Football - Week Twelve Recaps

MARSHALL, Mo. - Host Missouri Valley shook off a sluggish first half and wrapped an unbeaten regular season with a 25-6 win over Central Methodist as the 2012 Heart of America Athletic Conference regular season champions at Gregg-Mitchell Field. The Vikings (10-0, 9-0 HAAC) did not score an offensive touchdown in the first half and claimed their only points on a 51-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Tyler Davis. Ezequiel Rivera hit a pair of field goals in the final minute of the first half to finish off a tight opening stanza, 7-6. Zavier Steward scored from a yard out to cap off the best drive of the day for the Vikings, a 10-play, 89-yard drive at the 3:55 mark of the third quarter. Bruce Reyes would add a 1-yard TD run of his own with 13:30 to play before Fabian Miramontes booted a 36-yard field goal at the 3:52 mark to give the Vikings their first outright league crown since 2006. The Eagles (2-8, 2-7 HAAC) outgained the Vikings in the first half, but finished the game with just 197 total yards with only 20 of those through the air. Reyes finished 13-of-20 for 202 yards while Steward led the ground attack with 50 yards on 13 totes.

OLATHE, Kan. - Junior RB Greg Gates ran for a career-high 203 yards and scored three times to lead MidAmerica Nazarene to a 56-3 triumph over Evangel at the Olathe District Activities Center. Gates scored on runs of 1 and 48 yards in the first quarter before completing his day with a 50-yard scamper on the opening possession of the second half for MNU (8-2, 8-1 HAAC). The Pioneers jumped out to a 28-0 lead after the opening 15:00 as Gates' first two scoring runs were sandwiched around a 79-yard punt return by Donte Wade at the 5:12 mark. Sean Ransburg also connected with Branden Phillips on a 37-yard pass play at the 2:03 mark. Gates finished the 2012 season as the league's rushing champion with 1,318 yards as he turned in his fourth game of the campaign with at least three touchdowns. The Pioneers piled up a season-high 406 yards rushing with a strong wind limiting both passing attacks while holding the Crusaders to 98 yards on the ground and a season-low 282 total yards. Garret Swann came off the bench and completed 10-of-20 for 134 yards for Evangel (7-4, 6-3 HAAC), which finished in 4th place to complete a three-game turnaround from last season.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Ryan Ludlow scored on a six-yard run on the opening possession of overtime to give Peru State a 31-24 win over Avila in the season finale for both teams at the Zarda Athletic Complex. Levi Cockle forced the extra session with a 28-yard field goal as time expired after Harley Kreisman had given Avila a 24-21 lead with 30 seconds to play on a two-yard touchdown run. The Eagles (2-9, 1-8 HAAC) jumped out to a 16-0 lead on three field goals by Tim Gilday and an interception return by Justin Davies, but Peru State answered with a pair of touchdowns 1:42 apart at the end of the third quarter before Bo Shepard scored on a 17-yard run to give the Bobcats their first lead of the game with 5:31 remaining in regulation. Avila claimed a 417-370 edge in total yards, but committed 14 penalties for 132 yards. Nate Tromblee led Peru State (5-6, 3-6 HAAC) with 99 yards rushing while Shepard added 70 yards and Ludlow tallied 59 yards on the ground. Jacob Hicks completed 22-of-34 for 206 yards and two interceptions while Kreisman carried 22 times for 106 yards.

BALDWIN CITY, Kan. - Dillon Baxter carried 24 times for 188 yards and two touchdowns as Baker wrapped up the regular season with a 40-7 victory over Graceland at Liston Stadium. Baxter turned in another standout game, combining to rush for 354 yards over the past two games. The Wildcats (8-2, 7-2 HAAC) won for the fourth-straight game as they hope to be one of the 16 teams invited to play in the NAIA Football Championship Series with pairings set to be released on Sunday, November 11 at 3:00 p.m. (CDT). Baxter opened the scoring for the Wildcats on a 4-yard run to complete a 8-play, 90-yard drive to open the game. Marcus Griffin answered for Graceland (5-6, 4-5 HAAC) with a two-yard TD run to tie the game midway through the first quarter, but Sam Vossen connected with Jake Green and Reggie Harris on scoring passes in the second quarter to give the Wildcats a 19-7 lead at intermission. Mike Stevenson stepped in front of a Matt Fink pass on the third play of the third quarter and raced 42 yards for a touchdown to set the tone for the second half. Vossen finished 10-of-15 for 152 yards with Harris catching three passes for 94 yards.

CANTON, Mo. - Cameron Fore completed a standout career by rushing for one touchdown and catching a touchdown pass to lead Benedictine to a 34-7 victory over Culver-Stockton at Poulton Stadium. Fore rushed for 120 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries and opened the scoring for the Ravens (7-4, 5-4 HAAC) on a 1-yard run at the 9:12 mark of the first quarter. Fore then caught a 16-yard pass from Bill Noonan at the 5:53 mark of the second quarter to give Benedictine at 21-0 lead headed into halftime and completed his career with 1,680 yards and 28 rushing touchdowns to go along with 294 receiving yards and five scores through the air. Noonan hit on 15-of-24 for 139 yards with Jerrin Walton grabbing six catches for 52 yards. Jake Hoffman and Curtis Widener each completed six passes for a combined 111 yards for Culver-Stockton (1-10, 0-9 HAAC). Desmon Phillips led the ground attack with 14 carries for 52 yards while Evan McFadden and Chris Cunningham each had two catches for 30 yards to lead the receiving corps.