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Cardinals stumble again with 4-1 loss to Pirates

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PITTSBURGH (AP) — The St. Louis Cardinals are running out of time to make their September surge extend their season beyond the first day of October.

Seung Hwan Oh’s difficult season hit another low point when he surrendered a go-ahead two-run homer to Pittsburgh’s Starling Marte in the fifth inning on Sunday as the Pirates pulled away for a 4-1 victory to blunt the Cardinals’ momentum heading into the regular season’s final week.

St. Louis dropped 2 1/2 games behind Colorado for the NL’s second wild card, mustering just four hits against Jameson Taillon and five relievers while falling to Pittsburgh for the second time in less than 24 hours. The Cardinals headed home for a seven-game homestand starting on Monday against the Chicago Cubs with little wiggle room left.

“Yeah we understand the urgency,” St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. “We understand all the numbers. We just don’t spend too much time on them because they’re irrelevant to what we have to do. What we have to do is go play good baseball, that’s it.”

The Cardinals came into Pittsburgh riding a sweep of Cincinnati. They leave having dropped two of three to the Pirates. On Saturday night Pittsburgh chased Lance Lynn in the first inning of an 11-6 romp. On Sunday the Pirates relied on five strong innings from Taillon (8-7) and pounced when Oh (1-6) ran into trouble in the fifth.

With the score 1-1, Pat Bostick singled against Oh leading off the inning and Starling Marte followed with his seventh home run. The drive was the 10th allowed by Oh this season in 62 appearances. He gave up just five in 76 games a rookie in 2016.

“Obviously, everyone can see how it is, very tough,” Oh said through a translator. “None of the fastballs or off-speed pitches are working well.”

Jordan Luplow went deep an inning later off Brett Cecil to give Pittsburgh a three-run cushion. Taillon labored at times through his final home start of the season and needed 95 pitches to get 15 outs. He kept the Cardinals in check and five pitchers combined for hitless relief, with Felipe Rivero striking out two in a perfect ninth for his 19th save in 21 chances.

“The command was a little off, but he made pitches at crunch time throughout the game,” Hurdle said of Taillon. “His competitive fire was burning.”

Matt Carpenter hit his 22nd home run for St. Louis but the Cardinals went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base. St. Louis had a chance to close the gap in the seventh, loading the bases with two outs. Pittsburgh reliever George Kontos got Tommy Pham to hit into a forceout to end the threat.

“We were getting two outs, men in scoring position, bases loaded,” Matheny said. “Someone’s got to come through and do something really big and it didn’t happen. It’s not easy to do.”

FINISHING KICK

Taillon’s first full season in the majors included a battle with testicular cancer that forced him to miss more than a month. He’s endured an uneven year on the mound and has only worked into the seventh three times since returning from the disabled list in June. Still, the 25-year-old lowered his ERA this month to 3.91 in four starts.

“That was my goal I committed to in September, specifically after that little layoff I had,” Taillon said. “I really wanted to finish strong, so it felt strong to have a good one.”

Pirates manager Clint Hurdle praised Taillon’s mettle in the fifth, when Taillon battled through a pair of one-out singles to strike out Carpenter and Pham.

“He showed the guys in the dugout something,” Hurdle said. “I think he threw one fastball at 97. He threw some curveballs that were sharp even though the pitches were over 30. To see that fight, he had good stuff today. The command was a little off, but he made pitches at crunch time throughout the game. His competitive fire was burning.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: 1B Jose Martinez is dealing with a sprained left thumb and a timetable for his return is uncertain. Martinez had an MRI in St. Louis on Saturday that revealed no serious damage. Martinez flew to St. Louis after leaving Friday night’s win against the Pirates in the sixth inning due to pain in the thumb.

Pirates: SS Jordy Mercer was held out of the lineup after exiting Saturday night’s victory with soreness in his left knee.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Luke Weaver (7-1, 2.05 ERA) starts Monday against the Cubs and LHP Jon Lester (11-8, 4.56). St. Louis is 4-11 against Chicago this season.

Pirates: RHP Trevor Williams (6-9, 4.18) starts Tuesday versus Baltimore and RHP Kevin Gausman (11-10, 4.61).

