By Jim Henry
jhenry@joplinglobe.com
Turnovers — a Missouri Southern bugaboo the last half of the season — bit the Lions one final time Saturday afternoon.
The Lions and Fort Hays State combined for almost 1,000 yards of offense, but the Lions threw five interceptions and the Tigers posted a 48-34 season-ending victory at Fred G. Hughes Stadium.
The Tigers (6-5, 4-5 MIAA), who wound alone in sixth place in the conference standings, had only six interceptions through their first 10 games. But strong safety Seth Blackwell’s 19-yard interception in the final minute of the first quarter — the Tigers’ second TD in a seven-second span — put Fort Hays State ahead to stay, and safety Taylor Bersuch’s second pick of the game halted the Lions’ potential game-tying drive with 6:50 remaining.
“Both of them were very opportune for us,” Tigers head coach Kevin Verdugo said. “One of them gave us the lead, one of them kept us the lead.”
“We have to go to the drawing board and get better in that area,” Lions head coach Bart Tatum said. “Kevin (Greim, MSSU radio announcer) pointed out in the last six games, we threw 18 interceptions and we didn’t get any defensively. That’s the story of our season.”
Quarterback Collin Howard, who missed the previous five games with a knee injury, started for the Lions and engineered an 11-play, 60-yard drive on the game’s opening possession. Howard scored on a one-yard sneak for a 7-0 lead before the game was four minutes old.
But the Lions (3-7, 3-6 to tie Pittsburg State for seventh in the league) saw their final six possessions of the half end with three interceptions and three punts, and the Tigers built a 27-7 halftime lead. Howard was 6-of-15 passing for 66 yards with the three picks, and Roland Thompson, who started in Howard’s absence, played the second half.
“We decided Wednesday after practice to start Collin. He was very good at practice,” Tatum said. “The decision to pull Collin Howard had far more to do about an offense than it had to do with Collin Howard. He made a couple of mistakes but ... for example, we called a play in the first half with eight-man protection. We held the tight end, both backs were held in, they brought four rushers and we take a sack. Collin Howard has nothing to do with that.
“We were just looking for a spark, and Roland played pretty good outside of the two interceptions. It’s kind of been the story for Roland.”
Thompson had his most accurate half of the season, hitting 14-of-18 attempts for 154 yards. He also ran for 49 yards on six carries.
“I came in with these guys. These are the guys who were in my recruiting class,” Thompson said. “When I was out there, I just wanted to give them my all because I knew some of them, this was their last time.”
Johnny Johnson, one of 10 Lion seniors, scored the Lions’ four touchdowns in the second half. He scored on runs of 23 and 4 yards in the third quarter and a 16-yarder on fourth down to pull the Lions within 34-27 with 13:12 remaining.
After the defense forced a punt, the Lions moved from their 15 to the FHSU 35, with Johnson’s leaping 18-yard reception over the middle the standout play. Johnson made the one-handed catch and held onto the ball despite being hit immediately by Blackwell.
But on fourth down at the Tigers’ 35, Bersuch’s interception ended the drive, and James Walker ran 47 yards on fourth-and-1 to give the Tigers a 41-27 lead with 2:33 left.
The Lions scored with 50 seconds left on another highlight-reel, 14-yard, one-handed grab by Johnson in the end zone. Johnson finished with 91 yards rushing on 18 carries and 42 yards on four receptions.
“Roland throws it that hard. You kind of have to catch it in self-defense,” Johnson said. “I stuck my hand out there for the ball ... he was throwing so hard, it just kind of stuck.
“That second one, it surprised me. That was the second pass he threw high. He had to throw over tall linebackers. I reached up .... obviously the plan was to tip it to myself, but when the ball hit initially, it stuck.”
“He’s a very talented guy and he’s got tremendous spirit,” Tatum said. “Making those plays for this football team in this type of a game, it just tells you everything about him.”
Trailing 41-34, the Lions failed to cover the onside kick, and Jacobb Irvin scored on a 27-yard run with 31 seconds left.
The Lions finished with 482 yards, 15 more than the Tigers. Senior Toderick Hunt ran for 99 yards on 17 carries to lead the Lions’ 262-yard ground attack.
Linebacker Richard Williams led the Lions with 17 tackles, including 1.5 for loss, and linebacker Dusty Bratzler had 10 stops.
The Tigers had 270 rushing yards. Walker and Irvin gained 110 and 93 yards, respectively, and scored two touchdowns apiece. Quarterback Mike Garrison hit 18-of-32 passes for 197 yards and a score and ran for 69 yards and a score.
