at Dave Goodwin Field. Down by three scores, the Dragons slowly rediscovered their groove and blew past Lafayette in a thrilling, come-from-behind victory, 24-21.

Cameron (5-1, 2-1 Midland Empire Conference) scored the final 24 points of the game — all in the final 14 minutes.

“I’ve got faith in my teammates,” Way said. “I knew we could do it.”

Few of the assembled crowd probably felt the same after Way threw an interception in the third quarter that Fighting Irish senior Ike McDonald returned 65 yards for Lafayette’s third score. The touchdown gave the Irish a 21-0 lead after the team had dominated all of the first half in all phases.

Behind a ferocious effort up front, Lafayette (3-3, 2-3 MEC) halted the Dragons’ big-play rushing attack and limited standout running back Lincoln Greene to just 16 yards on eight carries. Irish quarterback DJ Adams also showed marked improvement by throwing a pair of scores in the first half to McDonald and tight end Ian Toalson.

Even with several opportunities to do so, the Irish couldn’t put the game out of reach. By the time Greene scampered into the end zone late in the third quarter — capping a 7-minute drive for Cameron’s first score — the momentum already had started to shift.

“At 21-8, you’ve got the opportunity to really, really step on their throats, and we didn’t do that,” Lafayette coach Paul Woolard said. “I think that took the wind out of our sails.”

Two drives later, the Irish forced a turnover on downs but immediately turned the ball back over on their third lost fumble of the game.

Cameron responded with a 2-minute drive that finished with another score when Way tossed up a fourth-down prayer that ended up in the hands of Alex Tharp for a 25-yard touchdown strike.

“I felt all that we had to do was get our offense rolling, and that’s what they did,” Cameron coach Dave Rash said. “It took our guys to keep fighting and not to give up. We had some good thing happen, and they got on a roll.

“I’m real proud of them. It’s a great group of guys.”

By the time the Dragons got the ball back with a short field, the conclusion seemed forgone. It took only three plays — all runs — and less than a minute for Cameron to punch it into the end zone on a 10-yard rush by Greene — his second of the game.

Lafayette got one more possession but didn’t have the swagger they possessed just a quarter before and didn’t generate a first down. After a solid first half, Adams completed only one pass after halftime and lost a key fumble that opened the door. He still finished with 89 yards passing and two scoring strikes.

McDonald finished as Lafayette’s leading rusher with 56 yards on 10 carries but also coughed up the ball inside the 5-yard line early in the game. After gaining seven first downs before halftime, Lafayette didn’t move the chains once in the second half.

“The turnovers still killed us. We had four, and that’s way too many,” Woolard said. “We’ve got to cut that out before anything.”

For the second straight week, Greene was held to less than 100 yards, but he still managed 90 carries on 28 carries after a slow start. Way and fullback Sawyer Marlay combined for 46 yards for Cameron’s ground attack, which finally kicked into gear in the fourth quarter. Way also completed 50 percent of his passes for 83 yards and a score.