Dave Riggert – Page 854 – St. Joseph Post Archive

Chiefs hold off Texans, 17-16, to stay unbeaten

Posted on October 20, 2013

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs had their backs to the end zone in the third quarter on Sunday, and the Houston Texans had first-and-goal with an opportunity to take the lead.

Three straight plays went nowhere and the Texans had to settle for a field goal.

It was a virtuoso display by the NFL’s stingiest defense, and a signature stand in a stellar second half.

The Chiefs kept repelling the Houston offense the rest of the way, and the result was a 17-16 victory to extend their perfect start.

”You know as well as I do you win with great defenses. That’s how it rolls,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. ”You can’t be successful like we are without a great defense.”

Nor can you be successful without a guy like Jamaal Charles, who ran for 86 yards and a touchdown, or quarterback Alex Smith, who also had a touchdown scamper.

”It was a physical game,” Charles said, ”the kind of a game this team needs to go far.”

The game was still in doubt even after the Chiefs’ goal-line stand. They had to punt with 1:46 left, but the Texans had no timeouts. Case Keenum threw an incompletion on first down, and then was stripped by linebacker Tamba Hali on the ensuing play.

Derrick Johnson recovered the ball for the Chiefs, and Smith simply kneeled on it from there to run time out. The result was a 7-0 start for Kansas City, trailing only the 9-0 mark put up by the 2003 team for the best in franchise history.

In the Super Bowl era, 31 teams have started 7-0 and all qualified for the playoffs. Fifteen of those 31 clubs advanced to the Super Bowl and nine have won it.

”It’s confidence,” said Hali, who was part of the Chiefs’ two-win team last season. ”Guys believe in what we’re doing. They believe in one another, and that goes a long way.”

Keenum, making his first NFL start in place of the injured Matt Schaub, threw for 271 yards and a touchdown for the Texans.

His performance was overshadowed by a pair of crushing injuries: Running back Arian Foster left in the first quarter with a hamstring injury and did not return, and linebacker Brian Cushing was carted off with a left knee injury in the second half.

”It was very detrimental to us,” said Texans coach Gary Kubiak, whose banged-up team is riding its first five-game skid since Nov. 6-Dec. 11, 2005.

”When they can pin their ears back, they’re very, very difficult,” Kubiak said. ”They came and got us pretty good there late in the game.”

The Texans moved the ball well early on, taking the lead on Randy Bullock’s 48-yard field goal. But the scoring drive proved costly when Foster left for the locker room, and then emerged a short while later in a gray sweatsuit.

”I’m going do everything I can to get healthy and come back and fight,” he said afterward.

The Chiefs took the lead later in the first quarter when Charles pounded into the end zone from a yard out to cap an 82-yard drive. But the Texans, behind Keenum’s unflappable play, retook the lead on a 29-yard touchdown pass to DeAndre Hopkins.

”He did a great job,” Kubiak said of his young quarterback, who beat out T.J. Yates for the starting nod. ”He’s got some things he’s got to understand when they come after him. But he made some great football plays to get his team in position to win.”

Indeed, the Texans still led 10-7 midway through the second quarter. Smith proceeded to guide the Chiefs 97 yards in 15 plays, and his 5-yard draw gave the Chiefs the lead at halftime.

Bullock tacked on two more field goals for Houston, and Ryan Succop hit one for the Chiefs, who came within inches of extending their 17-16 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Tight end Anthony Fasano caught a pass at the goal line and was ruled down, and Reid was unsuccessfully in challenging that it should be a touchdown. Charles was stuffed on the next play, and Smith’s pass to wide open Sean McGrath on fourth down was out of bounds.

It turned out that the missed points didn’t matter.

The Chiefs’ defense made sure of that.

