After falling 29-22 at Central Methodist University in a game of two halves last Saturday, Wililam Woods University (1-8, 0-4 Heart of America Athletic Conference South Division) remains in search of its first conference win as it travels to Missouri Valley College (3-5, 1-4) at 1 pm. Saturday at Gregg-Mitchell Field in Marshall.
In their Week 10 loss to CMU, the Owls looked on their way to a historic first Heart South win, leading 19-3 at halftime. But the Eagles picked it up on both sides and outscored WWU 26-3 in the second half to win the contest by seven points. The Owls finished with 344 yards of offense, 325 yards passing and 19 yards rushing. Central Methodist had 428 yards of offense, 242 yards rushing and 186 yards passing. William Woods' defense forced two Eagles turnovers, one fumble and one interception.
Owls kicker/punter
Justin Sharkey had a tremendous performance last Saturday, making both his field goals, including a 41-yard attempt. And he punted it five times for 237 yards (47.4 average punt yardage; longest was 63 yards), including one inside the 20-yard line.
Last week was also a career game for WWU wide receiver
Ethan Lollar, who not only caught the first three passes - for 21 receiving yards - of his college career but also reached the end zone on a 2-yard pass from
Gabe Serri that put the Owls up first against CMU, 6-0 with 7:03 left in the first quarter.
William Woods is averaging 15.6 points per game and 241.1 yards of offense, 214.1 passing and 27 rushing. Opponents are scoring 53.6 points per game and averaging 519 yards of offense, 318.2 rushing and 200.8 passing.
Serri leads WWU in passing. He is 128-for-275 through the air for 1,596 yards and 16 touchdowns. Serri has thrown seven interceptions and has completed 46.5 percent of his passes.
Chris Hunter leads WWU in rushing with 145 yards on 67 attempts. He is averaging 16.1 yards per game.
Jalen Proctor has 3.1 yards per carry and a rushing touchdown for the Owls.
Troy Oliver leads WWU in receiving with 64 receptions for 842 yards. He has nine receiving touchdowns and is averaging 93.6 receiving yards per game.
Carter Holloway has 84 tackles this season, averaging 9.3 tackles per game.
Darrias Butler is second on the team in tackles with 56, including 5.5 tackles for loss. He has 1.5 sacks and one forced fumble.
Sovereign Morton has 48 tackles and 2.5 sacks.
Saturday is the first meeting between William Woods and Missouri Valley, and it's the fourth and final in-state opponent the Owls face in their inaugural season. Marshall is just over 86 miles from Fulton, with MVC being the second closest Heart school to William Woods. Most Fulton natives are familiar with Marshall, as Fulton High School is in the same conference, North Central Missouri Conference, as Marshall High School.
Missouri Valley is a private college affiliated with the Presbyterian Church. It was founded in 1889 and supports 40 academic majors. Like William Woods, it had a record enrollment this school year, with 1,564 on-campus students, a 14 percent increase from the previous academic year. MVC has had a football team since at least 1923, and it was part of a 41-game winning streak from 1941-48. The Vikings are a founding member of the Heart, which began in the 1971-72 academic year. Their 14 most recent conference titles were in the Heart - 2014, the latest - and they have 34 conference championships overall - 1923 their first.
Casey Creehan is Missouri Valley's coach, the 13th in the program's history. He took the job in December 2023, and since then, Creehan has led the Vikings to an 8-10 overall and 3-7 Heart South record. Nearly half of Creehan's losses in charge of MVC have come in the Viking's current four-game losing streak.
The Vikings enter Saturday's game coming off a 29-23 defeat at Missouri Baptist University last Saturday in Creve Couer. The Vikings had 219 yards of offense, 134 yards rushing and 85 yards passing. The MVC defense held Missouri Baptist to 139 yards rushing on 50 attempts and 189 yards passing.
Missouri Valley is scoring 20.1 points per game. The MVC offense is averaging 246.8 yards of offense, 135.8 yards rushing and 111 yards passing. Opponents are scoring 25.6 points per game and averaging 199.9 yards passing and 157.9 yards rushing.
MVC is ranked seventh in the NAIA in kick return average (26), 19th in punts (No. - Yards (52-1,734), 26th in defensive touchdowns (two), 29th in defensive interceptions (11), 37th in sacks (19), 41st in field goals (5-8) and 42nd in rushing touchdowns (14), kick returns (No. - Yards) (23-598), fumbles recovered (six) and interception returns (No. - Yards) (11-127).
MVC has given two quarterbacks significant playing time this season. In five games, Cole Robertson is 46-for-93 for 487 yards, one touchdown and four interceptions. In four games, Joseph Lepak is 22-of-39 for 356 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions. Robertson is completing 49.5 percent of his passes. Lepak is completing 56.4 percent of his passes.
Rondarius Gregory is MVC's leader in rushing. He has 343 rushing yards this season and played in five games over two seasons (2019-20) for NCAA Division I FBS Northern Illinois University. Gregory is averaging 49 rushing yards per game and 4.6 rushing yards per carry. He has scored four touchdowns and has no fumbles. Malik Brown leads the Vikings in receiving yards with 379. He has a team-high 18 receptions and is averaging 47.4 receiving yards per game. Brown has three receiving touchdowns.
Adyn Schwarzer is MVC's leader in tackles with 47. He is averaging 5.9 tackles per game. Ethan Towers has a team-high seven sacks, five more than any other Viking; he also has a team-high 13 tackles for loss. Keaton Fitzgerald and Bryan Sarente are right behind Schwarzer with 46 tackles. Sarente is tied with Eddie Rankin and Taylor Hunt for a team-high two forced fumbles. Rankin has a team-high two fumble recoveries, and Hunt is tied with DJ Dailey and Jeremiah McNair for a team-high two interceptions. Alon Woodbury has a team-high five pass breakups.
