The Missouri State football Bears jumped from the starting gate to grab a quick double-digit lead, watched No. 22 Illinois State fashion a double-digit lead of its own even more quickly, and then roared from behind in the second half to pound out a 58-41 Gateway Football Conference win over the Redbirds Saturday afternoon at Plaster Field. The victory snapped a string of five straight Missouri State losses to ISU.
Xavier Omon’s 1-yard leap into the end zone on fourth-and-goal gave Northwest Missouri State a 37-34 overtime win over Pittsburg State in front of 19,103 fans at the Fall Classic at Arrowhead VI. Omon carried 34 times for a career-high 274 yards and five touchdowns. Northwest (4-1, 4-0 MIAA) improves to 4-2 all-time in the Fall Classic, claiming victories in the last two meetings.
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 Missouri Western Griffons went to Hays, Kansas and came out victorious 37-9 for just the second win in school history in Hays. The Griffons last win in Hays came in 1981 when the Griffons defeated the Tigers 39-31. This marks the third consecutive win for the Griffons against the Tigers as the Griffons defeated the Tigers the last two times at Spratt Stadium. The Griffons are now 2-6 in Hays, Kansas and are 6-10-1 all-time against the Tigers. This is the third win in a row on the road for the Griffons this season.
The SBU Bearcats lost their homecoming game to the Truman State Bulldogs, 55-31. SBU led in most categories. SBU had 702 Yards to Truman’s 403. SBU had 41 first downs to Truman’s 21. The Bearcats led in possession 33 minutes to 27. But Truman’s quarterback Matt Ticich led Truman’s offense to the end zone 8 times to only 5 times for the SBU.