— Associated Press —

Missouri Western soccer gets shutout by Nebraska-Kearney

Posted on October 20, 2013

The Missouri Western soccer team closed out the home portion of the 2013 schedule on Sunday afternoon falling 2-0 against the University of Nebraska-Kearney. The Griffons fell 2-0 falling to 2-11-2 overall and 0-7-1 in MIAA action. The Griffons honored four student-athletes that played their final game in Spratt Stadium. They include Rayelin Garcia, Ashley Juravich, Marissa Nolan and Alexa Adams.

The Griffons opened up the game aggressive as they had a few early opportunities with a couple corner kicks and a free kick from five yards out. Unfortunatly the Griffons did not get goal on their six first half shots. Marissa Nolan led the way with two shots with one on goal.

The Lopers got things going midway through the half scoring on a corner kick. McKinzie Rieber took the corner usnig the far post to guide it in the back of the net. the Lopers took a 2-0 lead in the 43rd minutes when Lauren Hoeft put a header in the back of the net off an assist from Meaghan Pasbrig.

UNK had seven shots with five on goal. Rieber took two shots with both being on goal. Katelin Mielke had three saves while Sarah Lyle had three saves for the Griffons.

The second half was a slow period as the Lopers had seven shots to the Griffons two. The both teams had two shots on goal in the frame.

Overall the Griffons had eight shots with five on goal while the Lopers had 14 shots with seven on goal.

Lyle finished with five saves while while both teams had three corner kicks and five saves. The Lopers improve to 6-8-2 overall and 3-4-2 in MIAA play.

Missouri Western returns to action on Thursday, Ocotber 24 with an MIAA road contest at #24 Central Missouri. Game time is set for 7:00 pm in Warrensburg, Mo.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Northwest soccer team gets beat by Fort Hays State, 4-0

Posted on October 20, 2013

The Northwest Missouri State women’s soccer team was unable to get on the board Sunday as they fell to Fort Hays 4-0.

Both teams matched up well in the first half taking six shots each. Fort Hays was able to find the back of the net within the first two minutes of the contest to go up 1-0.

The Tigers were able to add three more goals in the second half.

The Bearcats could not get things going in the second half as the offense added nine more shots, but could not get the ball in the goal.

Northwest moves their season record to 4-8-2, 2-5-1 on the season. Head coach Tracy Hoza’s team will hit the road as they head to Bolivar, Mo. to take on Southwest Baptist Thursday with kickoff scheduled for 3 p.m. The Bearcats have one more home game this season on Nov. 1, as they host Central Missouri.

— Northwest Sports Information —

18th-ranked Missouri volleyball upsets No. 2 Florida; improves to 23-0

Posted on October 20, 2013October 20, 2013

The Mizzou volleyball team earned its first ever win against a top-five opponent as it upended second-ranked Florida, 3-1 (25-23, 25-23, 23-25, 25-18), on Sunday afternoon (Oct. 20) in front of a season-high 4,202 fans at the Hearnes Center. The win improves the Tigers to 23-0 and 7-0 in SEC play as they are alone atop the SEC standings place as the league’s only unbeaten team in conference play. Mizzou joins Colorado State as the only teams in the nation to not lose a match this season. The Tigers handed the Gators their second loss of the season and first SEC loss while snapping a 13-match SEC winning streak by the Gators.

“Obviously this is a huge win for us and I thought we played about as well as we could have played,” head coach Wayne Kreklow said. “That Florida team has a very legitimate shot at winning a national championship this year, but our kids came out focused and ready to go. We served very tough and we just had a lot of people pitch in in a lot of different areas and Florida made some critical errors at key points of the match. That was a very high-level volleyball match and I couldn’t be happier for our kids.”

In first top-25 matchup at the Hearnes Center since 2006 with the nation’s top two offenses on display, Mizzou got the best of the Gators. Coming into the match, Mizzou and Florida ranked 1-2 nationally in hitting and Mizzou finished the match hitting .303 while limiting Florida to .237 hitting, its second-lowest of the season. The Tigers are just the fourth team to hit .300 against the Gators this season, joining just Penn State, Stanford and Western Michigan. Senior setter Molly Kreklow (Delano, Minn.) was tremendous in the win, spreading 45 assists and setting up open hitters throughout the match. Seven different Tigers finished with kills in the match and five players finished with double-digit point totals.

