ST. LOUIS – Missouri Baptist football dropped their third consecutive game on Saturday afternoon with a 34-17 final against Roosevelt University on homecoming.
After finding themselves down by just a touchdown at halftime, the Lakers pulled away in the second half behind an impressive performance from starting running back Ke'Von Johnson.
Roosevelt struck three minutes into the game on their fifth play of the drive when Johnson broke out for a 47-yard touchdown rush. The visitors doubled the lead early in the second quarter when Jack Sheehan capped off a six-play drive with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Blaize Griffin.
Later in the second quarter, big tackles from Joe King forced a Laker three-and-out, leading to a 13-yard punt to put the Spartans in good field position at the 35-yard line.
Darius Morrison picked up 12-yards on the drive's first play, followed by a pair of incompletions. Facing a third and long, Josh Munn completed a pass to Tyler Ball for 21 yards, where he was tackled at the two. Morrison found the endzone on first-and-goal one play later to put the Spartans on the board.
A fumble on MBU's first drive of the second half set up another scoring drive for Roosevelt. Eight plays later, Sheehan completed another touchdown pass, this time a 29-yard reception to Chris Shannon to put the Lakers up 21-7.
Consecutive three-and-outs gave the Spartans the ball back on their own 16, with 4:52 remaining in the third quarter. A 14-yard completion to Jacob Triplett, followed by four consecutive Ronald Allen rushing attempts, set Odaine Reid up in field goal position. Reid, a reserve soccer goalkeeper, nailed a school-record 48-yard field goal to pull the Spartans within two scores.
The MBU defense came up big again early in the fourth quarter, forcing a Laker punt 20 seconds in. Demingo Loggins took the opportunity and returned the punt 67 yards to the house to pull his team within four with 14:40 left in the game.
Unfortunately for the home crowd, the comeback bid came up short. The Lakers posted two more Ke'Von Johnson touchdowns and ran the time down to defeat the Spartans 34-17 on their homecoming weekend.
Darius Morrison led the rushing attack on Saturday, taking 12 handoffs for 77 yards and his third touchdown of the season. Under center, Josh Munn completed 19 of his 33 passing attempts while Tyler Ball continued his strong play with four receptions for 56 yards.
On defense, Jaylen Cowley continued to dominate, picking up 12 tackles, seven solo tackles, and two tackles for a loss. Other notable stats include Joe King's 10 tackles and Jeremiah Austin's two tackles for a loss.
Next up for MBU football is another home matchup on Saturday, October 16, against 18th-ranked St. Xavier University. The kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
