PITTSBURG — The Pittsburg State University defense scored twice before the Gorillas offense could even touch the ball to set the tone early in a 49-14 Family Day victory over Northeastern State University Saturday (Sept. 17).
 
Antione Nunn Jr. energized the standing room only crowd of 9,692 partisan fans at Carnie Smith Stadium by jumping an out route on the RiverHawks second offensive play and returning the interception 26 yards for a touchdown 55 seconds into the contest.
 
After the No. 16 ranked Gorillas forced NSU to punt three plays later for its 31 yard line, Kaizer Newell busted through the middle of the RiverHawks line and blocked Tyler Crawford's punt. Newell scooped up the bounding ball at the NSU 6 and ran into the end zone for a touchdown and a 14-0 Pitt State lead with 11:48 to play in the first quarter.
 
NSU (0-3, 0-3 MIAA) put together an 11-play, 69-yard drive to trim the Pitt State lead to 14-7 on Justin Frazier's five-yard touchdown pass to Malik Antwine, but the Gorillas countered with a seven-yard scoring strike from quarterback Chad Dodson Jr. to tight end Dallas Bond to make it a 21-7 game.
 
Pitt State (3-0, 3-0 MIAA) stretched its lead to 28 points, 42-14, by halftime and the Gorillas rode that momentum to the 49-14 win.
 
Running back Caleb Lewis carried the ball 19 times for a career high 153 yards, including a one-yard scoring plunge midway through the second quarter.
 
Wide receivers Christian Carter and Jamahl Horne each scored touchdowns on jet sweep plays as the Gorillas compiled a season high 232 rushing yards in the contest.
 
Dodson completed nine of 22 passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns. He tossed a five-yard scoring pass to tight end Lawrence Harris Jr. with 32 seconds remaining in the second quarter.
 
Defensively, the Gorillas limited the RiverHawks to 87 yards on the ground and 226 total yards in the contest.
 
Linebacker P.J. Sarwinski led a balanced Pitt State squad with five tackles, while safety Brandon Mlekus, linebacker Dubem Okonkwo and defensive lineman Trent Thompson made four tackles each.

The Gorillas will travel to Emporia, Kan., next Saturday (Sept. 24) to face MIAA rival Emporia State University at 1 p.m. (CDT) at Welch Stadium.