Junior outside hitter Emily Wilson (Omaha, Neb.) proved to be an X-factor for the Tiger offense as she led the team with 14 kills on .351 hitting to lead the offensive charge. Freshman Carly Kan (Honolulu, Hawaii) was also sensational all over the floor on Sunday despite playing against a much bigger Florida front line. But as she has done all season, the freshman rose to the occasion and tallied 13 kills on .379 hitting with 12 digs, good for her third double-double of the season and third in four matches. Florida slowed two-time All-American Lisa Henning (Blue Springs, Mo.) for the first three sets, but just as All-Americans do, she turned it around in the fourth and tallied seven kills on .500 hitting in the final frame. In fact, Henning and Mizzou showed a killer-instinct in the fourth as it .471 with 17 kills and just one error in the decisive frame. Henning finished the match with 12 kills.

Junior All-SEC middle Whitney Little (Keller, Texas) added eight kills and four total blocks while freshman Emily Thater (Springfield, Mo.) added five kills on .444 hitting with a team-high five total blocks. The Tiger block was very good on Sunday, tallying 9.5 in the match while getting hands on a lot of Florida’s 152 attacks to give the back row a chance for a dig. The back row responded by collecting 60 digs in the match, led by 15 from junior libero Sarah Meister (San Diego, Calif.). Kan added 12 and Kreklow pitched in 11 while Henning just missed recording a double-double with nine digs.

Serving was a huge story on Sunday as both teams did a good job of forcing the opposition to set the pins. The Tigers served very tough with nine aces with three from both Thater and Kan. That was paramount for the Tigers as Florida was only able to get reigning SEC Player of the Year Chloe Mann 26 attacks. The Tigers also scouted her very well as she had a season-high five attack errors as the national-leader in hitting attacked at just a .231 clip in the match.

The 4,202 fans that took in the match on Sunday are the fifth-largest crowd in program history and the most at Hearnes Center since 2006. Mizzou returns to the road next weekend at LSU and Texas A&M.

— MU sports Information —

No. 4 Griffons rally at Missouri Southern to stay unbeaten

Posted on October 20, 2013

Travis Partridge engineered a come-from-behind victory against Missouri Southern, topped by a record-breaking 99-yard touchdown pass — the longest play from scrimmage for Missouri Western — as the Griffons won 35-21.

The Griffons fell behind 21-17 at halftime but came back for the win. The momentum switched sides as Missouri Western took a 28-21 lead with 3:15 left in the third quarter. Behind by a point, Partridge nailed Stephon Weaver on a six-yard pass for the score. Reggie Jordan caught the ensuing two-point conversion to move the Griffons ahead by a touchdown, 28-21.

Two drives later, the Lions moved all the way down to the goal line, but Abranas Elliott forced a Giresse Forchu fumble at the 1-yard line. John Oglesby recovered the ball instantly, and on the next play, Partridge and the offense made the Lions pay with a history-breaking play.

Partridge hit Josh Walker for a 99-yard touchdown pass to give the Griffons their longest play from scrimmage of all-time. The touchdown put the Griffons ahead 35-21 and they left Joplin with a victory for the second straight time.

The game started with Partridge hitting Daylon Haper in the end zone for six. Raphael Spencer followed that score with one of his own, a 1-yard rush after Southern’s Terrance Allen fumbled on the Lions opening play from scrimmage. The quick 14-0 lead helped the Griffons early on. But the Lions came back and went on a 21-3 run to end the half ahead 21-17. The Griffons didn’t allow another point and scored 18 of their own.

