2008 Woodie Awards
BOUNCING BACK
Gorillas feast on Lions 48-24
Jamie Arthur, Sports Editor
Issue date: 9/28/06 Section: Sports
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But after a 99-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Bryan Pray on the final play of the first quarter of the Gorillas' commanding 48-24 victory over Missouri Southern Saturday afternoon at Carnie Smith Stadium, Smith cemented his place in school history. "I didn't think I'd ever throw one for 99 yards," the Gorillas' sophomore quarterback said. "That's all Coach (Tim) Beck, he has the trust in me and the lineman to give me protection and time." Of course, it doesn't hurt to have a speedster like Pray on the receiving end. "Pray ran a good stick on the post and got open," Smith said. "And nobody is going to catch Pray when he gets open." The play established a new PSU record, topping the 96-yarder from Zack Siegrist to Chuckey Aiken against the University of Missouri-Rolla in 1996. It also matched the MIAA's longest pass play, from University of Central Missouri quarterback Dennis Gile to Todd Devoe against Minnesota-Duluth in 2001. The record-setting play highlighted a 492-yard offensive performance that was ignited by a 76-yard scoring drive in the Gorillas' opening series. The Gorillas (3-1, 1-1 MIAA) scored on their first five possessions to build a 35-0 advantage just six minutes into the second quarter. "Our offense had been pretty good the first three games, and Germaine (Race) is getting healthier and healthier," PSU head coach Chuck Broyles said. "If you look at our total plays, we only had 55 plays, but we were very efficient." The offense averaged 8.9 yards per play, reaching the end zone seven times with the defense and special teams setting up two of the Gorillas' scoring drives. A 44-yard punt return by Harrison Kush and a 24-yard interception return by linebacker Jason Northern set up second-quarter touchdown drives of 7 and 11 yards. Smith finished with a game-high 106 rushing yards and two TDs, including a 55-yard jaunt into the end zone to cap the Gorillas scoring in the fourth quarter. He also completed 10 of 15 passes for 229 yards and two scores. A 102-yard rushing effort by Harlon Hill candidate Germaine Race produced three TDs. The 225-pound senior tailback scored on runs of 16, 7 and 3 yards before exiting the game on the first play of the fourth quarter with a leg cramp. Race's performance put him within 14 points of Brian Shay's MIAA record of 544 points. On the Gorillas' opening drive, Race and Smith combined for 76 yards on the ground as Smith scored on the final 15 yards on a keeper. The 6 minute, 49-second possession was two minutes longer than any PSU scoring drive this season. "I think they kind of got their heads down after we just smash-mouthed all the way to the end zone," Smith said. "We just kept going from there." Just three minutes later after forcing the Lions to punt, the Gorillas found scoring territory once again as Race went untouched from 16 yards out. Then, after a punt by MSSU's Brandon Hawkins put the Gorillas at the 1, they did something unexpected. With less than a minute left in the first quarter, Smith faked a hand-off to Race, dropped back into the end zone and found Pray at the 33. From there, Pray, a sprinter for the PSU track and field team, had no problem outrunning the Lions' defense for the longest scoring pass in school history. "Southern tried to bunch them up in there and that assured we were going to get Pray one-on-one," Broyles said. Once the play had been called, Pray said he knew he was going all the way. "There was like 30 seconds left in the first quarter and we had the wind, so we said if have a chance we're gonna call it," Pray said. "And when we called it, outside of the corner, I saw it was just straight man and call me conceited, but anybody that's straight man on me I think I can run past them." The Gorillas scored twice more in the first half on a 7-yard run by Race and 4-yard pass from Smith to tight end Brian Barta. First-year head coach Bart Tatum's Lions (3-1, 1-1) began three of their first four possessions at the 20 after Nathan Alleman's kickoffs flew into or past the end zone. The other series began at the 17. The Lions, who went 3-and-out on two of their first four possessions, gained 358 yards total offense on 65 plays. After the Gorillas gave up 467 yards the previous week against Missouri Western, the defense came into the game against the Lions with a big appetite. "We definitely were hungry," said Northern, who led PSU with 12 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss. "Practice started off Monday intense, absolutely intense, nobody expected it. ...Today we came out and showed exactly what we wanted to do, be physical and just tear them up." Held to just 45 yards in the first quarter, the Lions didn't score until late in the first half. Adam Hinspeter hit Colin Bado with a three-yard TD pass for the first of three MSSU touchdowns. Kicker Brian Malette capped the first-half scoring with a 39-yard field goal. The Gorillas scored on their first two second-half series for a 48-10 lead with 13:36 left. In the final 10 minutes, MSSU trimmed the lead to 48-24 with a five-yard scoring run by Freddie Colbert and a one-yard TD pass from Hinspeter to Bado. Hinspeter, who threw four incomplete passes on his first six attempts, finished 24 of 34 for 224 yards and Bado pulled in 10 catches for 66 yards. "We were all a lot more physical and just ready to play," Smith said. |
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