SUWANEE, Ga. - The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference opened its 48th season of football (College Athletic Conference 1962-1990) Sept. 5th with six league teams in action. The SCAC went 4-2 in the first week of the season with the two losses totaling a combined six points.
AROUND THE SCAC
Austin College opened
its season with a 34-7 win over Southwest Assemblies of God on
Saturday, piling up 407 yards of offense including 88 yards on 15
carries and two touchdowns by All-Conference running back Ross
Hasten. AC scored early on a 59 yard pass play from Andy Braly to
Greg Harrell, and after SAGU came back to tie things up in the
second quarter, the ‘Roos scored twice in the span of 60
seconds when Hasten scored from 13 yards out and then Nick Zitaglio
picked up a fumble and raced 30 yards for the touchdown. Hasten
added a two yard run and John Reisig kicked a pair of field goals
in the second half for the 34-7 final. Braly completed 10-of-17
passes for 138 yards and added 35 yards on the ground, and Harrell
had three catches for 92 yards. Zitaglio had two tackles for loss
to go along with his fumble return, and Josh Willis had a team-high
eight tackles in the victory. This week the ’Roos go out on
the road to take on McMurry.
Birmingham-Southern got its 2009 season off to an
exciting, but disappointing, start this weekend, losing to LaGrange
College, 30-27, on a field goal as time expired. Juniors David
Langston and Walter Arrington combined for 227 all-purpose yards,
and Langston led with 70 yards rushing on four carries. Junior
quarterback Joe Thigpen was 12-for-18 for 150 yards and two
touchdown passes, and sophomore Eric Nordgren led with 81 receiving
yards on three catches. Senior kicker Raymond Josof made three of
his four extra point attempts, with the fourth one being blocked by
LaGrange. The Panthers are at home for their second game of the
season this Saturday, Sept. 12, hosting Campbell University at noon
at Panther Stadium.
Trailing by seven points entering the fourth quarter, the
Centre College football team scored 21 unanswered
points to rally and defeat Hanover College 34-20 in the
season-opener for both teams Saturday, Sept. 5 in Hanover, Ind. The
Colonels have now won their last five season-opening games,
including a 46-22 over Hanover last year. Centre out-gained Hanover
501-294 in total yards, including a 177-34 advantage on the ground.
Defensively, the Colonels forced two turnovers to extend their
consecutive game streak with at least one turnover to 42 games.
Centre will return home to host Maryville College (Tenn.) in its
home-opener Saturday, Sept. 12 at Farris Stadium in Danville,
Ky.
No. 23 DePauw was idle during week one. Interim
head coach Robby Long and the Tigers open up the 2009 season, the
122nd season in school history, September 12 when they travel to
Anderson (Ind.). DePauw opened up the 2008 season by hosting
Anderson. The Tigers won the game 52-17 behind quarterback Spud
Dick’s four touchdown performance. Dick completed 20-of-26
passes for 254 yards. Wide receivers Bryan Mulligan and Alex Koors
combined for nine catches and totaled 129 yards and three
touchdowns.
Millsaps had a
10-game road winning streak snapped at Mississippi College in its
season-opener, falling in a wild 47-44 double overtime game that
saw the Majors rally from a 24-3 halftime deficit. Junior kicker
Taylor Russolino’s 47-yard field goal as time expired in
regulation sent the game into overtime at 34-34 before the Choctaws
matched a Millsaps field goal in double overtime with a 6-yard
touchdown for the win. In his first career start, senior QB Chris
Graves finished the night 16 of 28 for 331 yards and four
touchdowns (16, 25, 32, 43), silencing any critics he might have
had. Defensively, Mason Burrell, David Dale and Will Hawkins all
had career-high nights with double digit tackles, while junior
Michael Galatas had five catches for 98 yards and two scores on the
offensive side. Millsaps will host Belhaven next week at 1 p.m. in
its home-opener at Harper Davis Field. That game, as well as all
Majors’ football games, will be live online at
www.gomajors.com.
Rhodes rallied from a 14-3 second quarter
deficit, to score 23 unanswered points and defeat the Westminster
(MO) Blue Jays, 26-14 at Fargason Field on September 5th. Junior
wide receiver Matt Gilbert scored two rushing touchdowns and
sophomore running back Nico Lagueruela rushed for a career high 86
yards on 20 carries and scored a touchdown. The Lynx limited
Westminster to 189 yards of total offense and forced 4 turnovers.
Senior defensive back Andy Boucher blocked a punt and had one of
the three Lynx interceptions. Junior linebacker Andrew Meier had a
team high 9 tackles (3 solo) and recorded 1.5 sacks and 2 tackles
for loss. Senior linebacker Kendral Ellison had 5 tackles, 2 sacks
and 2 tackles for loss. Rhodes is now 1-0 on the season. The Lynx
travel to Lawrence, Kan. next weekend to face NAIA foe, Haskel
Indian Nations University.
Sewanee was idle during week one. The Tigers open
up the 2009 season on September 12 when they travel to Lexington,
Va. to take on former College Athletic Conference (CAC) rival
Washington & Lee at 1 p.m. Last year the Generals came away
with a 24-14 win over Sewanee on the Mountain. The Tigers were led
by Bruce Bentley and Chris Murphy who combined for nine catches and
101 yards. Quarterback Patrick Shelton completed 19-of-43 passes
for 198 yards and one touchdown. Washington & Lee leads the
all-time series with Sewanee by a 35-22 margin.
Trinity opened up the 2009 season with a
thrilling 31-26 road win over McMurry University this past
Saturday, winning the team’s 18th consecutive season opener
under head coach Steve Mohr. The Tigers held a narrow 10-7 halftime
lead after scoring the season’s first touchdown late in the
second quarter, then answered a 20-17 fourth-quarter deficit with a
pair of touchdowns to spark the win. Trinity actually fumbled in
the final minute while trying to run out the clock, with McMurry
recovering and Andrew Wallace heading towards the game-winning
return. Instead, running back Al Furlow caught him near midfield,
stripped the ball, and recovered the play’s second fumble to
seal the victory for the Tigers. Defensively Trinity allowed
negative rushing yards (-7) for the game, which was the first time
since 2007 that an opponent failed to get positive rushing yardage.
Prior to 2007, the last time a Tiger team gave up negative yards on
the ground was early in the 2000 season. The Tigers also picked up
five turnovers in the game, three of which went to defensive back
Evan Reville. Reville, who also tied for the team lead with nine
tackles, had two interceptions and a fumble recovery in the game.
Trinity will continue its four-game road trip to start the season
with Saturday’s game against Texas Lutheran University in
Seguin, Texas. The Tigers are 13-8 against TLU all-time, having won
eight of the past nine meetings – including last year’s
24-0 shutout in San Antonio.
For the complete SCAC Gridiron Weekly for Week 1, click here.
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