William Jewell’s McCullough runs for 402 yards, 5 TDs: Area college football roundup

Action-packed small-college football games were the rule across and beyond the Kansas City metro on Saturday as a number of local programs kicked off their respective 2024 seasons.

Here’s a rundown of highlights from opening weekend:

William Jewell 35, Fort Lewis (Colo.) 20: The No. 1 small-school performance of the weekend came from a William Jewell running back out in Durango, Colorado. In front of 2,008 fans at Ray Dennison Memorial Field, Keaundre McCullough led William Jewell to a road win by erupting for 402 rushing yards. He averaged 16.1 yards per rush, capping his day with a 93-yard score in the fourth quarter.

The D-II record for rushing yards in a game is 418, set by Jarom Freeman at Southern Connecticut State in 2007. McCullough, who scored each of William Jewell’s five touchdowns, rushed for 200 yards in each half (202-200) but came up just shy of the record.

Missouri State at Montana, 8 p.m.

Pittsburg State vs. Ferris State, 7 p.m.

Avila 24, Bethany 21: Juan Delgado’s 32-yard field goal with just over 3 minutes left proved to be the difference in this evenly-matched opener. The field goal was set up by a 56-yard drive by the Eagles. Seth Myers and Malcolm Tatum each caught a TD pass from Avila QB Nick Sanford II. Sanford completed 17 of 40 passes for 208 yards. with the two TDs and an interception.

Benedictine at Morningside (Iowa), 6 p.m.

Ottawa vs. Southwestern, 6 p.m.

Saint Mary vs. Friends, 6 p.m.

Thursday’s action

Minnesota State 36, Northwest Missouri 22: The Bearcats lost their first opener in 13 seasons. Minnesota State, ranked No. 13 in Division II, piled up a total of 423 yards against No. 22 Northwest Missouri. The Bearcats worked to come back from a 29-0 deficit in the game at Maryville, Missouri, but were unable to pull out a home victory. Luke Mathews, who played in high school at Liberty North, caught an 80-yard TD pass from quarterback Chris Ruhnke for the Bearcats. Mathews finished with 140 yards receiving on five catches.

Missouri Western 33, Northeastern State (Okla.) 31: The Griffons won the second half 19-0 against Northeastern State, and that was good for the comeback victory at Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Brandon Hall rushed for a career-high 185 yards, with two TDs, for Missouri Western. Kienen Gasken, a linebacker who played in high school at Lee’s Summit North, picked off a pass and recovered a fumble for the Griffons.

Emporia State 30, Washburn 14: The Hornets pitched a 6-0 shutout in the opening half then scored 24 points in the second half and easily pulled out the home win. Emporia State quarterback Gunnar Gundy completed 27 of 41 passes for 292 yards with three TDs. He also ran for 99 yards on 11 rushes. Tyler Schultze came up with two interceptions for the Hornets. Jaquez White was in on 10 tackles, seven solo, for the Ichabods. Washburn’s Jordan Finnesy picked off one of Gundy’s passes.

Fort Hays State 21, Angelo State (Texas) 7: Fort Hays State won its home opener for the first time in the last five season. The Tigers scored two first-quarter touchdowns and held back No. 24 Angelo State virtually the whole game. Fort Hays surrendered but 203 yards of offense (80 rushing, 123 passing). Tigers quarterback Jack Dawson connected on 23 of 36 of his passes for 271 yards with a two TDs and an interception. The first score of the game was a 51-yard touchdown pass from Daswon to running back Shane Watts. Watts, who is from De Soto, Kansas, also scored a rushing TD. Shane’s brother Trevor, hauled in six catches for 73 yards for the Tigers.

Midwestern State 18, Missouri Southern 11: The Lions had a tough time getting any offense going in their opener at Wichita Falls, Texas. Missouri Southern did get on the board first with a 44-yard field goal by Drake Reese. But the Lions did not score again until a fourth-quarter TD when De’Shawn Larsen got it across the goal line from 4 yards out. Larsen netted 84 yards rushing on 23 carries.

Here are some of the teams whose season openers are scheduled for next Saturday, Sept. 7:

• Central Missouri vs. Northeastern State

• Lincoln at Quincy (Illinois)

• MidAmerica Nazarene at Culver-Stockton (Canton, Mo.)

• Baker vs. St. Ambrose (Iowa)