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Category: College

16th-ranked Bearcats roll to big win at No. 8 Pittsburg State

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PITTSBURG, Kansas – The Northwest Missouri State football squad went on the road Saturday and tallied a 31-7 victory over previously undefeated Pittsburg State, 31-7.

The Bearcats scored 21 points in the second quarter to take control of the contest and led 28-0 at the break.

Isaiah Strayhorn rushed for 147 yards and a score, while Braden Wright passed for 211 yards and two touchdowns for the Bearcats. Northwest outgained Pitt State, 452-268.

Strayhorn got the Bearcats on the board in the first quarter on a 1-yard run with 8:35 on the clock. Wright kept the drive alive with a six-yard scamper on 3rd-and-6 at the Pitt State 29-yard line. Parker Sampson tacked on the extra point to give Northwest the 7-0 lead.

Strayhorn ripped of a 67-yard run on Northwest’s next possession that began at its own 3-yard line. But Wright was picked off by Pitt State’s Jaylon Myers at the Gorilla 32-yard line to stamp out the Bearcat drive. Northwest’s special teams came up big with a blocked punt Zach Pierce. However, Northwest could not convert on the scoring chance when Sampson missed a 38-yard field goal wide right.

The second quarter scoring onslaught began with a four-yard scoring strike from Wright to Chase White with 12:57 left in the half. Northwest made it 21-0 when Wright hooked up with freshman LaTroy Harper on a 13-yard touchdown pass with 4:51 left in the second quarter. The key play in the drive came on a 43-yard passing play to senior wideout Shawn Bane Jr. Northwest’s third touchdown of the quarter came on a 23-yard rushing score from sophomore Alec Tatum on a fake field goal attempt with 0:34 left in the half. Tatum, the holder on field goals and extra points, took the snap and ran over the right side to the end zone to give Northwest a 28-0 lead at the break.

The first half saw the Bearcats outgain the Gorillas, 364-102. Northwest had 14 first downs to only five for the Gorillas in the opening 30 minutes. Pitt State was 1-of-8 on third-down conversions in the first half.

Sampson added a 38-yard field goal with 6:56 left in the fourth quarter to extend the Northwest lead to 31-0.

The Gorillas scored their only points of the contest on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Matt Harman to Elijah Harris with 0:48 left in the game.

Northwest improves to 5-1 on the year, while Pitt State falls to 5-1 overall.

The Bearcats will be back in action Saturday for its annual Homecoming game at 2 p.m. Northwest will take on the Nebraska-Kearney Lopers at Bearcat Stadium.

NOTES: Northwest moves into a tie for first place in the MIAA standings … senior wide receiver Shawn Bane became the eighth Bearcat to reach 3,000 career receiving yards … Bane caught four passes for 95 yards … Northwest senior punter Matt Thorman had six punts for a 44.3 average and a long of 57 … he had two punts downed inside the 20-yard line … Anthony Lane led the Bearcats in tackles with eight … J’Ravian Anderson collected a game-high three pass breakups.

— Northwest Athletics —

Mizzou comes up short at South Carolina 37-35

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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Quarterback Michael Scarnecchia spent years dreaming of starting at South Carolina, until he learned about things even bigger than his wishes.

That’s what made the Gamecocks senior, making his first college start, so pleased with his performance against Missouri on Saturday.

“Once you realize it’s about South Carolina, it’s about the team, it’s about helping the university any way you can, it’s a calming feeling,” Scarnecchia said. “It’s playing a bigger part in the bigger picture.”

Scarnecchia certainly did that Saturday, throwing for three touchdowns and leading the Gamecocks (3-2, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) to Parker White’s 33-yard, game-winning field goal with two seconds left in a 37-35 win over the Tigers (3-2, 0-2).

Scarnecchia, part of South Carolina since 2014, was called on with starter Jake Bentley sidelined with a knee injury. And he rose to the challenge in a rain-affected, weather-delayed game that took more than five hours to finish.

