Bear Hunting
On Saturday, the Kennesaw State Owls (3–1) clashed with the Missouri State Bears (0–3) in Springfield, MO. This would be Kennesaw’s last of three straight road games after opening the season in blowout fashion at home, beating Point University 59–0. KSU was searching for its second straight victory after handling Alabama State with relative ease the week before. They came into the game ranked 7th in the country and wanted to solidify that ranking with a big victory.
They would see themselves get off to a slow start as Missouri State would go on a 9 play, 75-yard touchdown drive to open the game. Bryson Armstrong would block the PAT, holding them to a 6–0 lead with 10:32 left in the first quarter. KSU’s offense would remain stagnant for the majority of the first half. After pinning the Owls on their own half-yard line, Bears’ defensive-tackle, Claudio Martin, would force a fumble on the first play of the drive, setting up their offense with prime real estate at the Owls’ 1 yard-line. Two plays later, Peyton Huslig would punch it in to take a 13–0 lead with 2:48 remaining in the second quarter. This is where things began to change.
On the drive following the turnover, Sophomore Isaac Foster would break off an explosive75-yard TD run, displaying tremendous power and balance in the process. Nathan Robertson’s PAT would cut the Bears’ lead down to 6. Missouri State would go onto cushion their lead by 3 as they nailed a field goal as time expired in the first half.
The second half was all Owls and would start with a bang. Isaac Foster, who would go onto have a career day by rushing for 181 yards on just 8 carries, would take the first play of the second half 60 yards to the house, making the deficit 16–14. After the defense forced a punt, Bronson Rechsteiner, who would have an outstanding second half, broke off an 85-yard touchdown run to take the lead 21–16. On their next offensive possession, Rechsteiner would spring a 65-yard run down to the MSU 5-yard line, Terry Shaquil would cap the drive with a TD pushing the lead to 28–16, taking the life out of MSU.
In the 4th quarter, both KSU and MSU added touchdowns to the board, giving KSU a hard-earned 35–24 victory in enemy confines. A big third quarter would be a huge key to victory for the Owls, as they outscored the Bears 21–0, shifting momentum in the process. The performances by both Rechsteiner and Foster would be huge as well. They would combine to rush for 404 of the teams’ 501 rushing yards and would also add three touchdowns on just 18 combined carries. They are the first pair of running backs to rush for 180 yards a piece in a single game in Kennesaw State’s football program history.
Next week, the Owl’s are back at home, where they are a 32-point favorite against the Reinhardt Eagles. Kickoff is at 6 PM at Fifth Third Bank Stadium.
