ST. JOSEPH – Dom Marino hooked up with Elijah Cunningham for two long, fourth quarter touchdown passes to help Griffon football (2-2) come back and defeat Central Oklahoma, 41-37, Saturday night.
 
Down 30-27 with 3:23 left in the game, Marino hit Cunningham in stride as he raced for a 48-yard go-ahead touchdown. The lead didn't last long as Central Oklahoma answered with an 83-yard touchdown strike from Chas Stallard to J.T. Luper with 2:24 left. The game winner came with 1:28 left when Marino and Cunningham connected again, this time for 68 yards on a first and five from the Missouri Western 32.
 
The game wasn't over after the second long touchdown from the duo. After Missouri Western stopped UCO on a fourth-and-one on their ensuing drive, the Griffons turned the ball over on downs to UCO with 24 seconds left at the Central Oklahoma 30. The Bronchos drove to the MWSU 25-yard line with three seconds left, but the final pass of the game was jarred loose from the receiver by Jonathan Owens in the corner of the end zone.
 
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DOM
Marino celebrated his birthday on Saturday with the best game of his young Griffon career. The junior completed 13 of his 20 passes for 226 yards and four touchdowns. He also rushed 10 times for 87 yards, including a 71-yard touchdown run that gave MWSU a 15-7 lead in the first quarter. In all Marino was responsible for five of his team's six touchdowns and had 313 yards of total offense.
 
THIRD DOWN IMPROVEMENT
Missouri Western was six-of-14 on third down in the game, good for 43 percent. Missouri Western entered Saturday night's game converting just 20 percent of its third down opportunities. The six conversions against UCO nearly equaled the eight the team had in its first three games, combined.
 
AVOIDING DANGER
Missouri Western escaped on the better end of two of its own fumbles in the third quarter. Down 23-15 with less than nine minutes left in the quarter, Dom Marino fumbled following a five-yard rush. UCO recovered on the MWSU 16, but an offsides penalty against the Bronchos negated the fumble. Four plays later, Joshua Caldwell had the ball knocked from his arms following a one yard carry that was scooped up by Dijuan Ussery who took the ball 45 yards for a Griffon touchdown that pulled MWSU within two (23-21).
 
ENDING LIKE THE BEGINNING
After the teams combined for 28 points and more than 340 yards of offense in the first quarter, things slowed down for the next two quarters. The scoreboard and stat sheet lit up again in the fourth as the teams traded punches to total 34 points and 392 yards of offense in the final frame. Each team scored two touchdowns in the final 5:49 of the game.
 
UP NEXT
Missouri Western travels to Oklahoma to face Northeastern State (0-4) in Tahlequah. Northeastern State was defeated 31-7 at Fort Hays State, Saturday afternoon.