Ramon McKinney Jr. accounted for 188 yards of offense and Northeastern State recorded its first shutout in 13 years as the RiverHawks celebrated the university’s homecoming with a 48-0 win over Lincoln (Calif.) on Saturday night on Gable Field at Doc Wadley Stadium.
McKinney rushed for 135 yards and three touchdowns on 13 carries and caught four passes for 53 yards for NSU (2-6), pacing a 473-yard team offensive effort, with 278 of those yards coming on the ground.
NSU now has scored more than 40 points in three consecutive football games for the first time since October 2011, when the River-Hawks beat Harding (Ark.) 49-41, Arkansas-Monticello 47-46 and Southwestern Oklahoma State 42-13. Northeastern State has won multiple games in the same season for the first time since 2021.
OusmaneDoumbia, Hagen Foreman and Jordan Richburg each intercepted a pass for NSU, which limited Lincoln (0-8) to 214 yards of offense and 10 first downs. The outmanned Oaklanders barely had more offensive yards than they did penalty yards (174) and had three players ejected.
The shutout was NSU’s first shutout since a 43-0 win over Bacone on Aug. 27, 2011. Doumbia led the River-Hawks with six tackles while Dalton Crumbly and Junior Heimuli had five tackles each. Two of Heimuli’s tackles were for loss.
“I’m proud of our team, just staying disciplined throughout the second half and coming out and having scoring drives and playing tough defense,” NSU coach Darrin Chiaverini said. “We’re building something special and we’re in year one. We’re going to keep moving forward, but I am proud of our football program and proud of our football team to get our first shutout in (13) years. We’re just going to keep improving from week to week.”
After a slow start, the RiverHawks’ offense began generating points late in the first quarter and eventually scored on seven straight possessions. McKinney’s first touchdown, on a 2-yard run, came with 1:42 left in the first quarter.
NSU tacked on three more scores in the final seven minutes of the first half. A 45-yard pass from quarterback Dereun Dortch to Deuce Roberson set up a 23yard scramble for a touchdown at the 6:49 mark. On NSU’s next series, Kacie Riley hurdled into the end zone to complete a seven-yard run with 1:30 left.
The RiverHawks regained possession 34 seconds before halftime. McKinney reeled off a 40-yard run with set up a 19-yard touchdown pass from Dortch to Cameron Woods with 10 seconds left.
McKinney added scoring runs of 15 and 54 yards to finish off NSU’s next two offensive series and Blake May scored on a 1-yard run before the end of the quarter, making it 48-0.
Dortch completed 11 of 15 passes for 170 yards, including the touchdown to Roberson. Woods caught four passes for 71 yards.
Lincoln drove to the NSU 5 with 6:48 left in the fourth quarter, but Richburg intercepted a third-down pass thrown into the end zone by backup quarterback Dreylen Howard. The Oaklanders started at the NSU 31 after recovering a fumble with 4:29 left, but didn’t record a first down and NSU ran out the clock.
Howard completed 9 of 18 passes for 68 yards, while starting quarterback Eric Brice was 8-of-14 passing for 58 yards. Anastacio Prado led Lincoln in rushing with 45 yards on 13 carries, while Amari Derby caught nine passes for 43 yards.
