Muleskinner

Issue date: 10/12/06 Section: Sports

Break away-- Tailback Will Caldwell attempts to get away from Western's Brad Kester in the first half of a 30-20 loss Saturday. Caldwell carried the ball 14 times for 59 yards to go along with one touchdown.

keeper-- Quarterback Toby Korrodi scrambles out of the pocket to escape the pass rush in a 30-20 loss Saturday. Korrodi finished the game 23 of 36 for 259 yards and a touchdown.

With the homecoming game Saturday, the Mules' football team will look to rebound after last week's loss to Missouri Western.

The Mules will face the Bearcats of Southwest Baptist and will look for their first home win in conference play.

In last week's game, the Mules got off to good start on offense after a fumble from senior running back Will Caldwell on the second possession.

When the Griffons scored a 28-yard touchdown from Michael Burton to Andrew Mead to open up the scoring, the Mules offense showed its full potential, answering with a score of their own.

After a fumble on a punt by the Griffons which was recovered by Mules' freshman cornerback Randy Shepherd in the Griffons territory, the Mule offense took little time to score.

Caldwell scored a touchdown on a five-yard run that took the offense only a 1:19. The extra point from sophomore place-kicker Spencer Webb was blocked by the Griffons' Bradley Davidson to make the score 6-7.

When the Griffons put three more points on the score board with a Dustin Strickler field goal from 34-yards, the Mules offense again answered with a touchdown.

To start the second quarter, senior quarterback Toby Korrodi hooked up with senior wide receiver Matt Jacobsen for a 17-yard touchdown pass.

"We played really good on offense in the first half and the defense set us up with really good field position," Korrodi said.
As the Mules' defense stopped the Griffons on offense after a fake-punt-pass, the Mules scored again on a short drive. This time the Mules use a little razzle-dazzle to score as Jacobsen received a pitch from Korrodi in the backfield to throw a 22-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Mike Spiegel for a 20-10 lead.

Throughout the first half, Jacobsen had a career game and found ways to get open all day against the Griffons secondary. Jacobsen caught nine passes from Korrodi for 111 yards with one touchdown receiving and one passing.

"I felt like things were going my way as I found good holes in the defense and Toby was throwing perfect passes," Jacobsen said.

Although the offense was looking good in the second half, old struggles would happen to end the first half. With the Mule defense forcing a three-and-out on the Griffons offense, the Mules received the ball own their own 42-yardline.

The Mules drove into the Griffons territory, but Spencer missed a field goal wide right from 42 yards. Then, after an interception by freshmen defensive end Kreter Layne, the Mules could not capitalize as Webb missed another field goal from 41 yards.

To make matters worse, Jacobsen separated his shoulder toward the end of the second quarter and could not return for the second half.

Even as the Mules went into halftime up 20-10, head coach Willie Fritz knew with Jacobsen out, two missed fields and a block extra point, they had missed opportunities.

"We didn't cash in on the opportunities early that could have put the game out of reach by halftime," Fritz said.

As the second half started the Griffons replaced starting quarterback Michael Burton with Matt Landess.

Changes in the Missouri Western offense didn't show early as the Mules' defense as kept the Griffons were stopped on their first two drives in the first half.

The momentum of the game changed as the Griffons were able to block junior Matt Frankel's punt, recovered the ball on the Mules' 23-yardline.

The Mule defense held the Griffons to no yards, but the Griffons got a 41-yard field goal from Strickler to make the score 20-13 after three quarters.

The fourth quarter started with the Griffons again driving 72 yards on 11 plays that ended with a 42-yard field goal by Strickler.

Unlike the first half, the Mules offense could not respond as the lost of Jacobsen hurt the offense as they would not score a single point in the second half.

The biggest play of the game came with 5:18 on the clock as the Griffons went for it on fourth and one play from the Mules 30 yard line.

The Griffons pitch the ball outside to Jeremiah White and with the Mule defense blitzing the up the middle, White foundroom outside and ran 30-yards for a Griffons touchdown.

"We didn't get leverage on defense and they called a great play to beat our defense to take the lead," said Fritz.

The game would be put out of reach when the Griffons scored again on another run by White this time for a 21-yard touchdown run on fourth and six to make the final score 30-20.

"We had chances in the second half but they made the plays in the second half and we didn't," Fritz said.

This week, Mules hope to bounce back against Southwest Baptist for homecoming.

The Bearcats are 1-5 this year and pick up their first win this season against Fort Hays State last week in a 39-21 victory.
"We want to come out and dominate this Saturday for homecoming and dominate for four quarters," said senior linebacker Rodrick Washington.

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