ELLENSBURG, Wash. -- Midwestern State may have been lean on depth and decimated by injuries Saturday night at Tomlinson Stadium.
But the Mustangs delivered one of their best performances of the season despite taking a 17-10 loss to Central Washington.
"Overall, that was our best ball game (of the season)," MSU coach
Bill Maskill said. "We're not happy with the result, but our kids played hard. Hopefully, this will show us that we are capable of better than we've been and build on it next week."
Central Washington used a strong start to take an early lead as quarterback J.J. Lemming capped off a 9-play, 65-yard drive with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Tai-John Mizutani for a 7-0 lead just over five minutes into the first quarter.
The Wildcats took advantage of a strip sack of MSU signal caller
Neiko Hollins to add to the lead. CWU sophomore defensive lineman Josiah Cochran halted a promising drive by the Mustangs by forcing a fumble at the MSU 49-yard line to give the Wildcats possession in plus territory.
Central Washington advanced into the Red Zone but were forced to settle for a 38-yard field goal by Jude Mullette to push the lead to 10-0 early in the second quarter.
Midwestern State responded quick after
Kylan Harrison returned the ensuing kickoff 40 yards to set the Mustangs up at the CWU 43-yard line.
Freshman-running back
Devin Cross, who finished the night with a game-high 81 yards on 15 carries, spurted 14 and 13 yards on consecutive plays before Hollins hit Jamarzeyea Arvie for an 8-yard TD pass to trim the CWU advantage to 10-7 with 11:16 to play in the first half.
After forcing a three-and-out, Midwestern State rode the ground game for a 14-play, 50-yard drive using just nine minutes of the second quarter before tying the game at 10-10 following a successful 28-yard field goal by
Ritse Vaes.
Central Washington scored the go-ahead touchdown late in the third quarter as Lemming hit Demonte Horton for a 3-yard score with 1:33 left in the stanza closing out a 14-play, 80-yard drive.
The Midwestern State defense limited LSC rushing leader Tre'jon Henderson to 42 yards on 18 carries while limited the Wildcats to 325 yards of total offense -- which was 40 yards below their season average.
Linebackers
Justin Guillory and
Quinterrius Hargrave led the MSU defense with six tackles each.
Midwestern State takes on UT Permian Basin Saturday night at Grande Communications Stadium in Midland. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.
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-- MSUMustangs.com --
