Korrodi, Marshall lift CMSU to 69-17 win over Truman

Consider it a coming out party for junior quarterback Toby Korrodi and junior cornerback RoShawn Marshall. The two were key players in Central Missouri State’s 69-17 win over Truman State University.

Korrodi was brilliant in the first half, completing 15-of-17 (with one drop) for 233 yards and four touchdowns. He finished the day 19-of-24 for 267 yard with four TDs, and didn’t see the field in the fourth quarter.

“I thought Toby played really well,” head coach Willie Fritz said. “He had a seeing-eye pass to Micah Hefner that should have been a pick, but we score on it. He was really accurate. There were two occasions where he went to his third option, and you don’t see that a lot in college football. I was very impressed with him.

“Our offensive line played very well,” Fritz added. “Anytime your offense plays well, your offensive line has to be doing a good job, and they did that today.”

Marshall brought back four punts 127 yards with touchdown returns of 63 and 57 yards. That tied the record set by Kevin Nickerson in 2000 vs. Quincy. It was also Marshall’s third TD return of the season, tying Nickerson’s record back in 2000.

“You give him some room and a head of steam, he has tremendous speed,” Fritz said. “He also has super instincts. Both of those, after he ran about five or 10 yards, you knew it was a touchdown, because he was going to finish it.”

The Mules jumped to a quick 13-0 lead in the first eight minutes. Korrodi connected with Delanie Walker from 27 yards out to cap a seven-play, 74-yard drive on CMSU’s opening kickoff. After a Truman fumble, the Mules needed just four plays to cover 40 yards. Will Caldwell covered the final four yards, but Spencer Webb’s extra point attempt was no good.

Truman, though, was not about to go quietly. With 4:44 left in the opening period Jerard Leverson dashed 12 yards to finish a nine-play, 67-yard drive to close within six, 13-7. They got closer just moments later when Imani Butler fumbled the ensuing kickoff at the CMSU 41. The Mules defense stiffened, though and gave up just two yards. Marc Kamphoefner nailed a 49-yard field goal to make it 13-10.

But Central Missouri tacked on a pair of touchdowns—on a 53-yard pass from Korrodi to Hefner and a Jim Bouknight seven-yard run—in the final two minutes of the first quarter.

The pace slowed somewhat in the second quarter. Truman struck first with Leverson hauling in a 14-yard pass from Jonathan Duffy to make it 27-17, CMSU.

The Mules, though, scored 42 unanswered points to put the game away. Korrodi hit Caldwell from three yards out and tight end Zach Zwilling on an eight yard TD pass, and Bouknight got his second rushing touchdown on a one yard plunge before the half ended.

Neither team scored in the first 12:25 of the second half before Marshall brought back consecutive punts for scores. Julian Batts got the final score of the game on a one-yard dive with 6:21 left in the contest.

The 69 points were the third-most scored by CMSU vs. an MIAA opponent.

Caldwell finished with 75 yards on 15 carries and caught four passes for 14 yards. Walker had seven receptions for 99 yards, and Hefner had three grabs for 80 yards.

Senior Andy Hodges and linebacker Adrian Singletary had seven tackles each, as the Mules tallied six sacks. Defensive end Andrew Jilles had five stops—including the first three of the game—with a sack and two fumble recoveries.

“Last week we came out flat and didn’t play hard,” Fritz said. “I took for granted the guys were going to come put and play hard. Today we had a little adversity early. We fumbled a kick return and we stop them. I really felt we answered the call there. Instead of guys looking for someone else to make a play, we were aggressive and guys stepped up. We were the hitters today, not the hittees.”