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PLAYING FOR PRIDE!

The University of Central Missouri Fighting Mules aren’t done yet. In a day marked by close games throughout the MIAA, Central Missouri was the only team in the conference that walked away with a convincing win. Quarterback Toby Korrodi went a perfect 16 for 16, passed for 5 TDs, and got a 6th on a short run into the endzone.

Coach Fritz challenged the team the week leading up to the game to simply execute. He asked the wide receivers to catch the ball, asked the offensive line to block, and challenged their sense of pride leading up to their homecoming game with Southwest Baptist. They answered the challenge.

Also answering the challenge were the Mule Faithful. A Central Missouri and MIAA record setting “On-Campus” crowd of over 11,000 was in attendance marking for the first time in the modern history of the program that the crowd was larger than the enrollment at the University. This is a significant step forward for Central Missouri as a “Program” since a sizeable portion of the student enrollment is considered to be “commuter students” out of the greater Kansas City area.

Homecoming is always a decent crowd at Central, but setting an attendance record, when the team was sitting at .500, at the midpoint of the season, makes a real statement about where the “Program” is going. Congrats to Athletic Director Jerry Hughes and his staff for continuing to demonstrate why Central Missouri is considered one of the top overall athletic departments in all of NCAA Division II.

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There’s still plenty on the line for the Mules this season…

A win against Missouri Southern this week would put the Mules back at .500 in the conference and one game away from assuring Coach Fritz’s ninth straight winning season.

A victory the following week would make it 3 of the last 6 versus perennial Division II Power Northwest Missouri and make the Mules the only team to hand the Bearcats three “regular season” losses in this decade.

A win over Emporia in week 10 would make it 7 in a row with the last Hornet win dating all the way back to 1999.

Finally, a win over the Gorillas of Pittsburg State would make it two in a row, and three of the last five. So far this decade, the Mules have outscored the Gorillas 190-177.

All four of these teams have the ability to beat the Mules, but in every case, the coaches of the upcoming opponents would say the same about the Mules of Central Missouri.

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I mention what the above wins would mean to demonstrate that the Mules still have plenty to play for this season; not to make any predictions on the potential outcome of the games. Clearly though, the Mules have started to show that they are a team that can PLAY FOR PRIDE after the convincing win last Saturday.

Meet ya’ll on the High Ground...

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