For Scarnecchia, few moments were bigger than a 27-yard pass to tight end Kyle Markway into Missouri territory and a 12-yard toss to Bryan Edwards moments later on the final drive that set up Parker’s winning kick.

“I felt like I was really prepared,” Scarnecchia said.

Few were prepared for a game like this. The Gamecocks trailed 23-14 at halftime, yet inexplicably rallied for a 31-23 lead as rain poured down throughout the third quarter.

Parker’s second 42-yard field goal gave South Carolina a 34-32 edge with Missouri driving when radar showed lightning in the area with 2:41 to go that led to a weather delay of one hour, 16 minutes.

Once the game resumed, Missouri’s Tucker McCann hit a 57-yard field goal that put the Tigers up a final time, 35-34, with 1:18 left.

That’s when Scarnecchia drove the Gamecocks one last, dramatic time. When White’s kick sailed through, only a few thousand soggy fans remained from the announced crowd of 73,393.

“Wow, what a game, a wild game,” South Carolina coach Will Muschamp said.

Scarnecchia had first-half TD passes of 5 and 17 yards to Edwards in the first half and 8 yards to Deebo Samuel in the third quarter.

Scarnecchia completed 20 of 35 passes for 249 yards.

“We’ve got confidence in Mike,” Muschamp said. “He’s never been able to perform on this stage and he did it well.”

Missouri’s Lock, the SEC leader at 320 yards passing a game coming in, was held to his lowest total of the season at 204.

The Tigers had eight trips inside South Carolina’s 20 and came away with just three touchdowns. Coach Barry Odom thought those lost chances cost his team.

“I’m trying to put on a good face right now, because I’m not happy,” he said.

THE TAKEAWAY

Missouri: This was the Tigers game to win as they squandered four chances to score touchdowns when inside South Carolina’s 20, instead settling for field goals. Missouri will have to learn to close these out if it hopes to rise in the SEC East.

South Carolina: The Gamecocks looked like a team without much spirit in the opening half. The third-quarter rains changed all that as the Gamecocks rebounded in difficult circumstances in the come-from-behind victory that should serve them well going forward.

TAKE A BREAK

Muschamp thought this was the craziest game he’d ever been in. The rain knocked out both the time and play clocks in the third quarter, headsets were lost and the rain was so heavy players were sliding after runs and tackles. And just when it looked like it might conclude, lightning in the area caused a lengthy delay with less than three minutes left.

INJURED GAMECOCKS

Bentley, a junior, sustained his knee injury at Kentucky last week. He practiced most of the week, was suited up and went through warmups with his team.

Muschamp said he would know better about Bentley’s status for next week by Tuesday.

UP NEXT

Missouri: Plays at No. 1 Alabama next Saturday night.

South Carolina: Hosts Texas A&M on Saturday.

— Associated Press —

Missouri Western volleyball drops five set match to No. 19 UCO

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ST. JOSEPH – Griffon Volleyball (11-10, 4-5) took No. 19-ranked Central Oklahoma (19-4, 7-2) to the wire, but fell in five sets to the Bronchos, Saturday afternoon.

As has been the case between the two conference rivals over three-straight match-ups, the teams went back and forth, trading sets to get to the deciding fifth. The fifth belonged to UCO, winning 15-5 for the team’s 19th victory of the season.

NOTABLES

  • The Griffons fell to 0-5 in five-set matches this season
  • It was the sixth match this season against a ranked opponent for MWSU, all losses, but three went five sets
  • Missouri Western bounced back from a 25-12 loss in the third to win the fourth 25-23 and force the fifth set
  • Three Griffons finished with double-digit kills, a first for the team since a four-set win over Lindenwood on Sept. 15
  • Stephanie Doak ended the match needing just 12 more kills to reach 1,000 in her career
  • Shellby Taylor needs 34 more kills to hit 1,000 for her career after Saturday’s match

LEADERS

  • Ali Tauchen had a double-double with a career and team-high 27 digs to go with her 13 kills. She added seven blocks and an assist
  • Shellby Taylor had a team-high 16 kills
  • Rachel Losch came one kill short of matching her career high with 12
  • Liv Winker led the team with 45 assists, one short of her career-high and added a career-high five kills on a .308 hitting percentage

UP NEXT

  • A non-conference home match against William Jewell on Tuesday, Oct. 9 at 7 p.m.

