Football Recap (Week 11) - Around the SCAC

Football Recap (Week 11) - Around the SCAC

SUWANEE, Ga. - DePauw University junior quarterback Spud Dick completed 24-of-29 passes for 227 yards and two touchdowns in leading the Tigers to a win over previously unbeaten and second-ranked, rival, Wabash College 36-14. With the win, DePauw retained the Monon Bell and evened the all-time series with the Little Giants at 53-53-9. DePauw now leads the series in games played for the Monon Bell, 36-33-6.

Elsewhere around the league, the Majors of Millsaps finished off its first 10-win season in school history, and first unbeaten regular season since 1980, with a 31-14 win at Birmingham-Southern. The win helped the Majors earn the #1 seed in the South Region in the NCAA Division III Playoffs. Millsaps will host #8 seed LaGrange (Ga.) at Noon (CST) at Harper Davis Field.

AROUND THE SCAC

 The Austin College football team fell 38-14 to Trinity in its season finale, finishing the year with an overall record of 5-5 and a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference mark of 3-4. After falling behind 21-0 heading into the half, the 'Roos outscored the Tigers 14-3 in the third quarter and seemed to have the momentum going into the fourth quarter trailing 24-14, but 14 straight points by Trinity in the final quarter sank any hopes of an Austin College comeback. The 'Roos piled up 224 yards on the ground to clinch their third straight season as the SCAC's top rushing team, averaging 216.7 yards per game on the ground. Ross Hasten had seven carries for 81 yards and added 47 yards on three catches. Scooter Means recorded a game-high 15 tackles, including 1.5 for loss and recovered a fumble and also rushed nine times for 32 yards and a touchdown. Andy Braly threw for 106 yards and rushed for 78 more and a touchdown.

Birmingham-Southern wrapped up the 2008 season at home this week, giving No. 4 Millsaps a scare by leading twice, but ultimately losing, 31-14, at Panther Stadium. Although Millsaps fumbled the ball seven times, with the Panthers recovering five of those, and threw two interceptions, the Majors recorded 477 total yards to BSC's 282. Sophomore quarterback Joe Thigpen passed the season 1,000-yard mark in the game after going 9-15-1 with 94 yards.

Centre defeated Colorado 20-7 in the season finale for both teams in Colorado Springs, Colo. The win is the seventh of the season for the Colonels, tying them with DePauw and Trinity for second place in the SCAC. It is the first seven-win season for Centre since 2005 and the highest finish in the league since 2001 when the Colonels tied Trinity for the league championship. The game also marked the final contest for Centre's 11 seniors. The Colonels took a 7-0 lead into the locker room at halftime, but the game was tied by Colorado in the third. Centre scored twice in the fourth quarter to put the game away, including a touchdown with only 0:37 left in the game. The Colonels also extended its consecutive game streak of forcing at least one turnover to 41 games by recovering four Colorado fumbles.

Justin Alexander became Colorado College's all-time leader with 571 career carries when he rushed nine times against Centre College. He passed both Pat Geonetta's total of 565 (1970-82) and John Lutz's total of 567 (1991-94). Three senior linebackers finished their career ranked among the top 15 in career solo and total tackles. Brian Mulhern is No. 9 with 236 total tackles, while Josh Underwood is tied for No. 11 with 233 and Buddy Ferreira is No. 14 with 210. Underwood moved up to No. 10 with 120 solo stops. Mulhern is No. 11 with 115 solo stops, while Ferreira is No. 12 with 102. Junior defensive end Ian Rivero had three sacks and moved into a tie with Ryan Haygood (1996) for third place on CC's single-season list with nine. Freshman safety Mike Box had a season-high 12 tackles, recovered a fumble, and blocked his third kick of the season against Centre. Sophomore defensive end J.P. Davis had three sacks against the Colonels.

DePauw wrapped up the 2008 season with a 36-14 win at second/third-ranked Wabash in the annual Monon Bell game in front of HDNet's national audience including alumni parties in over 60 cities. The win evened the all-time series at 53-53-9 with DePauw extending its lead in games played for Monon Bell possession to 37-34-6. Alex Fitch blocked a Wabash field goal attempt on the Little Giants' first drive and DePauw countered with Jordan Havercamp's 25-yard field goal. Freshman cornerback Steve Valdiserri intercepted passes on back-to-back Wabash offensive plays and each led to scores as Chris Gasbarra caught a 12-yard touchdown pass from Spud Dick and Jon Ellis reached pay dirt on a 1-yard run to make it 16-0. Paul Gbur intercepted a pass late in the second and returned it 32 yards for the final score of the half and Alex Koors caught a 4-yard pass from Dick on DePauw's opening drive of the second half to make it 30-0. After a pair of Wabash third-quarter touchdowns, Havercamp booted two fourth-quarter field goals for the final points. Dick completed 24 of 29 passes for 227 yards and two touchdowns, while Jon Ellis rushed for 100 yards on 37 carries and became the first DePauw player to reach 100 yards as a freshman in the Monon Bell game since Terry Dickey did so in 1988. Bryan Mulligan hauled in eight catches for 55 yards, while Koors and Gasbarra each grabbed five. Ryan Preuss led the Tigers with eight tackles including two for loss and one of DePauw's four interceptions. 