— Associated Press —

Griffons rally for thrilling 41-37 win against Central Oklahoma

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ST. JOSEPH – Dom Marino hooked up with Elijah Cunningham for two long, fourth quarter touchdown passes to help the Missouri Western football team (2-2) come back and defeat Central Oklahoma, 41-37, Saturday night inside Spratt Stadium.

Down 30-27 with 3:23 left in the game, Marino hit Cunningham in stride as he raced for a 48-yard go-ahead touchdown. The lead didn’t last long as Central Oklahoma answered with an 83-yard touchdown strike from Chas Stallard to J.T. Luper with 2:24 left. The game winner came with 1:28 left when Marino and Cunningham connected again, this time for 68 yards on a first and five from the Missouri Western 32.

The game wasn’t over after the second long touchdown from the duo. After Missouri Western stopped UCO on a fourth-and-one on their ensuing drive, the Griffons turned the ball over on downs to UCO with 24 seconds left at the Central Oklahoma 30. The Bronchos drove to the MWSU 25-yard line with three seconds left, but the final pass of the game was jarred loose from the receiver by Jonathan Owens in the corner of the end zone.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DOM
Marino celebrated his birthday on Saturday with the best game of his young Griffon career. The junior completed 13 of his 20 passes for 226 yards and four touchdowns. He also rushed 10 times for 87 yards, including a 71-yard touchdown run that gave MWSU a 15-7 lead in the first quarter. In all Marino was responsible for five of his team’s six touchdowns and had 313 yards of total offense.

THIRD DOWN IMPROVEMENT
Missouri Western was six-of-14 on third down in the game, good for 43 percent. Missouri Western entered Saturday night’s game converting just 20 percent of its third down opportunities. The six conversions against UCO nearly equaled the eight the team had in its first three games, combined.

AVOIDING DANGER
Missouri Western escaped on the better end of two of its own fumbles in the third quarter. Down 23-15 with less than nine minutes left in the quarter, Dom Marino fumbled following a five-yard rush. UCO recovered on the MWSU 16, but an offsides penalty against the Bronchos negated the fumble. Four plays later, Joshua Caldwell had the ball knocked from his arms following a one yard carry that was scooped up by Dijuan Ussery who took the ball 45 yards for a Griffon touchdown that pulled MWSU within two (23-21).

ENDING LIKE THE BEGINNING
After the teams combined for 28 points and more than 340 yards of offense in the first quarter, things slowed down for the next two quarters. The scoreboard and stat sheet lit up again in the fourth as the teams traded punches to total 34 points and 392 yards of offense in the final frame. Each team scored two touchdowns in the final 5:49 of the game.

UP NEXT
Missouri Western travels to Oklahoma to face Northeastern State (0-4) in Tahlequah. Northeastern State was defeated 31-7 at Fort Hays State, Saturday afternoon.

— MWSU Athletics —

No. 1 Bearcats shutout Missouri Southern to stay unbeaten

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By David Boyce – Northwest Athletics

MARYVILLE, Mo. – A hallmark to Northwest Missouri State’s two decades of excellence on the gridiron is the way someone new steps up when injuries strike.

Sophomore running back Brody McMahon, a Maryville native, sophomore wide receiver Quincy Woods and freshman running back Jordan Thompson stepped into that role in impressive fashion against Missouri Southern Saturday afternoon.

In front of a Family Weekend crowd of 8,479 at Bearcat Stadium, the youngsters ignited an offense that scored 42 points in the first half on the way to a 63-0 victory. Ranked No. 1 in the AFCA top 25, Northwest recorded its third shutout of the season. The Bearcats improved to 4-0 and increased its winning streak to 34.

“If we can get a shutout that is the best thing for us,” said Northwest junior linebacker Ben Althoff said. “A saying on defense that we like to use is if they don’t score, they don’t win.”

It was total domination by the Bearcats, who compiled 651 yards of total offense while limiting Missouri Southern to 69 yards. The Lions never got inside of Northwest’s 40.

