Truman Falls 34-10 In Final MIAA Road Contest

Box Score

JOPLIN, Mo. – Ne'Ronte Threatt gained 172 yards on the ground with a 73-yard touchdown run to spark the Missouri Southern Lions to a 34-10 victory over the Truman Bulldogs. Truman will finish the regular season at home next Saturday against the Lindenwood (Mo.) University Lions at 1:00 p.m.

The Bulldogs took a 10-0 lead after Garrett White turned a Southern fumble into six points. White punched in his ninth rushing touchdown of the season at the 12:44 mark of the second quarter. The Bulldogs got the short field when Ryan Johnson recovered a fumble on the Lions' 12 yardline.

The game seemed to turn on the next play from scrimmage as Threatt went off the right side for 73-yards untouched to put the Lions on the board 10-6. Threatt had a 17-yard run on the same play in the Lions' next drive that set up a 21-yard run TD by Kellen Cox.

Threatt ripped off a 43-yard run later in the quarter and then took it in from four yards out to put Southern up 20-10 before lightning struck for the 'Dogs.

Garrett White was stripped of the ball on Truman's next play giving the Lions a short field and Cox scored from four yards out near the end of the half to put Southern up 27-10.

Giresse Forchu ended the scoring with a six-yard TD on the Lions' first drive of the second half.

Southern rolled up 409 yards on the ground with Cox adding 106 to Threatt's 172. The Lions controlled the football for nearly 40 minutes (39:10) and converted on eight of 14 third down attempts. Cox completed three of his four pass attempts for 40 yards.

Conrad Schottel was 20-of-37 passing for 156 yards with Dallas Grier catching 10 passes for 67 yards. Grier moved to fourth on Truman's all-time receiving yards list passing Fontaine Walker's 2,087 in the loss. White had 48 yards rushing on 14 attempts however the Bulldogs had the ball just 16 minutes and were 3-of-11 on third downs. Michael Elliott (12 tackles) and Patrick Blackwell (10) led the Bulldogs on defense.

Truman will host Lindenwood next Saturday in the season and MIAA finale. The Lions are playing in their first season in the conference after moving over from the NAIA while the Bulldogs will be playing their final MIAA game leaving for the Great Lakes Valley Conference next season. Kickoff on Senior Day is set for 1:00 p.m.

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