Pride drop road matchup against Missouri Baptist

ST. LOUIS, Mo. - In their second-straight road game to start the 2024 season, the Clarke University football team suffered their second-straight loss, this time at the hands of Missouri Baptist University by a 42-7 final on Saturday afternoon.

The major difference in the game came in the ball security categories as the Pride turned the ball over four times with two interceptions and two fumbles where MBU held onto the ball when they possessed it, not commiting a single turnover in the game.

Also unable to convert on fourth down on four of their six attempts, five of the six touchdowns surrendered by the Clarke defense came directly off of turnovers with four of those touchdowns being scored on drives that started in CU territory, including three drives that started on the Pride 26 or closer.

The Spartans didn't out-gain or out-possess Clarke too significantly as MBU gained 278 total yards of offense compared to 193 for the Pride as Missouri Baptist was led by a 7-for-12 passing performance from quarterback Jordan Simpson as he threw for 113 yards and two touchdowns. 

Simpson also carried the ball five times for 32 yards but was also sacked three times, losing 13 yards on the sacks to finish with 19 net yards of rushing on eight attempts as part of a rushing attack for MBU that was led by a committee performance from Jared Steward and Lionel Banks who combined for 30 carries and 98 yards as Banks found the end zone twice on the ground.

Clarke's lone score came as a bit of program history as Roland Hazard Jr. returned a first quarter kickoff 99 yards for the first kick return touchdown in program history to make it a 14-7 game at the time.

Hazard, Riley Hawkins, and Jackson Ostrander gave the Pride some jolts of energy with their return abilities as Hawkins also had 59 yards on three kick returns and Ostrander combined for 130 all purpose yards with three punt returns for 75 yards including a 48-yard return, a 26-yard kick return, and four catches for 29 yards.

Jaden Alveranga was CU's leading rusher with 52 yards on 10 carries for a strong 5.2 yards per carry average as quarterback Malik Inabinette also added 39 rushing yards on eight true rushing attempts as he was also sacked three times throughout the game.

Pride football will get their first home action of the season next Saturday when they host Missouri Valley College for a 1:00 p.m. CT kickoff against the Vikings at Dalzell Field on Sept. 14.