By Jim Henry

jhenry@joplinglobe.com

Just when Missouri Southern appeared to gain some momentum, Zach Miller silenced the Lions and the 5,516 fans at Fred G. Hughes Stadium.

Both late in the second quarter and again early in the fourth period.

Miller, Nebraska-Omaha’s multiple-threat quarterback, accounted for 338 yards and five touchdowns as the No. 5 Mavericks decked the Lions 40-21.

Miller, 6-foot-4, 230-pound senior, tossed a 50-yard touchdown pass and scored twice in the last 4:40 of the first half as the Mavericks (3-0, 2-0 MIAA) opened a 30-7 halftime advantage.

The Lions (2-2, 0-2) converted two UNO fumbles early in the second half into short touchdown runs, slicing the deficit to 30-21 with 6:06 left in the third period.

But Miller orchestrated drives that produced a 30-yard field goal and a 30-yard touchdown pass for a 40-21 advantage with 7:46 left.

Miller, the conference leader in total offense and pass efficiency rating, ran for a career-best 195 yards on 16 carries, including touchdowns of 5, 65 and 16 yards. He completed 9 of 13 passes for 143 yards and TD tosses of 50 and 30 yards to Kelvin Nesbit.

Miller also had a 47-yard touchdown run and a two-yard TD pass called back by penalties.

“He’s a great player,” Lions head coach Bart Tatum said. “He’s a lot like (Neal) Philpot (former Pittsburg State quarterback) was, probably a better passer though and every bit as good of a runner. People around here have seen that type of guy before. He’s that good.”

Tailback Brian McNeill contributed 126 yards on 25 rushes as the Mavericks rolled up 385 rushing yards on 48 attempts and finished with 528 total yards.

“Our defense played OK early,” Tatum said. “I really expected us to do more like that the whole game. I didn’t have any illusions about shutting UNO down, but the last three quarters or so, they pretty much did what they wanted to do on offense.”

The Lions had 215 total yards on 71 snaps, and all three MSSU scores came after UNO fumbles, two of them on special teams.

Ian Harrison, who averaged 37.4 yards on nine punts, had a short punt hit a UNO blocker in the back, and Zach McFerren recovered for the Lions at the UNO 23.