Gorillas fumble away playoffs

November 04, 2007 12:35 am

— From staff reports
sports@joplinglobe.com
TOPEKA, Kan. — Pittsburg State lost five turnovers, including two interceptions in the final quarter, and lost 35-28 to Washburn on Saturday in front of 5,798 at Yager Stadium.
The loss probably ends the Gorillas’ playoff chances. PSU was No. 5 in the Division II Southwest Region rankings coming in, and only the top six in each region advance. Each of the other top-nine teams in the Southwest won Saturday.
No. 18 Pitt State (7-3, 5-3 MIAA) scored on quarterback Mark Smith’s third touchdown run to take a 28-21 lead with 14 seconds to play in the third quarter, but the game turned on the next play from scrimmage.
Washburn’s Brandon Walker scored on a 65-yard run to tie the game at the end of three quarters.
In the fourth, the Ichabods (7-3, 6-2) took the lead on Jordan Brill’s 6-yard pass to Jake Lebahn. PSU tried to answer, but Smith was intercepted inside the Washburn 30-yard line with 6:25 to play.
The Gorillas forced a three-and-out, but with less than two minutes to go, Smith was forced to pass. He threw another pick in PSU’s own end. Washburn drove to the Pitt State 2 before turning the ball over on downs, but Pierce Curran lost a fumble trying to lateral on PSU’s last-ditch attempt at a miracle.
Smith was 8-of-14 passing for 127 yards and had 96 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. Running back Caleb Farabi, who entered the game leading the MIAA in rushing yards, was held to 54 yards and a score on 16 carries. Backup Brandon Clark carried eight times for 66 yards.
Pitt State fumbled six times and lost four, including one on a punt return, one on a kickoff return and the lateral at the end of the game.
The game started with a bizarre sequence. The Gorillas forced the Ichabods to punt on their first possession, but returner Nathan Thomas fumbled the ball back to Washburn. On the next play, PSU linebacker Zack Langston forced Ra’Shawn Mosley to fumble back to the Gorillas.
PSU marched down and scored on Smith’s first TD run, a 2-yarder. But Washburn answered on its next drive, as it did late in the first half after Smith scored on a 3-yard run for a 14-7 lead with 1:20 left in the second quarter.
The Ichabods went 55 yards in seven plays, tying the game at 14 on Brill’s 11-yard pass to Drameago Powers with 12 seconds left.
Brill finished 16-of-24 for 291 yards and three touchdowns. Mosley, Washburn’s leading rusher entering the game, had another early fumble and only carried four times for negative-4 yards. Walker, though, finished with 145 yards and two touchdowns on 33 carries as Washburn racked up a 479-359 advantage in total yards.
Pitt State finishes the regular season next Saturday with a 2 p.m. home game against Emporia State.