No. 1 Valdosta State 37, Angelo State 3
VALDOSTA, Ga. -- Valdosta State stymied the high-powered offense of Angelo State as the Blazers defeated the Rams 37-3 in non-conference football action at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium on Saturday evening.
With the win, Valdosta State improved to 3-0 on the year while Angelo State fell to 1-3.
ASU entered Saturday's action ranked 12th nationally at 523.3 yards of total offense per game, but saw Valdosta State surrendered just 294, 230 below the Rams' average. The Ram rushing attack, which averaged 287.0 yards per game entering the contest, tallied just 204 against the Blazers while Angelo State managed just 90 passing yards in the game. The lack of offense showed up on the scoreboard as ASU was held to 29 points under its season average.
Meanwhile, Valdosta State's offense continued to roll as the Blazers totaled 455 yards of total offense, including 200 rushing and 255 through the air.
Blazer wide receiver Willie Downs had eight catches for 160 yards and a score in the game while Cedric O'Neal carried the ball 15 times for 103 yards. Cayden Cochran completed 25-of-38 passes for 255 yards and two touchdowns.
Jeremy Grable led the Valdosta State defense with 14 tackles while Chris Pope finished the game with 10, which moved him into third-place on the VSU career tackles list with 305.
No. 2 Minnesota State-Mankato 42, Northern State 14
MANKATO, Minn. -- Minnesota State-Mankato was able to run all over Northern State on homecoming as it defeated the Wolves 42-14. The Mavericks compiled more than 447 yards on the ground and 160 yards through air totaling 607 yards of offense.
With the win, MSU improves to 4-0 on the season, while NSU falls to 1-3.
Senior Jon Wolf paced the Mavericks offense as he rushed for 107 yards and two touchdowns while throwing for 160 yards and a touchdown. Senior Dennis Carter led the team in receiving as he compiled 82 yards on four catches with a long of 53. Sophomores Chad Zastrow and Connor Thomas added 102 yards and 81 rushing yards, respectively.
The Mavericks defense played strong throughout the game and didn't let up a score until the fourth quarter. MSU forced three fumbles, recovering one of those, had two interceptions and one sack. Northern State was only able to rush for 61 yards and throw for another 234 yards totaling 295 yards of offense. Senior Isaac Kolstad led the team with nine tackles while junior Kris Fleigle added seven.
No. 3 Northwest Missouri State 53, Nebraska-Kearney 7
MARYVILLE, Mo. -- Northwest Missouri State scored 20 points in each of the first two quarters as the Bearcats ended up defeating Nebraska-Kearney 53-7 on Saturday afternoon.
The Bearcats gained 510 yards of total offense with Trevor Adams throwing for three touchdowns and 224 yards to lead the way for the Bearcats. Billy Creason rushed for two touchdowns and Clint Utter caught two touchdown passes.
The Bearcat defense forced four turnovers (two fumbles, two interceptions) while holding Nebraska-Kearney to 124 yards of offense.
Northwest Missouri State improved to 4-0 while the Antelopes fell to 0-4.
No. 4 West Texas A&M 69, Texas A&M-Kingsville 7
KINGSVILLE, Texas -- Texas A&M-Kingsville headed into Saturdayâs game with fourth-ranked West Texas A&M looking to improve to 3-0 on the season but gave up 24 unanswered points in the second quarter en route to a 69-7 loss at Javelina Stadium.
West Texas struck first with a 1-yard run by Aaron Harris to cap a 10-play, 75-yard drive.
After coming up empty on a drive to the West Texas nine in the first quarter when a fourth-down pass intended for Robert Armstrong, the Javelinas tied the game early in the second quarter with a 10-yard pass from Aaron Bueno to Derek Tesch for a touchdown at the 10:47 mark of the second quarter. The play capped a six-play, 58-yard drive.
The Buffaloes then exploded for 59 unanswered points scoring on offense, defense and special teams. Harris added two more rushing touchdowns giving him three on the night. They also scored on 26-yard fumble return by Curtis Slater and a 95-yard kickoff return by Nathan Slaughter to open the second half. Slaughterâs return made the score 38-7 seconds into the second half.
West Texas had 419 yards of total offense. Dustin Vaughan finished 25-of-33 passing for 227 yards and a touchdown in three quarters, while David Lehocky had a pair of touchdown passes off the bench.
No. 5 Colorado State-Pueblo 48, Adams State 7
ALAMOSA, Colo. -- Colorado State-Pueblo scored 24 third-quarter points Saturday to run away from Adams State and record a 48-7 win on the road.