“It is a great feeling knowing that all the guys around us have been going hard in practice,” Althoff said. “We focused on stopping the run this week. We kept playing hard no matter who was in the game. We kept doing our 1/11 and stayed focused on the task at hand. It has worked out so far.”

The start by McMahon and Woods was almost enough to overshadow the sterling defensive effort, and the six touchdown passes by senior quarterback Zach Martin, who tied a single-game school record. The only other time this occurred was last season by Kyle Zimmerman.

Still, what McMahon and Woods accomplished early in the game was significant. They showed Northwest has depth at both positions.

Because senior running back Cameron Wilcox was out with an injury, McMahon was going to get more touches. In fact, the loss of several running backs forced Northwest to lift the redshirt off of Thompson, who gained seven yards on his first carry early in the first quarter. Thompson scored two, fourth-quarter touchdowns and finished with a game-high 128 yards rushing in 17 carriers.

In the last few weeks of practice, Thompson demonstrated why he was ready to play as a true freshman, and then he proved it.

“It was important,” Northwest coach Rich Wright said of the play of McMahon, Woods, and Thompson. “I said to the team on Friday that some guys have never done a lot in this program are going to make plays, and I am excited to watch it.”

McMahon gave Northwest a 7-0 lead. On first and goal at the 10, he took a handoff from Martin and weaved his way through holes created by the offensive line for a 10-yard touchdown run.

“I hate to see those guys go down,” said McMahon, who finished with 58 yards on 11 carries. “They helped me out a lot through the years.

McMahon grew up so close to Northwest that from his bedroom he could see the lights of the stadium.

“It is a lot more fun getting out here instead of standing on the sideline and getting tight,” McMahon said. “It has been a dream of mine to score a touchdown for the Bearcats. All my teammates gave me hugs.”

After scoring only 13 points last week at Nebraska-Kearney, the Bearcats needed only 2 minutes, 8 seconds at the start of the game to score seven points.

Six minutes later, Northwest topped 13 points when Martin tossed a 20-yard touchdown pass to Woods, giving the Bearcats a 14-0 with 6:03 left in the first quarter.

“I thought Quincy came out ready to go,” said Northwest wide receivers coach Joel Osborn. “You can see he has some speed, some play-making ability. He has been waiting for this moment. He excelled when his number was called.”

Northwest took complete command of the game early in the second quarter when Martin hit Woods with a 4-yard touchdown pass, giving Northwest a 21-0 lead with 11:53 left in the second quarter.

“It was my first time in three years,” Woods said about his first touchdown. “Coach told me before the game to seize the moment. I have been practicing well and doing things well. It hadn’t happened in a game.

“For it to happen today with my little brother here, my mom, my grandmother and my auntie, it was unbelievable, just a blessing.”

For the rest of the second quarter, Martin was unstoppable. Two minutes after his touchdown to Woods, Martin tossed a 43-yard touchdown to junior Shawn Bane.

Five minutes later, the Bearcats threw some razzle dazzle at Missouri Southern when Martin handed the ball off to McMahon who flipped it back to Martin. Martin threw a long strike to senior Jordan Bishop for a 67-yard touchdown pass.

“They are all special,” said Martin, who completed 24 of 31 passes for 326 yards. “Running the ball helps with the passing game. I like trick plays so if I had to pick one, it was that one. It was a great call on the trick play. I had to get one to my boy Jordan Bishop.”

The Bearcats weren’t done scoring in the second quarter. Northwest added the final piece to its first-half masterpiece when Martin hit Bane on a 5-yard touchdown pass with 9 seconds left until halftime. The Bearcats trotted into the locker room with a 42-0 lead.

“One of the things we talked about all week was playing a complete game in all three phases,” Northwest head coach Rich Wright said. “We challenged our offensive kids not be different from what they did, but just play like they are not afraid to make a mistake. I think you saw the result of that today. They were relaxed and attacked and made plays. It was fun to watch.”

Before Martin took a seat for the rest of the game, he threw one more touchdown, hitting Bane for 22 yards with 6:24 left in the third quarter for a 49-0 lead.

“Two things that stuck out to me watching our offense play was the extra-effort plays,” Wright said. “Jordan Grove was tackled, and he made two guys miss and battled to get the first down. Shane Williams gets hurt trying to drive to the goal line.

