BEARD ANNOUNCES COACHING STAFF ADDITIONS

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – After trailing 38-14 early in the third quarter, Missouri State cut its deficit to 10, but could not complete the second-half comeback here Saturday, falling 44-28 at No. 24 Youngstown State in Valley play.
 
The Bears (3-5, 2-3 MVFC) accrued 436 yards of total offense, including a career-high 341 passing yards from Jordan Pachot who was 25-of-38 through the air with a pair of touchdowns.
 
Raylen Sharpe led all MSU receivers with 8 catches for 109 yards, while Jmariyae Robinson added 6 grabs for 77. Jacardia Wright had 7 carries for 72 yards to lead all Bear rushers and scored a pair of touchdowns.
 
In a third quarter dominated by the Bears' defense, Missouri State had the ball in Youngstown State territory with an opportunity to cut into a 38-28 deficit and plenty of time remaining. But on the second play of the fourth quarter, Pachot's pass from the YSU 33, intended for Terique Owens in the end zone, was picked off by the Penguins for a touchback.
 
The Bears out-gained YSU by a 164 to 93 margin in the third quarter, while the MSU defense forced three consecutive three-and-outs to get back in the game.
 
After the pick by Troy Jakubec in the end zone, it took Youngstown State 11 plays and six minutes to capitalize on the MSU mishap. A 29-yard field goal by Andrew Lastovka concluded the march and made it a 41-28 game.
 
Still down by just two possessions on the ensuing series, a third-down sack by the Penguins forced Missouri State to punt. Youngstown State (5-3, 3-2 MVFC) chewed up another four minutes and cashed in again on a Laskovka field goal as he booted through his third -- this time from 44 yards -- to extend YSU's cushion to 16 points.
 
Missouri State took over with 2:13 to play and drove all the way to the Youngstown one-yard line before the game clock -- and Missouri State's comeback hopes -- expired.

YSU quarterback Mitch Davidson finished 26-of-33 for 390 yards and 4 touchdowns.
 
Missouri State's third-quarter heroics were highlighted by a 29-yard TD strike to Jacardia Wright on MSU's opening drive of the second half, and then a 7-yard pass to Lance Mason on the Bears' next possession that got the visitors within 10 points with 4:48 remaining in the third.
 
Todric McGee rang up 11 tackles on the afternoon to pace the MoState defense, while Jared Lloyd added 10 total stops. MSU outgained the Penguins 253-186 in the second half and held the home club to just 106 rushing yards on 32 carries, some 86 yards below its season average.
 
The Bears set a blistering pace on the game's opening possession of the afternoon. Missouri State capitalized on a 55-yard kickoff return by Jayden Becks to set up a short field and needed just four plays to punch it in and take the early lead. Jakairi Moses carried twice for 36 yards to give the visitors first-and-goal at the YSU 9. After an incompletion, Pachot then tucked it in, and carried it in himself from there to paydirt, giving the Bears a 7-0 advantage just 76 seconds in.
 
Youngstown State responded with back-to-back scoring marches of 75 and 72 yards to gain a 14-7 advantage at the end of the opening quarter. Touchdown passes of 10 and 2 yards from Davidson put the Penguins up by seven.
 
Early in the second quarter, the visitors bounced back with their longest scoring drive of the season. Starting from their own 2-yard line, the Bears responded with an impressive, nine-play, 98-yard scoring march that was accentuated by a 45-yard touchdown dash by Wright with 8:18 to go before the intermission. A key third-down completion to Raylen Sharpe kept the drive alive, allowing Wright the opportunity to make it a 14-14 game three plays later.
 
However, the final eight minutes of the first half belonged to YSU. The Penguins kept the Bears' offense in check and then ran off 17 unanswered points from there to lead 31-14 at the game's midway point. Davidson hit Bryce Oliver with long TD strikes of 51 and 20 yards to give the Penguins a 14-point cushion. Then after a blocked punt on Missouri State's last possession of the second quarter, YSU threw a 40-yard strike to Oliver to set up a 24-yard field goal by Andrew Lastovka as time expired.
 
YSU racked up 185 of its 335 total first-half yards on its last three possessions and converted 5-of-6 third downs in the opening 30 minutes. Oliver had 6 catches for 169 yards on the afternoon, all in the first half.
 
MoState had a respectable 183 first-half yards, including 82 on the ground, but ended four of its six first-half drives on punts.
 
Missouri State returns home next week to entertain Illinois State at 2 p.m., before concluding the home slate the following Saturday (Nov. 11) against UNI.
 
Tickets for the Illinois State game -- and all remaining home games -- are available at the Missouri State Box Office at Great Southern Bank Arena, (417) 836-7678 or by visiting MissouriStateBears.com/tickets.