Time for some midseason awards
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We are just past the midpoint of the Division III with six weeks down and five more to go. So now is the perfect time to give out some midseason awards.
Best team: Mary Hardin Baylor. The Crusaders, currently ranked third in the nation, have rolled through their first five games by a combined score of 219-49. They did not allow a touchdown (or field goal for that matter) in the first half until last Saturday. This team has been so good that the starting quarterback lost his job despite completing nearly 77 percent of his passes. The offense has converted over 50 percent of their third downs and the defense has racked up 23 sacks and forced 14 turnovers. Did I forget special teams? Kicker Alan Munoz puts the Cru in scoring position as soon as they get inside the opponents 35-yard line. Munoz has hit 4-of-5 attempts including a 51-yarder. His only his was from 48 yards. Expect another deep playoff run.
Best game: Mississippi College 47, Millsaps 44. It’s hard to beat a season-opening rivalry game that goes into double overtime. The Majors erased a 17-point deficit in the last nine minutes to tie the game on a 47-yard field goal by Taylor Russolino as time expired. The teams trade touchdowns in the first overtime, but after the Choctaws hold Millsaps to a field goal, Choctaw quarterback Adam Shaffer finds Renard Ellis on a 6-yard scoring pass to end it.
Biggest shootout: Mississippi College 54, Louisiana College 44. The two teams combine for 1,009 yards of total offense. The Wildcats pull to within three points with just under four minutes to go in the game, but Shaffer finishes off La College on a one-yard sneak with 2:33 to go in the game. Wildcat quarterback Ben McLaughlin throws for 387 yards and five touchdowns in a losing cause and has two receivers, Jordan Rideaux and Brian Jackson, go over 140 yards. The Choctaws are more balanced as Shaffer passes for 270 and running back rushed for 126.
Biggest surprise: Centre. The Colonels, who have had just one losing season in the last decade and went 7-3 last season, are currently 6-0. Still, at 3-0 in SCAC, they weren’t expected to be in position to win the SCAC this late in the season. Completing the task won’t be easy, Centre still has trips to Millsaps on Oct. 24 and Trinity on Nov. 7. To make matters worse, super sophomore quarterback Tyler Osterman is lost for the season with a broken leg. Fortunately, for Centre quarterback Grant Conliffe is ready to step in. Ironically, it was Conliffe, whose injury last year, allowed Osterman to gain the starting role. The senior was 20-of-38 for 187 yards last week in the Colonels 14-13 victory over Birmingham-Southern. Sophomore running back Jonathan Pinque currently leads the SCAC in rushing with 598 yards and eight touchdowns.
Biggest disappointment: Hardin-Simmons. The Cowboys were supposed to challenge UMHB for the ASC title this season ranked fifth in the nation at the start of he year. Then, the injury bug struck. Down went the quarterback, leading receiver, an offensive lineman and a couple of defensive backs. Before they knew it, HSU had lost four straight games.
Best moment: McMurry breaks the streak. The school hired Hal Mumme to turn things around. After a couple of near misses and four more losses ran their losing streak to 17, the “Indians” finally broke through with a 45-21 victory over East Texas Baptist. Fans rushed the field, and the “Nation” rejoiced. Last Saturday, they ran their new streak to two with a 37-13 victory over Howard Payne. Can the reach the .500 mark over the next four games? Why not?
Best offensive player: Adam Shaffer. The senior is completing nearly 65 percent of his passes, while tossing 16 touchdowns and just one interception. The Choctaws are currently 4-1 and 3-0 in the ASC and host Mary Hardin-Baylor this week with a shot to take down the four-time defending conference champs. More on that later.
Best defensive player: David Dale, Millsaps. The senior defensive lineman maybe undersized at 6-foot-1, 230 pounds, but his statistical numbers have been impressive. He leads the “Around the South” region (the ASC, SCAC and independents Huntingdon and LaGrange) in sacks (eight) and tackles for losses (11.5.) UMHB defensive line man Marco Coppola and LB Ben Beckworth also deserve mention here.
Best rookie: LiDarral Bailey, quarterback UMHB. The freshman is second in the ASC in rushing (98 per game, including over 10 yards per tote) and has completed 23-of-32 for 326 yards. He’s accounted for six touchdowns (four rushing, two passing) and earned Coach Pete Fredenburg’s confidence by being named the starter this past week. Bailey is a deadly combination for defenses. He is an explosive option quarterback, who can throw efficiently. He is at his best in the pass game scrambling and keeping plays alive and allowing the Cru to convert more third-and-long situations.
Best all-purpose: Jordan Rideaux, receiver/returner. The Louisiana College senior is a multi-threat performer and leads the ASC in all-purpose yardage. He’s caught 38 passes for 554 yards, while averaging 24 yards per kickoff and 15 yards per punt return. He has also run the ball and threw a pass this season. In all, he has seven touchdowns, including a 97-yard kickoff return.
