Box Score
WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- Big plays and a solid defensive effort led the 15th-ranked Mules to a 34-6 win over Pittsburg State on Saturday afternoon at Walton Stadium/Kennedy Field. The win was the seventh in a row for the Mules and improves their record to 8-2 on the season.
The first quarter began as a defensive struggle with neither offense able to get much going. On their second drive of the game, the Mules gained one first down, but faced a fourth and 12 at their own 30 yard line. Lining up to punt, UCM snapped the ball to the upback,
Ian Toalson, who raced around left end for a 70-yard touchdown run to put UCM in front 7-0.
That lead stood until the end of the first quarter when Pittsburg State (6-4) got on the board. An eight-play, 32-yard drive was halted with a sack on third down by
Josh Powell and
Kadarius Green. It forced a field goal attempt, which Chad Levin nailed from 47 yards out to pull PSU within 7-3 at the end of one.
The Gorillas got the ball back after a UCM punt early in the second quarter and again capitalized.
Sam Smith came up with a key sack on a third down play, but UCM was whistled for a facemask penalty to extend the drive. PSU drove inside the UCM 10, but an incompletion and two rushes for no yards forced another field goal try. Levin was good from 30 yards away and the lead was 7-6.
Two drives later, the Mules started inside their own 10. On the first play of the drive
Garrett Fugate hit
Clayton Cooper for 10 yards and later hit
Alex Strong for 42 yards to the Pitt State 27. The drive stalled and
Billy Greco connected on a 39-yard field goal and UCM led 10-6. It looked as though Pitt State was answer back right before the half, but after their late drive stalled at the UCM 28, Levin's 45-yard field goal attempt banged off the left upright and the Mules led 10-6 at halftime.
After a pair of punts to open the second half, the Mules took over at their own 20 yard line. A fumble on second down set the Mules back at third and long from their own 21, but Fugate hit
Andrew Bakker with a quick pass and he did the rest, outrunning the defense to the endzone for a 79-yard touchdown and UCM led 17-6.
The Mules made it 24-6 early in the fourth quarter when
Markel Smith bulldozed his way in to the endzone from two yards out to cap a 10-play, 80-yard drive. On the ensuing possession, facing a third and six, PSU quarterback Thomas LePage dropped back to pass and fumbled the ball.
Josh Powell picked it up and ran 33 yards to the endzone for a touchdown and a 31-6 UCM lead.
The Mules capped off the scoring with a 36-yard fiel goal from Greco and the lead was 34-6. It was his 17th made field goal of the season leaving him just one FG shy of the UCM single-season record of 18 set by Shane Meyer in 1997. His 92 points kicking are also the third most by a kicker in a single-season in program history.
Smith finished the day with 108 yards on 21 carries with a score, his fourth 100-yard rushing performance of the season. Fugate was 10-of-24 passing for 220 yards with a touchdown. He now stands at 2,939 yards of total offense on the season, the fifth best single-season total in school history. Bakker had three catches for 97 yards and a score while
Kyle Echols grabbed two passes for 41 yards.
Defensively,
Alex Lackey led the way with 12 tackles and a tackle for loss as the Mules held PSU to 328 yards of total offense and kept them out of the endzone.
Austin Miller finished with 11 tackles, three tackles for loss, a sack and two pass breakups. The Mules finished with seven tackles for loss and three sacks on the day.
LePage finished the day 11-of-26 for 112 yards for the Gorillas. Michael Rose rushed nine times for 58 yards and Levi Copelin hauled in four passes for 42 yards. Demetrius Bernard led the Gorilla defense with eight tackles and four tackles for loss.
The Mules close out the regular season next Saturday at Fort Hays State. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. at Lewis Field Stadium. The game can be heard live on 1450 KOKO, 98.5 The Bar and warrensburgardio.com with Greg Hassler on the call.
