Fulton, Mo. - The Central Methodist Football program picked up its second consecutive road victory with a 52-24 win over the William Woods Owls Saturday night in Fulton, Missouri.
Central improves to 2-3 and 1-0 in the Heart of America South Division, while WWU drops to 0-5 and 0-1 in division play.
The Eagles opened the first quarter with 14 points, which featured a pair of short yardage touchdown runs from Darius Shakor George. WWU scored a touchdown as well, but the extra point attempt was blocked to keep the score 14-6 in favor of Central at the end of the first.
CMU's defense held William Woods off the scoreboard in the second quarter. The offense tacked on 10 more points including a seven yard touchdown pass from Jordan Gile to Zyon Slade, and a 42 yard field goal conversion from Cristobal Salgado.
Central would hold a 24-6 lead over the Owls at the halftime break.
William Woods chipped into CMU's lead on their first drive of the second half, driving the ball 48 yards in just four plays in 1:15. The drive was capped off by a 14 yard touchdown pass which was followed by a two-point conversion.
The Eagles' offense responded, scoring a pair of touchdowns at the 9:17 and 4:02 marks of the third quarter.
On the first drive, Central concluded a nine-play 72-yard drive with a 19 yard touchdown pass from AJ Donovan to Dawan Lomax. Donovan would then run the ball in from two yards out on Central's next possession to give CMU a 38-14 lead at the end of the third.
A William Woods field goal cut Central's lead to 21 points, before Donovan found Jaylen Joseph from 14 yards out for his second touchdown pass of the game at the 10:10 mark of the fourth.
CMU's secondary put the exclamation on the night with a pick six in the closing minutes of the game. Senior defensive end Caleb Justice hurried the Woods' quarterback, forcing him to make an errant throw. The ball ended up in the hands of Derrick Kelley Jr., who returned the ball 88 yards for the score, giving CMU 52 points on evening.
Woods scored one final time on a five-yard rushing touchdown with a little over a minute to go, making the final score 52-24 in favor of the Eagles.
CMU's offense produced the majority of its yardage on the ground, racking up 229 total yards. Shakar George led the rushing attack with 73 yards on 10 carries including a pair of scores. Dawan Lomax followed, carrying the ball 13 times for 62 yards, and Christian Hall 17 carries for 57 yards.
Slade, Lomax and Jaylen Joseph each recorded receiving touchdowns.
Defensively, Treyvion Hourel Jr. led the way with seven tackles, three pass breakups, and a forced fumble. Robert Tyree Jackson finished the evening with five tackles and a sack.
Both Andrew Laws and Terrell Woods registered a sack as well.
Kelley Jr. recorded a pair of interceptions including the 88 yard pick-six to put the finishing touches on the game.
The Eagles continue South Division play with a tough matchup against No. 23 MidAmerica Nazarene Saturday, Oct. 4 at 1:00 p.m. in Olathe, Kan.
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