Partridge finished the day going 15 of 28 with 244 yards and three scores. He had zero turnovers on the day as well. Spencer added 20 carries for 77 yards and a touchdown.

John Schmiemeier made both of his field goals with a long of 41 yards. The Lions were led by running back Chris Barnwell, who had 21 carries for 128 yards.

MWSU returns home for a matchup with Pittsburg State Saturday afternoon. The game starts at 1:30 p.m. at Spratt Stadium.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Defense leads No. 2 Northwest to 24-15 win over Pitt State at Arrowhead

Posted on October 20, 2013

Northwest Missouri State needed only 51 seconds at the start of the third quarter to tie the game against Pittsburg State.

And the Bearcats used that tremendous offensive surge early on in the second half to power their way to a gritty 24-15 victory over Pitt in the Fall Classic at Arrowhead XII in front of 17,679 fans on a sunny Saturday afternoon.

Like most of the previous installments, very little separated these two MIAA and NCAA Division II powers.

Northwest entered the game 6-0 and ranked No. 2 in the country. Pitt was also 6-0 and ranked No. 7.

When it is game between two evenly matched, high-ranking teams, it usually comes down to which players make plays in key situations.

The Bearcats knew it needed to do something big early in the third quarter to erase a halftime deficit.

“One of our goals was the will to win,” Northwest coach Adam Dorrel said. “The seniors talked about that on the sidelines when times were tough because times were tough, especially in the first half.

“I can’t say enough about our defense. They kept us in that football game.”

The third quarter started with a very good kickoff return by Bryce Enyard that put the ball on the Bearcats’ 46. The first play from scrimmage was a 4-yard run by Robert Burton. The next was a 42-yard pass from Brady Bolles to Reuben Thomas.

Bolles finished the drive with an 8-yard run for a touchdown. The extra point tied the game 15-15 with 14:09 remaining in the third quarter.

“I thought that was huge,” said Bolles, who entered the game in the second quarter after starter Trevor Adams injured his shoulder.

“Our coaches preach that the most important drive of the game is the first drive of the second half. Our defense had been playing a great game. We had to go out and show them some love because they gave us great field position all game. We had to come out and put some points on the board early in the second half.”

Eleven minutes later, Northwest went ahead 22-15 on a 10-yard run by Bolles.

The defense took over from there, shutting out the Gorillas in the second half. The big play came with just over 4 minutes left and Pittsburg driving to midfield. On fourth down, senior Eric Reimer sacked Anthony Abenoja.

“We stuck to our game plan,” Reimer said. “They have athletes who can make plays. We wanted to come out and be physical.”

When Pitt got the ball back, only 1:59 was left on the clock and the Gorillas had to go 96 yards because of a pinpoint punt by Bolles.

No way was Pitt going 96 yards against Northwest defense. The Gorillas went so far back that Northwest earned its second safety of the game when Pitt was whistled for intentional grounding in the end zone.

“It was huge to hold them scoreless in the second half,” Northwest sophomore linebacker DJ Gnader said. “We go into the locker room at halftime and we got some guys hanging their heads. The seniors and couple leaders on the team continued telling them, ‘keep your heads up. We have been in this situation before. We battled adversity already this year.’

“We went out there and played a great game in the second half. Our offense scoring early really helped out.”

Northwest survived another tough game against its rival in what might be the last showdown at Arrowhead between these two storied programs.

“Offensively, we couldn’t get anything going,” Pitt coach Tim Beck said. “We didn’t get the run game established early on. It forced us to be one-dimensional in the second half, which allowed their defensive linemen to get into a three-point stance and get up the field and rush us hard.”

After four straight weeks of blowouts, Northwest needed to be pushed to see how it would handle a bit of in-game adversity. The Gorillas gave it to them.

The Bearcats went into halftime trailing 15-8 and it could have been worse if not for the stellar play of their defense.

Northwest struggled on offense, compiling 127 totals yards in the first half. Part of the problem was an injury to Adams.

