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Mules roll past Golden Bears in home opener

Marcelo Velazquez booted four field goals in the Mules victory on Saturday
(Photo by Dave Kopp)

The University of Central Missouri Mules out-rushed Concordia-St. Paul 212-to-(-4) en route to a 56-24 thumping in the season opener Saturday at Walton Stadium/Kennedy Field.

UCM (1-1) used an average starting field position of their own 49 yard line and three forced turnovers to run away with the win. Senior wideout Anthony Parks had 105 return yards while sophomore Damond Berry had 72 to help the cause.

Also big on special teams was sophomore Marcelo Velazquez,  as he was one tally short of the school record for points in a game by a kicker as he booted four field goals (4-of-4) and six extra points for 18 total points on the day. The record is 19 points by Steve Huff back in 1985. The performance was the second-best in school history.

Central Missouri actually had to come from behind as CSP hit for a 66 yard touchdown pass with 9:05 in the first quarter to take a 7-3 lead. It would be until the second quarter before the Mules could regain the advantage. After another field goal, the UCM defense came up big as Dallas Bryant pounced on an errant pitch by CSP quarterback Kole Goodchild at the Golden Bear 27 yard line. Junior running back Glenn Milner would need only two carries to score the first UCM touchdown of the game from 11 yards out. It would be the last time CSP was within a touchdown on the day as Jeremy Braden had a 10 yard TD tote to make it 20-7 at the 5:09 mark.

Concordia-St. Paul made a risky decision to go for it on fourth down and five on its own 44 with just more than two minutes on the clock, and it didn’t pay off as the pass was incomplete and it gave the Mules a chance to add to their lead. UCM did just that as it took the ball down and kicked another field goal with 55 seconds left in the half. CSP tried to get three points with seconds remaining but Randy Shepherd blocked the 41 yard attempt and pushed the Golden Bears back 10 yards to make the second attempt 51 yards. It fell short at the horn.

Concordia-St. Paul tried to make a game of it early in the half with another long bomb (the fourth of more than 40 yards against the Mules this season) from 48 yards out to make it 23-14. The Mules would crush those hopes though, scoring the game’s next 26 points.

Parks scored the next two third quarter touchdowns with catches from eight and five yards out while the Mules rushing game of Milner and Braden got them down the field. UCM carried the ball 43 times for an average of 4.9 yards per carry in the outing.

UCM got the first safety of the season in the fourth when CSP snapped the ball over the punter’s head and he batted it out of the back of the endzone to make it 42-14. Junior quarterback Stinson Dean came in the final period and followed that by tossing his first two career TD passes, both to sophomore wideout Seth Mason.

CSP would score a couple times in the final quarter, but the damage was done with the game out of reach.

The Mules were led by starter Eric Czerniewski in the passing attack with an 11-of-26 performance for 141 yards and a couple TD’s. Milner led the rush with 77 yards while Braden carried for 54. Parks had four grabs for 45 yards while Mason had five for 60 yards to go with their two scoring catches each.

Central Missouri will kick off MIAA play at home next week against Truman State. The two teams will kick off at 1:30 p.m. at Walton Stadium/Kennedy Field.