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Mules rally and hold on for win at Fort Hays State

Eric Czerniewski had a record setting performance for the Mules

The Central Missouri Mules didn’t get a lead until the fourth quarter on Saturday against Fort Hays State, but they made it stand up for a 24-21 road win at Lewis Field Stadium in the season finale.

Junior quarterback Eric Czerniewski ran for two touchdowns and passed for a third in the second-half rally. He finished with a career-high 371 passing yards on 25-of-38 attempts with one interception, and added 32 rushing yards on nine carries, including two touchdowns for the Mules (7-4, 5-4 MIAA).

Czerniewski became only the third player in school history to surpass 400 yards of total offense (403) against (only needed 5 yards to tie Jeff Phillips at 409). He also broke the single season school records for passing yards (2,938) and total offense (3,010). Jeff Phillips record for yards passing (2,854) and total offense (2,709) had stood since 1987.

The second of two first-half turnovers by UCM set up the first touchdown for the Tigers (2-9, 1-8 MIAA). Starting at the Mules' 48, FHSU needed just six plays to reach the end zone -- as sophomore Jacobb Irvin cashed in with a 10-yard run at the 6:59 mark of the second quarter.

The Mules had a chance to tie it before halftime when they too started a possession on their opponent's 48-yard line. The drive stalled at the FHSU 13, and senior Mark Starks connected on a 30-yard field goal with 1:13 left to make it 7-3.

Fort Hays State received the second-half kickoff, which ended up being a touchback to give the Tigers possession at their own 20. Junior Anthony Dickson busted off an 80-yard run to extend FHSU's lead to 14-3 just 13 seconds into the third quarter.

UCM needed only 11 seconds to answer and start its rally. Junior Sean Thornton connected with Czerniewski for a 64-yard TD pass on the first play of the ensuing drive, cutting the gap to 14-10.

Czerniewski gave the Mules the lead in the early stages of the fourth quarter, as he finished off a 60-yard drive with an 8-yard run to make it 17-14 with 10:58 left. Completions of 19 and 13 yards to senior Edgar Givens sparked the march.

Senior John Wood jarred the ball loose from Dickson to give the Mules the ball at the FHSU 11, and Czerniewski's 7-yard run two plays later gave Central Missouri a 24-14 lead with 4:28 left.

The Tigers tried a last-ditch rally when UCM senior running back Glenn Milner fumbled after a hit by sophomore Garrett Nikkel and junior C.J. Lovett recovered and returned 24 yards to the FHSU 49 with 26 seconds left.

A 48-yard pass from Mike Garrison to Anthony Smith put the Tigers at the UCM 3, then Garrison found Irvin for a 3-yard TD pass with 11 ticks remaining to cut the gap to three points.

The ensuing on-side kick by the Tigers ended up going out of bounds to end the hope of Fort Hays State avoiding an eight-game losing streak to end the season.

Sophomore Adam Parks led nine different UCM receivers in the game, catching a creer-high six passes for 94 yards. Milner rushed for 61 yards on 22 carries and added 32 yards with four receptions.

Dickson led the Tigers with 148 rushing yards on 13 carries with the touchdown. Garrison ended the day 8-of-18 for 110 yards through the air -- getting nearly half of that yardage total in the game's final 30 seconds. Smith had four catches for 93 yards.

Senior Steven Ehase led the Mules with seven tackles and one of four fumble recoveries for the UCM defense. The two squads combined to fumble the ball seven times -- six resulting in changes of possession.