Northwest was playing uphill most of the first half. In the Gorillas’ second drive, they went 46 yards in two plays and scored on a 37-yard touchdown pass from Abenoja to Marquise Cushion with 10:51 left in the first quarter.

The Bearcats defense took over from there. They put Northwest on the scoreboard early in the second quarter. Thanks to a punt by Northwest senior quarterback Trevor Adams, the Gorillas were pinned on their 1.

On the next play, the Northwest defense got a safety, making it 7-2.

It turned out the quick punt by Adams was his last play of the game. He left because of a shoulder injury.

“He suffered an injury a little bit earlier,” Dorrel said. “He is a tough kid. He was trying to battle through it. He obviously wanted to be playing in the last Fall Classic.”

It took Bolles a few series to get going. An interception by Gnader gave the ball to Northwest at the Pitt State 9.

“Our coaches put us in great position to make plays,” Gnader said. “The two interceptions we had in the first half gave our offense the ball in good field position. Honestly, it calmed Brady down a little bit and calmed the offense down a little bit and showed them we got their backs.”

Bolles took advantage of the great field position. He tossed a 6-yard touchdown pass to Reuben Thomas on third down.

Although the Bearcats failed to convert a two-point attempt, they grabbed an 8-7 lead with 4:25 left in the second quarter.

Late in the second quarter, Pitt State put together a nice drive, going 80 yards in nine plays and scoring the go-ahead touchdown with 2 seconds left in the second quarter. A two-point conversion sent the Gorillas into halftime with a 7-point lead.

— Northwest Sports Information —

No. 5 Benedictine improves to 7-0 as they slip past Mid-America Nazarene

Posted on October 20, 2013October 20, 2013

The No. 5 Ravens slipped past MidAmerica Nazarene (1-5, 1-4) in a thrilling 45-40 victory this afternoon, improving their record to 7-0.

Cameron Fore had another record breaking day as he tied and passed Don Brown for all time scoring points and touchdowns. Brown played for the Ravens from 1990-93 and recorded 50 touchdowns and 304 points during his years at Benedictine.

Fore scored two rushing touchdowns, giving him 51 career touchdowns and a total of 310 points.

“I know who has held those records in the past and they were pretty amazing athletes, so that puts (Fore) in an outstanding category and I’m happy for him,” said Ravens head coach Larry Wilcox.

Benedictine came out fast in the first half taking a 7-0 lead on the first drive of the game when Bill Noonan connected with Brad Lorang from the MNU 2-yard-line.

The Raven defense allowed a field goal from MidAmerica Nazarene with just over six minutes left in the first quarter, but Benedictine made up for that by scoring the next 24 points.

Much of Benedictine’s explosive scoring in the first half was initiated by big defensive turnovers.

In less then two minutes of game time, the Ravens defense intercepted the Pioneers twice and forced and recovered one Pioneer fumble.

Dylan Meisenheimer accounted for the first interception at the MNU 48-yard-line, which he ran back for a touchdown.

In the next drive Meisenheimer recovered a fumble forced by Josh Scheuler on the MNU 37-yard-line. Two plays later, Noonan connected with Jerrin Walton in the end zone for a 24-yard touchdown pass.

The final Pioneer turnover came 47 seconds into their next drive when Abdullah Sabir intercepted Trent Hedlund’s pass at the MNU 35-yard-line. This interception set up Raven offense for a quick three play touchdown drive, where Fore carried the ball in from the 3-yard-line.

The Ravens were up 38-10 with 11 seconds left in the half, when MNU faked a field goal and Patrick Corrigan found an open JD Wood in the end zone. MidAmerica Nazarene attempted another fake on the PAT, but were unsuccessful.

The Ravens entered the half leading the Pioneers 38-16.

The second half, however, was not as fortunate for the Ravens.

