Mules' defenders Jordan Hofer and Anton Cullom were many Mules who crushed Emporia State on Saturday. (Photo by Drew Woolery)

WARRENSBURG, Mo. -– The 22nd ranked Central Missouri Mules bounced back from their first loss last week with a 42-14 trouncing of Emporia State at Walton Stadium/Kennedy Field on Saturday. Junior quarterback Eric Czerniewski threw for a career-high four touchdown passes in the outing.

Central Missouri (5-1, 3-1 MIAA) scored the game’s first 42 points before the Hornets (3-3, 1-3 MIAA) added a couple cosmetic scores in the fourth quarter. What was more impressive is that the Mules did it without seven starters, four of which were All-MIAA players.

The Mules started slow, but quickly heated up after punts on their first two drives of the day. Czerniewski hit senior running back Glenn Milner on a screen pass that he turned into a 56-yard touchdown, weaving through traffic and cutting across the field with 4:48 left in the first quarter.

Senior running back Glenn Milner turned a first quarter screen pass into a 56-yard touchdown. (Photo by Drew Woolery)

The Mules got a big play from special teams on the ensuing ESU possession when freshman defensive back Brett Ginn blocked a punt and junior defensive end Marc Tiernan picked it up and ran it in from 10 yards out for the score.

After a lost fumble by each team, the Hornets drove 81 yards down to the Mule 14 yard line and missed a 32 yard field goal attempt. Central Missouri went 80 yards in only two plays to take advantage with a 31-yard reverse by senior wide receiver Edgar Givens, followed by a 49-yard touchdown pass to Milner down the left sideline to make it 21-0.

The Mules lighting quick attack continued on the next drive when Czerniewski hit sophomore tight end DeMarco Cosby for a 55-yard score. That made it 28-0 with seven minutes remaining in the half.

Emporia State starting quarterback Andre Sloan El did not play, and backup Zach Rampy was ineffective, getting benched with 10 minutes remaining in the half. ESU brought in mobile third-stringer Sheldon Smith for him and the Hornets finished the day with 48 rushing attempts compared to only 14 passes.

The Mules had a 268-to-142 total yard advantage in the first half as the Mules held ESU to 1-of-8 on third down.

Ryan Nesbitt and teammates shake hands with the fans after pounding Emporia State. (Photo by Drew Woolery)

Central Missouri’s defense stopped Emporia State on fourth down, thanks to a fake punt attempt in the third quarter to set up the next score. UCM went 24 yards in four plays, capped by a three-yard run from Czerniewski, his first of the year.

The Mules made it 42-0 on their next drive, setting it up with a 54-yard pass to Cosby down to the ESU two yard line. Czerniewski hooked up with sophomore fullback Brent Boehringer from there, for his second TD reception of the year with 14:20 left in the game. Backup quarterback Tommy Corwin finished the game from there.

Cosby and Milner each logged their first career 100-yard receiving games with 121 and 114 yards, respectively. Czerniewski went 14-of-19 for 283 yards, and the Mule rushing attack finished with 123 yards on 25 carries. Overall, the offense piled up 432 yards.

The Mules defense held ESU to only 288 yards of offense and got in the backfield all day, piling up 5.0 sacks, 13 tackles for loss, and three QB hurries. Junior strong safety Mike Stevenson and senior linebacker Max Fairclough led the defense with eight stops apiece while senior defensive end John Wood had seven stops, a half sack, and 1.5 tackles for loss.

The Mules will host No. 7 Northwest Missouri next week in Warrensburg at 1:30 p.m. in a huge matchup with playoff implications.