(Photo by Dave Kopp)

Central Missouri Cruises to 50-13 Victory

By David Boyce

WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- Central Missouri won the opening coin flip and elected to take the ball instead of deferring to the second half.

It was the first sign that Missouri S&T was in serious trouble Thursday evening at Walton Stadium.

The Mules needed only 71 seconds to go 43 yards in their first drive of the game.

When Central Missouri scored on a 27-yard reception by Jamorris Warren, 13:42 remained in the first quarter, but the game already appeared over.

Four minutes later the rout was on when the Mules scored again. Central Missouri led by 20 points after the first quarter and cruised to an easy 50-13 victory.

"I thought we were hitting on all cylinders," Central Missouri coach Willie Fritz said. "I thought overall, we played pretty well in all three phases."

Central Missouri completed the non-conference portion of its schedule 2-0 and will now prepare for the start of MIAA play on Sept. 12 at Emporia State.

"It's a lot about confidence," said Central Missouri junior linebacker Cody Scribner. "You have to have confidence going into that first MIAA game because in this conference you can't sleep on anybody. Everybody is tough.

"We really wanted to make an improvement from game one to game two. We will try to make the same kind of improvement next week."

The Mules were much sharper against Missouri S&T than they were last week in a 39-28 victory over Southwest Baptist.

Junior quarterback Eric Czerniewski was nearly perfect for the Mules in the first half. He completed 15 of 17 passes for 231 yards and three touchdowns. Warren caught two of them.

"It makes it easy on offense when you can make a couple of plays here and a couple of plays there and you are in the end zone," Czerniewski said. "I think we had a few long drives tonight so I think the offense did pretty well, but there is always room for improvement."

Although he didn't reach the end zone in the first half, tight end DeMarco Cosby pulled down five catches for 89 yards.

The running game was just as potent for the Mules. Junior Zain Gower, a product of Warrensburg High School, scored on a 2-yard run, giving Central Missouri a 27-0 lead with 7:25 left in the second quarter.

Gower gained only 38 yards in the first half, but averaged 7.6 yards per catch.

The only blemish for Central Missouri in the first half was the 18-yard touchdown pass Jason Schlueter threw to Bryan Crider with 4:15 left in the second quarter.

The Mules, though, quickly answered the only score against them. It took them 1:24 to go 60 yards in four plays to score. It was Czerniewski's third touchdown pass in the half, connecting with Seth Mason on a 31-yard play.

"We played pretty sharp on offense and defense stuck its nose in there," Czerniewski said. "We did a lot of good things."

Central Missouri eased up just a little in the second half, scoring one touchdown in the third quarter and a touchdown and a 28-yard field goal by Aaron Jamieson.

Much of the fourth quarter the Mules played their back-ups. The experience should help them for conference play. Depth is vital in the physical MIAA.

"We had 79 players dress and I think all 79 played and that is fantastic," Fritz said. "A lot of guys got to play in their first college game. That's a reward for all the hard work they have done.

"I thought some guys stepped up and really showed what they can do."

Key play: The 27-yard touchdown reception by junior Jamorris Warren gave Central Missouri a 7-0 lead with 13:42 left in the first quarter. The Mules proved they had no trouble moving against Missouri S&T defense.

Offensive star: Junior quarterback Eric Czerniewski was 19-for-22 for 279 yards and four touchdowns. Czerniewski came as close as you can to playing a perfect game for a quarterback.

Defensive star: Junior linebacker Cody Scribner led Central Missouri with eight tackles. The Mules did a much better job wrapping up on tackles this week.

"In practice we did a much better job stressing tackling and it paid off," Scribner said.

On Friday: Feature on Pittsburg State sophomore wide receiver Aaron Sawyer.

David Boyce wrote for The Kansas City Star for 21 years, covering high schools, area colleges, the Royals, the Wizards and boxing. Boyce was also a contributing writer for the Royals Gameday Magazine this summer.