Missouri Western turned the ball over six time on Saturday night against the 17 th ranked Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs as they were defeated 47-18. The Griffons struggled to get anything going against the stiff Bulldog defense as they only managed 257 yards of total offense on 64 plays. Western now sits at 1-1 on the season.

The Bulldogs marched down the field on its opening possession and never looked back as Issaic Odim scored on a three yard run just 1:43 second into the contest. The Bulldogs would score 14 more points in the first half to go into half time up 21-6. Western’s only points came on two field goals by senior place kicker Dustin Strickler.

The Griffons could not get any closer then 15 points the rest of the way as the Bulldogs scored 26 points to the Griffons 12 in the second frame to take the big victory.

One of Western’s bright spots in the game was its kick return game as they had 237 return yards on nine attempts. In the contest the Griffons only had 26:37 minutes of time of possession to the Bulldogs 33:23 and had 104 rushing yards to Minnesota-Duluth’s 155.

Thomas Hodges led the way on the ground for Western as he had 50 yards on ten attempts. Cedric Houston led the way receiving as he had seven receptions for 90 yards. Houston also had one kickoff return of 80 yards. Houston had 201 all-purpose yards in the contest.

The Bulldogs were led by senior QB Ted Schlafke as he had 282 yards passing on 21-of-27 with one interception and two touchdowns. Schlafke also had 66 yards on the ground for the Bulldogs. D.J. Winfield had six receptions for 83 yards and two touchdowns in the game.

Defensively the Griffons were led by Soane Etu as he had six tackles with two sacks and one forced fumble. Duluth’s Robbie Aurich had eight tackles with six of them being solo.

The Griffons will travel to Maryville, Mo. on Saturday, Sept. 13 to take on the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats at 1:30 pm.

story courtesy Missouri Western athletic department.