Mules throttle Pittsburg State, 83-21
Nobody saw this coming. Pittsburg State University came to town ranked No. 1 in NCAA-II in scoring offense and rushing offense and No. 2 in total offense. Central Missouri State, meanwhile, was playing without two of its top defensive linemen and with a third slowed by a shoulder injury.
But it was the Mules who rolled up the yards and the points, downing the No. 11 Gorillas 83-21. The 83 points is a school record vs. an MIAA opponent. But that is just the tip of the ice berg. Central Missouri State (7-3, 5-3 MIAA) also set team records for rushing yards (428, breaking the mark of 420 vs. Emporia State in 1969) and total offense (704 yards, breaking the record of 672 vs. Eastern Illinois in 1969).
And that’s not all. Individually the Mules piled up some record numbers as well, including:
Most Yards Rushing – 276 by Will Caldwell (Kegan Coleman had 271 in 2004 vs. SBU)
Most Rushing TDs – 5 by Caldwell (Elliott Eley also had five vs. Northwest Missouri in 1988)
Points – 30 by Caldwell (again tying Eley’s mark vs. NWMSU)
Extra Points – 12 by Spencer Webb (breaking the mark of 11 he set earlier this year vs. Lincoln)
Sophomore free safety Kendall Ricketts also established a new school mark for interception returns for touchdowns with his 45-yard return with :32 left in the second quarter. That gave the Raytown, Mo. native three for his career.
The Mules really didn’t need the final three quarters after taking advantage of a Pitt State fumble and interception to rack up 34 points in the opening period.
Caldwell got his first touchdown of the game at the 10:15 mark on a one yard run.Toby Korrodi and Matt Jacobsen connected from seven yards out just three minutes later for the 14-0 lead. That score capped a five-play, 92 yard drive highlighted by Bouknight’s 57 yard run.
Caldwell made it 21-0, Mules, with his 84 yard touchdown the next time CMSU got the ball, and with 4:00 to go in the first quarter Micah Hefner made an amazing catch in the back of the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown from Korrodi.
Korrodi got his third TD pass of the opening stanza on a three-yard shot to Zach Zwilling with 1:11 to go to make it 34-0 (the extra point was blocked).
Pittsburg State (8-3, 6-2 MIAA) came back with 14-unanswered points on a 39-yard pass from Andy Majors to Bryan Pray. Pray and Ricketts actually went up together and caught the ball, but the simultaneous possession went to Pray for the touchdown.
Joe Taylor tacked on an eight-yard run capping an impressive 13-play, 80-yard drive to bring the score to 34-14.
The Mules came right back, though, with a 10-play, 58-yard drive, Korrodi hitting Zwilling from the one for the score.
And on the Gorillas’ next possession, Ricketts stepped in front of Majors’ throw at the 45 and weaved his way for the touchdown.
Central Missouri State did not stop there, as the Mules scored on their first three possessions of the third quarter. Hefner and Korrodi hooked up again from 25 yards out with 12:09 to go in the period and Caldwell scored on runs of four and 40 yards before Pittsburg State scored again.
Majors found Eric Clawson from 25 yards out to make it 69-21, CMSU. But that was too little, too late.
Delanie Walker scored on a four-yard run with 10:52 to go in the game, and Caldwell broke off a 62-yard run with 6:39 left to cap the game.
Lost in Caldwell’s effort (his 276 yards came on 22 carries, an average of 12.5 per rush), was another stellar performance from Korrodi. The junior from San Antonio hit 23-of-28 for 276 yards. Hefner finished with seven receptions for 136 yards while Walker had seven for 66. Bouknight tacked on 121 yards rushing in the game on 14 carries.
Ricketts once again led the Mules in tackles with 10 (seven solo). He added a fumble recovery and two pass breakups, and finished just two stops shy of the school record for single-season tackles by a defensive back.
Andy Hodges added eight tackles (1.5 for losses), a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and a sack, and Glentrelle Ware tacked on seven tackles and a pass breakup.
The Gorillas got 336 yards through the air from Majors and Nick Smart, but managed just 143 yard on the ground, 180 yards below their season average.
The 104 combined points also established a new school record at CMSU (the previous mark was 101 when the Mules defeated Missouri Western 59-42 in 1994), while the 62-point loss was the worst in the modern-era of Pittsburg State football (since World War II).