The 22nd ranked Missouri Western football team snapped a two game losing streak defeating the 15th ranked Washburn Ichabods 34-31 in Yager Stadium at Moore Bowl. The Griffons survied a frantic comeback attempt by the Ichabods as they scored 14 points in the final two minutes. Michael Jordan’s recovery on an onside kick attempt with 28 second to go seal the Griffons victory helping them improve to 8-2 overal land 7-2 in MIAA play.
The Griffons opened up the scoring in the first quarter when Travis Partridge connected on a two yard pass to Derek Libby capping an eight play 80 yard drive. The Ichabods responded on the next possession going 68 yards on seven plays which was capped by a Joel Piper 18 yard pass to DaJuan Beard tieing the score at seven with 14:52 to play in the second quarter.
Missouri Western took control the rest of the half scoring the final ten points. Raphael Spencer scored his first touchdown of the game with 10:55 to play capping a nine play 75 yard drive giving the Griffons a 14-7 lead. MWSU scored against when John Schmiemeier connected on a 43 yard field goal with 2:12 left in the half giving the Griffons the 17-7 halftime lead.
In the second half the Ichabods cut the Griffon led to 17-10 when Justin Linn connected on a 28 yard field goal with 9:33 to play in the third. The Griffons responded once again when Partrdige rushed in from one yard out giving the Griffons the 24-10 lead with 4:48 to play in the third.
The score stayed that way until late in the fourth when Schmiemeier connected on his second field goal of the game this time from 36 yards out giving MWSU the 27-10 lead with 4:19 to play. The rest of the game would be a little crazy as the Ichabods would scored 21 points with Piper connecting to Tore’ Hurst from five yards out, Beard from nine yards and Mark Fancher from 27 yards out. Fortunate for the Griffons they recovered all three on-side kick attempts and got a 47 yard rushing touchdown from Spencer giving them the victory.
The Griffons finished with 452 total yards with 319 coming on the ground. Spencer rushed for 193 on 27 carries while Partridge rushed for 77 on 16 carries. Dominic Thomas finished with 37 yards. In the air Partridge connected on 12-of-20 passes for 133 yards with Stephon Weaver catching four passes for 55 yards. On defense Stephen Juergens led the way with eight tackles while Yomi Alli and Sam Brown each finished with six. Marc Harrison had the Griffons lone interception.
The Ichabods finished with 416 yards with 343 coming through the air. Beard had 13 catches for 182 yards while Piper connected on 26-of-39 passes for 343 yards and four touchdowns. Shay Wooten led the defense with 12 tackles.
The Griffons close out the regular season next weekend on Saturday, November 16 on senior day against #2 Northwest Missouri State University. As of now the game is scheduled to kick at 1:30 pm in Spratt Stadium.
— MWSU Sports Information —