Coming off a 50-7 defeat to Peru State College last Saturday in Fulton, William Woods University (1-7, 0-3 Heart of America Athletic Conference South Division) will hope to get its offense back on track when it takes the roughly 55-mile bus ride to Fayette to face Central Methodist University (0-8, 0-3) at 1 p.m. Saturday at Davis Field.
Without starting quarterback
Gabe Serri for the first time this season, the Owls scored 21 fewer points than they did the previous week in a 67-28 loss to then-No. 19 Baker University, as it fell by 43 points to the Bobcats. Last week, William Woods had 191 yards of offense, 172 yards through the air and 19 yards rushing. Peru State finished with 388 yards rushing and 185 yards passing for 573 yards of offense.
In the loss to Peru State,
Liam Hughes and
Elijah Rupejko split snaps at quarterback. Hughes went 11-of-28 for 128 yards, one touchdown and one interception, and Rupejko completed 4-of-15 passes for 44 yards and three interceptions.
Jalen Proctor rushed for 26 yards on eight attempts.
Troy Oliver led WWU with 10 receptions, 117 receiving yards and a touchdown - the Owls' lone scoring play.
Carter Holloway led WWU with a game-high 13 tackles, and
Darrias Butler was right behind with 12. Butler and
O'Neal Cotton each had ½ a sack to combine for the Owls' only sack.
Through eight games, William Woods is averaging 228 yards of offense, 200 yards passing and 28 yards rushing. WWU is averaging 14.8 points per game. Opponents are scoring 56.6 points per game and averaging 530.4 yards of offense per game. They are rushing for 329 yards and throwing for 201.4 yards.
Serri leads WWU in passing. He is 104-for-229 through the air for 1,269 yards and 14 touchdowns. Serri has thrown seven interceptions.
Chris Hunter is William Woods' leader in rushing. He has rushed for 132 yards (16.5 yards per game) on 60 attempts. Proctor has rushed for one touchdown. Oliver is the team's leader in receptions with 53. He has 680 receiving yards, eight touchdowns and is averaging 85 receiving yards per game. Holloway is WWU's leader in tackles, averaging 10 tackles per game. He has one sack, 3½ tackles for loss, one forced fumble, two interceptions and two pass breakups.
Jaylen Wiley Scruggs is second on the team in tackles with 48. He has one tackle for loss, one forced fumble, three interceptions and four pass breakups. Butler is third on the team in tackles with 47. He has 1½ sacks, 5½ tackles for loss and one forced fumble.
William Woods is ranked third in the NAIA in tackles (614), fifth in kick returns (No. - yards) (46-784), sixth in penalty first downs (22), seventh in punts (No. - yards) (64-1,802), 17th in interception returns (No. - yards) (11-189), 18th in defensive interceptions (11), 30th in completion-attempt-interception rate (131-297-11), 32nd in passing touchdowns (15) and interception return average (17.2) and 36th in defensive touchdowns (one).
Saturday is the first meeting between The Woods and CMU. The Eagles are the Owls ' closest conference opponent, a little over 30 miles closer than the next closest. WWU and CMU are two of the five Missouri schools in the Heart - the others are Culver-Stockton College in Canton, Missouri Baptist University in Creve Couer and Missouri Valley College in Marshall.
Central Methodist is a private university in Fayette. It was formerly a college until it was granted university status in 2004. The school is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. CMU has had football since 1896, and its all-time record is 377-658-25. The Eagles have won five conference titles; their most recent and only in the Heart South was in 2021 when they went 9-3 (5-0 Heart South) - one of their three winning seasons since 2010.
CMU lost its 17th straight game - its last victory was a 16-11 win at Culver-Stockton Sep. 9, 2023 - to then-No. 17 Baker in Baldwin City, Kan. The Eagles fell 62-7 to the Wildcats. Baker scored 55 unanswered points before CMU scored its only touchdown of the game with 9:10 left in the fourth quarter when Gavin Watts completed an 11-yard pass to Drake Dudley.
In the game against Baker, Central Methodist had 97 yards of offense. It ran for 55 yards and threw for 42 yards. The Eagles averaged 2.1 yards per play. Baker had 400 yards of offense, 205 yards rushing and 195 yards passing. It averaged 6.1 yards per play.
Through eight games, Central Methodist is averaging 198.9 yards of offense per game. It is passing for 148.8 yards and rushing for 50.1 yards per game. The Eagles are scoring 10.9 points per game. Opponents are scoring 39 points per game. They are averaging 402 yards of offense per game, 214.3 yards passing and 187.8 yards rushing.
The Eagles have had three quarterbacks play this season, two receiving significant playing time. Alvaro Ortega-Morales is 44-for-113 through the air for 615 yards, two touchdowns and five interceptions. He is completing 38.9 percent of his passes and is averaging 87.9 passing yards per game. Jordan Gile is 47-for-80 through the air for 531 yards, four touchdowns and four interceptions. Gile has completed 58.8 percent of his passes and is averaging 132.8 passing yards per game.
Dawan Lomax leads Central Methodist in rushing. He has rushed for 345 yards on 113 attempts and two touchdowns. Lomax has fumbled once and lost the ball when he did. He is averaging 43.1 rushing yards per game. Carl Robinson leads the team in receptions with 13. He has 180 receiving yards, one touchdown and is averaging 36 receiving yards per game.
Dylan Holt is Central Methodist's leader in tackles with 45. He has one sack, three tackles for loss, one forced fumble, one interception and two pass breakups. Brenden Dye is second on the team in tackles with 41. He has one pass breakup and ½ a tackle for loss. Y'Marius Joshlin is CMU's leader in sacks with four.
