TOPEKA, Kan. — What a way to make your debut in the D2Football.com Top-25 Poll.

Led by three scores from Jared Scott, No. 24 Missouri Western State rolled past Washburn 61-21 on Saturday afternoon at Yager Stadium.

Despite winning their fifth-straight game, the Griffons (5-1, 4-1 MIAA) had to play from behind early on, as Washburn running back Taylon Peters put the Ichabods up 7-0 with a 4-yard touchdown to cap the game's opening drive. Missouri Western responded with a six-play, 75-yard drive, ending with an 8-yard touchdown by Scott. 

Blocking his second punt this season, Jake Leader's hustle led to a scoop-and-score by Lamont Washington, putting MWSU up 14-7. Washburn (1-5, 0-5 MIAA) replied with a 92-yard kickoff return TD by Teondre Carter to tie things back up at 14-14.

Starting the second quarter off with a bang, Jalen Lampley took a reverse end-around 36 yards to the house for his first touchdown of the season to put the Griffs up for good at 21-14. Missouri Western went on to score 47 straight points. 

Seth Cromwell led all Griffons rushers with 154 yards and one touchdown in the contest, picking up 14 yards per carry. Scott also added 71 yards and three touchdowns on the ground, averaging 7.9 yards per carry. Brandon Hall chipped in with 59 yards as well, averaging 8.4 yards per carry. Armani Edden's most prolific target in the ballgame was Jonas Bennett, who caught three passes for 35 yards.

Javerius McGuinn led the Missouri Western State defensive effort, recording one interception. Taylor Williams added one interception, and Anthony Villanueva had three tackles, one tackle for a loss and one sack in the win.

The Griffons won the turnover battle in Saturday's game, forcing two turnovers while avoiding any giveaways, with Missouri Western turning those takeaways into seven points. Missouri Western also had an outstanding day offensively, racking up 561 total yards, 407 on the ground and 154 through the air, while averaging 8.6 yards per play and out-gaining Washburn. The Missouri Western offense did a good job prolonging drives, converting on 54.5% of third-down attempts.

Defensively, Missouri Western held up fairly well against the Washburn offensive attack, holding the Ichabods to 336 total yards. The Griffon defense disrupted the Washburn passing game on the way to grabbing two interceptions and breaking up two Ichabod passes.

Missouri Western's offense took advantage of its trips to the red zone, scoring on five of its five trips, with four of those scores being touchdowns.

• This is MWSU's first win as a ranked team since 2014.
• Six different Griffons scored.
• Missouri Western outgained Washburn 561-336, including a 407-177 advantage on the ground.
• Missouri Western won the turnover battle 2-0 after picking off two passes.
• The Griffons had their highest-scoring quarter in the second period when they put up 30 points.
• Missouri Western converted 6-of-11 third downs while Washburn was successful on 2-of-11.
• Missouri Western scored four touchdowns in the second quarter.
• Missouri Western went 1-for-2 on fourth down, converting on 50 percent of attempts.
• The Griffons took potential points off the board by forcing two turnovers on their own half of the field.
• The Griffons racked up eight tackles for loss and added three sacks.
• Missouri Western won the time of possession battle 35:43 to 24:17.
• Edden completed 81.2% of his passes on the day, going 13-for-16 while averaging 9.6 yards per attempt.
• Sam Van Dyne led the Ichabods' passing attack, completing seven of his 20 attempts for 104 yards with two interceptions.
• Jay'Len Rushing led the Washburn rushing attack with 61 yards.

UP NEXT
Missouri Western gears for rivalry week, taking on Northwest Missouri State (3-3, 2-3 MIAA) next Saturday at 1 p.m. at Spratt Stadium. The Bearcats beat Central Oklahoma 34-21 on Satursay in Maryville. 

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