— MWSU Athletics —

K-State falls at Baylor on Martin’s FG with 8 seconds left

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WACO, Texas (AP) — A rough day for Baylor kicker Connor Martin ended with a game-winning field goal.

Martin missed three field goal attempts and an extra point, but his third made field goal was a 29-yarder with eight seconds left Saturday to give the Bears a 37-34 win over Kansas State.

“I felt like I owed everybody,” Martin said. “My job as a specialist is to help bail out the offense when they’re not able to get things going. I feel like our offense and defense bailed me out. I left a lot of points on the field, so I really wanted it for them. I was like I’ve got to make it for these guys because they saved my butt all day.”

After Kansas State tied the game at 34 on Skylar Thompson’s 28-yard touchdown pass to Dalvin Warmack with 4:26 left, quarterback Charlie Brewer set up the Bears (4-2, 2-1 Big 12) for the game-winning kick by driving them 76 yards on 11 plays.

“As a quarterback in this offense, you like that situation, to have a chance to go seal the deal there at the end,” said Brewer, who completed 30 of 44 passes for 296 yards with a touchdown and interception. “Which we were able to do.”

Jalen Hurd had 11 catches for 135 yards, and the former Tennessee running back also ran for 56 yards and a touchdown for the Bears, who last year won only once in coach Matt Rhule’s first season. Trestan Ebner ran for 100 yards.

Alex Barnes ran 22 times for 250 yards and three touchdowns for Kansas State (2-4, 0-3).

“The offensive line had a really good day today, and most of those runs I was not touched,” Barnes said. “I was getting to the second and third level scot free, so it’s a well-executed game plan that we had in the run game and by the coordinators calling the game.”

A week after Thompson came in after halftime and sparked the Wildcats in a home loss to Texas, he returned to the starting role and played the entire game. He was 15 of 26 for 149 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions and ran for 50 yards and a score.

Barnes opened the fourth quarter with a 48-yard TD run that tied the game at 20 before the Wildcats’ extra point was blocked. Thompson’s 52-yard TD run with 10:38 left put the Wildcats ahead.

“I don’t know how he graded out, but he’d like to have some snaps back,” K-State coach Bill Snyder said. “He also did some good things. He played OK. He could have played better. He led some drives and did a nice job, especially early in the ballgame.”

Brewer’s 21-yard TD pass to Denzel Mims tied the game again before freshman Craig Williams scored on a 21-yard run with 6:41 left to put the Bears back in front.

“That first college touchdown feels great,” Williams said. “I’m going to remain humble, stay patient, and when my number is called again, I’ll be ready.”

THE TAKEAWAY

Kansas St.: Despite the loss, Barnes had another field day at McLane Stadium, where he ran for 129 yards and four touchdowns in 2016. The Wildcats had problems on special teams, including fumbling the opening kickoff of the second half, missing a field goal, muffing a punt they recovered and having an extra point blocked that would have given them a 21-20 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Baylor: The Bears could have put this one away much sooner. They reached at least the Kansas State 32 five times in the first half and had 12 points to show for it. But they did a better job of keeping drives alive and reaching the end zone in the second half. They finished 10 for 17 on third-down conversions.

BEARS CASH IN ON MISTAKES

Baylor collected only two takeaways in the first five games of the season, but it came away with three.

More importantly, the Bears turned those Kansas State miscues into 21 points.

Safties Jairon McVea and Christian Morgan recorded the first interception of their Baylor careers, and the Bears pounced on the second-half kickoff for their first fumble recovery of the season.

UP NEXT

Kansas State is home next Saturday for the only time in a four-game stretch against No. 25 Oklahoma State.

Baylor travels about 100 miles south to play at No. 19 Texas next Saturday.

