TAHLEQUAH, Okla. (Nov. 8, 2025) – Quarterback
Donnie Smith completed 22 of 28 passes for 240 yards and three touchdowns to lead a Northeastern State squad humming on all cylinders to a 44-10 rout of McKendree (Ill.) on Saturday afternoon on Gable Field at
Doc Wadley Stadium.
NSU (7-3) has won five straight football games and with one game remaining, the RiverHawks have recorded their most wins in a season since 2011, when they finished 7-5.
NSU – under second-year head coach
Darrin Chiaverini – now is averaging 39.4 points per game and is on pace to set the program record in that category for the modern era, currently held by the 1969 team, which averaged 37 points per game. The RiverHawks are just 12 points away from passing the 2011 team's season-long total of 405 points for the all-time program record in scoring.
In their first-ever meeting with McKendree, the RiverHawks had both a 100-yard rusher (
Ramon McKinney Jr., with 22 carries for 109 yards and two touchdowns) and a 100-yard receiver (
Cam Woods, with nine catches for 100 yards and a touchdown). McKinney raised his season rushing total to 970 yards.
NSU also shined defensively against McKendree (4-6), limiting the Bearcats to 202 yards of offense and recording interceptions by
Marvelous Owens and
Lloyd McIntosh. The RiverHawks also scored a safety late in the second quarter by tackling McKendree's Chase Reeves in the end zone, which gave NSU a 30-3 halftime lead.
Jordan Banks paced the RiverHawks with seven tackles while
Kale Charboneau and
Cooper Snyder added six each. Owens added four pass breakups.
Troy Nguyen converted all six of his extra-point attempts, giving the sophomore from Bixby 49 conversion kicks this season, breaking a program single-season record set by NSU Hall of Famer Larry Dotson, who had 48 in 1970. Punter
Mo Foketi averaged a healthy 40.3 yards on four punts.
A 1-yard touchdown run by McKinney on NSU's opening offensive drive put the RiverHawks up 7-0 and they quickly gapped McKendree. Owens' interception and return to the McKendree 3 led to a 1-yard touchdown pass from Smith to
La'Vontae Shenault, making it 14-0.
Chase Reeves kicked a 31-yard field goal for McKendree before the end of the first quarter, but NSU kept piling on the points in the second quarter. Smith hit Woods on a 22-yard touchdown pass to make it 21-3. After Reeves missed another field-goal attempt, McKinney scored on a 20-yard run, and then came the safety.
Ethan Washington's 35-yard touchdown run five minutes into the third quarter extended NSU's lead to 37-3. McKendree's lone touchdown came on a 59-yard pass from Colt Michael to Daryle Jones with 5:33 left in the third quarter.
Jackson's second touchdown catch, a 19-yarder from Smith with 1:21 left in the third quarter, rounded out the scoring. Jackson had two catches for 28 yards, while
Deuce Roberson had four for 54 and Shenault had six for 68.
The RiverHawks will close out the regular season next Saturday at West Alabama. Kickoff in Livingston, Ala., is set for 1 p.m.
