ST. JOSEPH – Costly turnovers wiped out an upset bid by Missouri Western in a 24-10 loss to No. 2 Northwest Missouri State on Saturday.
Northwest Missouri scored two of its three touchdowns off Missouri Western turnovers in a game that was tight for nearly three full quarters. Missouri Western took a 7-0 lead on its first offensive possession with a 52-yard touchdown pass from
Skyler Windmiller to Dee Toliver. Northwest tied the game at seven eight minutes later then Missouri Western's first turnover, an interception thrown by Windmiller resulted in the go-ahead touchdown for Northwest, a 10-yard pass from Brady Bolles to Shawn Bane.
Missouri Western went to halftime down 14-10 after a 29-yard field goal from
Tanner Pettet. The Griffons held Northwest to 133yards of offense in the first half. Both defenses shined early in the second half, forcing punt after punt until a promising Missouri Western drive late in the third quarter ended in a
Raphael Spencer fumble at the Northwest 20 yard line. Northwest drove 80 yards in five plays to take a 21-10 lead. Simon Mathiesen added a 37-yard field goal in the fourth quarter, the final points scored in the game.
Missouri Western finished with four turnovers, three interceptions by Windmiller. In his first start since Oct. 10 against Fort Hays, Windmiller went 15-33 for235 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions. He was also sacked three times. Toliver finished with six catches for 152 yards. The Northwest defense held the Griffons to just 28 net yards rushing.
Raphael Spencer netted 50 yards on the ground on 19 carries. The team total was hurt by 37 negative rush yards.
The defense was led by 12
Yomi Alli tackles. The senior had 3.5 tackles for loss, a pass break up and a quarterback hurry. The senior linebacker now has 57 tackles, 11.5 for loss in his last four games.
Michael Jordan added his fourth interception of the season. Northwest managed to finish the game with 354 yards of offense, 221 in the second half. Missouri Western limited Northwest to 87 yards rushing.
The loss dropped Missouri Western to 4-5 on the season. It's the first time Missouri Western has lost five games in a season since 2008 and it's also the program's first three-game losing streak since '08. The Griffons hit the road next week with a tip to winless Nebraska-Kearney.
