MARYVILLE, Mo. — Missouri Southern football fell to No. 7-ranked Northwest Missouri 65-3 Saturday afternoon at Bearcat Stadium.
The Lions managed eight rushing yards and eight first downs, with their points coming on a 34-yard field goal.
Missouri Southern is now 1-2 overall and 0-1 in MIAA conference play. Northwest Missouri is 3-0 overall and 2-0 in league action.
Isaiah Green caught seven passes for 65 yards to lead the Lions in receiving.
Tillman Martin completed 10 of 21 passes for 123 yards.
Asher Huffman converted his only field-goal attempt from 34 yards.
Brody Eggleston and
Briar McIntire each recorded five tackles to share the team lead.
Missouri Southern was held scoreless in the first quarter while the Bearcats finished two touchdown drives to build a 14-0 lead.
After the Lions' opening possession ended in a punt, NWMSU took over at the Missouri Southern 47 and went ahead on Zechariah Owens' 9-yard touchdown run with 10:15 left.
Southern answered with its first, first down on Martin's 13-yard completion to Green, but the drive stalled near midfield before Northwest Missouri added an 18-yard touchdown pass to Te'Shaun Porter.
The Lions' best response came on their final possession, when Martin converted third-and-24 with a 47-yard strike to
David Bethune and later found Green for eight yards and another first down, leaving MSSU at the Bearcats 33 as the first quarter ended down 14-0.
Missouri Southern opened the second quarter by turning Martin completions to Green and
Deon Feeback-Franklin into Huffman's 34-yard field goal at 12:36, making it 14-3.
NWMSU answered with a touchdown drive, and the Lions' next possession ended on a Martin sack and fumble at the MSSU 7 before the MSSU defense limited the short field to a 28-yard field goal.
The quarter then got away from Southern as three more turnovers — a
Narkel LeFlore fumble, a Martin interception and another short-field sequence after a stalled drive — helped the Bearcats keep adding points.
MSSU finished the quarter with two first downs and 19 passing yards while being held to minus-11 rushing yards, and Northwest Missouri carried a 51-3 lead into halftime.
Missouri Southern spent much of the third quarter answering NWMSU's opening scoring drive, which Porter capped with a 1-yard touchdown before the extra point made it 58-3 with 10:03 left.
The Lions put together their most sustained possession of the quarter on the next series, going 39 yards in 12 plays and converting third downs on Martin completions to
Messiah Smith and Green.
Martin later found Green for 11 and 12 yards to move the drive into Bearcats territory, but a sack pushed Southern back and the possession ended on downs at the NWMSU 36 with 3:54 remaining.
Northwest Missouri drove to the Missouri Southern 8 before the quarter expired, leaving the score at 58-3 entering the final period.
The Lions began the fourth quarter defending their own 8, where
Jeremiah Fort made a tackle for loss and later combined with
Pierre Fertil to stop a third-down run short before the Bearcats converted fourth-and-1 on Jaron Cannon Jr.'s 1-yard touchdown run and added the extra point for a 65-3 score.
MSSU's first possession used two
Allen Mitchell runs and a
Sam Deen completion to Feeback-Franklin, but it ended a yard short of a first down before
Mitchell Cory's 44-yard punt.
The Lions defense got the ball back after a six-play NWMSU drive, with
Brandon Mason making the third-down tackle before a punt.
Deen later completed a pass to
Harold Trainer and ran for eight yards on third-and-9, but another fourth-and-1 led to Cory's second 44-yard punt, and Northwest Missouri ran out the final 4:43 to finish a 65-3 result.
The Lions next host Central Missouri on Sept. 26 in MSSU's Hall of Fame Game at Fred G. Hughes Stadium. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m., CT. It's also Family Weekend and the game will also be Southern's Pink Game.
Tickets are currently on sale
online. Fans can also purchase an
MIAA Network subscription to support Missouri Southern Athletics and catch all the Lions action this 2026-27 season.