— Associated Press —

Northwest Missouri State volleyball defeats Pitt State in three sets

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MARYVILLE, Missouri – The Northwest Missouri State Bearcat volleyball squad bounced back Saturday with a 3-0 sweep of the Pittsburg State Gorillas in Bearcat Arena. Northwest won by set scores of 25-18, 30-28, 25-23.

Northwest improves to 15-5 overall and 7-2 in MIAA. Pittsburg State falls to 15-7 overall and 4-5 in MIAA play.

Bearcat senior Maddy Bruder led the way with her 11th double-double of the season with 13 kills and 11 digs. Sophomore Maddy Ahrens notched her third straight double-double and eighth of the season with 37 assists and 11 digs. Sophomore Morgan Lewis recorded a season-high 10 kills and hit .318 in the victory.

In the opening set, Northwest used a 5-0 spurt to take a commanding 18-11 lead en route to a 25-18 win. The Bearcats hit .462 in the first set with 14 kills and two attack errors.

Pittsburg State came back from a 13-9 deficit in the second set to knot it at 16-16. The Gorillas had three set-point opportunities at 24-23, 25-24 and 26-25, but each time the Bearcats evened it up. Northwest eventually took the set on its third chance at set point on an attack error by PSU’s Lauren Dunn. Northwest took the second set, 30-28. Bruder came up with seven kills in the set.

Northwest closed out the sweep with a 25-23 triumph in the third. The third set featured seven ties and two lead changes. The last tie came at 21-21 before Northwest scored three straight points. Lewis led the third-set attack with five kills.

Northwest will travel to Emporia State on Friday (6 p.m.) and to Washburn on Saturday (6 p.m.).

— Northwest Athletics —

Kansas loses at No. 9 West Virginia 38-22

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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — One messy game didn’t diminish West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen’s confidence in Heisman Trophy hopeful Will Grier.

Grier’s four turnovers overshadowed a four-touchdown performance in No. 9 West Virginia’s 38-22 victory over Kansas on Saturday.

West Virginia (5-0, 3-0 Big 12) has won its first five games for the second time in three seasons.

“We’ll take the sloppy win and go home,” Holgorsen said.

The heavily-favored Mountaineers had no trouble moving the ball, but Grier’s efforts to throw into extra coverage near the goal line cost his team plenty of points.

Grier was intercepted three times in the first half either in the end zone or at the goal line, two of them by cornerback Hasan Defense. All three of Grier’s interceptions occurred when West Virginia had driven inside the Kansas 15-yard line.

“He has the confidence to make any throw and every throw,” Holgorsen said. “That’s why he’s a hell of a quarterback, but those windows become small. I thought their defenders did a better job of attacking the ball than our receivers did.”

Kansas (2-4, 0-3) entered the game leading the Big 12 with eight interceptions, including three returned for touchdowns.

Grier said Kansas did a good job of mixing up its defensive schemes near the goal line. West Virginia saw its streak of 15 straight scores inside the opponents’ 20-yard line snapped.

“We’ve got to be better in the red zone,” Grier said. “I got to be better on not forcing things. It will be fixed going forward.”

Grier also had a third-quarter fumble on a scramble. West Virginia had committed six total turnovers in its previous four games.

Kansas was limited to 286 yards of offense but stayed in the game until late. Peyton Bender hit Jeremiah Booker with a 35-yard pass early in the third quarter and Khalil Herbert, who had a career-high 291 yards rushing against West Virginia last season, followed with a 31-yard TD run to pull the Jayhawks within 21-14.

Grier made good on West Virginia’s only other possession of the quarter, hitting running back Martell Pettaway with a 12-yard scoring toss.

After Kansas turned the ball over on downs in its own territory late in the game, Grier found David Sills with a 17-yard TD strike with 2:20 left for a 38-14 lead. Grier finished 28 of 41 for 332 yards.

Kansas coach David Beaty praised his defense for forcing Grier to attempt mostly short throws.

“I don’t recall them having a big bomb of a catch that they are known for just about every game,” Beaty said.

West Virginia freshman Leddie Brown caught a 15-yard scoring pass from Grier and also had a 1-yard TD run, both in the first quarter. Brown finished with 11 carries for 107 yards.

