They say you shouldn't get too excited about Week 1 in football. Don't get too down if your team looks bad, and don't let yourself get too psyched if you have a great game.

The old adage is especially true for Central Missouri and Lindenwood. The Mules appeared mostly incompetent in their opening night loss at Missouri Western, but turned things around quite impressively with a 50-31 victory over No. 16 Emporia State.

Lindenwood, on the other hand, was completely shut down by No. 8 Pittsburg State, a week after a come-from-behind victory at Washburn. The Lions scored a late touchdown, avoiding a shutout with a final score of 38-7.

Central Missouri RB LaVance Taylor was the story of the night in Warrensburg, where 7,986 fans watched the Mules home-opener. With 288 yards on 22 carries, the senior broke school records for rushing yards and total touchdowns (6). Four of his six came on the ground, including two game-clinching runs midway through the fourth quarter. His first touchdown of the night came on an 11-yard reception from QB Hayden Hawk, and he also ran back a kickoff for a TD in the first quarter.

The Mules (1-1) needed just about every inch of Taylor's yardage on the night. Hawk was generally unimpressive, finishing 17 of 36 for 234 yards, 1 TD and 3 picks.

For Emporia (1-1), QB Brent Wilson finished with some eye-popping numbers (40 of 62 for 489 yards, 3 TDs, 2 INT), but it was two miscues by ESU's other star players that ended up costing them a shot at a victory.

WR Austin Willis dropped a pass on a key 3rd down with the Hornets down by 1 a little more than halfway through the third quarter. On the next play, the Emporia punt was blocked and Central picked it up and ran into the end zone for a 8-point lead.

Then, with just over 6 minutes to play in the fourth quarter, Taylor had just scored his 5th TD of the game (3rd on the ground) and Emporia DB Deveon Dinwiddie coughed up the ball on the ensuing kickoff. Taylor scored his 6th and final TD on the next play.

In St. Charles, Lindenwood, who had an answer offensively every time Washburn scored last week, couldn't get anything going against a dominant Pittsburg State defense.

In their first four drives of the first half, Lindenwood (1-1) could only muster up 22 yards on 13 (not including punts) plays. The second half started even worse, with the Lions totaling only EIGHT yards over the first four drives on 12 (not including punts) plays. Before their final drive of the game that ended in a touchdown, the only two Lindenwood drives that totaled more than 22 yards ended in interceptions.

I could go on and on about Lindenwood, but you HAVE to give Pittsburg State (2-0) a whole lot of credit. For a while, it looked like they might run up about 80 or 90 points, all while shutting down Lindenwood all night long. Subs came in not long after halftime, though, and the Gorillas put the brakes on a little.

Also in the MIAA on Thursday, No 1 Northwest Missouri used a dominant second half for the second straight week to pull away from the opposition. The Bearcats (2-0) were up just 20-14 just before half, but QB Brady Bolles scored on a 2-yard TD run a second before halftime (his 4th total TD of the day) and added Phil Jackson rushing touchdowns in the 3rd and 4th quarters to pull away for a 40-14 victory.

Washburn nearly blew it again, letting Kearney hang around all game. The 'Bods were able to add a FG midway through the final frame for a 10-7 victory.

Thursday night's attendance and box scores:

Central Missouri 50 Emporia State 31; 7,986 http://www.ucmathletics.com/boxscore...otball&id=1536
Pittsburg State 38 Lindenwood 7; 3,105 http://www.pittstategorillas.com/cus...4/14fbps02.htm
Northwest Missouri 40 Missouri Southern 14; 6,247 http://www.mssulions.com/sports/fbal...40911_rvj3.xml
Washburn 10 Nebraska Kearney 7; 3,207 http://www.wusports.com/boxscore.asp...otball&id=4367