“The kids finished today. It was the extra effort. It was Bearcat football. It was fun to watch as a head football coach. Our offensive line played their tails off today. When we can run the football, our offense becomes difficult to defend because of the play-action passing game. I was really proud of their effort today.”

— Northwest Athletics —

Missouri gets hammered by No. 15 Auburn 51-14

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COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) – Kerryon Johnson had no idea how many touchdowns he had scored, even as they kept adding up.

The Auburn running back was simply focused on his much-awaited return to the field after two weeks off following a hamstring injury.

Johnson made the most of that return on Saturday night, scoring a career-high five times as the No. 15 Tigers (3-1, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) made quick work of struggling Missouri (1-3, 0-2) in a 51-14 victory.

The junior did most of his work in short-yardage situations, scoring three times on 1-yard runs and adding others from 2 and 7 yards out. More than anything, his presence – along with 48 yards rushing on 18 carries – provided a boost for an Auburn offense that had struggled to find its expected explosiveness in recent weeks.

”It was fun, it’s been a long two weeks, but it was good rest, and just getting back out there with those guys and competing was fun for me,” Johnson said.

As productive as Johnson was, he had plenty of backing in the form of Auburn quarterback Jarrett Stidham and a defense that forced four Missouri turnovers.

Stidham started the fun for Auburn’s offense with a 58-yard completion to Kyle Davis on the school’s first possession, and he rarely let up from there – finishing with 218 yards passing and a touchdown on 13-of-17 passing.

Preseason All-SEC cornerback Carlton Davis accounted for one of Auburn’s forced turnovers, snaring a tipped pass by Missouri quarterback Drew Lock in the first quarter and setting up Auburn’s second score of the game.

”First of all, I’m very pleased with the win on the road in the SEC,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. ”We were pretty balanced. I thought our defense played outstanding again.”

For Missouri, the loss was yet another disappointment in a season full of them – even in the school’s up-and-down 72-43 win over Football Championship Series rival Missouri State to open the season.

Lock finished 23-of-39 passing for 216 yards and a pair of touchdowns for Missouri, which allowed its most points since a 63-37 loss to Tennessee last season.

”It’s unfortunate that we again get into a situation where we were minus four in the turnover margin, gave up explosive plays on defense and didn’t sustain drives offensively,” Missouri coach Barry Odom said. ”For us, right now that’s who we are.”

THE TAKEAWAY

AUBURN: The Tigers’ offense entered the game looking like anything but a Malzahn-coached team, having allowed 11 sacks in a loss to Clemson and committing five turnovers in last week’s win over Mercer. Aided by Johnson’s return, Auburn returned to its high-scoring form from the start – highlighted by completions of 58 and 46 yards by Stidham in the first half.

”Collectively as a team, I think we’re starting to kind of find our edge, kind of get in our groove,” Stidham said.

MISSOURI: Missouri’s season-long struggles with defense continued on Saturday night, with the Tigers allowing 482 yards of total offense by Auburn. Missouri entered the game 103rd in the country and last in the SEC in total defense, and its problems showed in particular in the first half – when Auburn scored 31 points and scored on all four of its red zone chances.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Regardless of how big the margin of victory, a win over lowly Missouri was unlikely to help Auburn re-establish itself as the SEC’s top contender to No. 1 Alabama. The re-emergence of the Tigers’ offense, however, should be a good sign with six straight SEC games on the horizon.

UP NEXT

AUBURN: The Tigers play their first game against an SEC West Division opponent when they host No. 17 Mississippi State next week.

MISSOURI: After four straight home games to open the season, Missouri is off next week before traveling to Kentucky on Oct. 7.

— Associated Press —

Royals maintain wild card hopes with 8-2 win over White Sox

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CHICAGO (AP) – Kansas City has eight games left and almost no margin for error.

Alex Gordon homered, Whit Merrifield drove in three runs and Danny Duffy pitched into the seventh inning to lead the Royals over the Chicago White Sox 8-2 on Saturday night, keeping Kansas City’s slim playoff hopes alive.

