Hall of Fame
Jerris Evans · Football · (1998-2001)
Jerris Evans was a stand-out athlete on the offensive side of the ball for the Missouri Western football team throughout his career (1998-2001) as a Griffon. Evans holds almost every Griffon receiving record which includes; most receptions in a game with 13 against Truman State on November 10, 2001, most receptions in a season with 73 in 2001 and most receptions in a career with 200. He also holds the record for most receiving yards in a career with 2,928.
His freshman campaign was cut short due to a thumb injury. He returned strong as a sophomore tallying 50 receptions for 707 yards and seven touchdowns. He had 71 catches for 1,077 yards and 11 touchdowns as a junior and 73 catches for 1,041 yards and nine touchdowns as a senior. He also had 44 punt returns for 469 yards (10.66 yards per punt return) and one touchdown in his career and 12 kickoff returns for 266 yards (22.16 yards per kickoff return). Evans tallied five 150-yard receiving performances with his best coming on November 3, 2001 when he had 13 receptions for 197 yards and a touchdown against Truman State. He caught 10 passes for 188 yards and a touchdown on November 14, 1999 against Northwest Missouri State University.
In 2001, Evans was named the MIAA’s Offensive MVP and was named first team All-MIAA. He is still the only Griffon to earn MIAA Offensive MVP honors. He was also named to the Don Hansen Football Gazette All-America second team in 2001.
