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TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Northeastern State football team dropped its home opener 17-14 to Missouri Southern State University Saturday afternoon at Doc Wadley Stadium.
 
The contest was the MIAA Game of the Week and was televised live on the MIAA Network.
 
The two teams scored on five of six total possessions in the opening half, but the game would grind to a screeching halt as neither team scored in the second half.
 
The closest either squad came to putting points on the board in the final 30 minutes ended with a 38-yard missed field goal by NSU senior kicker Drew Patton and an interception in the end zone thrown by NSU sophomore quarterback Thor Long.
 
Missouri Southern State (2-0, 2-0 MIAA) punted on all six of its second-half possessions after scoring on all three of its first-half possessions.
 
The RiverHawks (0-2, 0-2 MIAA) outgained the visitors 303-281. The home side had the edge in passing yards 85-38, but the Lions led in rushing 243-218.
 
Junior running back Joel Rockmore finished with a game-high 145 yards rushing on 22 carries. He also added 54 kick-return yards and 18 receiving yards for 217 all-purpose yards.
 
Senior linebacker Langston Jones registered a career-high 21 tackles, while sophomore safety Kyler Harris added a career-best 11. Junior linebacker Eddie General added a personal-best nine stops after receiving his first-career starting assignment in only his second game as a RiverHawk.
 
Long started for the first time in his career after taking over the reins of the offense for the injured Johnny Deaton. He finished the day 7-of-16 for 85 yards and his first-career touchdown pass.
 
The leading rusher for the Lions was Giresse Forchu, who finished with 81 yards and a score on 19 carries. Quarterback Jay McDowell was held to just 62 yards on 14 carries, and he also completed just 3-of-5 passes for 38 yards.
 
Northeastern State won the toss and chose to receive the opening kickoff. Nine plays later the home side was celebrating in the endzone following a six-yard pass from Long to senior fullback Nick Whitlow. The TD was the third of Whitlow's career, and Rockmore registered 74 yards rushing on the opening drive.
 
The visitors responded with a near-identical drive, finding the promised land in nine plays. The drive was capped by a nine-yard run by Forchu.
 
The next NSU drive was 10 plays and 90 yards that resulted in a four-yard TD rush from junior running back Terrance Dixon.
 
Yet again, however, the Lions responded with an 11-play, 64-yard drive of their own. McDowell tied the contest at 14-14 following a one-yard plunge.
 
NSU punted on its next possession and Missouri Southern marched down the field to end the half on what would become the game-winning 31-yard field goal from Sean Seefeldt. The final drive of the half for MSSU consisted of 14 plays and 65 yards, while eating up the final 8:11 off the clock.
 
Despite a redzone trip, a field-goal opportunity and an all-of-a-sudden stout defense, the RiverHawks were unable to score in the second half and remained winless.
 
Northeastern State will stay home next week for a 6 p.m. meeting Sept. 21 against Washburn. The Ichabods are currently receiving votes in the AFCA Coaches' Poll.
 
SCORING SUMMARY

Qtr.	Time	Team	Play	Score
1	11:05	NSU	Thor Long 6 pass to Nick Whitlow (Drew Patton kick)	0-7
	6:04	MSSU	Giresse Forchu 9 run (Sean Seefeldt kick)	7-7
	0:41	NSU	Terrance Dixon 4 run (Patton kick)	7-14
2	9:56	MSSU	Jay McDowell 1 run (Seefeldt kick)	14-14
	0:00	MSSU	Seefeldt 31 FG	17-14

             
Northeastern State Coach Kenny Evans…
Statement…
"Our defense did a good job of keeping us in the game. They played lights out and gave us plenty of opportunities to win. I was happy with how we competed. We definitely have improved from last week. You can't be more proud of how the guys played and battled all the way to the end. We didn't make the field goal early in the second half that is usually a chip shot for Drew (Patton). That ended up being the difference."
 
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