Salvador Perez went 2 for 4 with a pair of run-scoring doubles.

Kansas City is 4 1/2 games behind Minnesota for the second AL wild card, tied with the Los Angeles Angels and Texas.

”We just got to win,” manager Ned Yost said. ”We just have to keep playing good, find ways to win ballgames and play it out to the end.”

Minnesota has three games at AL power Cleveland in a series that starts Tuesday.

”Crazier things have happened in this game,” Duffy said. ”We just want to continue to try and finish strong and worry about next year when next year comes.”

Duffy (9-9) allowed two runs and eight hits in six-plus innings for his first win since Aug. 22.

Jose Abreu went 1 for 4 and drove in two runs to reach the 100-RBI mark for the fourth straight season. The Chicago slugger is just the third major leaguer to begin his career with four straight seasons of at least 25 homers and 100 RBIs after Joe DiMaggio and Albert Pujols.

”Honestly, I don’t feel as happy as I want to because we lost,” Abreu said through a translator. ”But personally, it feels good to get this goal accomplished.”

Tim Anderson went 1 for 4 to extend his career-best hitting streak to 14 games.

Dylan Covey (0-7) allowed three runs and five hits in six innings. He is seeking his first major league win after 11 starts and six relief appearances.

”I felt like I was maybe pitching from behind in counts too much,” Covey said, ”but there were a lot of positive things, too, to carry over into my next start.”

Chicago took the lead on Abreu’s RBI single in the first.

Covey allowed just one hit over the first three innings and retired the first two batters in the fourth. But then Eric Hosmer walked, Salvador Perez followed with an RBI double and Mike Moustakas singled to drive in Perez for a 2-1 Kansas City lead.

Gordon homered in the fifth. Merrifield’s three-run double in the seventh gave the Royals a 6-1 advantage.

Abreu drove in a run with a groundout in the seventh. Kansas City added a pair in the eighth on RBI doubles by Perez and Brandon Moss.

CHOICE COMPANY

DiMaggio is in the Hall of Fame and Pujols is on track for first-ballot election. Abreu felt honored to join a select group.

”I know a few things about DiMaggio,” Abreu said through a translator. ”I went to the video room and they were showing some videos about DiMaggio. Every time that your name is around two of the greatest people in baseball, you have to feel good because it means that you have done something special.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: Perez returned after leaving Friday’s game with a sore neck after being struck by a foul tip. He was taken out in the middle of the eighth with the big lead.

White Sox: Abreu was the DH because he’s dealing with a sore left shin. … There’s still no diagnosis for LHP Carlos Rodon beyond shoulder inflammation, but the team is optimistic he’ll be able to go through a normal offseason program and be ready for spring training.

UP NEXT

Chicago RHP Lucas Giolito (2-3, 2.58 ERA) faces RHP Ian Kennedy (4-12, 5.39) in the series finale on Sunday. Giolito is 1-2 with a 2.49 ERA in his last four starts. Kennedy rejoined the team on Saturday after being away for the birth of his fifth child.

— Associated Press —

Jayhawks rally comes up short in loss to West Virginia

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LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) – West Virginia did what most people expected it would against Kansas in the first half Saturday, building the kind of lopsided advantage that should have made it an easy afternoon in Memorial Stadium.

Instead, the banged-up Mountaineers blew much of that lead during a stagnant third quarter.

It wasn’t until the fourth that Will Grier and Co. got rolling again. The star quarterback scored twice on the ground in the closing minutes, and finished with 347 yards passing while accounting for four scores, to a sew up a 56-34 victory that was far more difficult than coach Dana Holgorsen had envisioned.

”Looked good at times, looked bad at times,” Holgorsen said, wiping sweat from his brow. ”We were either rolling on offense or we were inept. I don’t know what it was.”

At least there were enough good times to overcome the bad.

David Sills V had 130 yards and two TDs receiving, and Kennedy McKoy also reached the end zone twice, as the Mountaineers (3-1, 1-0 Big 12) beat Kansas (1-3, 0-1) for the sixth time in seven meetings.

”We just got a little relaxed,” Sills said, ”and that’s something we can’t do.”

