SAINT LOUIS – Missouri Baptist was not able to keep pace. University of Wisconsin-River Falls came to St. Louis and put an early dagger into the heart of the Spartan defense thanks to a pair of first quarter touchdowns in a 30-3 Missouri Baptist loss at CBC on Saturday.
Missouri Baptist (0-3) allowed an early score by River Falls on the opening drive as Travon Hearns guided his team downfield for a first quarter touchdown. The 6-5 signal caller put together a nine play, 63-yard drive for the score. Hearns, connected with Trenton Monson for a 16-yard score to make it 7-0, after Angel Bautista's extra point.
The Falcons made it 14-0 on its next drive, this time on a 73-yard drive, led in part by Michael Diggins. The senior running back rushed for 31 yards in the first quarter alone, along with the second touchdown of the day, and made it 14-0.
Missouri Baptist answered with an early field goal in the second quarter as
Isaiah King made his presence felt in his first game back since August 26. The sophomore looked in top form in his return as he helped to put
Ethan Metzler in line for a 33-yard field goal to make it 14-3.
The Spartans allowed one more touchdown as Diggins got his second score of the game. The Andover, Minn., native broke free for a 53-yard score and capped-off the scoring for the Falcons in the half to make it 21-3.
After the half, the Spartan defense began to make big stands. Missouri Baptist shut-down the River Falls offense in the third quarter and put itself into a position to get back into the game, but an early score in the fourth quarter put icing on the cake for the Falcons.
Diggins led all running backs in the game with 168 yards on the ground and two touchdowns. Travon Hearns was also lights-out for the Falcons with a two touchdown performance.
Caleb Carver was perhaps the most outstanding player for the Spartans on defense. The junior recorded eight total tackles, one sack and 3.5 tackles for a loss.
Dontrail Johnson led the Spartans in total tackles on the day with nine with a half sack to his credit.
Missouri Baptist will play host to Saint Ambrose (Iowa) next Saturday in the final of a three-game home stand. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at CBC.
