KC-area college football teams take the field in season’s opening week
For those of you waiting for college football to get underway, well you got it, including action from Kansas City-area and regional teams, who kicked off play with games on Saturday and Thursday.
Here are some of the highlights:
Benedictine 38, Morningside (Iowa) 34: Jackson Dooley’s 2-yard TD with 12 seconds remaining gave the Ravens the home win in Atchison, Kansas. Dooley, who went to Lawrence High, passed for 280 yards with three touchdowns, one of them a 70-yard play to Titan Osburn in the third quarter.
William Jewell 34, Fort Lewis (Colorado) 14: Quarterback Jake Shaffer threw two TD passes to Nate Barnett in the Cardinals’ victory in Durango, Colo.
Washburn 20, Truman State 17: Freshman quarterback Justin Lewis completed 33 of 42 passes for 352 yards with two touchdowns for the Ichabods, who were able to hold off Truman State in the opener in Topeka. Each side got to the opposing quarterback for four sacks.
Missouri Southern 33, Midwestern State (Texas) 19: The Lions got some revenge — for an 18-11 loss last season against Midwestern State — with this victory in Joplin, Missouri.
USC 73, Missouri State 13: The Bears had their hands full in this game in LA. Missouri State scored its only TD on a Jacob Clark pass to Tristian Gardner for 33 yards in the second quarter.
Augustana (South Dakota) 30, Missouri Western 26: Augustana’s second fourth-quarter TD was the game winner on a 10-yard pass play with 10 seconds left in Sioux Falls. Linebacker Kienen Gaskin, a senior who played in high school at Lee’s Summit North, was in on 10 tackles, eight solo, for the Griffons.
Lincoln 55, Lincoln (California) 6: Missouri’s Lincoln College won this “Battle of the Lincolns” running away at home in Jefferson City. Isaiah Tate threw for 210 yards with three touchdowns for the Blue Tigers in the victory.
McPherson 52, Avila 7: Avila tied the game 7-7 on a Seth Myers 60-yard pass play from quarterback Duce Taylor in the first quarter, but that was the only score Avila would get.
Kansas Wesleyan 27, Ottawa 10: Braves quarterback Luke Edwards connected on 19 of 32 passes for 141 yards and a touchdown in the loss in Salina.
Evangel (Missouri) 62, Saint Mary 14: Eric Williams provided the rushing attack for Evangel. Williams ran for 192 yards on 19 carries with two TDs in Leavenworth. Meanwhile, Kameron Smith rushed for 151 yards on 11 carries with a TD for Saint Mary.
Thursday’s area college football games
MidAmerica Nazarene 37, Nelson (Texas) 13: Aiyo’n Carter took a kickoff 100 yards to the house in the Pioneers’ season-opening victory in Olathe. Carter also had a TD catch. MidAmerica Nazarene’s Samuel Gonzalez had two receiving touchdowns of his own and finished with 155 yards receiving on six catches.
No. 1 Ferris State 34, No. 9 Pittsburg State 17: A 20-3 hole was too much for the Gorillas to climb out of in the loss at Big Rapids, Michigan. Gorillas quarterback Jackson Berry passed for 294 yards with a TD and an interception.
Minnesota State 38, Northwest Missouri State 14: The Bearcats fell behind 35-0 and could not catch up in the loss at Mankato, Minn. Luke Mathews, a senior who played at Liberty North, caught five balls for 71 yards for Northwest Missouri.
Emporia State 27, Minot State (North Dakota) 7: Quarterback Ben Harris led the Hornets to victory in his first start with the team. Harris connected on 37 of 52 throws for 292 yards. Harris passed for two TDs, was picked off once and completed passes to 11 different Hornet receivers.
No. 13 Angelo State (Texas) 28, No. 20 Fort Hays State 7: Ethan Hilliman scored the Tigers’ lone TD on a 22-yard pass play from quarterback Caleb Heavner in the second quarter in Hays, Kansas.
Delta State (Mississippi) 31, No. 22 Central Missouri 23: Mules redshirt freshman Donovyn Omolo completed 30 of 45 passes for 251 yards with a TD in the loss in Cleveland, Miss. Hogan Wasson hauled in 11 of those passes for 121 yards.