ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — With a win in its annual Hall of Fame Game secure, Griffon Football turns its focus to a confident Central Missouri team for Saturday's game at Walton Stadium/Kennedy Field.

TICKETS + WHERE TO WATCH/LISTEN
Griffon Football is once again gracing the airwaves of KFEQ Radio, as fans can tune in with "The Voice of the Griffons" Tommy Rezac and sideline reporter Derek Zimmerman-Guyer. The game can be heard on KFEQ - AM 680, 95.3 FM and the KFEQ Live Stream.

The game is also available to watch for a subscription fee on the MIAA Network. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. with pregame starting at noon. Game admission can be found by clicking on the "Tickets" tab. 

ABOUT LAST WEEK'S GRIFFON WIN
MWSU 31, MSSU 27 - Box Score
Last Saturday was feeding frenzy for the Griffons' ground attack, gobbling up 310 rushing yards for their first 300-yard performance since Sept. 8 vs. Fort Hays State (2-7, 2-7 MIAA). The main highlight of the game belongs to Jonas Bennett's career-highs of 21 attempts for 128 yards, while birthday boy Jared Scott set the tone early with a one-yard rushing score to cap a 10 play, 75-yard-opening drive that ate up the first five minutes of the game. Missouri Southern (4-5, 4-5) took a 13-7 later in the first and had a chance to go up while improving its perfect mark of 26-for-26 in red zone, but Lion kicker Nick Williams missed a 32-yard field goal.

Given new live, an efficient Missouri Western (4-5, 4-5 MIAA) drive of 80 yards in nine plays ended with a Titus McCoy touchdown plunge from four yards out, giving the Griffons a 14-13 advantage. A Reagan Jones 22-yard touchdown sprint with 52 seconds left in the half put MWSU up, 21-13, and a Scott scamper of 23 yards put the Griffons up by 10 in to begin the fourth. Despite not registering a sack for the first time in three weeks, the Griffon defense only allowed 154 passing yards. However, Southern's 232 rushing yards are the most MWSU has given up since Oct. 8 in week six vs. when Nebraska-Kearney went for 250.

ABOUT LAST WEEK'S MULE WIN
UCM 61, LU 14 - Box Score
Central Missouri's (3-6, 3-6 MIAA) outing vs. Lincoln (0-9) was the definition of lopsided, as the Mules mounted a 40-0 lead by the 5:45 mark of the second quarter. En route to their biggest win of 2022, UCM quarterback Case Cedric broke a program record for single-game passer efficiency with a stat line of 16-for-16, 246 yards and six touchdowns. The Mules outgained the Blue Tigers, 557-234, while rushing for 225 yards — both season-highs for the UCM.

On defense, UCM was just as dominant, restraining Lincoln to defensive season-low 54 rushing yards. Linebacker Lane West's 25-yard scoop-and-score in the early fourth quarter is the Mules' first defensive touchdown of the season, marking UCM's sixth fumble recovery of the season. 

PROLIFIC POSITION PREVIEWS
Coaches
Missouri Western Head Coach Matt Williamson is 30-25 overall and 28-25 in the MIAA. In six years at MWSU. Williamson and the Griffons are 1-3 vs. Central Missouri since 2017, winning their first game against the Mules last season to break a five-year dry spell against their conferences foe. 

As the 30th head coach in UCM Football history, Josh Lamberson is 3-5 in his first year in charge of the Mules. Lamberson served as the offensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator for UCM from 2010-14. He most recently logged experience as the associate head coach, quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator for Division I Abilene Christian from 2017-21. 

Quarterbacks
Commanding the Griffons behind center is sophomore Reagan Jones, who is 7-7 as a starter since taking control of the MWSU offense last season. He is fourth in the MIAA in pass attempts and completions, going 146-for-262 and is fifth in passing yards with.1,665. Jones is also brash in the backfield, rushing for the fifth-most yards in the MIAA with 556 under his belt. Jones also completed a career-high passing percentage vs. MSSU, going 16-for-21 for an efficient mark of 76.2%.

Coming in at 3-5 as a starter is the young redshirt sophomore Cedric Case, who is already starting to rewrite the Mules' record books. Case took full command vs. Lincoln with six passing touchdowns — the second most in UCM history. He is third in the MIAA with 2,158 passing yards and fourth with 17 touchdown passes.

