SUWANEE, Ga. - The second week of the football season saw the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference compile a 7-1 record in non-conference action. Highlighting the wins was Trinity's 22-21 win at Texas Lutheran on a last second 34-yard field goal. Austin College survived a wild fourth-quarter in beating McMurry on the road.
AROUND THE SCAC
Austin College came
from behind to topple McMurry 30-27 on Saturday behind 409 rushing
yards as a team, including 156 and two scores from Ross Hasten. The
’Roos are 2-0 for the first time since the 1995 season. After
falling behind 14-0 in the first quarter the ’Roos scored 19
unanswered before the game turned into a shootout in the final
quarter with four lead changes over the game’s last 13
minutes of action. Hasten put the ‘Roos ahead for good on a
five yard run and Evan Coachman came up with his second
interception at the best possible time, picking off a McMurry pass
in the endzone to secure the victory for Austin College. Andy Braly
completed 10-of-18 passes for 119 yards and a touchdown and also
rushed 14 times for 137 yards and Brogan Funderburg added 75 yards
and a touchdown in the win. Coachman had four solo tackles to go
along with his two picks and Matt Finke had a team best eight
tackles. The ‘Roos host Millsaps this week as they shoot for
their first 3-0 start since 1990.
Birmingham-Southern picked up a thrilling
overtime victory to open its home slate this week, defeating
Campbell 35-28 in its first-ever overtime game. The game-winning
touchdown came on a 32-yard pass from junior quarterback Joe
Thigpen to senior wide receiver Tay Walker. The BSC defense was
then able to end the game with an interception in overtime. Thigpen
went 10-of-19 with one interception, and passed for one touchdown
and rushed for two. Freshman Shawn Morris led with 92 yards rushing
on nine carries, and Walker led with 89 receiving yards on four
catches. The Panther defense grabbed three interceptions, forced
two fumbles (and recovered both), recorded three sacks, and blocked
a Campbell field goal.
Playing on the new turf surface at Farris Stadium for the first
time, Centre jumped out to a 17-0 lead and
withstood a second half rally to win 24-17 over visiting Maryville
in Danville, Ky. The Colonels are now 7-1 in their last eight
home-openers and move to 2-0 for the third time in the last five
seasons. Centre was out-gained 391-269 in total offensive yards,
including 247-121 through the air. Defensively, the Colonels
intercepted two passes to run their consecutive game streak of
forcing at least one turnover to 43 straight games. Centre will
look to remain unbeaten this week with a road trip to Greencastle,
Ind. to play DePauw.
No. 20 DePauw opened the 2009 season with a 55-7
win at Anderson on the strength of school records of 665 total
yards and 494 passing yards. The previous total offense record was
626 in a 1975 game against Principia, while the passing yardage
record was 486 in a 2000 game against Hope. The Tigers opened the
game with 90 and 93-yard scoring drives and scored on five of their
seven first-half possessions. They then reached the red zone in all
five second half possessions, scoring three touchdowns. Spud Dick
completed 31-of-40 passes for a career-high 405 yards. His five
touchdown passes tied a school record and the team's six scoring
passes established a new mark. Alex Koors caught 12 passes for 209
yards and a school-record tying three touchdowns. In the first
quarter alone, Dick completed 15-of-17 for 230 yards, while Koors
caught 10 for 196 yards. The Tigers' defense held Anderson to 246
total yards including just 80 in the first half. DePauw did not
commit a turnover and came up with four takeaways in the win.
Millsaps bounced back
from a season-opening loss at Mississippi College with a 27-10 win
over Belhaven on Saturday to extend a 7-game, regular-season home
winning streak. The Majors’ defense forced eight turnovers
and had six total sacks, led by senior David Dale with a
single-game record of 4.5, to improve to 1-1 on the early season.
Lost in a stellar defensive performance was a great game for
sophomore RB Shane Bowser, who eclipsed the 100-yard mark for the
first time of his career with 12 carries for 119 yards (9.9 avg.)
The Majors will open SCAC play this weekend on the road, traveling
to Austin College (2-0) for a 1 p.m. kickoff in Sherman, Texas.
Rhodes rallied from an early 7-0 deficit to score
33 unanswered points to defeat Haskell Indian Nations University
47-16 at Lawrence, KS, on September 12th.The Lynx racked up 442
yards of total offense to post their second consecutive victory.
Sophomore running back Nico Lagueruela scored on a 66 yard
touchdown run in the second quarter and finished the day with 102
yards on 8 carries. Junior wide receiver Matt Gilbert added two one
yard touchdown runs and freshman place kicker Lucas Stockhausen
connected on a 32 yard field goal right before halftime to give
Rhodes a 26-7 advantage at the break. Sophomore quarterback Brett
Stoots threw for 224 yards and connected with sophomore wide
receiver Jake Jackson on a 68 yard touchdown pass with 10:40
remaining in the 3rd quarter to extend the Lynx lead to 33-7. The
2-0 Lynx will open the SCAC season next weekend at Fargason Field
when they host Trinity University.
Sewanee opened its 2009 football season at
century-old rival Washington and Lee on Saturday and the host
Generals topped the Visiting Tigers 31-13. W&L went up 14-0 on
a pair of General runs in the first quarter before Sewanee answered
in the second with a Patrick Shelton TD pass to tight end Rascoe
Dean. Later in the second, W&L's Matt Cassilly picked off a
Sewanee pass and ran it back for a touchdown to send the Generals
up 21-7. Another touchdown and a field goal in the second period
sealed the win for the Generals. In the second half, Sewanee held
W&L scoreless and then notched some points of its own on a
28-yard touchdown pass from freshman QB Robert Ratliff to 2009
preseason All-American Chalankis Brown. Brown made his offensive
debut and caught four passes for 62 yards. Defensively, sophomore
Alfonza Knight led Sewanee with 11 tackles, a sack and an
interception. Sewanee is now 0-1 and will play Hampden-Sydney in
Sewanee next weekend at 1:30 pm CST.
Trinity escaped with a narrow 22-21 victory at
Texas Lutheran University on Saturday, thanks to a game-winning
field goal as time expired. First-year kicker Garrett Biel tied a
school record with three field goals in the game – two of
which came as time expired. Biel hit a 28-yarder to end the first
half, and then nailed his 34-yard field goal to win the game for
the Tigers. It was Trinity’s sixth one-point game under Head
Coach Steve Mohr, with the last being a 29-28 win over DePauw in
2004. The Tigers are now 4-2 in one-point games under Coach Mohr.
Quarterback Robert Davidson completed 30-47 passes for 287 yards
and a touchdown on Saturday, also running in for another score. The
game marked the first time a Trinity QB completed 30 or more passes
since 2006 (Jacob Cannon against Millsaps), as well as the first
time a Tiger QB threw 40 or more times since 2007 (Blake Barmore
against Centre). Trinity continues its month-long road trip to open
the season, traveling to Memphis, Tenn. to face Rhodes this
weekend. The game will also be the SCAC opener for both teams.
For the complete SCAC Gridiron Weekly for Week 2, click here.