After Fore scored his second rushing touchdown with 10:31 left in the third quarter, the Pioneers scored 24 unanswered points, cutting the Ravens lead to five with just over four minutes remaining in the game.

However, the Raven offense was able to pick up three first downs in their last drive and run the clock down before the Pioneers could have another chance to score, maintaining their flawless record on the season.

“We played an outstanding first half and they played an outstanding second half,” Wilcox said. “Fortunately, we were able to hang in there and come away with an important victory for us.”

Fore led the Ravens with 134 rushing yards off of 27 carries and Kevon McGrew picked up 56 yards off of 10 carries.

Noonan threw for 194 yards off 14 of 21 passes and threw three touchdown passes. Walton picked up 129 receiving yards off of 7 completions from Noonan.

Defensively Ely Hendricks led the ravens with 12 tackles, 10 of which were unassisted and Sabir accounted for eight tackles.

The Ravens hit the road next Saturday to take on Culver-Stockton College in Canton, Mo. Kickoff in Canton is set for 1 p.m.

— BC Sports Information —

Mizzou dominates Florida to take control of SEC East

Posted on October 20, 2013October 20, 2013

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — No James Franklin, no problem for Missouri.

Maty Mauk threw for 295 yards in his first career start and Andrew Baggett converted five field goals to help the No. 14 Tigers defeat No. 22 Florida 36-17 on Saturday and open a two-game lead in the Southeastern Conference East Division.

With Franklin watching on the sideline in street clothes, Mauk put any doubts to rest about whether he was ready on the first play of the game with a 41-yard pass to L’Damian Washington and then a 20-yard toss to Bud Sasser for a 7-0 lead just 22 seconds in.

Coach Gary Pinkel said Saturday was the toughest situation he’s ever had to put in a quarterback, especially against a defense only allowing 235.3 yards per game. But the opening drive helped ease the stress on Mauk, who said he was determined to throw the ball downfield on the opening play.

”He looked like a seasoned veteran out there,” Pinkel said.

Missouri (7-0, 3-0) outgained the Gators 500-151 and became the first conference opponent in 14 games to score at least 21 points against them. The Tigers bullied Florida (4-3, 3-2) at the line of scrimmage, sacking quarterback Tyler Murphy six times and flushing him out of the pocket throughout the game.

The Tigers knocked off their second consecutive ranked opponent for the first time since 1973 and will face No. 11 South Carolina next week at home. The Gamecocks lost at Tennessee 23-21 on Saturday.

”This team is resilient, coming back from where we were last year,” Washington said. ”I told Coach Pinkel, ‘We’ve got to stop talking bowl games around here. Let’s talk BCS, let’s talk national championships.”’

Florida is off before facing Georgia on Nov. 2 in Jacksonville.

Mauk entered the game having only thrown six passes this season, but three of those came in the final quarter of a 41-26 win at Georgia last week after Franklin suffered a shoulder injury that will keep him out at least two more games. Mauk completed 18 of 36 passes Saturday, including three for 37 yards or more down the sideline.

The 6-foot, 200-pound redshirt freshman capped the scoring with 6:30 remaining on a 17-yard scramble, prompting the 67,124 in attendance to perform the ”Gator Chomp.”

”Backup quarterback?,” center Evan Boehm asked. ”Maty would be starting anywhere else.”

Mauk also made a few ill-advised throws, as Brian Poole intercepted a pass with 3:34 left in the first half and almost had another in the same quarter but dropped it.

Murphy completed 15-of-29 passes for 92 yards and an interception for the Gators as he tried to escape Missouri’s defensive line all game. Freshman Kelvin Taylor, son of former National Football League running back Fred Taylor, ran for 74 yards on 12 carries in his fifth career game.

Murphy thought he had time on some of his missed throws despite absorbing three sacks from SEC-leader Michael Sam and one apiece from Kony Ealy, Matt Hoch and Shane Ray.

