
SUWANEE, Ga. - Millsaps College and Trinity
University remained undefeated in the SCAC with convincing
victories over Centre College and Rhodes College respectively on
Saturday, October 11.
No. 12 Millsaps (6-0, 4-0 SCAC) stayed perfect on
the season and in SCAC play with a 46-26 road win at Centre College
last weekend. Senior receiver Eric McCarty moved into second on
Millsaps' all-time reception list with 10 catches for 101 yards and
a score and senior defensive back Marcus Harris picked up his 14th
career interception as the Majors earned a tough win. Despite being
out gained in total yards 398-368, Millsaps built off a 20-7
halftime lead and held off three late touchdowns from the home team
over the final 12:34 to win its eighth-straight game dating back to
last year. The Majors made good on seven of its eight red zone
possessions on the day, with the lone turnover coming off an
interception on the 1-yard line on a deflected ball. All-American
hopeful Juan Joseph was 27-of-42 for 274 yards and three TDs,
hitting McCarty with his second 100-yard receiving game of the
season and Andrew Langston five times for 59 yards and score.
Bowser and Whitmore grabbed the other two TDs through the air.
Senior Michael Sims took over the team lead in tackles with eight
on the afternoon along with Lee Klein, as both defenders picked up
a sack in the win. Along with Harris, Jacob Hanberry had a pick for
29-yards. Millsaps will host Sewanee (2-4, 1-3 SCAC) this Saturday,
Oct. 18 at 1 p.m. while Centre is idle. The Majors have won four of
the last five against the Tigers, winning last year at Sewanee
45-7.
No. 18 Trinity posted its second shutout in four
games, defeating Rhodes College 17-0 in SCAC action. The Tiger
defense gave up just 114 total yards of offense - including a scant
22 yards rushing - and forced two turnovers in the game. Trinity
has two shutouts in one season for the first time since 2003 when
the Tigers held both Texas Lutheran and Sewanee without a score.
The last time Trinity had three shutouts in one season was 1999
when the team blanked DePauw, Rose-Hulman, and Centre. Bryant
Wilson threw for a career-high 288 yards in the game, connecting on
25-33 passing. Riley Curry was his favorite target, catching 11
passes for 122 yards and a touchdown. Chris Baer also went over 100
yards rushing for the fourth time in five games. Defensively,
linebackers Kyle Coats and Jeff Jones led the team in tackles with
seven stops each, while Coats also had an interception late in the
fourth quarter to seal the win and preserve the shutout. Up next
for Trinity will be another SCAC showdown with DePauw University.
The two schools come into the game as the second and third place
teams in the conference standings. Trinity leads the all-time
series with a 9-0 record, but four of those wins have been decided
by less than 10 points. Last season in Greencastle, Indiana,
Trinity won 43-28 to improve to 5-1 on the season.
For the second consecutive week the Austin College
football team used a big second half to come from behind for a
victory, this time getting 23 second half points on their way to a
33-22 win over the Sewanee Tigers on Saturday. Three first
half turnovers put the 'Roos in a 20-10 hole going into the break
but the Austin College defense turned it up in the second half with
Tilden Leamon getting a 52 yard pick six and Josh Willis adding two
interceptions, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Ross
Hasten had two runs of better than 50 yards on his way to 132 yards
on just 12 carries and Matt Burton had a 34 yard touchdown run in
the second quarter. Momentum in the game shifted in the 'Roos
favor in the third quarter when Hasten raced 52 yards for a score
and on the very first Sewanee play on the next series Leamon had
his interception return to put the 'Roos ahead for good. Andy
Braly added a 16 yard touchdown toss to Zach Koerner and Willis
came up with both of his interceptions late in the fourth to seal
the win. This week the 'Roos will be looking for their third
straight win when they go on the road to face Birmingham-Southern
on Saturday.
The Birmingham-Southern football team suffered
another disappointing loss this week, losing to DePauw on the road,
31-21, after leading the Tigers for much of the game until the
fourth quarter, when DePauw scored 18 unanswered points to rally
and win. The Panthers return home this week, taking on Austin
College at noon on Saturday at Hoover High School in Hoover,
Ala.
Centre dropped its third game of the season in a
46-26 loss to No. 12 Millsaps College. Trailing 10-7 with 1:37 left
in the first half, the Colonels allowed a field goal to fall behind
13-7. After the Millsaps kick-off, Centre's first play was
intercepted at its own 25-yard line. One play later, Millsaps
completed a 23-yard touchdown pass to take a 20-7 lead into the
break. The Colonels allowed 13 points in the third quarter to fall
behind 33-7 on the way to the 20-point defeat. Centre out-gained
the Majors 398-368 in total offensive yards and held a 33:43-26:17
advantage in time of possession. The Colonels will be off this week
before returning to action Saturday, Oct. 25 at home against
Birmingham Southern. The game will be played as part of Centre's
Homecoming Weekend.
Colorado College had the weekend
off. The Tigers return to the field Oct. 18 when they travel to
Memphis, Tenn. to square off against the Rhodes Lynx. CC and Rhodes
both are in search of their first SCAC wins of the year, while the
Tigers look to pick up their first win of the 2008 season. Last
year after their bye week, the Tigers knocked off Pomona-Pitzer
37-21.
DePauw won its fifth straight game at Blackstock
Stadium after rallying from a 14-point halftime deficit to defeat
Birmingham-Southern, 31-21. After committing four first-half
turnovers and allowing 315 yards, the Tigers turned things around
in the second half by scoring 24 straight points, gaining 315
yards and allowing just 39 yards and two first downs over the
game's final 30 minutes. The Tigers scored on the game's first
series and the Panthers tied the contest its first play before
Birmingham-Southern took a 21-7 halftime lead. DePauw scored on
each of its first four second half possessions. Spud Dick completed
37 of 45 passes for 395 yards, all of which were career highs, with
two touchdowns. Dick connected on all 11 third quarter passes in
the win. Bryan Mulligan hauled in 11 catches for 77 yards for his
second career double-digit reception game. DePauw out gained the
Panthers 475-354 and totaled 27 first
Rhodes lost 17-0 to Trinity in San Antonio, TX.
The Lynx held Trinity to 95 yards rushing in 42 attempts, and
continue to lead the SCAC in rushing defense (55.0 ypg). The Lynx
also lead the SCAC in total sacks, with 23. Lynx senior
tailback Charles Hoggard rushed 15 times for 39 yards and has 380
yards on 94 carries in 5 games. Hoggard is currently third in the
SCAC in rushing (76.0 ypg). Lynx senior defensive back Tom Oliver
leads all SCAC punt returners with a 10.0 average per return and
junior Brandon Valentine leads all kick returners with a 22.7 yards
per return average. Senior linebacker Mason Mosby leads all
tacklers in the SCAC with 68 tackles and senior linebacker Desmond
Hendricks continues to lead the SCAC in sacks (7.5) and tackles for
loss (12).
Sewanee got up early on Austin College on Saturday
and led 20-10 at the half, but the 'Roos rallied in the second half
to top the Tigers 33-22. Sewanee led the game in total offense with
361 total yards, compared to 223 for the Pirates. The Tigers earned
20 first downs and Austin only had 10. Patrick Shelton threw for
253 yards for Sewanee, 117 of them to Bruce Bentley. Defensively,
Chalankis Brown grabbed an interception for Sewanee, taking his
season total to seven. He is leading the league in picks currently.
Brown had six total tackles on the day. Sewanee fell to 2-4 with
the loss and is 1-3 in the league. The Tigers will face Millsaps on
the road next weekend.
For the complete SCAC Gridiron Weekly for Week 6,
click here.