NSU Sports
Don Vieth, Director of Athletics Communications
TAHLEQUAH – Gary McKnight Jr. was Northeastern State’s hero on Saturday and caught a 23-yard touchdown pass in the second overtime to beat Missouri Southern 32-29 in a thriller at Doc Wadley Stadium.
Northeastern State hasn’t seen its fair share of overtime contests at home with Saturday being the first one since the 2014 season. The RiverHawks last win in extra time was on Nov. 6, 2010 against Eastern New Mexico in their final season in the Lone Star Conference.
McKnight had six catches for NSU for 127 yards, he also had a 51-yard touchdown catch with 1:36 left in regulation to tie the game at 23-23 with the Lions.
Neither team led by more than a touchdown with the score tying four times.
“It was great effort by both teams. Everybody was getting after it,” said head coach Rob Robinson. “Then Gary McKnight said ‘give me the dang ball’, and he wasn’t going to be denied.”
Northeastern State had a balanced attack on the Lions (0-9, 0-9 MIAA) and they had 197 yards on the ground with Ra’Keim Abdul having 98 yards and a touchdown in the second quarter; he later caught a 20-yard pass from Cade Yeager to give NSU a 16-14 advantage in the first half. C.J. Shavers had 21 carries with 86 rushing yards.
The RiverHawks’ defense held Missouri Southern to a season low 20 first downs and had three turnovers. La’More Wise had ten tackles and added a 51-yard interception in the third quarter. Jaylen Hall picked off the final pass in regulation and nearly ran the ball back before getting stopped on the MSSU 23-yard line.
“Our defense getting off the field on third down consistently (was huge),” Robinson said. “Our offense was moving great. We just have a lot of new parts on the offensive line. We’ve got a center playing tackle, two brand new guards that took a while to gel. But I thought our tailbacks ran hard.”
Freshman quarterback Cade Yeager had 273 yards in the air, completing 23 passes, and he threw three touchdowns against the Lions. Toshi Hayashi kicked two field goals through the uprights from 24 and 20 yards out.
Northeastern State won in time-of-possession with its offense on the field for 32:29 and having a season high 470 yards. Penalties nearly tipped the game in Southern’s favor with the RiverHawks getting called flagged 14 times for 134 yards; the Lions were only had seven flags for 80 yards.
“You just push them that much more because a lot of teams could’ve folded in that situation,” added Robinson. “There was a lot of bad penalties that were called against the RiverHawks, but our kids fought through it and found a way to get the win.”
Northeastern State is now 1-8 overall and in MIAA play, they will hit the road for the final time on Nov. 4 to face Central Missouri at 1 p.m.