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Ferrell McGhee and Cedric Houston celebrate another touchdown Saturday in their 49-14 drubbing of Northern State University last Saturday.

After sitting out two weeks with an MCL sprain, Missouri Western senior wide receiver Ferrell McGhee made a triumphant return to the football field on Saturday at Pittsburg State.

While he caught only two passes for 20 yards — his long being an 11-yarder — McGhee’s impact came on special teams.

McGhee had two kickoff returns, including a 31-yarder, and was named the Griffons’ special teams most valuable player for the game.

His 31-yard return put the ball at Western’s 49-yard line, giving the Griffons the short field for a seven-play scoring drive and a 38-20 third-quarter lead.

“Ferrell’s a special kickoff return guy,” coach Jerry Partridge said. “He really understands how to hit it, and he finds that soft spot.”

Late in the game, Pittsburg kicker Jared Witter found a soft spot — McGhee’s capable hands — on an onsides kick as Western clung to a five-point lead with 3 minutes remaining.

“He did a great job on that hands team recovery. He went up and got it and stuck that sucker in his hands,” Partridge said with relief. “Hands team scares you.”

A fourth-down pass completion of 18 yards from quarterback Drew Newhart to tight end Kip Peters allowed the Griffons to line up in the victory formation for a kneel-down on the last two snaps as the final seconds ticked off the clock.

“Victory is my favorite offensive play to run, anyway,” Partridge said. “You don’t get to run victory in Pittsburg, Kan., a lot.”

Unhappy Hansen

He can smile about it now, but the passion remained in soccer coach Jeff Hansen’s voice Monday afternoon as he recalled the play leading up to the penalty kick that resulted in Missouri Southern’s 2-1 double-overtime victory against the Griffons on Saturday in Joplin, Mo.

“The best way I can describe it is that in football your wide receiver and your defensive back are running down, they both turn to look for the ball and they click heels,” Hansen explained. “Normally it’s not pass interference; it’s incidental contact.”

But Southern was awarded the penalty kick and converted it, grounding a Western team that was riding high after Thursday’s 2-0 win against Northwest Missouri State.

Hansen said he believes soccer matches should be officiated like basketball games at the end of the games, with officials laying off the whistle a bit and letting the players decide the outcome.

“You always want to let the players decide things,” Hansen said. “What happened, if it happens anywhere else (on the field), that probably doesn’t get called.”

Hansen admitted his team didn’t play its best game, and Southern may well have finished off the play with a game-winning score. That, he said, would have been more palatable than to have the game decided on a penalty kick.

“I’ve never been that angry after a game,” Hansen said. “I asked (the official) what he thought. He told me, and we disagree.”

Star search

After Western’s volleyball team blew a 2-0 lead in a five-set loss against Missouri Southern on Saturday, coach Cory Frederick is setting aside some time for evaluation.

With 10 days before the team travels to Rockhurst, he feels the time is right.

Southern consistently went to one or two players down the stretch Saturday that the Griffons could not stop. The Western coach just wishes he could identify such players on his own roster.

“We’re going to do some self-evaluations on players,” Frederick said. “We’re going to try to start trying to figure out who they look to as their go-to players. I think who the team looks to as a go-to player, that person doesn’t think of themselves as a go-to player, and she’s not ready to handle that pressure.”

Pressure has been a tougher opponent than most of the MIAA teams so far this season. Against Southern, for instance, the Griffons missed five of their last seven serves to lose the deciding fifth set 15-6.

“We play great until the pressure gets on, then they’re not handling it very well,” Frederick said.

Western lost three matches last week, falling to No. 21 Pittsburg State in three games Wednesday before losing at home to Southwest Baptist and Missouri Southern on Friday and Saturday.

The freshman 41

The Western women’s golf team has continued to show improvement despite its youth. Maybe that’s because of its youth.

The Griffons finished in a tie for ninth in the Mustang Invitational in Marshall, Minn., hosted last week by Southwest Minnesota State.

Leading the way were two freshmen. Natalie Bird finished 20th overall (79-85—164) to lead the Griffons, and fellow freshman Casi Webb was second lowest for the team.

“As a team we improved by 41 strokes over last year, and that was despite 40-mph winds and the rain that we played in (Sunday),” coach Kathy Habermehl said.

Habermehl said the freshmen have added balance and depth, allowing the Griffons to have a different player finish low for the team in each tournament this season.

“Our freshman players show a lot of confidence and maturity,” Habermehl said.