SUWANEE, Ga. - Week four of the 2010 season saw Centre, DePauw
and Millsaps all tally Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference
wins. Birmingham-Southern, behind three touchdowns from quarterback
Joe Thigpen, earned a 35-20 win at Huntingdon to win the second
annual Wesley Cup.
AROUND THE SCAC
Austin College lost its second
heartbreaker in a row, falling 42-40 in a shootout with Centre on
Saturday. The ’Roos are now 2-2 overall and 0-2 in SCAC play
on the year. Austin College got on the board quickly when Braydon
MaQuar took the first play from scrimmage 60 yards for a touchdown
and went up 14-7 on another MaQuar touchdown run later in the first
quarter, this time from 14 yards out. A touchdown pass from Blake
Towery to Gregory Millerick with 25 seconds left in the half sent
the ’Roos into the locker room leading 20-14. The lead
quickly grew to 33-14 in the third when Kenneth Eneh picked off a
pass and raced 62 yards for a score and two possessions later Matt
Finke stepped in front of a pass and returned it 30 yards for
another pick six. The Colonels offense asserted control, scoring 28
unanswered points over a 13:08 span beginning at the end of the
third quarter and culminating in a touchdown with 2:46 left in the
game to make it 42-33 in favor of Centre. The ’Roos would
battle back with a quick touchdown pass from Travis Zambiasi to
Colton LaRue to make it 42-40 with 57 seconds remaining. MaQuar
carried six times for 92 yards and two scores and added five
receptions to lead the ’Roos and Greg Harrell caught 10
passes for 76 yards. Austin College is off this week.
Birmingham-Southern moved to 3-0 on the
season this week with a 35-20 road victory against in-state rival
Huntingdon College to win the Wesley Cup in the second annual
Wesley Cup Game between the two schools. Huntingdon entered the
contest averaging 53 points a game, but it was the BSC offense that
dominated until the middle of the third quarter. The Panthers were
a perfect 4-for-4 on fourth-down conversions on the day, each on
drives resulting in touchdowns. BSC was led offensively by
Arrington with 108 yards on the ground and two touchdowns. Thigpen
was 8 of 10 passing for 102 yards and a touchdown. He added another
76 yards on the ground and two scores. The Panther defense was led
by junior linebacker Dustin Massey with eight total tackles. Junior
defensive backs Kyle Sebestyen and Andrew Shannon added six stops
apiece.
Centre rallied from 19 points down late in the
third quarter to defeat Austin 42-40 in Sherman, Texas. Trailing
33-14, the Colonels scored 28 unanswered points and held on for the
conference win, their first of the season. Centre out-gained Austin
447-385 in total yards in a game that saw the Colonels convert on
three of four fourth-down attempts. The win is the fourth straight
for Centre over Austin after losing the first meeting between the
two teams in 2006. The game also continued a series of close games
in the series. In the five games played between Centre and Austin,
the largest margin of victory has been seven points. The Colonels
will look to get over .500 both overall and in the conference for
the first time this year next week against Sewanee at Sewanee,
Tenn.
DePauw moved to 3-0 for the third time in the
last four years following a 35-7 win over visiting Sewanee. Senior
quarterback Michael Engle tossed four touchdown passes including a
school-record tying three to all-American Alex Koors. With his 157
receiving yards, Koors broke the DePauw career mark of 2,913 held
by Dan Ryan (1999-02). He also moves into second on the SCAC career
receiving yards list and needs just 220 yards to tie
Trinity’s Jason Hunt (1999-2002) for the SCAC career mark.
Sewanee drove to the DePauw 30 before fumbling on the game's
first series and the host Tigers took advantage on their first
possession as Derrick Karazsia rushed in from 2 yards. DePauw,
however, couldn't capitalize on the next three series as it was
stopped at the Sewanee 3 and missed a pair of field goals. Engle
and Koors teamed for a 61-yard scoring pass with 7:48 left in the
half before Mark Branigan made it 21-0 with a 12-yard strike from
Engle. Koors hauled in touchdown passes of 5 and 43 yards to push
the lead to 35-0 before Sewanee's Ben Cleveland scored on a 22-yard
pass from Lee Schurlknight with 8:50 left. Engle completed 25 of 37
passes for a career-high 384 yards and no interceptions. Koors
hauled in six for 157 yards as he topped the 100-yard plateau for
the 13th time in his career and extended his streak of catching a
pass to 32 games.