No. 3 Millsaps overcame seven turnovers, and senior Marcus Harris' 61-yard interception return for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter broke open a 3-point game, to complete the first perfect regular season since the 1980 season in a 31-14 road win at Birmingham-Southern.  In a sloppy ballgame with 20 plus mph winds and on-and-off rain throughout the entire afternoon, the teams combined for nine turnovers (six fumbles, three interceptions) that kept the game interesting and the crowd of close to 1,700 on the edge of their seats the entire 60 minutes.  A gutsy performance from the Majors' defense helped the team to its 12th-straight victory overall, holding BSC to 88 total yards in the first half and just 282 for the game. They also had a combined 13.0 TFL. Junior Lee Klein fell just three tackles shy of a Millsaps single-game record for tackles, recording a career-high 20 on the afternoon, while seniors Cap White (13) and Marcus Stokes (11) both set new career-highs in tackles.  QB Juan Joseph recorded his 11th career 300-yard game with 344 yards on 24-of-35 passing and a score, connecting with Eric McCarty six times for 51 yards to help his senior teammate move past Wes Ingram for first all-time on the career receptions list with 160. Joseph moved into third all-time on the SCAC's career passing list with 8,610 yards and needs just 399 yards to move into first all-time in the league.  Michael Galatas also had four catches for a career-high 120 yards in addition to a 71-yard kickoff return for a score.  On Sunday, Millsaps learned they would be the No. 1 seed out of the South in the Division III Playoffs and will host the No. 8 seed LaGrange College at noon on Nov. 22 at Harper Davis Field.  It's the Majors' third ever playoff appearance and second in three years under head coach Mike DuBose.

Rhodes posted its first shutout of the season in their 17-0 Orgill Cup win at Sewanee. Senior running back Charles Hoggard rushed for a season high 170 yards on 33 carries to lead the offense. For the season Hoggard finished with 799 yards, third best in the SCAC. Senior cornerback Tom Oliver had two interceptions and returned the first one 32 yards for a score in the second quarter. Oliver also led the SCAC in punt returns with a 11.9 average per return. The Lynx defense finished 1st in the SCAC in total defense (269.3) ypg. Mason Mosby led the league in tackles with 118  for a 13.1 average per game and Desmond Hendricks led the league in sacks (8.5) and tackles for loss (17.5).  

Sewanee closed out 2008 on Saturday as the visiting Rhodes Lynx won 17-0 at McGee field. This was the 76th meeting of the two teams and Sewanee leads the series 41-32-3. Offensively, Patrick Shelton (Hickory, N.C., Hickory) completed 15 passes for Sewanee for 98 yards. On the other side of the ball, Defensively, senior Tyler Brantley (Danielsville, Ga., Athens Academy) and newcomer Alfonza Knight (Nashville, Tenn., M.B.A.) each had eight tackles on the day to lead Sewanee, while Chalankis Brown (Millbrook, Ala., Stanhope Elmore) had three tackles and blocked two kicks on the day. The Tigers finished at 2-8 for the season.

Trinity closed out its season with a 38-14 win over Austin College at home on Saturday afternoon, finishing with an overall record of 8-2 and a record of 5-2 in the SCAC. Trinity went up 21-0 before Austin mounted a comeback in the second half.  The visitors cut the lead to just 10 points (24-14) in the third quarter and had possession to try and draw even closer.  As the drive went into the fourth quarter, the Tiger defense held at the goal line, though, stopping two running plays to force a turnover on downs. Following that defensive stand, Trinity went on a 97-yard drive that ended with a touchdown and effectively sealed the victory. Quarterback Bryant Wilson and wide receiver Chris Coleman enjoyed their career-best games for Trinity, playing in their final games with the Tigers.  Wilson was 22-26 for a career-high 316 yards and threw three touchdown passes.  Coleman caught nine passes for a career-best 141 yards and two touchdowns, finishing the year as the leading receiver. Chris Baer also had a solid day for the Tigers, collecting 102 total yards and three touchdowns (two rushing, one receiving).  Defensively, linebackers Jake Huggins and Dennis Grebe combined for 21 tackles, while Bobby Adamson had six tackles to go with an interception and a key forced fumble.

For the complete SCAC Gridiron Weekly for Week 11, click here

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