Marauders Capture 2nd Win of Season With Wild Finish
By

Keyonte Hicks put the Marauders on the Board on the second play of the game with a 53 yard scamper with only 57 seconds gone in the game. Hicks finished the day with 153 yards on 18 carries. The Miners from Missouri Science and Technology University scored an answering TD exactly two minutes later and that is the last time the Marauders led the game until Alphonso Lopez’s extra point kick of 35 yards with no time left on the clock.

            The Miners scored twice more in the first period including one TD off a blocked punt by Steve Edwards who appeared to be everywhere on defense and he fell on the ball in the end zone for the score and led 21-7 at the end of the first quarter. Central State came back to score another touchdown in the second quarter on a nine yard pass from Jeff Brooks to Marcus Clark. The Marauders missed the extra point and trailed 21-13 at half.

            The Marauders led in almost every statistical category but the one that really hurt them all day was penalties. CSU was flagged for 13 penalties for a total of 364 yards. Four of the Marauder penalties game Missouri S& T a first down on third and long. The Miners were called for five penalties for 101 yards.

            CSU had 20 first downs to Missouri S & T’s 13. CSU rushed for 308 yards rushing and 275 yards passing on 21 of 42 and 1 interception to the Miners 116 yards rushing and 152 yards passing on 13 of 26 and two interceptions.

            One interception proved costly for the Miners as Darius Lewis intercepted a pass with 8:36 remaining in the game that allowed the Marauders to close to a score of 28-22.

            With 3:15 left in the game CSU had their final chance as the had the ball on their own 45 yard line following a Missouri S & T punt and an nine yard return by Marcus Clark. Following a 35 yard pass play to Daniel Stover, CSU ground out the rest of the yardage mostly on the ground. With five seconds on the clock and no time outs left, the ball was snapped to Quarterback Jude Diegue who followed his line and a continued surge from the CSU Offensive line resulted in a touchdown with no time left on the clock.   The celebration that followed the touchdown which tied the score at 28-28 resulted in a 15 yard penalty and instead of the ball being on the three yard line the ball was spotted on the 18 yard line making the extra point a 35 yard kick. Alphonso Lopez made a perfect kick after missing several earlier regular extra points and with no time on the clock CSU went back ahead 29-28 for their second victory of the season both in the

Great Lakes Football Conference.

            Linebacker Ryan Walker and Defensive Lineman Pernell Phillips each finished with 5.5 tackles and Jeff Franklin had 4.0 tackles and one quarterback sack. A sack early in the game by Walker was negated by a facemask penalty and extended the Miners drive which led to their first touchdown. Mike Davis had the second interception for the Marauders.

            CSU takes next Saturday off before finishing their season at St. Joseph’s College in Rennselear, IN, also a GLFC opponent. After this CSU is the only conference team without a loss.