”They did a good job covering, but we’re got to find ways to make plays,” Murphy said. ”I have to find ways to get guys the ball.”

The Gators only gained 61 yards in the first half – including nine rushing – but used six runs to drive 70 yards and pull within 23-17 with 46 seconds left in the third quarter. Missouri answered with a 33-yard field goal by Baggett following a 50-yard run by Henry Josey, who ran for 136 yards on 18 carries.

Baggett also converted from 19, 28, 39 and 43 yards to tie the school record in makes in a single game, as Missouri far exceeded the 13 points per game Florida allowed this season entering the matchup, the second-fewest in the SEC. In addition to Mauk’s 295 passing yards, the Tigers added 205 on the ground and had 24 first downs.

”This is not a very good football team, and certainly not today,” Gators’ coach Will Muschamp said. ”I am pretty disappointed that we have not made more positive strides offensively at this point of the season.”

Florida earlier narrowed its deficit to three on a 100-yard kickoff return by receiver Solomon Patton on the first play of the second half, but the Tigers responded with a 75-yard drive finished by a 6-yard scamper by Josey for a 20-10 advantage.

Florida drove 22 yards to the Missouri 28-yard line with 58 seconds left in the second quarter on its longest drive of the first half before Ealy burst through the line and forced Murphy to fumble on a sack. Missouri recovered to squelch the threat and end the half up 13-3.

— Associated Press —

Western volleyball loses five-set heartbreaker at Central Oklahoma

Posted on October 20, 2013October 20, 2013

Missouri Western fought hard until the end but dropped a 15-11 final set to Central Oklahoma and lost 3-2 Saturday evening. MWSU is now 11-11 and 4-4 in the MIAA. The Bronchos advance to 16-5 and 6-3 in the conference.

Kelly Scannell had continued her impressive assist streak. She recorded 67 assists to set a career high and the most assists since Madison Benton had 69 on Nov. 6, 2009 in a match against Nebraska-Omaha. It was only eight shy of the Griffon all-time record. That gives her 496 assists in 19 matches with seven starts.

The Griffons opened up the match with an opening set victory.

Neither team lead by more than two early on until the Bronchos put together a steady run to take a 14-9 lead. The Griffons returned the run as Erica Rottinghaus added a kill to make it 15-13. The Bronchos extended their lead to 21-14 and looked to win the set.

But the Griffons came back furiously.

Helped by a couple attack errors, Erin Backhuus, Kelsey Olion and Amanda Boender all had kills to bring the Griffons back to tie the match at 23. Two more points were added in favor of the Griffons as they ended the set with an 11-2 run for the 1-0 lead.

The Bronchos won the second set 25-19, leading the whole way to tie the match a 1 apiece. The Griffons came back and won the third set 25-18.

Tied at 14, the Griffons began to make their run. Olion and Rottinghaus put together four straight kills to open up their lead. Ahead 22-17, Olion scored three more kills to win the set 25-18.

The fourth set was the closest of the match. Neither team could separate itself by much as the match was tied at 23. The Bronchos score two consecutive points, however, and kept the Griffons from leaving Edmond with the win and sending it to the final set.

A 15-11 fifth-set win gave Central Oklahoma the 3-2 victory.

Kelly Scannell had a team-high, season-high and career-high 67 assists. Sarah Fauble led the team with 19 digs. Olion and Rottinghaus continued to be two outstanding offensive players on the team, accumulating 22 kills each for the team high.

The Griffons next head to Nebraksa to play Kearney-Nebraska Tuesday night at 7 p.m.

— MWSU Sports Information —

KU falls at home to No. 18 Oklahoma, 34-19

Posted on October 20, 2013October 20, 2013

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops knew that Sterling Shepard could throw the ball. He had no idea that another wide receiver, Lacoltan Bester, may have an even better arm.