West Virginia overcome a career game from sophomore Khalil Herbert, who ran for 291 yards and two touchdowns. It was the third-most yards by a Kansas player on the ground in school history, trailing only a 396-yard performance by Tony Sands in 1991 and a 294-yard effort by Nolan Cromwell in 1975.

”We’ve been working on it all week, and the O-Line has been doing a great job. Today we just came out and executed,” he said. ”Thanks to the big boys up front.”

Peyton Bender added 197 yards and a TD through the air, but he also threw a pair of picks, one of which was returned for a touchdown. And a porous defense allowed 40 or more points for the third straight game.

”I thought the quarterback for them played really well today, and their running backs played really well,” Kansas coach David Beaty said, ”but their O-Line did a pretty good of protecting them.”

The Mountaineers looked as if they’d cruise past the Jayhawks again when they put together four straight touchdown drives in the first half. Each covered at least 80 yards, none took more than 3:22 off the clock, and the result was a 28-3 lead midway through the second quarter.

Herbert finally stopped the onslaught with a 67-yard touchdown run, but the Mountaineers’ Mike Daniels picked off a tipped pass a couple minutes later, and it was 35-13 by halftime.

That’s when the Mountaineers’ offense suddenly hit the skids, punting four times and turning it over once during a five-possession span. Meanwhile, a defense that had started to bottle up Herbert became leaky, thanks in large part to a slew of injuries, allowing short touchdown runs a couple minutes apart to make it 35-27.

Suddenly, a sparse crowd that turned out on a hot, sunny afternoon began to think back to 2013, when the long-suffering Jayhawks stunned the Mountaineers 31-19 on a cool November day.

The teams swapped TDs in the fourth quarter, the Mountaineers getting a second chance at the end zone after an offside penalty on a field goal, and it was still 42-34 with 7:35 left in the game.

Grier answered with a QB keeper then scored again a few minutes later to put it away.

”I am seeing improvement, which is good. Very discouraged about that fourth quarter,” Beaty said. ”That’s not how I felt like that game should’ve ended up.”

STATS AND STREAKS

The Mountaineers had 635 yards total offense. The Jayhawks had 564. … The teams combined to run for 655 yards. … Grier has thrown for at least 300 yards and Justin Crawford (125 yards and a TD Saturday for West Virginia) has run for at least 100 in four straight games. … Herbert has run for 428 yards combined his past two games.

THE TAKEAWAY

West Virginia: Grier had the Mountaineers humming early and late, but the offense sputtered out of rhythm during a long stretch in the middle of the game. Their counterparts on defense didn’t help much, getting pushed around by the Kansas offensive line most of the afternoon.

Kansas: Miscues doomed the Jayhawks, from the pick-six to penalties when they were going for it in fourth-and-short situations. But while Beaty insists there are no moral victories, the way Kansas responded to adversity was something to build upon.

UP NEXT

West Virginia has a week off before visiting No. 16 TCU on Oct. 7.

Kansas also gets a week off before Texas Tech visits Oct. 7.

— Associated Press —

Nebraska hangs on to defeat Rutgers 27-17

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LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – An air of ”here we go again” hung over Memorial Stadium on Saturday when Rutgers’ Kiy Hester intercepted Tanner Lee early in the second half and ran 33 yards to the end zone to give the Scarlet Knights a three-point lead.

A week earlier here, Northern Illinois had two pick-sixes against Lee in one of Nebraska’s most humiliating losses in years.

When Lee trotted onto the field for the next series against the Scarlet Knights, he got booed, and the Cornhuskers went three-and-out.

But coach Mike Riley stuck with Lee for the possession after that, and the transfer from Tulane completed 6 of 8 passes during a 97-yard drive that produced the go-ahead touchdown in a 27-17 win.

Lee, who has thrown a nation-high nine interceptions, has been the fans’ whipping boy during a poor start to Riley’s third year in Lincoln. He didn’t pretend to not hear the boos.

”That was tough,” he said. ”I made a dumb play there, that’s for sure. I think the biggest thing was that we got the ball back inside our own 5 and we finished with a touchdown. That was the most important thing to us right there. We got it done.”