Best coach: Mike Turk, Huntingdon. Turk has the Hawks, currently 4-1, in position to grab a Pool B bid. Huntingdon, an independent, has beaten contenders from both the ASC in Louisiana College and the SCAC in Millsaps. He’ll have to guide the Hawks past former SLIAC foes Westminster and Greenville, before taking on I-85 rival LaGrange. Last season, the Panthers denied the Hawks their best playoff opportunity by beating the 27-17 in the season final weekend. From what I’ve seen on streaming video, Turk has his offensive unit executing at a high level against some teams that maybe be biggest and faster than Huntingdon.
Best player you don’t know much about: Dominique Carson, Sul Ross State. I don’t know anything about this guy either, but the statistics sure look good. He leads the ASC in rushing with 700 yards and nine touchdowns and passed for 387 and two touchdowns. His 287-yard rushing performance against Texas Lutheran was the best in the ASC so far this season. Checking the Lobos roster, you’ll see the 5-foot-7 sophomore listed as a slot.
Best comeback: Huntingdon 47, Millsaps 36. I have to admit that I gave up listening to this game on line when the Majors went up 36-24 with 10 minutes to go in the third quarter. The Majors had gone from trailing 21-7 in the first quarter to a commanding lead. But then two quarterbacks went down for Millsaps and the Hawk offense started rolling again. Quarterback Justin Ridgeway led four scoring drives in the last 20 minutes of the game, the help of some “Major” turnovers. The senior passed for 298 yards and rushed for 60 more. He also completed passes to nine receivers, including two or more to six different players.
Best comeback from an injury: Quincy Daniels and Adam Shaffer. Shaffer, mentioned above, is old hat at this returning from his second season-ending injury this season. Daniels, a 1,500-yard rusher in 2007 who missed most of last season with a knee injury, has gained 472 yards and averaged over six yards per carry for UMHB so far.
Biggest injury: Justin Feaster, and Tyler Osterman. Feaster’s injury was just one of many that derailed a promising season for Hardin-Simmons. The quarterback went down in the Cowboys loss at Linfield, then tried to return the next week against Louisiana College ineffectively. Osterman’s injury has yet to cost undefeated Centre though they nearly fell to Birmingham-Southern 14-13 last week.
Best heads up play: Al Furlow, Trinity. The Tigers were protecting a 31-26 lead over McMurry late in the game. McMurry’s Andrew Wallace forced a fumble and recovered it and appeared to have set the “Indians” up with good field position to make a final drive. Furlow, however, stole the ball back for Trinity and the Tigers were able to run out the clock.
Game of the Week
The game that jumps out at you this weekend is Mississippi College hosting Mary Hardin-Baylor in Clinton with a big crowd expected and a “whiteout” in effect. Both teams are undefeated in the ASC. The winner takes control of conference race with four weeks to go. The Crusaders will be going for a record-tying 34th straight ASC victory and leads the all-time series after winning 10-of-11 meetings.
The Choctaws are scoring points in bunches averaging over 45 points per game, but they are also giving them up in bunches by allowing over 38 per game. So can they hang with the third-ranked team in the nation? Last season, Mississippi College scored first, before the Cru answered with 26 straight to win 26-14.
Obviously, they are going to have to play much better on defense. The Crusaders can score points themselves (43.8), while allowing just 9.8 per game this season. The Choctaws are going to need to win the turnover battle because the available data appear to show that they are capable of stopping the Cro offense.
They will also need to protect quarterback Adam Shaffer since UMHB has already registered 23 sacks this season. One way to protect Shaffer is to run the football effectively. Steven Knight currently ranks fourth in ASC in rushing (86 per game.) A big game from him could help slow down the UMHB pass rush a bit. It would also set up play action and allow Shaffer to through the ball down the field.
Shaffer, a senior, will also have to smart decisions with the football while staying aggressive. I remember a talk I had with Wesley quarterback Chris Warrick a few years ago about the Cru defense. Warrick is the only signal-caller to beat UMHB twice in the past few years. The Crusaders are very aggressive on defense. Their goal is to stop the run and attack the quarterback. But Chris felt that too few teams had attack the Crusaders and that there were big plays out there to be found. He also preferred lining up under center because it gave him a longer time to recognize the defense than when he was in shotgun and had to watch for the snap.
What little success Hardin-Simmons had a few weeks ago in the pass game was a result of the Cru’s aggressive style of play. UMHB left corner Brett Parker alone on the single receiver side in press coverage with no safety help over the top for much of first two and half quarters. The Cowboys made a few plays and loosened the Parker up a bit, but I kept thinking as I watched that a nice slant route would go for a touchdown. (The Cowboys ran mostly fade routes including for their lone touchdown.)
At any rate, it should be interesting.
Contact Me
You can reach me at jason.bowen@capital.k12.de.us, Conrad on Post Patterns or on Facebook at Facebook.com/jasonbowen3. I am back on the road again this week as I travel to Newport News, Virginia to call the Wesley game after a weekend at home with my family. Hope you have a great weekend!