Following their 30-10 win at Arrowhead Stadium over Pittsburg State, the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats moved up one spot to #6 in the AFCA Division II college football poll. The Bearcats are now 2-1 on the season.
Their only loss came to Abilene Christian, who is 3-0 and ranked second in the country. Heading into last Saturday’s Fall Classic VIII, the Gorillas were ranked #4 in the country. They dropped down to #11. They next travel to Central Missouri, where the Mules are right behind them at #12. The Mules are 3-0 following their 24-21 win over Emporia State.
Missouri Western was just outside the top 25 missing out on the rankings. The Griffons are 3-0 and have averaged 47 points per game.
NWMS, CMSU, among top teams in D-II football
September 15, 2009 By
Ersland leaving Mules wrestling after season
September 10, 2009 By
Central Missouri head wrestling coach Robin Ersland will be leaving after the season to start a wrestling program at NCAA Division II Minot State (N.D.) after the conclusion of the 2009-10 season.
Ersland, who will be with the Mules for 15 years as their head coach, was named the Midwest Region Coach of the Year for the past two seasons. In 2006 he led the Mules to a 15th-place finish at the NCAA-II Championships and Plamen Paskalev became UCM’s first National Champion since 1991 as he went undefeated at 18-0 on the season. His best year came in 2001, when Ersland led the Mules to a 14-5-1 record and to UCM’s best-ever national finish – 11th place with 45 points.
Ersland has had 73 national qualifiers, 30 All-Americans and has been named NCAA Division II Midwest Region Coach of the Year in 1996, 1998, 2000, 2008 and 2009. His squads have had 10 top 20 finishes in the last 13 years at the NCAA-II Championships.
#19 Mules roll over Miners
September 4, 2009 By
The No. 19 Central Missouri Mules scored the game’s first 27 points and rolled to a 50-13 win over Missouri S&T on Thursday night with MIAA Player of the Week Eric Czerniewski leading the way.
The Mules QB went 19-of-22 for 279 yards and four touchdowns. UCM would score on 8 of 11 possessions. The Mules never punted, were stopped only
once while two of their drives end in taking a knee at the half and end of the game.
The Mules took 33-6 lead at the break, racking up 305 yards of offense in the half. Czerniewski played only the first series of the second half, leading the Mules 88 yards in 10 plays, capped by a 10-yard TD pass to make it 40-6.
Mules beat SBU for the 18th time in a row
August 28, 2009 By
The No. 25 Central Missouri Mules tallied the game’s final three touchdowns to come back from an eight point deficit and grab a 39-28 season-opening win on Thursday night against the Bearcats of Southwest Baptist.The Mules (1-0) made it 18 wins in a row over the Bearcats (0-1), dating back to 1991.
Central Missouri junior quarterback Eric Czerniewski, accounted for five of the Mules six touchdowns (4 passing, 1 rushing). He threw for 354 yards, his third best effort ever, and went 29-of-41 for the second most single-game completions in school history.
Junior running back Anthony Stewart caught a screen pass and took it 70 yards for a score on the Mules first play of their first possession. A missed extra point made it only a 6-0 lead.
UCM made it 13-0 on its next possession, thanks to a 9-play, 60-yard drive. Czerniewski converted a fourth-and-eight with a 25-yard touchdown strike to junior All-American tight end DeMarco Cosby.
The Bearcats answered late in the first quarter with a 51-yard rush by Thaddeus Everson, and then took the lead in the second on a 30-yard rush by Justin Duhaney, 14-13.
Central Missouri came back on the next drive after a 37-yard kick return by senior Bobby Guillory. The Mules went 56 yards in nine plays, capped by a one-yard TD plunge from Czerniewski but the Bearcats had the last strike before the break.
A 56-yard completion from Steve Gachette to Johnnie King with 1:01 left was the difference, making it 21-20 at halftime.
The Bearcats got some luck to start the second half, scoring on a 35-yard touchdown pass that bounced off an SBU receiver and fell into tight end Jameson Manuma’s hands for an easy coast into the end zone, making it 28-20 with 7:05 left in the third. That would be the last score for the Bearcats though, as the Mule defense put the clamps down.
The Mules finished the game with four sacks, six quarterback hurries, and nine tackles for loss, but the biggest play came after the Mules got a 30-yard touchdown reception from junior running back Tywon Hubbard to make it 28-26 (failed two-point conversion). Freshman defensive back Brett Ginn forced a fumble and recovered it on the SBU 35.
The Mules punched it in on a 5-yard hookup to Cosby early in the fourth quarter to give the Mules a lead for good, 32-28. The score tied a school record for TD’s in a game by a tight end with two.
The game-killer came later in the quarter though. SBU was stuffed on a fake punt back at their own 39, and they Mules then took six minutes off the clock before stuffing it in the endzone on 1-yard rush from Stewart with 2:14 left.
Story courtesy of Central Missouri athletics .
Central Missouri VB ready for new era
August 26, 2009 By
The 2009 Central Missouri Jennies volleyball team will have a new leader for the first time in three decades as Flip Piontek takes the reins after many years as an assistant coach under legendary head coach Peggy Martin.
The Jennies finished 2008 ranked No. 11 in the nation and have now been ranked in every poll since 1986, a record 275 consecutive weeks. To keep that streak going, the young Jennies will look to leadership from the lone senior setter, Pankratz. Pankratz has more than 4,000 assists in her career and will finish as one of the all-time best setters at Central Missouri.
UCM returns five starters and nine letterwinners to a lineup that took third in the region last season. Sophomore outside hitter Allie Huffman should have another solid year. As a freshman, the Lee’s Summitt, Mo., native led the team with 454 kills. At rightside, Kelsey Ortwerthwill return as a starter after a solid 2008 campaign. The powerful lefty logged 200 kills and 167 digs playing in 108 games.
Flip takes the reins to one of the most successful programs in NCAA D-II. During his time at UCM, the team has compiled a 729-174 (.807) record overall, and a 278-36 (.885) mark in MIAA play. The Jennies have claimed 15 MIAA titles, and have been to the NCAA Tournament in each of his 23 seasons.
The Jennies open the season at the West Florida invitational this weekend where they will play the unanimous number one preseason pick Concordia-St. Paul, Minnesota.
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