David Hasselhoff made quite a few life-saving rescues during his days as a lifeguard on “Baywatch.” Sunday night, the intramural football team bearing the actor’s last name almost lost its own life in the first round playoffs before a last-minute rescue by Tom Durant.

Team Hasselhoff trailed Papa John and the St. Lunatics 20-19 with only 45 seconds remaining in the playoff game and had to drive 65 yards to get the game-winning score.

On the first play of “The Drive,” Hasselhoff quarterback Eric Theado launched a deep ball to Durant, who had beaten defenders down the right sideline to haul in a 55-yard pass, before getting his flag pulled at the Lunatics’ 10-yard line.

“They couldn’t keep up with me. It was men among boys out there,” said Durant, who caught the game-winning touchdown pass from Theado just two plays after pulling in the bomb. “They tried to drop back but they just had inferior coverage, inferior athletes. It was really just a matter of time until we scored.”

Although not all of Durant’s teammates agreed with those brazen statements, the star receiver continued boasting after his team secured the victory.

“I don’t think we played near our capabilities, probably only about 10 percent of the level we can play,” Durant said. “And they were playing way above their heads – that’s the only reason it was close.”

To start the game, it didn’t appear as if the final outcome would be close at all. Hasselhoff opened with a fury, quickly scoring three touchdowns in the first half to build a 19-0 lead.

Theado threw one touchdown apiece to Tom Litzinger, John Henderson and Durant in opening up the large margin.

But the Lunatics were not about to give up. Quarterback Kyle Ford led a stirring comeback, starting with a last-second touchdown pass to Brandon Casrel just before halftime.

In the second half, Ford led his team down the field twice and managed to punch it in both times, throwing one TD pass to Jeremy Cervenec and one to Daniel Bozich, giving the Lunatics a 20-19 lead – Hasselhoff converted only one extra point opportunity, while the Lunatics converted two of three – with less than a minute to play.

After putting his team up by one point with only a small amount of time left, Ford figured his team would be the one moving on to the second round.

“I didn’t necessarily think the game was over, but I certainly didn’t think they’d be able to drive the 80 yards or whatever it was that easily,” Ford said. “I’m not quite sure what happened. We had the safety back and we also had a man covering him (Durant), but he just beat them both deep. That’s pretty much it.”

Despite bowing out in the first round, Papa John and the St. Lunatics are not done with Ohio State intramural sports just yet.

“This is our first year together,” Ford said. “We’ll be back, definitely, looking to win some tournaments down the road.”

It is quite a different story for Hasselhoff, whose members have been together for four years now, but never tasted much victory when it counts.

“We’d hadn’t won a playoff game for three straight years,” Litzinger said. “We would always get beat in the first round or forget to show up or something. This is a new experience for us.”

Perhaps the main reason for the success after so many years is because of superior athletes – as Durant would have you believe – or perhaps it is simply because of the team’s continued admiration of David Hasselhoff, who worked hard for a long time before hitting it big on “Baywatch.”

“We’d like to thank David for some inspiration,” Litzinger said. “We’re trying to support Dave; he’s going through a rough time right now and we want him to know that some people really support his work. The Germans used to be his biggest backer, but recently they’ve been lacking a little, so we’re picking up the slack.”