Kansas freshman Pooka Williams, the Big 12’s leading rusher, was held under 100 yards for the third straight game. He had 12 carries for 65 yards.

THE TAKEAWAY

Kansas: Goal-line stands on defense kept this one from becoming a rout, but the result was the Jayhawks’ 13th straight Big 12 loss. They haven’t won a league road game in 10 years.

West Virginia: The Mountaineers put together their best second half scoring in Big 12 play this season after the first-half turnover troubles. They went scoreless on offense after halftime in a 42-34 win at Texas Tech and failed to score over the final 22 minutes in a 35-6 win over Kansas State .

POLL IMPLICATIONS

West Virginia, ranked in the top 10 for the first time since 2012, should be OK despite the messy showing.

GRIER THE TACKLER

On one of his interceptions, Grier chased down Defense after a 60-yard return. Otherwise Defense would have gone for a touchdown.

MARRIAGE PROPOSAL

West Virginia defensive lineman Reese Donahue proposed to his girlfriend at midfield after the game. She said yes.

UP NEXT

Kansas: Has an open week before playing at Texas Tech on Oct. 20.

West Virginia: Plays at Iowa State next Saturday.

— Associated Press —

Griffon cross country teams finish third, fifth at Emporia State

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EMPORIA, Kan. – Missouri Western men’s and women’s cross country competed at the Emporia State Invitational on Saturday. The women’s team earned third place in the 5K race while the men finished fifth in the 8K. The women’s field totaled 11 teams and the men’s field included 13 teams.

The women’s team finished with an average time of 20:08. Missouri Western was also one of only two teams to finish with two runners in the top-10. Megan Gillen and Allison Goos finished seventh and eighth respectively to lead the Griffons. Gillen finished the event with a time of 19:41. Gillen has been the top-finisher for the Griffons in each of their meets this season. Allison Goos finished just three seconds behind Gillen at 19:44. Her second place team finish is one her best performances of the season. Goos shaved seven seconds off of her time from the last 5K she ran at the Missouri Southern Stampede in September.

Kelsey Cox rounded out the top-three for the Griffon women. Her time of 20:17 placed her 22nd overall at the event.

The men finished with an average time of 28:04 in the 8K race. Riley Gorham led the Griffons for the second-straight week in his 11th place finish. Gorham finished with a time of 27:23. Andrew Wright finished 18th with a time of 27:47

Brandon Colner finished in 20th place and was followed by James Zeismer who finished 22nd.

The Griffons’ next race will be their last competition before the MIAA Championships. They will head to Warrensburg for the Central Missouri Mule Run on October 20.

— MWSU Athletics —

MWSU volleyball sweeps Pittsburg State Friday

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ST. JOSEPH – Griffon Volleyball (11-9, 4-4) got its second-straight MIAA sweep Friday night in the fieldhouse, handing Pittsburg State (15-6, 4-4) its sixth loss of the season.

The Griffons used a dominant first set (25-12) to set the tone before seizing control early in the next two sets and rolling to the team’s 11th win of the season.

NOTABLES

  • The Griffons hit .444 in the first set and limited Pittsburg State to an .091 hitting percentage in the set
  • Pittsburg State didn’t hit better than its .105 average in the second in the entire match
  • MWSU got out to hot starts in all three sets, staking a 5-1 lead in the first; a 10-4 lead in the second and an 11-4 lead in the third
  • Missouri Western limited Pitt State’s top hitter, Lauren Reiger, to eight kills and an .061 hitting percentage
  • The Griffons had 10 total blocks to the Gorillas’ six

LEADERS

  • Stephanie Doak led the team with 10 kills and now needs 20 more to reach 1,000 kills in her career
  • Rachel Losch had a team-high seven blocks to go along with her 10 kills
  • Ali Tauchen led the team from her middle hitter position with 13 digs. Audrey Keim had 12.
  • Shellby Taylor had five kills and five blocks

UP NEXT

  • No. 19 Central Oklahoma (18-4, 6-2) visits the MWSU Fieldhouse, Saturday, at 3 p.m.
  • UCO defeated Northwest Missouri in five sets Friday night.