QB STATS VS. OPPONENT

• Reagan Jones: 1-0 record - 18-for-25, 344 yards (career-high), 0 TDs, 0 INTs, long of 56, 1 sack - 12 attempts, 55 yards, 1 TD, long of 14
• Case Cedric: N/A

Wide Receivers
Missouri Western's Traveon James remains in the top three in both yards (614) and receptions (46), holding the MIAA's fourth-best yards per game average at 68.2. After going for 64 yards on four receptions with a long of 34 vs. MSSU, James has caught multiple passes in seven-straight contests and eight out of nine games this season.

Arkell Smith is right on James' heels, snagging 42 receptions for 602 yards, both good for fourth in the league. He is also tied for second with three others with seven touchdown receptions. Trevor Twehous had a standout day vs. Lincoln, hauling in three passes for two touchdowns, a long of 52 and a career-high 100 yards.

RIVALRY RECORD RABBIT HOLE
By the Numbers
Heading into the 38th all-time meeting between the Griffons and the Mules, the series dating back to 1975 is tied up at 18-18-1. With Williamson in charge since 2017, the Griffons are averaging a grand total of 38.8 offensive points per game, while the defense gives up an average of 46. Overall since the first-ever matchup, MWSU averages 27 points per contest, while UCM averages 28.5.

Last Time Out
Central Missouri had won five-straight games coming into 2021, but Missouri Western made up for its previous losses with a single-game record eight rushing touchdowns. The Griffon ground attack was highlighted by 124 yard, two-touchdown day from Brandon Hall, as well as 64 yards and three scores by Bennett in his first big break in the backfield. Missouri Western sacked UCM's Logan Twehous seven times, with Dakari Streeter slinging down the QB a career-high three times. In his second-career start behind center for MWSU, Jones threw for a career-high 344 yards.

TAKE YOUR TIME
The Griffons are second in the MIAA in time of possession with an average of 32:27 minutes per game, only trailing Northwest and its mark of 33:06. Missouri Western won the battle of clock control vs. Southern in a big way, holding onto the ball for a season-high 39:17 compared to MSSU's 19:12, giving the Griffons their largest TOP margin of the season at 20:05.

CRAYTON AND RAVENEL - CLIMBING UP THE CAREER RANKINGS
With 11 career sacks apiece, A.J. Crayton and C.J. Ravenell are only half a QB takedown away from tying Daniel Atkinson for 10th all-time in Griffon history. Ravenell— a 2021 All-MIAA Third Team — member brought down the QB seven times after a two-sack season in 2019. So far in 2022, Ravenell's two sacks are six weeks apart, taking down UCO in week one and Pitt State in week eight. Crayton took down the QB for the 11th time in his career and for the first time this season last week at Pitt.

KOBE'S DEFENSIVE CANOPY
Senior safety Kobe Cummings is once again making plays all over the field and is near the top of the MWSU tackling leaderboards, listed third with 49 this season. His 274 career tackles are tied for fifth all-time within the program. Cummings needs one more tackle to pass Pierre Thomas (2000-03) for outright fifth all-time in team history.

ON THIS DATE IN GRIFFON FOOTBALL HISTORY: NOV. 5
Back in 2011, No. 25 Missouri Western locked up with No. 3 Northwest Missouri, beating the Bearcats at Spratt Stadium, 31-28.  Now New York Jets placekicker Greg Zuerlein started the scoring for MWSU, putting three on the board to cut Northwest's lead to 7-3. After falling behind 14-3, MWSU QB Travis Partridge rushed for his only ground TD of the day, going off for 106 yards on 18 carries. 

Griffon running back Michael Hill toted the rock 30 times for 81 yards and a TD of his own -- a one-yard dive that knotted the game at 21-21 in the early third quarter. Later tied a 28-28 after MWSU and Northwest traded TDs, Zuerlein booted a program-record kick of 58 yards to give his Griffons the definite lead. To kick off Northwest's final offensive drive of the game with 2:39 to go, Austin Baska sacked Bearcat QB Trevor Adams for a six-yard-loss, setting the tone for an eventual turnover-on-downs that sealed the game in favor of the Griffons.