September 30th, 2019 2:20pm
Week 4 Review
Weather delays are the absolute worst. I spent three hours on Saturday waiting for play to resume in Maryville. Northwest Missouri lead Central Oklahoma 24-7 with 1:55 left in the first quarter when the lightning hit. Three hours and 17 minutes later, play resumed. Talk about a long day.
Central Missouri 55 Washburn 27
Despite Brook Bolles poor performance, the Mules put up 55 points in 24 minutes of game action. Running back Devante Turner scored four touchdowns and tallied 245 all-purpose yards against the Ichabods. Turner ran for 138 yards on 17 carries, averaging 8.3 yards per carry. Turner also hauled in a catch for 14 yards and totaled 93 return yards. The Mules ran for 314 yards as a team. Mitch Schurig went out of the game early, leaving backup Ian Trapp in charge of the offense. Trapp threw for 126 yards and four touchdowns to go along with his 46 yards rushing.
It was good to see Central Missouri win a game comfortably with Bolles playing poorly. It shows they can win more than one way.
Northwest Missouri 59 Central Oklahoma 10
The Bearcats scored early and often in this annihilation of the Bronchos. Braden Wright played the best game of his young career: 11 for 20 for 305 yards and five total touchdowns. It was not just the stat sheet though, Wright looked poise and decisive in the pocket. His accuracy was much better on throws downfield. If Wright plays like he did Saturday, the Bearcats are a national championship contender. The coaching staff did an excellent job of giving Wright simple reads and timing throws. The big difference in this game was line play. The Bearcats offensive line dominated the line of scrimmage all day long, opening up huge holes for the backs and gave Wright plenty of time to find receivers downfield. On the other side of the ball, Keats Calhoon and Will Collins were under duress all game, getting sacked a combined seven times. The Bronchos have some dudes on the outside, but if the offensive line does not play better it will not matter.
Missouri Western 58 Northeastern State 23
The surprise, the Griffons handled the Riverhawks. Missouri Western did whatever they wanted on offense, putting up 371 yards on the ground and 620 yards of total offense. What was surprising is the Riverhawks running for 261 yards. This game also had a weather delay.
Emporia State 50 Lincoln 7
Dalton Cowan balled out, throwing for 331 yards and three touchdowns. Emporia State is just a much better team than Lincoln. The gap between the middle level teams in the MIAA and bottom dwellers is massive. The lone bright spot for Lincoln in Franklin Hosea. Hosea ran for 128 yards on 18 carries. The Blue Tigers inability to throw the ball is going to kill them in the MIAA.
Fort Hays 44 Missouri Southern 3
A dominating defensive performance for Fort Hays on Saturday. The Tigers picked off Jacob Park four times and held him under 200 yards passing. Park has to stop throwing so many interceptions, that is 10 in the last two weeks and 13 on the season. He is trying to do too much. For Fort Hays, Chance Fuller threw for 255 yards and four touchdowns. A good offensive outburst for the Tigers against a porous Lions defense.
Pittsburg State 37 Nebraska-Kearney 14
The most impressive win of the day belongs to the Gorillas. Despite what I had said throughout the first three weeks, Brandon Mlekus outplayed Mak Sexton. Mlekus threw for 98 yards and a touchdown and led the team with 77 yards on the ground in the win over the Lopers. Sexton went six for 10 for 78 yards and a touchdown but threw three interceptions. The game ball goes to the Gorillas defense though. The Lopers scored on their first drive and did not score again until there was 5:24 left in the first half. Pittsburg State scored 27 straight points in that time. On the Lopers two scoring drives, they compiled 129 yards of offense. The other 11 drives totaled just 83 yards. The Gorillas forced two inceptions, recorded four sacks and held the Lopers to 3.5 yards per carry. Pittsburg State held the Lopers 163 yards under their season average on the ground.
Power Rankings
1. Central Missouri (4-0)
2. Northwest Missouri (4-0)
3. Pittsburg State (4-0)
4. Missouri Western (2-2)
5. Fort Hays (2-2)
6. Nebraska-Kearney (2-2)
7. Central Oklahoma (2-2)
8. Emporia State (2-2)
9. Washburn (1-3)
10. Missouri Southern (1-3)
11. Lincoln (0-4)
12. Northeastern State (0-4)