EMPORIA, Kan. - The theme all week was "finish." Yet for most of Saturday, Missouri Western's high-powered offense was held in check by Emporia State.

But when the Griffons needed to make a play to avoid another Missouri Southern-like collapse, Drew Newhart and Ferrell McGhee stepped up.

Facing a second-and-25 midway through the fourth quarter, Newhart found McGhee on a bubble screen that went for 27 yards to extend a scoring drive and enabled the Griffons to cruise to a 29-6 bounce-back win.

"That's probably the play of the game," coach Jerry Partridge said. "We're going to be punting the football with 6 minutes left and a two-score game, and it's Missouri Southern all-over-again kind of feeling."

The Griffons' 14-play, 71-yard scoring drive was a momentum-killer for any thoughts of an Emporia comeback, but the Griffon offense still came away from Saturday's game feeling as though its wasn't completely out of its Southern-induced funk.

The Griffons struggled to finish drives and scored a season-low 13 points in the first half. Its 29 points were a season-low game output. Newhart threw for 232 yards, but he also threw an interception and fumbled a handoff exchange.

"We've still got a lot of improvement to do," Newhart said. "The defense clicked today, but the offense didn't click. We've got to click on all cylinders next week to get a win."

The Griffons' defense, at least, should enter the final week of the regular season with some confidence.

Western didn't really know what to expect from the Emporia offense. The Hornets used two different quarterbacks - Sheldon Smith and Andre Sloan El - and they relied mostly on the run with starter Tyler Eckenrode sidelined with a shoulder injury.

After the Hornets ran for 375 yards in a win at Truman last week, the Griffons held Emporia to 120 yards on 42 carries - a 2.9-yard average. The Emporia passing game was nonexistent, as Smith, who started, went 0-for-6 with an interception, and Sloan El was intercepted twice and threw for only 87 yards.

"We really weren't sure what we were going to face. We prepared for so many different offenses this week," Partridge said. "You don't know for sure what the formation is going to be based the personnel, so it's hard to zero in. We did a good job of adjusting."

The Griffons' defense also had a redemptive fourth quarter after giving up 21 points in the fourth last week at Southern.

Emporia State's only touchdown came in the fourth quarter, but it came on a short field. Travon Brooks intercepted Newhart and returned it to the Western 10-yard line, and Kevin Smart scored on the next play. The Griffons stopped the Hornets on their 2-point conversion try, which would have made it a one-score game.

After the offense went on its long scoring drive to put the Griffons ahead 22-6, Shane Simpon intercepted Sloan El for the second time. Simpon ran the interception back 51 yards to the Emporia 1-yard line, and Thomas Hodges scored two plays later.

"We felt like we needed to step up because of last week," Simpon said.

Missouri Western (8-2, 6-2 MIAA) remained in a tie with Central Missouri for second place in the MIAA. Most importantly, the Griffons finished and put the Southern loss behind them.

"I still don't know that we finish the way we're capable of," Partridge said. "But winning in this league is very difficult, and we'll take any kind of win."