The Huskers (2-2, 1-0 Big Ten) pounded away at the Scarlet Knights and wore them down in the second half. Devine Ozigbo ran 24 times for 101 yards after having carried just twice in the first three games, and Mikale Wilbon added 78 yards.

It was a much-needed victory for Riley two days after the firing of athletic director Shawn Eichorst was announced. With Eichorst out, the focus has shifted to Riley and what he and his team must do the rest of the season for him to keep his job.

Riley got a handshake from university President Hank Bounds as he walked off the field. He appeared worn out at the postgame news conference, speaking a bit softer than usual.

”Winning games are hard,” Riley said. ”I would suppose after last week, that game was… These kids are happy right now. They know it was hard, they know they played well, and they knew a lot of new parts played an important role.”

The Huskers were missing top receiver Stanley Morgan Jr. to a neck injury, and a host of other players on both sides of the ball were out with injuries. Rutgers was without playmaker Janarion Grant, who missed the last eight games in 2016 because of a broken ankle and was hurt in the second quarter last week against Morgan State.

The Knights (1-3, 0-1), who have lost 15 straight Big Ten games, had leads of 7-0 and 10-7 in the first half before De’Mornay Pierson-El ran back a punt 63 yards to set up Wilbon’s 4-yard touchdown run that put the Huskers up 14-10 at half.

”We struggled to stop the run, especially in the second half,” Rutgers coach Chris Ash said. ”And we gave up the long punt return. When you do those things you’re going to struggle to win games. The second half we wore out, just the lack of depth on the defensive line.”

THE TAKEAWAY

Rutgers: The Knights turned in a game effort in a tough road environment a week after beating FCS Morgan State to end an 11-game losing streak. For a team lacking much offensive firepower, the absence of Grant was glaring.

Nebraska: The Huskers didn’t earn any style points, but any win is good right now for Riley. Nebraska put this one away by controlling the ball in the second half.

QB SWITCH?

Riley said he never considered taking Lee out and putting in Patrick O’Brien after the pick-six.

”Just by the fact that this is a three-point game, he’s played so much more, and we had a lot of faith that he would bring it back and he did,” Riley said. ”He made some real good throws after that. It had nothing to do with how we feel about Patrick, either. This guy (Lee) has been in the games and he sucked it up and made some throws.”

NICE CATCH

Rutgers’ Jerome Washington kept alive his team’s opening drive with a behind-the-back catch of Kyle Bolin’s third-and-9 pass. Washington started to drop the ball but somehow it ended up on his calves, with Washington reaching around to hold it there as he tumbled over. Seven plays later the Scarlet Knights scored.

TARGETING CALL

The Huskers, already missing Joshua Kalu, lost safety Aaron Williams when he was called for targeting on Rutgers’ first series. Williams initiated helmet-to-helmet contact after Hunter Hayek made a catch long the sideline.

UP NEXT

Rutgers hosts No. 4 Ohio State on Saturday.

Nebraska visits Illinois on Friday night.

— Associated Press —

Area High School Football Scores – Friday, September 22

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CITY
Central 21 (2-4, 1-2 Suburban Red)
@ Truman 14 (1-5, 0-3 Suburban Red)

Lafayette 54 (5-1, 3-1 MEC)
@ Chillicothe 38 (5-1, 3-1 MEC)

Maryville 47 (5-1, 3-1 MEC)
@ Benton 7 (0-6, 0-4 MEC)

Smithville 42 (6-0, 4-0 MEC)
@ Bishop LeBlond 7 (2-4, 1-3 MEC)

St. Joseph Christian 14 (1-4, 1-4 GRC)
@ Worth County 60 (6-0, 4-0 GRC)

 

AREA
Savannah 42 (2-4, 2-2 MEC)
@ Cameron 0 (0-6, 0-4 MEC)

Lawson 20 (4-2, 3-1 KCI)
@ East Buchanan 26 (5-1, 4-0 KCI)

Mid-Buchanan 14 (0-6, 0-4 KCI)
@ Plattsburg 49 (3-3, 1-3 KCI)

North Platte 0 (2-4, 2-2 KCI)
@ Lathrop 45 (5-1, 3-1 KCI)

