Mules outlast Bearcats to win opener 39-28

WARRENSBURG — The No. 25 Central Missouri Mules tallied the game’s final three touchdowns to come back from an eight-point deficit and grab a 39-28 season-opening win on Thursday night against the Bearcats of Southwest Baptist.
           
The Mules (1-0) made it 18 wins in a row over the Bearcats (0-1), extending a streak that has been alive since a 1991 loss.
           
The Central Missouri offense was paced by junior quarterback Eric Czerniewski, who accounted for five of the Mules’ six touchdowns (four passing, one rushing). He threw for 354 yards, his third-best effort ever, and went 29-of-41 for the second-most single-game completions in school history.
           
The contest started off with a bang as junior running back Anthony Stewart caught a screen pass and took it 70 yards for a score on the Mules’ first play of their first possession. A missed extra point made it only a 6-0 lead.
           
UCM made it 13-0 on its next possession, thanks to a nine-play, 60-yard drive. Czerniewski converted a fourth-and-eight with a 25-yard touchdown strike to junior All-American tight end DeMarco Cosby.
           
The Bearcats answered late in the first quarter with a 51-yard rush by Thaddeus Everson, and then took the lead in the second on a 30-yard rush by Justin Duhaney, 14-13.
           
Central Missouri came back on the next drive after a 37-yard kick return by senior Bobby Guillory. The Mules went 56 yards in nine plays, capped by a 1-yard TD plunge from Czerniewski, but the Bearcats had the last strike before the break.
           
A 56-yard completion from Steve Gachette to Johnnie King with 1:01 left made it 21-20 at halftime.
           
Central Missouri committed eight penalties in the opening half, while SBU had five. Both offenses were potent, with nearly 300 yards apiece.
           
The Bearcats got some luck to start the second half, scoring on a 35-yard touchdown pass that bounced off an SBU receiver and fell into tight end Jameson Manuma’s hands for an easy coast into the end zone, making it 28-20 with 7:05 left in the third. That would be the last score for the Bearcats though, as the Mule defense put the clamps down.
           
The Mules finished the game with four sacks, six quarterback hurries, and nine tackles for a loss, but the biggest play came after the Mules got a 30-yard touchdown reception from junior running back Tywon Hubbard to make it 28-26 (the two-point conversion failed).

Freshman defensive back Brett Ginn forced a fumble and recovered it on the SBU 35. The Mules punched it in on a 5-yard hookup to Cosby early in the fourth quarter to give the Mules a lead for good, 32-28. The score tied a school record for TDs in a game by a tight end with two.

The game-clincher came later in the quarter. SBU was stuffed on a fake punt back at their own 39, and the Mules then took six minutes off the clock before stuffing it in the end zone on 1-yard rush from Stewart with 2:14 left.
           
Stewart finished the game with team highs in receiving (104 yards) and rushing (70 yards), while Cosby had seven grabs for 77 yards. As a team the offense finished with 473 total yards (354 passing, 119 rushing).
           
Defensively the Mules were led by junior linebacker Cody Scribner with 10 tackles, while senior defensive end Marc Tiernan had 1.5 sacks and seven tackles. Ginn also had a half sack to go with his fumble recovery. UCM gave up 500 yards of offense in the game, but only 200 in the second half, 60 of which came on the final drive.
           
The Mules will host Missouri S&T at 7 p.m. Thursday.