Fighting Hawks drop to 1-4 in MVFC play; host YSU at Noon next weekend
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – No. 17 Missouri State (5-3, 4-2 MVFC) was on the ropes late but cashed in on turnovers to hold off an upset bid from North Dakota, 32-28, on Saturday afternoon from Robert W. Plaster Stadium.
UND (3-5, 1-4 MVFC) averaged 6.2 yards per rush and 13.2 yards per pass compared to MSU averaging 4.8 yards per carry and 12.0 yards per play through the air, but a pair of fumbles late allowed MSU to survive in the final minutes.
North Dakota held the ball for 32:48, while Missouri State had possession for 27:12. In total, MSU finished the day with 27 yards more of total offense (468-441) and held the advantage in turnovers (3-1).
Otis Weah led the Fighting Hawks offensively with 156 yards on 21 carries and three touchdowns. Isaiah Smith also spent time in the backfield, racking up 61 yards on 11 rushes.
Tommy Schuster finished with 164 yards through the air on 13 completions. Quincy Vaughn threw one pass for a 21-yard touchdown, good for the first UND score of the game. Weah was the primary target with four receptions for 25 yards. Adam Zavalney racked up the most receiving yards with 54 yards while hauling in two receptions, including the 21-yard touchdown grab.
Fifteen different Hawks recorded at least one tackle, led by C.J. Siegel with nine tackles and a four-yard TFL. Ty Shannon was next in tackles with six. Both Jaxson Turner and Noah Larson recorded a sack, while Evan Holm recorded an interception with a one-yard return.
No. 17 Missouri State found the endzone on the opening possession and led 7-0 with 8:25 left in the first quarter. The first drive stalled for UND, but Shelly gave the Hawks life with just over four minutes left in the quarter when he picked off a Bear pass at the UND 25 and returned it to the 26. Missouri State had the 7-0 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
The first score in the second quarter came with 2:21 left in the half when Quincy Vaughn entered the game and threw a 21-yard TD pass to Zavalney to even the game up at 7-7.
The following possession, Missouri State used back-to-back pass completions of nine yards and a two-yard rush to get to the UND 45 with 1:39 left in the half. Another completion put the Bears at the UND 34 before a 24-yard reception put them in the redzone at the UND 10. North Dakota was able to force Missouri State into three straight incompletions to force a MSU timeout with 45 seconds left. Another incompletion and a 27-yard field goal put the Bears up 10-7 at the half.
North Dakota received the kick in the second half and used chunk plays in the form of a 29-yard rush from Smith and a 23-yard pass from Schuster to Bo Belquist to get to the MSU 23. A pass to Weah and rushes from Vaughn and Schuster put the Hawks at the MSU 3 before Weah was able to pound his way into the endzone from three-yards out to put UND up 14-10 with 11:12 left in the third quarter.
The Bears responded less than four minutes later when three-straight completions led to a 20-yard touchdown grab to reclaim the lead at 17-14.
Otis provided a spark on the following possession with a 48-yard rush to get the ball down to the MSU 14. Following an incompletion, Brock Boltmann rushed 13 yards all the way down to the MSU 1 for the 1st and goal. Weah found the endzone for the second time of the afternoon on the following play to bring the tally to 21-17.
Missouri State was able to get the ball down to the UND 22 midway through the third quarter and opted to go for it on 4th and 2, but the Fighting Hawks stood tall, forcing an incompletion and taking over on downs at their own 22 with 2:06 left in the quarter. By the end of the quarter, North Dakota had moved the ball to the UND 36 with the lead.
A 33-yard completion from Schuster to Zavalney quickly put North Dakota at the Missouri State 31 early in the fourth quarter. Shortly after the completion, Weah had an 11-yard touchdown scamper to increase the North Dakota lead to 28-17 with 13:16 left in the competition.
An incomplete Bear pass and back-to-back sacks from Larson and Shelly brought up 4th and 26 from the MSU 9. North Dakota got the ball back with 12:04 left and started the drive at the UND 31.
Eight-straight rushes brought UND to the MSU 29 before a Weah fumble allowed the Bears to begin clawing their way back into the game.
On the next MSU possession, the Bears completed four passes before a 12-yard touchdown run cut the score down to 28-23 with 4:33 left in the game. Missouri State attempted the two-point conversion and was successful, bringing the tally to 28-25 in favor of North Dakota.
The Hawks began eating the clock with four runs before facing 4th and 1 at the MSU 32. Vaughn re-entered the game and went for a five-yard rush to bring up 1st and 10 from the MSU 27 with 1:49 left, bringing a Missouri State timeout.
After the timeout, Weah had a four-yard rush before being tackled on the following play for a one-yard loss, losing the football and giving the Bears possession at their own 24 with 1:39 left to play.
The Bears used three passes in a row to march down to the UND 24. A costly pass interference penalty on 3rd and 1 from the UND 15 later in the drive gave Missouri State 1st and goal from the UND 2. Two rushes in a row caused MSU to burn timeouts on back-to-back plays to bring up 3rd and goal from the UND 2 with 19 seconds left. A pass from Jason Shelly to Isaac Smith and a made extra point gave Missouri State the 32-28 lead with 15 seconds left in the game.
On the final possession, Missouri State picked off Schuster to hold off the upset.
NOTES: The series between North Dakota and Missouri State is now tied at 2-2 … Weah recorded his fifth 100-yard rushing game … UND was 3-for-3 in the redzone … Siegel’s nine tackles is a new career-high … Vaughn’s 21-yard touchdown pass is a new career-long … UND has lost four MVFC games by single digits.
Game Recap: Football | 10/30/2021 7:04:00 PM | Tyler Wells, FightingHawks.com