The former high school quarterback hit Shepard in stride on a razzle-dazzle, end-around pass late in the first half Saturday, giving No. 18 Oklahoma a lead it would never relinquish in a 34-19 bounce-back win over Big 12 bottom-dweller Kansas.

”Lacoltan just threw a great ball,” Stoops said of the 49-yard touchdown toss. ”I told him giving him the game ball that he needed to give the quarterback some lessons.”

Not that Blake Bell had a lousy afternoon of his own.

Bell threw for 131 yards and two touchdowns, and also ran for 53 yards, as the Sooners (6-1, 3-1) emerged from a Red River rout hangover courtesy of Texas to win their ninth straight over the Jayhawks. It was Oklahoma’s 15th straight win the week after playing the Longhorns.

”We did start out slow,” Bell said, ”and I just keep telling the guys on the sideline, ‘Keep coming, keep doing what we do, and stuff will work out for us.”’

James Sims ran for 129 yards and two touchdowns for Kansas (2-4, 0-3), but he didn’t have much help. Jake Heaps was just 5 of 13 for 16 yards passing, the fewest yards through the air for Kansas since throwing for 15 yards in a loss to Nebraska in 2010.

On a couple occasions, Heaps was benched for freshman Montell Cozart, who had his redshirt taken away by coach Charlie Weis in the first half. Cozart didn’t attempt a pass.

”I think it’s a combination of a lot of things,” Heaps said. ”We just couldn’t seem to get it going, whether it was guys hanging onto the ball in certain times, myself putting the ball in the right spots or just not having the opportunity to look down the field. We’ve definitely got to clean it up because we had a lot of positive things going for us offensively.”

The Jayhawks tried to make it interesting in the fourth quarter, when they blocked a punt deep in Oklahoma territory. Sims promptly scored from 6 yards out to pull them within 25-19, but the extra point was blocked and returned by Aaron Colvin to give the Sooners two points.

Oklahoma, which has won 21 straight following a loss, promptly went 75 yards the other direction. Damien Williams finished the drive with a short TD run with 4:19 left to seal the win.

The defeat was the 24th straight in league play for the Jayhawks, who still haven’t beaten a Big 12 foe since knocking off former member Colorado on Nov. 6, 2010.

”You really have one of two ways to go when things don’t go well, especially halfway through the year,” Weis said. ”You’re sitting 2-4, you can say, ‘Ah, the hell with it. We’re 2-4. That’s how it’s going to go.’ Or you can do whatever you can to be part of the answer.”

Early on, it looked as if the Jayhawks might finally have found some answers.

The Sooners still seemed to be smarting from last weekend’s 36-20 loss at the Cotton Bowl when Kansas forced them to punt on their first series. Sims then carried eight times for 63 yards on a drive that ended when Heaps hit Jimmay Mundine from a yard out for a 7-0 lead.

Kansas stuffed Bell and the Oklahoma offense in the early going, and they got the ball back late in the first quarter. This time, Darrian Miller ripped off a 38-yard run, and Kansas took advantage of a pass interference penalty before Sims scampered 11 yards for a 13-0 lead.

That’s when everything started to unravel.

The Sooners got within 13-6 on Bell’s 16-yard touchdown toss to Jaz Reynolds, and then Weis elected to take the redshirt off Cozart. The freshman quarterback went backward 11 yards in his first three plays under center, and the Jayhawks were forced to punt.

Oklahoma came after it and blocked it through the end zone for a safety. The fancy Bester-to-Shepard pass moments later gave Oklahoma a 15-13 lead, and Michael Hunnicutt’s 37-yard field goal extended the advantage just before halftime.

The Sooners threatened to put the game out of reach in the third quarter when Shepard hauled in his second TD pass, this time from Bell. But the Jayhawks kept within striking distance heading into the fourth quarter, when Oklahoma managed to finally put it away.

”Always want more. There’s still a lot of plays to be made out there,” Bell said, ”but I think we’re headed in the right direction.”

— Associated Press —