Hamilton 42 (5-1, 3-1 KCI)
@ West Platte 7 (1-5, 0-4 KCI)

Princeton 54 (6-0, 3-0 GRC)
@ Maysville 14 (1-5, 0-4 GRC)

Putnam County 42 (1-5, 1-2 GRC)
@ Polo 47 (5-1, 3-1 GRC)

South Harrison 14 (2-4, 2-2 GRC)
@Trenton 8 (2-4)

Milan 8 (0-6, 0-3 GRC)
@ Gallatin 45 (5-1, 4-0 GRC)

 

8-MAN
North Andrew 36 (3-2, 2-1 GRC)
@ Stanberry 54 (6-0, 6-0 GRC)

Braymer 50 (1-5, 0-4 GRC)
@ Albany 54 (1-5, 1-3 GRC)

King City 60 (3-2, 1-2 GRC)
@ Chilhowee 32 (4-2)

Pattonsburg 50 (2-4, 2-3 GRC)
@ Norborne-Hardin Central 52 (5-1)

Mound City (5-0, 4-0 275)
@ East Atchison (4-1, 4-1 275)

South Holt / Nodaway Holt 44 (3-3, 3-2 275)
@ Stewartsville 46 (2-3, 2-3 275)

North-West Nodaway 42 (2-4, 2-4 275)
@ DeKalb 14 (0-6, 0-5 275)

Southwest Livingston 46 (3-3, 3-3 275)
@ Platte Valley 0 (0-6, 0-5 275)

Rock Port 78 (6-0, 5-0 275)
@ North Shelby 32 (2-4)

No. 23 Griffons can’t overcome slow start in 2-0 loss at No. 4 Central Missouri

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WARRENSBURG, Mo. – Two Central Missouri goals in the first two minutes were enough to hand No. 23 Griffon soccer (6-1) its first loss of the season Friday.

The No. 4-ranked Jennies (7-0) put MWSU down 1-0 just 20 seconds into the contest and added what would be their last goal of the game in the second minute. From that point on the Griffons controlled the pace, taking a 10-7 shot advantage to halftime. Missouri Western again forced control of the match early in the second half before eventually being out-shot 11-8 over the final 45 minutes. Missouri Western’s 18 shots were the most allowed by UCM this season.

Missouri Western became only the second team this season to hold Central Missouri to two goals, but also became the seventh to be shutout by the Jennies. Sarah Lyle finished the game with nine saves in goal.

UP NEXT
The Griffons travel to Lindenwood (3-4) for their MIAA opener one week after defeating the Lions 5-0 in St. Joseph. Sunday’s game begins at 4 p.m. Lindenwood lost 2-1 in overtime to Northwest Missouri, Friday.

— MWSU Athletics —

Northwest Missouri State soccer wins in OT at Lindenwood

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The Northwest Missouri State University soccer team got a goal from Mollie Holtman in the 108th minute to defeat Lindenwood, 2-1, on Friday at Harlen C. Hunter Stadium in St. Charles, Mo.

– The win moves the Bearcats to an even 3-3 on the year while Lindenwood falls to 3-4. The match was a non-MIAA contest.

– Taylor Wolfe scored Northwest’s first goal in the 33rd minute as she lifted a shot from 22 yards out into the top left corner off a pass from Madi McKeever.

– Izzy Romano found Mollie Holtman in the second overtime session down the left side and she beat the keeper to the far post to end the match.

Key Northwest Statistics
– The Bearcats outshot the Lions, 15-8, and had nine shots on goal to Lindenwood’s three.

– Northwest was called for seven fouls while the Lions were whistled for five.

– Madie Krueger and Brianna Hersom each had three shots in the match with two coming on goal.

– Ashley Malloy made two saves to pick up her third win of the year.

– Mollie Holtman and Taylor Wolfe each scored against Sioux Falls in the season opener on Sept. 3. It was the second goal of the year for both players.

Up Next
– The Bearcats will begin MIAA play on Sunday at Central Missouri. The 1 p.m. match will be played in Warrensburg, Mo.

— Northwest Athletics —

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