By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
PITTSBURG, KS - Missouri Western played as well as could be expected in the first half, playing against the fifth-ranked and undefeated Pittsburg State Gorillas on the road Saturday.
Missouri Western held Pitt State's high-powered offense to just 54 yards on 18 plays in the first half, and the Griffons were dominating time of possession 21:27 - 8:33 through the first 30 minutes of play.
The Griffons (3-5) scored a touchdown with 55 seconds left in the second quarter to take a 10-7 lead into the locker room.
Pitt State (8-0), however, scored touchdowns on three straight drives in the third quarter, including a 67-yard touchdown pass on the second play of the second half, and the Gorillas held on for a 28-16 win at Carnie Smith Stadium in Pittsburg Saturday.
Pitt State scored three touchdowns within the first 9:02 of the third quarter and outgained Missouri Western 225-40 in total yards in the third to take control.
"We gave ourselves a chance to compete," Missouri Western coach Matt Williamson said of his team's effort in the first half. "I looked up the clock in the middle of the third quarter and we had given up 21 points."
"Our offense had not moved the ball well, we went three-and-out real quick a couple of times, and our defense gave up three really big plays and next thing we know, we're down really fast and it got away from us real quick. Very unfortunate. They outplayed us in the second half. We didn't give ourselves a chance to win there at the end."
After a scoreless first quarter, Missouri Western scored the game's first points in the first minute of the second quarter, as kicker Cody Watson connected on a 19-yard field goal to cap a 14-play, 64-yard drive to give the Griffons a 3-0 advantage.
A bit later in the second, after Pitt State went three-and-out, Missouri Western was pinned deep on their own end and went three-and-out themselves.
Pitt State brought pressure on the punting down, and Jack Barkley blocked Evan Williams' punt. The Gorillas took over at the MWSU 16.
Three plays later, Pitt got on the board as quarterback Chad Dodson, Jr. found tight end Kaizer Newell on an eight-yard touchdown pass, giving the Gorillas a 7-3 lead with 9:26 left in the second.
Pitt State would make its first big mistake of the game a couple series later. Dodson, Jr. fired a pass down the sideline that was picked off by Missouri Western's Dominic Chapa.
The Griffons then methodically put together a 13-play, 84-yard drive and bled 5:50 off the clock in the process. The drive ended with a two-yard touchdown pass from Reagan Jones to Jonas Bennett, putting the Griffons up 10-7 at the break.
Pitt State, who won the toss and deferred to the second half, got the ball to start the third quarter with a strong, 25 mph wind from the south at their back.
On the second play from scrimmage in the third quarter, Dodson, Jr. fired a mid-range pass in the middle of the field to receiver Kolbe Katsis. Katsis, followed blocks, turned up field and turned on the jets and took it 67 yards to the house for a score, putting the Gorillas up 14-10 with 14:20 left in the third.
Pitt State never trailed again.
Missouri Western struggled to move the ball on offense for much of the second half. The Griffons punted on each of their first five possessions of the second half, and had just 88 yards of total offense over the final two quarters.
"(Pitt State) was more productive when they had to win than we were," Williamson said. "We got to a point where we were down quite a bit and we get into a passing situation, which that's not what we want to do or is who we are. They hit us on some big strikes in the second half and that's what put us down."
Pitt State had 281 yards in the second half alone. They had two more scoring drives, one for 54 yards and another for 65, to give themselves a 28-10 lead with 5:58 left in the third.
Midway through the fourth, with the wind now at Missouri Western's back, the Griffons took over at the Pitt State 45 after a shanked punt. The Griffons scored in just four plays, as Bennett found the end zone on a 12-yard touchdown run with 6:01 left in the game, making it 28-16.
The Griffons went for two, and were unsuccessful. The Griffons tried for an onside kick, and were unsuccessful. Pitt State ran out the final 5:59 of the game on 11 plays, mostly keeping it on the ground and even converting on a 4th-and-short in the closing couple of minutes to slam the door.
Missouri Western finished with 275 yards of total offense and were turnover free. Jones completed 18-of-32 pass attempts for 140 yards and a touchdown. Bennett finished with 39 all-purpose yards and two all-purpose scores.
Dodson, Jr. was 12-of-23 through the air for Pitt State, throwing for 187 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. Running back Caleb Lewis was solid for much of the day for Pitt, finishing with 101 yards on 20 carries and a touchdown.
Missouri Western heads back home Saturday for the Rogers Pharmacy Hall of Fame game against Missouri Southern (4-4). The Lions lost in a close game to Emporia State Saturday 24-21 in Joplin.
Kickoff from Spratt Stadium Saturday is set for 1 p.m. The game will be on KFEQ Radio (680, 95.3).
You can follow Tommy on Twitter @TommyKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.