Football Pulls Away at Home For Win Over William Woods

Marshall, Mo., (Nov. 9, 2024)- The Missouri Valley College football team hosted William Woods (Mo.) in a Heart of America Athletic Conference South Division game Saturday afternoon inside Volney C. Ashford Stadium.  The Vikings used a big second half to pull away for a 35-3 victory.

The game started with William Woods receiving the opening kickoff, and putting together a long scoring drive.  The Owls ran off 13 plays and eventually moved inside the MVC 20-yard line.  William Woods settled for a 36-yard field goal, and moved in front, 3-0, with five minutes played.

The first drive for Missouri Valley ended in a punt, and the Viking defense followed by creating a turnover.  One a third-down situation, a bad snap was fumbled, and Freshman Defensive Lineman Jentry Pendergraft (Keifer, Okla.) recovered at the WWU 38-yard line.  The Vikings picked up a fourth-down conversion, on a four-yard rushing attempt from Senior Running Back Rondarius Gregory (Nashville, Tenn.) to extend the drive, and eventually settle for a 28-yard field goal from Freshman Kicker Bruno Kincaid (Spain).  The attempt sailed wide of the uprights, and MVC still trailed, 3-0, late in the first quarter.

William Woods followed by holding possession into the second quarter of play.  The first play of the quarter ended in a sack for Sophomore Defensive Lineman Agustus McKoy (Pahokee, Fla.), and two plays later, Junior Defensive Back Jeremiah McNair (Hattiesburg, Miss.) intercepted a pass, for the second turnover of the game.  McNair went on a 43-yard return, giving Missouri Valley the ball at the Owl 30-yard line.  Two plays into the ensuing drive the WWU came up with its first turnover, on an interception to take over near midfield.

The Owls moved into field goal range on its drive, and eventually settled for a 42-yard attempt.  However, the kick went wide of the uprights, and the score stayed at 3-0, with just over six minutes played in the second quarter.  The Viking offense was stopped on its next possession, and a bad snap on a punt attempt resulted in William Woods taking over at the MVC 27-yard line.  Missouri Valley forced a stop on defense, and WWU attempted another field goal.  This time, the 43-yard attempt was blocked by Junior Defensive Back Alon Woodbury (Oklahoma City, Okla.), and the Vikings regained possession with under five minutes to play in the half. 

The two teams traded punts through the rest of play in the second quarter, and the Vikings went into halftime trailing, 3-0.

Missouri Valley received the opening kickoff to start the second half, and put together a scoring drive.  Facing a third-down situation, Junior Running Back Devonte Armstrong (North Las Vegas, Nev.) ran for 20 yards to convert, then capped the eight-play, 75-yard drive with a 24-yard rushing touchdown.  Kincaid made the extra-point, and MVC moved ahead, 7-3, with less than four minutes played in the quarter.

William Woods was limited to a three-and-out on its ensuing possession, while MVC also punted after three plays midway through the quarter.  After another defensive stop for the Vikings, Missouri Valley gained possession near midfield.  Three plays into the drive, Freshman Quarterback Cole Robertson (Kansas City, Mo.) connected for a 56-yard touchdown with Freshman Wide Receiver Malik Brown (Tampa, Fla.) to extend the lead to 14-3 with four minutes remaining in the third quarter.

The Vikings used an onside kick to surprise William Woods, and Kincaid recovered the attempt at the MVC 46-yard line.  The Vikings made quick work of its possession, using 22 yards gained rushing from Armstrong, and a Robertson completion to Sophomore Wide Receiver Eddie Strong (Middletown, Ct.) for 27-yards to reach the WWU five-yard line.  The next play ended with another rushing touchdown for Armstrong, and the lead sat at 21-3.  William Woods was stopped on its next drive, and Missouri Valley took possession into the fourth quarter.

The drive ended with a touchdown, this time on a 53-yard rushing attempt from Armstrong to increase the advantage to 28-3 with less than one minute played in the quarter.  The Viking defense forced another three-and-out, helped by a third-down sack from McKoy.  After Missouri Valley was forced to punt, the MVC defense forced another turnover, as Woodbury intercepted a pass at the WWU 31-yard line.  The ensuing drive lasted only three plays, and featured 31 total yards from Gregory, including an 11-yard touchdown run to put the score at 35-3 midway through the quarter.

Another William Woods drive ended in a turnover, as McNair intercepted a pass at midfield.  Both teams traded possession to close out the game, and Missouri Valley finished a 35-3 win.

Armstrong totaled 138 yards rushing on 10 carries, scoring three touchdowns, and added two receptions for 11 yards.  Gregory had 62 yards rushing and one touchdown.  Robertson finished with 140 yards passing on seven completions, with one touchdown and one interception.  Brown had three receptions for 102 yards and one touchdown.

Senior Linebacker Keaton Fitzgerald (Sikeston, Mo.) led with six tackles, followed by five tackles and two pass break-ups from Senior Defensive Back Bryan Sarente (Sacramento, Calif.).  Senior Defensive Lineman Ryan Greenwood (Beaumont, Texas) had four tackles and 1.5 tackles-for-loss.  McKoy totaled two sacks, while Senior Defensive Lineman Ethan Towers (Chicago, Ill.) and Freshman Defensive Lineman Elijah Darcueil (Bradenton, Fla.) added one sack each.  McNair finished with two interceptions, and Woodbury had one interception. The defense finished with four sacks and nine tackles-for-loss.

Kincaid made all five of his extra-point attempts, while Senior Punter Justin Bridges (Park Hills, Mo.) had a 34-yards per punt average on three punts, with one downed inside the 20-yard line.

The win moves Missouri Valley to 4-5 overall and 2-4 in the Heart South Division.  William Woods drops to 1-9 on the season, and 1-4 in the division.  The 32-point margin of victory was the largest for the program since a 38-0 win over Graceland (Iowa), back on Sept. 26, 2020.

Up next, the Vikings host William Penn (Iowa) for Senior Day, Nov. 16, with kickoff at 1 p.m., inside Volney C. Ashford Stadium.

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About Missouri Valley College

Known for its dynamic, richly diverse, and friendly educational environment, Missouri Valley College offers many opportunities to grow in mind, body, and spirit. Grounded in the liberal arts, undergraduate studies empower students to master interdisciplinary skills needed to succeed in a knowledge-based global society. MVC offers over 30 academic programs, study abroad program, extracurricular activities, and a wide variety of sports. The most popular majors include education and business, criminal justice and exercise science. Above all, Valley is committed to student success. For more information, call (660) 831-4000 or visit www.moval.edu.