ST. JOSEPH – It was an impressive rebound for the Missouri Western football team as the Griffons ran through Missouri Southern for a 45-7 home opening win Thursday night at Craig Field at Spratt Memorial Stadium to earn Matt Williamson his first win as head football coach.
After being held to 209 yards last week in a 14-3 loss at Nebraska-Kearney, the Western offense exploded for 468 yards against Missouri Southern. The defense continued its stellar play, holding Missouri Southern to one touchdown and 282 yards, just 3.5 yards per play. The defense also forced four Lion turnovers, two interceptions and two fumbles.
OFFENSIVE EFFICIENCY
Only one of Missouri Western’s seven scoring drives went more than five plays. That was an eight-play, 48-yard drive in the third quarter that resulted in a Tyler Basch 28-yard field goal. The Griffons’ first three scoring drives were three plays or less. No scoring drive took more than 3:04 off the clock. Don Marino and Corey Bertini weren’t asked to do much through the air, replacing the injured Skyer Windmiller, but the quarterback duo combined to go 10-for-15 with three touchdown passes and 157 yards. Joshua Caldwell carried the ball just 14 times, but scored on three of those carries and averaged more than ten yards per carry to end the game with 142 yards rushing.
RUN, RUN, RUN
The Griffons had 47 official carries for 311 yards. Bertini netted 52 yards on 10 carries. Marino had 43 yards on seven carries. It was the team’s highest rushing total since going for 329 against Nebraska-Kearney on opening night of the 2016 season. Caldwell had TD carries of nine, 31 and 27 yards.
QBs DELIVER
Marino finished 6-of-9 through the air for 110 yards and two touchdowns in his Griffon debut. He connected with Austin Burau for a 57-yard touchdown in the third quarter and threw a six-yard fade to Nino Johnson for a score in the fourth quarter. Bertini threw one touchdown pass and was 4-of-6 through the air for 47 yards. Bertini got 38 of those yards on his one TD pass to Dijuan Ussery in the first quarter.
DEFENSE SOLID AGAIN
The offense’s efficiency meant Missouri Southern ran 19 more plays (81), than the Griffons, but they gained 186 fewer yards than Missouri Western. Southern was 4-of-17 on third down and only made it into the red zone once, resulting in the Lions’ only score of the night. Along with the four turnovers, MWSU also had four sacks. Through eight quarters, the defense has given up 10 points and limited opponents to 276 yards per game. Jabbar Miles had a team-high eight tackles with an interception. Jonathan Owens had the other interception to go with his seven tackles. Kyle Dumler had seven tackles, with 2.5 for loss and 1.5 sacks.
UP NEXT
Missouri Western (1-1) travels to No. 13 Central Missouri (1-1) on Sept. 16. Central Missouri lost 35-6 at Fort Hays State Thursday night.
— MWSU Athletics —