— MWSU Athletics —

Bearcat volleyball loses in five sets to No. 19 Central Oklahoma

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MARYVILLE, Missouri – The Northwest Missouri State Bearcat volleyball team dug itself a two-set hole, rallied to force a fifth only to see the No. 19-ranked Central Oklahoma Bronchos hold on for a 16-14 win in the decisive set.

UCO (18-4 overall, 6-2 MIAA) won by set scores of 25-17, 25-22, 21-25, 22-25, 16-14. Northwest falls to 14-5 overall and 6-2 in MIAA play.

The Bronchos jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the opening set and never trailed winning it, 25-17. Northwest committed nine errors and hit .116, while UCO had 15 kills and hit .406. Northwest’s Maddy Bruder carried the offensive load in the set with seven kills.

UCO cooled off in the second set, but Northwest was plagued by 10 attack errors. UCO hit .182, while Northwest hit .100. Hallie Sidney tallied five kills in the set to lead the Bearcats. UCO’s Taylor Bevis netted seven kills in the set.

Northwest finally found its groove in the third set. UCO had taken a 16-11 lead before the Bearcats came charging back. The Bearcats ran off five straight points to knot the set at 16-16. UCO came back to score the next two points before Northwest used a 5-1 run to take a 21-19 lead. Northwest hit .333 in the third with 17 kills and two errors, while UCO hit .231 with 18 kills and six errors. Sidney notched seven kills to lead the Bearcats in the third.

The Bearcats opened up a 14-9 lead in the fourth only to see the Bronchos knot it up at 19-19. The Bearcats failed to yield and knotted the match at 2-2 with a 25-22 victory. Bruder had six kills as the Bearcats hit .209.

UCO took a 10-7 advantage in the decisive fifth set. The Bronchos had two set points at 14-12 but back-to-back kills from Sidney evened the set at 14-14. UCO managed to score the final two points and took the match with a 16-14 triumph.

Northwest will be back in action at 3 p.m. Saturday in Bearcat Arena against Pittsburg State.

NOTES: Sidney collected her second straight 20-plus kill match with 24 kills … Sidney notched a double-double with 24 kills and 18 digs … Maddy Bruder was also credited with a double-double with 18 kills and 17 digs … Maddy Ahrens secured a double-double with 61 assists and 14 digs … Sofia Schleppenbach had 14 kills and a team-high seven blocks … Olivia Nowakowski earned a team-high 22 digs.

— Northwest Athletics —

Griffon soccer falls at Fort Hays State 2-1

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HAYS, Kan. – Griffon Soccer (7-4, 2-2 MIAA) fell 2-1 on the road to Fort Hays (4-5-2, 2-2 MIAA) on Friday evening. The Tigers held Missouri Western scoreless until the 90th minute, when Claire Meyers gave the Griffons their first score of the game.

NOTABLES

  • The Griffons trailed for almost the entire game after the Tigers took advantage of a defensive lapse for the game’s first goal in the seventh minute.
  • Missouri Western is now 1-4 this season in games in which they do not score two goals. They are 6-0 in games where they score at least two goals.
  • Friday’s loss in the Griffons is their first road loss since the third game of the season on September 7 against Augustana.
  • Missouri Western has played well after losses in recent memory. The Griffons have not lost back-to-back regular season games since October 14, 2016.

STATS AND LEADERS

  • The Griffons struggled to get good looks offensively and finished the game with four shots on goal.
  • Claire Meyers finished with a team-high three shots.
  • Mackenzie O’Neill was tied for second on the team with two shots and one shot on goal.
  • Claire Meyers’ goal near the end of regulation brings her season total to four goals. Meyers is second on the team behind Cassidy Menke is goals scored.

UP NEXT

  • The Griffons will play on the road at Nebraska Kearney at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday October 7.
  • The Lopers are 4-6 (2-1 MIAA) going into their game against Northwest Missouri on Friday.

— MWSU Athletics —

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