Missouri State wins again & Mules get better of the Gorillas: Area college football

Action-packed small-college football games were once again the rule across and beyond the Kansas City metro Saturday.

Here’s a rundown of highlights from the weekend:

Missouri State 38, Southern Illinois 17: The Bears rolled to a 24-0 lead on way to their seventh straight victory. Missouri State’s Jayden Becks ran for 101 yards on 11 carries with two touchdowns, including a 29-yarder. Darion Smith had two sacks, a forced fumble and was in on 10 tackles, five solo, for Missouri State (7-2). The Bears entered the game at No. 17 in the FCS coaches’ poll. The Bears are 5-0 in the Missouri Valley, with North Dakota State at 6-0. The two are set to square off Nov. 16 in Fargo. The Bison are No. 1 in the FCS rankings.

Central Missouri 37, Pittsburg State 13: It was another roller-coaster Saturday in MIAA football, highlighted by the Mules’ upset of the Gorillas in Pittsburg, Kansas. Pitt State had just moved up to No. 1 in the D2Football.com rankings and No. 5 in the NCAA Division II coaches’ poll. Central Missouri played the spoiler, though, with its third straight win. Mules quarterback Zach Zebrowski threw a 62-yard touchdown pass to Michael Fitzgerald that put Central Missouri up 17-10 in the second quarter. Zebrowski threw for 382 yards with two TDs and ran for 96 yards with two scores. The Mules improved to 6-3. The Gorillas are 7-2.

MidAmerica Nazarene 48, Benedictine 47: The Ravens — and the Pioneers — seemed to quoth forever more in this one. The Benedictine Ravens scored last on a 79-yard kickoff return by JaShawn Todd for a TD after MidAmerica Nazarene had taken a 48-41 lead on a TD with 19 seconds left in the game. But Benedictine went for two and didn’t get it as the Pioneers survived this shootout showdown in Olathe. MidAmerica Nazarene improved to 8-0, while Benedictine is now 7-2. Each team had 504 yards of offense. And each team’s QB — Adrian Parsons for the Pioneers and Jackson Dooley for the Ravens — threw for five TDs and one interception. Dooley finished with 413 passing yards to Parsons’ 374.

Fort Hays State 36 Emporia State 7: The Tigers pulled the upset over No. 11 (NCAA D-II coaches poll) Emporia State in Hays, Kansas, behind 244 yards of rushing from Shane Watts. Watts carried the ball 26 times and scored two touchdowns, one that went for 69 yards and the other 43 yards. Fort Hays outgained the Hornets 414 yards to 165. Myles Menges picked off a pass for the Tigers.

Northwest Missouri State 44, Northeastern State (Okla.) 26: The Bearcats put an end to a two-game skid with the home victory. Jake Fisher, a senior from Smithville, had three of Northwest Missouri’s seven sacks. Bearcats QB Chris Ruhnke threw three touchdown passes.

Baker 37, Clark 17: Zac Kramer picked off a Clark pass and took it 43 yards the other way for a TD and 14-7 lead in Dubuque, Iowa. QB Truman Juelsgaard ran for three touchdowns for the Wildcats, who have won four straight since a 27-24 loss at Benedictine in September.

Quincy 24, William Jewell 20: Cardinals wide receiver Jalen Bethany hauled in seven passes for 59 yards with two TDs in the loss in Quincy, Illinois. Javion Macias and Sean Mitchell (Van Horn High School) each intercepted a pass for William Jewell.

Nebraska-Kearney 14, Washburn 13: The Ichabods scored on their first drive, but the corresponding kick on the PAT attempt was blocked and proved to be the difference after Nebraska-Kearney scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns. The Ichabods’ Chase McCoy had two sacks.

Central Oklahoma 37, Missouri Western 34, OT: The Griffons lost a heart-breaker at home: Missouri Western’s Cameron Powell returned an interception 35 yards for a TD and a 34-20 lead with 5 minutes, 36 seconds left in the game. Central Oklahoma, however, managed two TDs from that point on and tied the game 34-34. One of those Bronchos’ scores was a 92-yard punt return. In overtime, Central Oklahoma was able to get the winning field goal. Missouri Western quarterback Branden Berwald rushed for 116 yards on 19 attempts, including a TD.

Avila 26, Ottawa 13: Antonio Moore scooped up a Braves fumble and ran 35 yards to the house for 7-0 lead for Avila at Ottawa. The Eagles never looked back in notching their second victory of the season.

Sterling 26, Saint Mary 25: The Spires had a 22-7 halftime lead on Senior Day in Leavenworth but were not able to close the deal. Raymond Webster carried the ball 24 times for 174 yards and two TDs for Saint Mary.

Truman State 52, Lincoln 7: Lincoln quarterback Isaiah Tate completed 18 of 25 passes for 174 yards with a TD in the loss at Kirksville, Missouri. Israel Tate caught eight of those passes for 68 yards.