The Central Methodist football team missed what may have been the best opportunity to earn a win all season against Clarke University in front of a Family Weekend crowd Saturday afternoon. Central coughed up a 9-6 halftime lead to eventually fall 20-12.

Both teams entered Saturday’s contest without a win on the season. The Eagles narrowly lost this game in Iowa a year ago and hoped to reverse the outcome in front of a rowdy home crowd. But CMU allowed 14 second-half points while mustering only a field goal in the final two quarters.

Two missed field goals in a rainy first half left another six points off Central’s scoreboard.

“This was an opportunity that we had today,” said second-year Eagles head coach Dave Brown. “All you can ask for is an opportunity. So we had opportunities to make plays in this game, and we came up short a few times. Now, we have to make sure we take advantage of the opportunities that come up during the week to make sure we’re in the best position to go compete and have a chance to win a game next week. And if we do that and we continue to grow, that’s where the progress starts to happen.”

The young Eagles showed definite promise in the first half. Their first drive made it to the Clarke 26-yard line before stalling. With the chance to take an early lead, Central lined up for a 43-yard field goal attempt. But Oscar Simon’s kick sailed wide right.

The Pride then responded with a drive of 74 yards in seven plays, capped with a 34 yard rushing touchdown to go out in front by six. The point-after attempt missed, keeping the margin at a half-dozen.

The next three drives of the game did not result in any points heading into the early stages of the second quarter. But CMU caught a break at the 10:32 mark. With the Pride pinned deep in their own territory on fourth down, a high snap forced Clarke’s punter backward, stepping out of the back of the end zone for a safety and two points for the Eagles.

It’s the second week in a row that a bad snap by their opponents had resulted in two points for the Eagles.

CMU’s defense held steady, keeping Clarke off the board in their next two drives. Linebacker Dylan Holt later gave the Eagles a much-needed spark. He intercepted Clarke’s quarterback at the Eagle 30-yard line. Holt nearly returned the interception all the way back for a touchdown but was eventually tackled at the Clarke 10-yard line with 40 seconds left in the half.

The offense would finally capitalize on the turnover three plays later. Quarterback Alvaro Ortega-Morales ran the ball in from two yards for the score. The extra point attempt from Simon was good, and the Eagles held a 9-6 lead heading into the locker room at the halftime break.

Central’s lead vanished quickly in the second half. Clarke went 71 yards over six plays on the opening drive of the third quarter to go up 13-9.

The ball bounced Clarke’s way early in the fourth quarter. On fourth-and-goal, running back Jaden Warren fumbled the ball past the goal line but recovered the loose ball in the end zone for the score. A challenge by Coach Brown was overturned, giving the Pride a 20-12 lead.

Central had two opportunities to score in the fourth quarter. The first drive stalled on the 34-yard line. Down by 11 points, Brown elected to kick a field goal. Simon’s kick split the uprights to make it an eight-point game.

Brown said he opted for the three-point field goal because it was a two-possession game regardless. 

“With that ball in the middle of the field, and with Oscar’s struggles early in the game, I thought that was the best time to at least get the three, get us on the board, knowing we’d need another possession anyway. With that field position in the middle, let’s go ahead and get the three on the board and then work from there.”

Central had another chance with a trip to the red zone midway through the final quarter. The Eagles got inside the 10, but two incompletions returned possession to the Pride on their own 8-yard line.

Coach Brown said his team was backed up far enough that he felt the best way to get into the end zone was to pass it.

“We needed to try to get some chucks out of it, especially on fourth down,” he said. “And we weren’t going to be able to run that one in. Because the run game started off great, then got a little inconsistent. We just missed on the last one.”

With an eight-point lead, all Clarke had to do was eat the last 4:05 of the game. The Pride rushed six times 31 yards, but Central’s defense forced a punt with a minute left.

Backed up at their own 15 with no timeouts, the Eagles tried to pump the ball downfield. But four straight incompletes ended CMU’s chances at a comeback.

“We didn’t get the outcome we wanted today,” Brown said. “We had opportunities, we didn’t get it done. We’ve got to find the way to get it done.”

While Central drops to 0-4 on the season, there were bright spots, particularly in the running game. Entering the contest, CMU had just 18 positive yards on the season after finishing the week before negative by 28 yards. The Eagles performed better by far, picking up 170 yards on 42 attempts, with 11 rushing first downs.

“We finally kind of turned it around,” coach Brown said. “The guys up front did a good job of identifying what Clarke was doing defensively. And they do some things that pose some issues for things we do in the run game. But they were determined to make sure that they knew they needed to dig down and find a way. And they started finding a way. And I’m proud of those guys for doing that and stepping up. And now we’re going to continue that momentum. Because that’s what we’re going to need to do to balance the offense out and do the things we need to do to control the game.”

Leading Central’s rushing game was Dawan Lomax with 102 yards on 24 carries. Ortega-Morales scrambled eight times for 38 yards and a touchdown. Darius Shakor George racked up 33 yards on eight attempts.

Still absent from the lineup was Fayette native Garren Vroman. The CMU junior was injured in the season opener and has been week-to-week since. He told this newspaper after the game that he hopes to suit up for Saturday’s rival game at Missouri Valley.

While the resurgence of the running game was a bright spot, CMU struggled to move the ball in the air. Backup quarterback Ortega-Morales completed just seven of 25 attempts for 91 yards. 

Coach Brown hoped to have his game-one starter, Jordan Gile, back. But he left the game after one snap. The sophomore has seen only a handful of plays since getting banged up in the season opener.

Brown said the wet conditions were a factor, but the Eagles need more production out of the passing game. 

“Ro and Jordan have both done some good things. I told both of them going into the day that I thought they’d probably both play a little bit,” he said. “I didn’t think it would just be one snap for Jordan. I was prepared to get him a little more. But we’ll let those two keep playing and see where it goes from there. The best guy that week is going to be out there.”

Brown said he won’t know which quarterback will start next week’s game at Missouri Valley College in Marshall until the game day. Either way, the Eagles will have their work cut out for them against the Vikings, who won their first two games but were trounced 24-0 by powerhouse Grand View on the road last week.

“It’s a rival game, and that’s always going to be a hard-fought game,” Brown said. “Our guys will be prepared. We’ll do our best job to put them in the best position to go in. We’ll go over there, and we’ll see how much better we got by next week.”

Saturday’s game kicks off at 1 p.m. The Eagles return home next weekend for Homecoming and will host Missouri Baptist (2-1) at 1 p.m. on Davis Field.