• Adobe Acrobat .PDF file
• Microsoft Word .DOC file

---

Mules Thump ESU Hornets in Emporia

Willie Fritz becomes the winningest coach in Mules football history

The University of Central Missouri Mules showed what they were made of on Saturday as they bounced back and stung the Emporia State Hornets 38-7 on the road. The win gave Mules head coach Willie Fritz his 79th career win, making him the winningest football coach in Central Missouri history, passing former bench boss Terry Noland.

The Mules (4-2, 3-1 MIAA) started the afternoon slow, turning the ball over on the first two possessions, but sophomore quarterback Eric Czerniewski led them down the field in his first start since September 15 for a 37-yard Marcelo Velazquez field goal at the 2:23 mark of the opening quarter.

The second quarter saw the UCM offense kick in to full gear though, sparked by some big plays by the defense. After pinning the Hornets back on their own five yard line, UCM forced a three-and-out and got the ball in ESU territory to start the next drive. It took only five plays for the Mules to drive 43 yards for their first touchdown of the day. It was an 18-yard run by junior Glenn Milner that made it 10-0. It was the start of another big day for Milner.

The Mules defense came up big again on the next play as LaVance Dotson picked off ESU signal caller Andre Sloan El and returned it 16 yards to the Hornet 28. A personal foul on the Hornets moved it down to the 14 yard line and the Mules made it two scores in less than two minutes when Czerniewski hit sophomore Damond Berry from nine yards out to make it 17-0 with 8:25 remaining in the half.

The Hornets showed some fight though, and drove 72 yards on the next possession for a score. It was capped by a 34-yard touchdown grab by Andre Maupin.

Emporia tried to cut the margin under double-digits before the half but the Mules injury-plagued defense overcame again when junior defensive end John Wood sacked Sloan El and forced a fumble that Steven Ehase recovered in UCM territory with 12 seconds remaining.

With a 17-7 lead at the break, the Mules knew they needed to answer early in the second half to swing the momentum back in their favor. ESU outgained UCM by a 189-to-171 margin in the opening period, but the Mules took over from there, accumulating 255 yards in the final half while holding the Hornets to only 99 yards of offense.

Milner got things started on the third play of the second half when he took a screen pass 63 yards to pay dirt to make it 24-7 and put the game out of reach. The score would stay that way until the fourth quarter when the UCM rushing attack took over. Milner and Jeremy Braden ran the ball down the field for a 10-play, 59-yard drive that took more than four minutes off the clock. Braden finished it off with a nine-yard scamper with just under six minutes left in the game.

The Mules finished the scoring on their next drive, highlighted by a 60 yard pass from Stinson Dean to Tim Richmond that got it down to the ESU one yard line. Running back Justin Gore scored his second TD of the season with 1:55 remaining to make it 38-7.

The Mules ended the game with their second interception of the day, this time by freshman cornerback Karl Parker, the first of his career. Central Missouri’s two picks made it a national best 14 on the season as well.

Milner finished the day with his fourth consecutive 100-yard game on the ground with 109. He also led all receivers with four catches for 72 yards. Czerniewski was 17-of-30 for 203 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. It was the first 200-yard passing game of the year by a Mule. The UCM defense had 10 tackles for loss and was led by All-American Kendall Ricketts with eight stops (one for loss).