TAHLEQUAH, Okla. — The Missouri Southern football team tied or broke six single-game records, while Charles West broke a single-season mark as the Lions won at Northeastern State 86-7 today inside Doc Wadley Stadium.
The Lions (2-6, 2-6 MIAA) broke the MSSU single-game marks for total offense (743), points (86), margin of victory (79), and first downs (42), while Jacob Park broke a record for touchdowns responsible for with eight (five passing and three rushing) and tied a single-game touchdown pass record with five.
The Lions also broke an MIAA single-game first-down record with 42, breaking the previous record of 41, held by Southwest Baptist against Truman State in 2007.
Charles West caught six passes and has 36 catches on the season, setting a new MSSU single-season record for receptions by a running back.
Park was 27-of-39 for 408 yards and five touchdowns, including a long of 60. He also rushed for 46 yards on six carries and three scores and finished with a 199.4 passer rating. Travier Fields-Jackson caught two passes for 91 yards and a score, while Keandre Bledsoe, Jonathan Watts, Jaedon Stoshak, and Shemar Coleman caught a touchdown pass. The catch for Watts is his first collegiate touchdown.
West had 19 carries for 136 yards and a score, while catching six passes for 55 yards. Coleman had seven carries for 76 yards, while Josh Mercer had five carries for 19 yards and a score. Mercer also had an 86-yard touchdown on a kickoff return as he had two returns on the day for 115 yards. The kickoff return for a touchdown was the first since 2012.
Defensively, Fontez Davis had ten tackles with an interception and four pass break ups. Richard Jordan Jr. had seven stops with 2.5 for a loss, while Loren Young had a sack and Malachi Broadnax had a fumble recovery. Southern had seven tackles for a loss of 21 yards on the day.
Southern led 38-0 at the break and used 35 points in the third quarter to go up 73-7 after three quarters.
The Lions will be back in action this weekend when Southern travels to Central Oklahoma for a 1 p.m. matchup with the Bronchos.
