Dodson, No. 10 PSU overwhelm MSSU in Miners Bowl

Jared Porter, The Joplin Globe, Mo.
·4 min read

Oct. 2—PITTSBURG, Kan. — The Pittsburg State football team proved to be worthy of that No. 10 national ranking they received earlier in the week.

Fueled by a four-touchdown day by quarterback Chad Dodson Jr. and a defense that surrendered just three field goals, PSU jumped out to a 28-3 halftime lead and never looked back en route to a 38-9 triumph over rival Missouri Southern on Saturday in the Miners Bowl at Carnie Smith Stadium.

The MIAA-leading Gorillas improved to 5-0 while the Lions slipped to 3-2. Southern saw a three-game win streak end with the setback.

"Their ranking is definitely deserved," second-year MSSU head coach Atiba Bradley said of PSU. "They're a good football team and they were the more physical football team today. They rode momentum well, being in front of a home crowd and making big plays. We just never recovered from it."

PSU scored touchdowns on two of its first four drives to take a 14-0 lead by the end of the opening quarter.

After three plays and then a punt on MSSU's opening drive, the Gorillas' offense took to the field and marched 59 in four plays to find the end zone. A 16-yard TD pass from Dodson to Dallas Bond capped the drive and gave PSU a 7-0 advantage with 12:04 left in the first quarter.

Southern lost a fumble deep in its own territory before PSU cashed in with a 1-yard TD plunge by defensive tackle Zeke Wall, a Carl Junction High School product, with 26 seconds to play in the opening period.

"That momentum just gets rolling and you start to feel the effects of it," Bradley said. "We're not a good enough football team right now to just say, 'OK, no more. Stop.' So I'm not going to say our guys weren't prepared. They were prepared and worked hard all week. Pitt State was just more physical than us and took advantage of all of their momentum."

The Lions ended their scoring lull at the 10:07 mark of the second quarter when kicker Nick Williams split the uprights for a career-long 52-yard field goal, trimming the PSU lead to 21-3.

Williams was a bright spot for the MSSU special teams as he went 3 for 3 on field goals with distances of 52, 24 and 42 yards.

"He's steady," Bradley said of Williams. "He's a great weapon to have. Hopefully we don't have to rely on him all of the time, but it's nice to know you have someone as reliable as he is when we're in field goal range."

PSU added two more TDs to its lead in the second quarter. Dodson accounted for both scores through the air, connecting with Jack Roberts for nine yards and then Christian Carter for 31 yards.

Dodson, a sophomore from Jacksonville, Florida, completed 12 of 19 passes for 201 yards and three TDs. He also found the end zone on a 1-yard run early in the fourth quarter to five PSU its largest lead of the day at 38-6.

"He was in a rhythm, man," Bradley said of Dodson. "He dialed us up a little bit. We had some guys in position to make some plays, but we just couldn't quite capitalize. But again, you don't jump into the top-10 for no reason. That's a good football team and a good program. That's what we're striving to be."

The only other PSU score that didn't come via the arm or legs of Dodson was a 20-yard field goal by Cross Holmes that gave the Gorillas a 31-3 advantage midway through the third quarter.

Pittsburg State finished with 377 yards of total offense. Caleb Lewis led the team in rushing with 84 yards on 23 carries, while Devon Garrison led the receiving with 51 yards on three catches. Carter and Elijah Harris finished with 42 and 34 receiving yards, respectively.

MSSU QB Dawson Herl completed 10 of 17 passes for 139 yards. His top target, Ezekiel Lang, hauled in four catches for 91 yards.

Joplin High School product Nathan Glades led the MSSU rushing attack with 60 yards on 21 carries.

Linebacker Colton Winder, a Carthage native, recorded a team-high 10 tackles for MSSU while LB Richard Jordan Jr. finished with five tackles and one tackle for loss. Defensive lineman Jamie Tago chipped in two sacks.

Southern will play host to Lincoln on Oct. 8 at 2 p.m. inside of Fred G. Hughes Stadium. PSU will be back at Carnie Smith Stadium on the same day to take on Northwest Missouri.

Contact Jared Porter on Twitter at @JaredRyanPorter.