Football Recap (Week 5) - Around the SCAC

Football Recap (Week 5) - Around the SCAC

SUWANEE, Ga. - DePauw continued its journey toward a second consecutive SCAC championship with a 35-21 win at Millsaps. Meanwhile, Centre became the seventh team in CAC/SCAC history to score 60 or more points in a conference game when they beat Sewanee 64-13.

AROUND THE SCAC

Austin College had the weekend off. The Kangaroos return to action on Oct. 9 as they host the Sewanee Tigers in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference clash. Austin College won last year’s contest, 31-21. The Kangaroos ran for 204 yards as a team while out-gaining Sewanee in total offense by a 356-186 total. Austin College has won all four previous meetings with Sewanee since the Kangaroos joined the SCAC in 2006. The “Roos have won three of the four meetings by 10 or more points.

Birmingham-Southern returned home this week for the first time since the opener on Sept. 4, opening conference play against Trinity. The Tigers handed the Panthers their first loss of the year, dropping BSC to 3-1. The Panthers committed three first-half turnovers in the loss, allowing Trinity to eventually win by 10, 38-28. Senior quarterback Joe Thigpen left the game early with a leg injury and would not return and is now expected to be out for at least two weeks. Sophomore Jimmy Stainback took over for Thigpen, going 13-of-17 with 157 yards and one touchdown. BSC is on the road this week, traveling to face Centre.

Centre posted season-highs in points (64), total yards (541), passing yards (541), rushing yards (229) and first downs (28) in a 64-13 win over Sewanee. The game marked only the seventh game in conference history an SCAC/CAC team has scored 60+ points in a game, with Centre accomplishing that feat three of the seven times. Centre out-gained Sewanee 541-218 and forced five turnovers (four fumbles and one interception). The Colonels have now defeated the Tigers five straight times and have out-scored Sewanee by an average of 29.4-7.2  (22.2) per game, including two shutouts. In addition, the 64 points are the most scored by a Centre team since the 1983 season, which saw the Colonels defeat Fisk 65-0. Up next for the Colonels is a home contest against Birmingham-Southern.

DePauw improved to 4-0 overall and 3-0 in conference play after a 35-21 win at Millsaps. The Tigers broke free from a 21-21 tie with a pair of Derrick Karazsia 11-yard runs in the closing 8:30 after Millsaps tied the contest twice. Karazsia rushed for 94 yards on 28 carries and three touchdowns, while Michael Engle completed 24 of 41 passes for 193 yards. Brayden Dahlstrom caught seven passes for 44 yards, while Alex Koors and Nathan Evans each had six receptions. Jonathan Lambert and Myron Burr each had five tackles while Adam Hawkins and Steve Valdiserri had one interception apiece. DePauw ran 86 plays to Millsaps' 47, held a 24-11 advantage in first downs and a 39:52-20:08 time of possession margin. DePauw's 4-0 start is the Tigers' best since 1985.

Millsaps
ceded sole possession of first place to the visiting DePauw Tigers on Saturday, falling 35-21 at Harper Davis Field. The Tigers scored the last 14 points of the game to break a 21-21 tie with just 8:30 remaining. The Majors committed 12 penalties on the day for a whopping 121 yards and the Tigers dominated the time of possession 37:31 to 18:06. But all that said, the Majors had plenty of chances to win the game. Two interceptions and two fumbles gave away key possessions that prevented the Majors from coming away with their third conference win. Garrett Pinciotti posted 305 yards and three touchdowns on the day, including a 68 yard pass to Michael Galatas that tied the score at the beginning of the fourth. The Tigers were able to stifle the Majors’ running game, as Shane Bowser managed just 24 yards on the day to lead the team on the afternoon. This week the Majors will take a week off from conference play to host the Huntingdon Hawks for homecoming. Game time is set for 1 p.m.

LaGrange jumped out to an early 21-0 lead and Rhodes could not recover as the Panthers downed the Lynx 42-28 in a non-conference football game at Fargason Field on October 2nd. Rhodes finally got on the scoreboard with 2:12 left in the first half, on a 2-yard touchdown run by senior running back Matt Gilbert. Gilbert was held to 29 yards on 14 carries for the day, his lowest output of the season. Sophomore quarterback Tyler Perkins threw for a career high 226 yards and two touchdown passes to lead the offense. Perkins also rushed for 45 yards on 7 carries and scored one rushing touchdown. Sophomore wide receiver Jack Lartigue caught 8 passes for 106 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore defensive tackle Jimmy Eye had six tackles and a career best 2.5 sacks to lead the Lynx defense. Rhodes falls to 2-2 overall and will travel to Greencastle, Ind. next weekend to face SCAC leader DePauw.

A high Sewanee snap on the first play of the game resulted in a safety for Centre, making it 2-0 five seconds in. The Colonels never looked back on their way to a 64-13 win over the host Tigers. Rob Pope and Monte Scotton scored three touchdowns apiece, as Sewanee struggled to find a rhythm all afternoon. Sewanee made it to the scoreboard twice in the third quarter, the first on a 22-yard run by freshman quarterback Curtis Johnson, and the second on a 1-yard run by freshman Lee Schurlknight. Schurlknight’s TD made it 44-13 but Centre would add three more scores in the fourth quarter to lock up the game. The Colonels started the same way they ended, scoring a touchdown on the last play of the game off of a bad snap on a punt attempt by the Tigers. Sewanee tallied 135 passing yards on 11 of 20 passing by Schurlknight. Freshman Chad Morehead led the rushing attack with 59 yards on five attempts. Junior Andrew Walters led the Sewanee defense with 11 tackles and a forced fumble on the afternoon. The Tigers will be back in action next week when they travel to Sherman, Texas for a clash with the Kangaroos of Austin College.
 
Trinity bounced back from two straight losses with a 38-28 road win over Birmingham-Southern College on Saturday afternoon. The Tigers opened up the game with a 21-point second quarter against the previously unbeaten Panthers, and posted the team’s best rushing game of the season so far. Three first-half turnovers hurt Birmingham-Southern, though a pair of interceptions in the second half kept them in contention until late in the game. Kyle Lewis carried the ball 25 times for 160 yards and two touchdowns, while first-year Desmond King finished with 66 yards rushing, 52 yards receiving, and a pair of touchdowns (one rushing, one receiving). Trinity carried the ball 43 times for 248 yards and four touchdowns in the game (5.8 yards/carry). Trinity remains on the road this week, traveling to nearby Seguin, Texas, to face Texas Lutheran University in a non-conference matchup.  It will mark the 23rd meeting between the two Texas teams, with Trinity holding a 14-8 edge in the series.  The Tigers have won nine out of 10 meetings since the series was resumed in 2000, with the only loss coming in Seguin in 2006.

For the complete SCAC Gridiron Weekly for Week 5, click here.