The ThunderWolves were led by running back Cameron McDondel who had 126 rushing yards (18 attempts) and a touchdown. Quarterback Chris Bonner threw for two touchdowns and 204 yards and Brode McDonald completed four of five attempts for 86 yards and a touchdown.
The loss was the first of the year for Adams State, who fell to 3-1. The ThunderWolves stayed perfect at 4-0.
On the second play of the game, Matt Tucker recovered a fumble by Adams State quarterback Cody Davies in the end zone to give the ThunderWolves a 7-0 lead 13 seconds into the game.
No. 6 Missouri Western State 52, Fort Hays State
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- Missouri Western State outscored the Fort Hays State Tigers 28-7 in the third quarter to come away with a 52-21 victory. The Griffons have now won seven consecutive MIAA games dating back to last season and improved to 4-0 overall and 3-0 in the MIAA.
The Griffons capitalized on numerous Tiger special teams mistakes and forced four Tiger turnovers in the victory. The Tigers fall to 0-4 overall and in the MIAA with the loss.
Missouri Western had 399 yards of total offense with 240 coming on the ground. Raphael Spencer finished with 84 yards and two touchdowns while Dominic Thomas and Dalton Krysa had 50 and 40 yards receptively. Travis Partridge connected on 13-of-22 passes for 152 yards and two touchdowns while Josh Walker, Reggie Jordan and Stephon Weaver all had three catches. Stephen Juergens and Meshack Kennedy had nine tackles apiece.
The Tigers finished with 307 yards with 183 coming through the air. Treveon Albert completed 23-of-39 passes with two touchdowns. Keaton Callins had nine catches for 85 yards while Andre Smith had 71 yards on 16 carries. Justin McPhail led the defense with 10 tackles.
No. 7 Indiana (Pa.) 20, California (Pa.) 7
INDIANA, Pa. -- De'Antwan Williams ran for 167 yards and Terrell Holloway had three interceptions as Indiana (Pa.) defeated rival California (Pa.) 20-7 in the fifth annual Coal Bowl at George P. Miller Stadium on Saturday.
Williams added two touchdowns on the ground as he was named the Coal Bowl's Player of the Game.
The win by IUP snapped its six-game losing streak to the Vulcans, improving to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic ConferenceWest Division. It was California's first loss of the year, falling to 3-1, 1-1.
The IUP defense forced five California turnovers, all interceptions, and limited the Vulcans to 205 yards of total offense.
Williams 167 yards came on a career-high 38 carries. Erik Finklea added 21 yards on the ground as the Crimson Hawks finished with 199 rushing yards. Mike Box threw for 191 yards and a touchdown for the Crimson Hawks.
No. 8 Henderson State 63, East Central Oklahoma 31
ARKADELPHIA, Ark. -- Kevin Rodgers set a Henderson State record throwing for 595 yards as the Reddies beat East Central Oklahoma 63-31 on Saturday at Carpenter-Haygood Stadium in Arkadelphia, Ark.
Rodgers completed 42-of-50 passes and had touchdown strikes of 28, 32, 41 and 28 yards. His final scoring toss gave him the Reddie record which also was a Great American Conference record surpassing Tyler Sykora's mark of 520 set Oct. 22, 2011 against Ouachita Baptist.
East Central, at one time, led 17-14 scoring 10 points off of Reddie turnovers in the first quarter. Henderson State, however, scored 28 second-quarter points while the defense shutout the Tigers to build a 42-17 halftime lead.
Darius Davis had four catches for 100 yards and touchdown receptions of 28 and 41 yards. Davis set the HSU career record for touchdown receptions surpassing Garett Manning's record of 16 scores set from 2005 to 2008. Davis now has 18 career touchdown receptions.
Catawba 25, No. 10 Carson-Newman 22
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. -- Catawba went nearly the length of the field in the final three minutes and then withstood a missed Carson-Newman field goal attempt in the final seconds to claim a 25-22 upset win of the Eagles in South Atlantic Conference action on Saturday afternoon at Burke-Tarr Stadium. The win improves the Catawba Indians to 3-1 overall and 1-1 in the SAC, while Carson-Newman falls to 3-1 and 1-1.
The teams went back-and-forth during the final five minutes before the Indians prevailed for only the third time at Burke-Tarr. The other two wins came in 1987 (2-0) and 2007 (55-49).
Danny O'Brien went 35-of-51 through the air for 44 yards and two scores. The 444 yards was the third most in school history with the top four games all coming against Carson-Newman. Carlos Tarrats was his favorite target on the afternoon with nine catches for 97 yards and two scores. David Burgess had seven catches for 97 yards and Charest seven grabs for 87 yards. Catawba was held to 20 yards on the ground.
