St. Joseph, Mo. - The Missouri Southern football team traveled to St. Joseph, Missouri to take on the Griffons of Missouri Western in a conference matchup. A battle until the final horn resulted in a one possession, 35-27, loss for the Lions. The Lions moved to 0-3 (0-2 MIAA) on the season.

Missouri Southern (0-3; 0-2) vs. Missouri Western (2-1; 1-1)
 
Quarter 1: Missouri Southern 0 | Missouri Western 14
Missouri Western would jump out to a quick lead with back-to-back unanswered touchdowns on their first two drives to take a 14-0 lead.
 
Quarter 2: Missouri Southern 7 | Missouri Western 21
The Lions narrowed their deficit with a five yard touchdown pass from Luke Sampson to Deontay Campbell with 5:00 remaining in the first half (14-7). 

The Griffons would find the endzone just before the end of the first half to take a 21-7 lead going into the locker room.
 
Quarter 3: Missouri Southern 17 | Missouri Western 28
Drake Reese and the Lions special teams opened the second half with an onside kick that Southern would recover and begin with possession.

Luke Sampson would find Deontay Campbell for their second touchdown connection on the day with a 35 yard gain to bring the score to 21-14 in favor of the Griffons.

The Lions would regain possession and tack on three more points off a 24 yard field goal from Drake Reese (21-17).

On the following kickoff after the field goal, the Griffons would return the ball into the endzone to make the score 28-17 going into the final quarter of play.
 
Quarter 4: Missouri Southern 27 | Missouri Western 35
With 12:19 remaining in the game, Luke Sampson would find his running back Victor Chionuma for a five yard touchdown. The Griffons would return with a touchdown of their own with 8:38 remaining (35-24).

Drake Reese brought the game back to a single possession with a 40 yard field goal with 3:27 remaining (35-27). 

The Griffons offense successfully ran the clock away and pulled out with the 35-27 win over the Lions.
 
Defense:
Peyton McKee would lead the Lions defense with seven total tackles while Colton Bass and Xavier DeLong would both end the game with a tackle-for-loss.
 
Leaders:
Tackles: Peyton McKee – 7 (5 – solo / 2 – assists)
Receptions: Deontay Campbell – 9
Receiving Yards: Deontay Campbell – 130
Rushing Yards: De'Shawn Larson – 28
Passing Yards: Luke Sampson – 304
 
Up Next:
The Lions will be back in Joplin on Saturday, September 21, to host the Northwest Missouri State University Bearcats in the MIAA Game of the Week. Kick-off is set for 2:00 PM.
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