Millsaps traveled down to San Antonio this
week and handed a 27-23 loss to Trinity thanks to a fourth quarter
surge. The Tigers held a 23-14 advantage going into the final 15
minutes of the game Saturday afternoon, but the Majors rattled off
13 unanswered points, including a 67-yard touchdown pass to Shane
Bowser that put the game squarely in the Majors’ favor.
Millsaps had two different 100-yard receivers on the day, as both
Jason O'Rear and Shane Bowser broke the century mark. O'Rear
finished with eight catches for 104 yards and a touchdown, while
Bowser caught five passes for 167 yards and a score. Bowser's
67-yard touchdown put Millsaps ahead for good, and it was actually
thrown by O'Rear on a trick play. The Majors will look to remain
perfect in conference play this weekend as they return to Harper
Davis Field to host the DePauw University Tigers for a 1:00 p.m.
kickoff.
Rhodes had the week off. The Lynx (2-1 overall, 1-0 SCAC)
return to action Oct. 2 when they host the LaGrange (Ga.) Panthers.
Rhodes has won two of the past three matchups with LaGrange. In
2008, the Panthers held the Lynx to just 87 total yards in a 14-3
win. Rhodes last beat LaGrange (Ga.) on Sept. 8, 2007 in a 28-21
victory.
Sewanee gave up a turnover on each of their first two
drives of the day and were never able to recover, as they dropped
their SCAC opener to host DePauw 35-7. Sewanee fumbled on their
opening possession and the host Tigers were able to recover,
quickly converting it into their first touchdown of the day.
Sewanee quarterback Lee Schurlknight was intercepted on the ensuing
drive but the Tigers were able to hold DePauw on 4th and 2 and get
the ball back on downs. Sewanee followed with a three and out but
senior Chalankis Brown blocked Eric Malm’s field goal attempt
and the purple Tigers were able to hold DePauw again. After another
failed drive by Sewanee, DePauw promptly added two more scores to
put the hosts up 21-0 heading into the locker room. DePauw scored
twice in the second half, going ahead 35-0, before Sewanee was able
to find the end zone. Schurlknight orchestrated a 76-yard drive
that culminated with a 22-yard touchdown pass to Ben Cleveland.
Trey Knighton added the extra point, making it 35-7, which would
stand until the final buzzer. Sewanee gained 130 rushing yards and
137 passing yards on the day, with 17 first downs. Schurlknight
finished the day 18 of 33 passing with one interception. Alfonza
Knight paced the Sewanee defensive effort with 16 tackles and one
pass break up. Sewanee is now 1-3 on the season and 0-1 in SCAC
play. The Tigers will host Centre next weekend in an SCAC
match-up.
Trinity lost its second straight game on Saturday,
falling 27-23 at home to Millsaps. The loss puts
Trinity’s record below .500 for the first time since the 1993
season. It also marks the first time since 1995 that the team has
lost more than one home game during the regular season. The Tigers
actually led 23-14 heading into the final quarter against Millsaps,
but the visitors held Trinity to just 64 yards of offense in the
second half and no first downs during the crucial fourth quarter.
Caleb Urban finished with more than 200 all-purpose yards in the
game, while Patrick Granchelli topped 100 yards rushing for the
first time in his young career. Urban’s 127 yards in kickoff
returns are the fifth-most in TU history. Patrick Dickinson became
the first Trinity QB since 2001 (Roy Hampton vs. UMHB) to score
three rushing touchdowns in a game. Up next, Trinity will hit the
road for the first time this season, facing off against
Birmingham-Southern College. The Tigers have won all three meetings
in the series, which began when BSC joined the conference in
2007.
For the complete
SCAC Gridiron Weekly for Week 4,
click
here.