BATESVILLE, Ark. – Coming into the season, the Missouri Baptist University football team knew it had questions to be answered along the offensive line and quarterback positions. Both questions will remain unanswered for at least one more week. Despite MBU moving the ball reasonably well, the Spartans were unable to find the end-zone in a 24-12 defeat at the hands of Lyon College to open the 2022 season.
In a game that statistically was a dead heat, the difference was the Scots managed three touchdowns while the Spartans tallied only four field goals off the leg of sophomore kicker Jonah Cox in as many trips to the red zone. Cox was a perfect 4-for-4 with successful attempts from 24, 35, 29, and 28 yards accounting for all 12 of MBU's points.
The 1-2 punch at running back – graduate student Ronald Allen and junior Darius Morrison – combined for 73 yards on 16 attempts behind a young offensive line starting two freshmen, one sophomore, and a pair of upperclassmen. The 73 rushing yards was aided in a large part by a 40-yard scamper by Morrison in the fourth quarter.
The Scots' defense was successful in making the Spartans one-dimensional on offense and dared them to throw the football with their inexperienced signal-callers. At least for this game, it appears that was a winning strategy. The Spartans were forced to put the ball in the air 43 times while rushing only 30. Freshman Cooper Brown was 11-of-26 for 102 yards with the game's only interception, while freshman Ashton Strother was 8-of-17 for 62 yards with a fumble.
On the other side of the ball, the defense played well in the first half. They surrendered a TD on the opening drive and a field goal late in the second quarter. Sandwiched in between, if not for a defensive penalty resulting in three additional Lyon plays, the Spartans would have registered back-to-back-to-back 3-and-outs.
Standouts defensively included sophomore linebacker Blake Kight with 11 tackles, including two for loss. Junior strong safety Darryl Krieger and nose tackle Anthony Graham each had six tackles apiece.
After Lyon put seven on the board and a Brown interception on the first offensive possession, the MBU defense locked IN and the offense capitalized with field goals in each of the next three possessions. With Cox's third field goal and 4:04 to remaining in the first half, the Spartans took a 9-7 lead. It was a short-lived advantage.
The Scots answered quickly with a 13-play drive resulting in a Kevin Kargozar field goal. With five seconds remaining in the half, Lyon took a 10-9 lead to the locker room and one that they would not surrender.
The Spartans could only scratch out another Cox field goal with 10:39 left on the clock to cut it to 24-12, but they would get no closer.
The Spartans drop to 0-1 on the season and will look to get into the win column next week when they host Iowa Wesleyan University. Saturday's kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at Spartan Field.
