MSSU football falls to Washburn 37-20 on Senior Day

(From MSSU Lions Athletic News)

The Missouri Southern football team trailed 21-7 at the half, but the Lions couldn't complete the comeback, falling 37-20 to Washburn inside Fred G. Hughes Stadium today for Senior Day.

The Lions (4-7, 4-7 MIAA) wrap up the regular season with four wins in coach Atiba Bradley's second season.

Luke Sampson went 18-of-32 for 233 yards and a touchdown, while Jaedon Stoshak caught four passes for 84 yards and a score and ran back an 83-yard punt return for a touchdown. Stoshak's punt return touchdown is the second of the season for him and ties a single-season and career record at Missouri Southern with Steve Sater (1981).

Dwayne Lawson ran for 61 yards, while Nick Williams had three punts for a 47.7-yard average including a long of 71 yards.

Defensively, Richard Jordan Jr. led the Lions with 14 tackles in his final game as a Lion. Colton Winder had nine tackles and an interception, while Coleman Booker and Solomon Garcia had seven tackles each. Ife Current had an interception and two break ups to go with five tackles, while Jamie Tago and Kalepo Fiaseu had a sack each.

The Lions out gained Washburn (7-4, 7-4 MIAA) passing 233-215, but were just shy of the Ichabods 337-283 in total yards.

Washburn had four different players record a touchdown today.

Washburn started the scoring off as time was winding down in the first quarter, taking a 7-0 lead with 1:57 left and added another touchdown with 9:28 remaining in the second quarter.

The Lions got on the board on the next drive as Sampson hit Stoshak for a 43-yard touchdown to cut the lead in half. The Ichabods added one more touchdown to make the score 21-7 at the break.

Stoshak started the scoring in the third with his 83-yard punt return for a touchdown as he shifted through traffic and eventually found daylight on the opposite side of the field.

Washburn added a safety and a touchdown before the Lions got a one-yard score from Akeem Gilmore to make the score 30-20 with 12:46 remaining in the game. The Ichabods added one final tally.

Jordan finishes the season with 106 tackles and is the third Lion to record three separate 100-tackle seasons in his career. He finished his career with 381 tackles, ranking third in MSSU history behind only Hall of Famer's Ron Burton and his father Richard Jordan Sr.

Williams finishes the season just off the single-season record for punting average at 43.3 (43.4 is the record). He ranks sixth in a career in kick scoring (120), while his 24 field goals rank fourth-most all-time at MSSU.