Mistakes haunted the No. 11 Pittsburg State Gorillas in the first half Saturday at Central Missouri.
The Gorillas turned the ball over twice — both leading to Central scores — and the offense seemed ineffective to move the ball as the Mules took a 23-0 lead at the break.
Pitt State special teams set the tone early as Central’s Robby Guillory came out and made a statement as he returned the opening kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown.
Then, just as Pitt State started to mount a drive, quarterback John McCoy was blindsided by Brett Ginn on a rollout, causing McCoy to fumble and turn the ball over to Central at the PSU 23.
Two plays later, Central quarterback Eric Czerniewski hit Guillory for his second touchdown — this one from 18-yards out, putting the Mules up 14-0.
Mistakes kept mounting in the first half for the Gorillas as McCoy was replaced by Jeff Smith in the second quarter.
However, Smith’s first drive mounted only seven yards before Central’s Seth Mason blocked a Jared Witter punt, giving the Mules the ball at the Pitt 6.
Anthony Stewart put Central up 20-0 on a 6-yard run two plays later.
McCoy came back for three plays before being injured. Smith led the Gorillas into Mule territory for the first time, only to have a personal foul and holding penalty put the ball right back to midfield.
The Central pass rush forced Smith into an overthrow that was intended for Kendall Fisher but hit Kor’Ree Manson for an interception at the Central 25.
The second turnover became the second mistake the Gorillas’ paid for as Czerniewski and the Mules drove 50 yards before kicker Aaron Jameison hit a 43-yard field goal to give the Mules a 23-0 lead at halftime.
Pitt State ended the first half with 103 yards of total offense, but had five penalties for 50 yards. The Gorillas managed just 80 yards on the ground and 23 yards in the air.
