Unlikely heroes lift ACU to win to open season
Two guys who fought their way onto the Abilene Christian University football team as walk-ons stepped into the limelight Thursday night at Shotwell Stadium.
Arthur Johnson, a fifth-year senior, returned a fumble 42 yards for a touchdown, and Casey Carr, a fourth-year junior, set up another touchdown with a 37-yard interception return to spark the No. 5 Wildcats past No. 2 Northwest Missouri State. 19-14, before a storm-battered crowd of 11,322.
Both started out as walk-ons.
“I’m just proud of those guys.” ACU coach Chris Thomsen said. “To be walk-ons in college football and earn scholarships like they have and step up in a big game like says a lot about them.”
It’s the second consecutive year the Wildcats have beaten Northwest Missouri in the season opener.
Defense carries load in Wildcats victory
The Abilene Christian University may be in need of a good body shop to straighten out the dents inflicted Thursday by Northwest Missouri State. The Wildcats, however, never broke down in taking a 19-14 victory over the No. 2 Bearcats at Shotwell Stadium.
With so many new faces on offense, it fell to the ACU defense to keep things in hand in their season opener. Every time it appeared the Bearcats were about to get things going, the defense made the plays to keep No. 5 ACU in the lead, if not in control.
Defensive end Ashton Whiteside capped the performance with a sack and forced fumble on a Bearcats fourth down from the ACU 30-yard line with 3:09 remaining in the game. That final stop allowed the Wildcats to run out the clock.
“It was just a good effort,” Whiteside said. “Our coaches preach to us about running to the ball, running through the block, and our whole defense did a good job of that. The whole time we were talking about ball key, and they didn’t get us once on that.”
UAM Falls in Season Opener
Tarleton State's senior tailback Roderick Smith had four rushing touchdowns at halftime, aiding the Texans to a 45-16 victory over the University of Arkansas at Monticello football team in the 2009 season opener for both squads.
The Texans (1-0) finished the game with 245 yards rushing on 36 carries and limited the Gulf South Conference's best rushing team in 2008, UAM (0-1), to only 82 yards on the ground on 39 carries.
Junior preseason All-GSC quarterback Scott Buisson was also shut down by the TSU defense, gaining only six yards on 14 attempts. Buisson was sacked three times for a loss of 31 yards. Through the air, the Metairie, La. native connected on 17 of 27 pass attempts for 176 yards, including one touchdown pass for 46 yards to senior Spenser Garrison with 9:20 left in the second half. That touchdown drive of three plays and 70 yards lasted only 59 seconds.
Page paces ESU victory
EMPORIA -- La'Darrian Page made a big splash in MIAA football in 2007 as a freshman at Missouri Western, rushing for 1,261 yards to earn second team all-conference honors.
After spending one year at Hutchinson Community College, where he was an All-American, Page is back in the MIAA. Page traded the black and gold of Missouri Western for similar colors at Emporia State, and the results look similar.
Page ran for 153 yards and three touchdowns on 16 carries in his debut, leading the Hornets to a 48-17 season-opening victory against Southwestern Oklahoma State on Thursday at Welch Stadium. Page, a 5-foot-9, 175-pound junior, displayed his speed and elusiveness, breaking off runs of 29, 36 and 50 yards.
"We wanted to come out and be explosive," Page said. "We didn't want to wait until the second quarter to make plays. We wanted to come out fast. I'm happy. I did a good job hitting the holes and finding the creases. The offensive line did a good job blocking for all of the backs and we all got in the end zone at least once."
Reddies Fall in Opener
It was evident which team was the more experienced team Thursday night in Durant, Okla. as Southeastern Oklahoma rolled to a 54-38 victory over Henderson State.
The Savage Storm looked like they were in midseason form as they took advantage of great field position all night while the Reddies showed they were an inexperienced team and to make matters worse Henderson State had to work with a long field nearly every time they had the ball.
There was no doubt that field position was key as SEOSU averaged beginning its offensive series from their own 43 while the Reddies ' average starting field position being their own 25. SEOSU racked up 531 yards of total offense while the Reddies managed just 317.
Mavericks ambush East Central, 48-0
Quarterback Greg Wunderlich engineered a University of Nebraska-Omaha offense that compiled 277 total yards and 19 first downs in the opening half alone as the Mavericks overwhelmed the East Central University Tigers 48-0 Thursday night in the season opener for both teams at Al F. Caniglia Field.
The loss spoiled the second debut of ECU head coach Tim McCarty, who guided the Tigers in 2004 and 2005 before spending the last three seasons at Kansas State. McCarty won both of his season openers those years. But the third time wasn’t meant to be as ECU has now dropped all other of its season openers since winning the initial game of the 1996 season.
RiverHawks Lose Season Opener
Tahlequah, Okla. -- Northeastern State couldn't overcome a ninty-minute rain delay and the pin-point passing for Arkansas Tech quarterback Nick Graziano Thursday night in the RiverHawks season opener.
Graziano passed for 354 yards (26-39-1) and four touchdowns in leading the 24th ranked Wonderboys to a 44-32 win over Northeastern State at Doc Wadley Stadium.
Riverhawks quarterback Woody Wilson was also impressive in his Northeastern State debut passing for 232 yards; (17-33-1) and two touchdowns.
Javelinas want to keep momentum from 2008
KINGSVILLE — The product by no means is finished. A football program that has weaned itself off successive losing seasons for the first time since the turn of the century is decidedly on the rebound. And with a crop of young, energetic coaches, optimism is on the rise within Texas A&M-Kingsville’s football ranks.
While last year’s 7-4 record represented a four-game swing from Bo Atterberry’s first season as coach in 2007, the task now is sustaining the turnaround. That starts with the foundation — the players — and weaving a thread on a yearly basis to ensure the fabric of players remains taut. It is much like the one that made the Javelinas a perennial threat in the Lone Star Conference and on the national stage.
“Obviously you do it through recruiting and staying the course,” Atterberry said. “Making sure even the young guys understand the philosophy and the foundation, the importance and what a privilege it is to be a Javelina. You just continue to try and get the best players in here we can.”
New-look Mustangs ready to build own legacy
Reality smacked Midwestern State coach Venera Flores-Stafford earlier this week. Just five players on this year’s roster recorded stats for last season’s 25-9 squad which achieved the program’s first national ranking as the core of seniors advanced to the Lone Star Conference Tournament three times in the last four years including the school’s first NCAA Division II postseason appearance in 2007.
With just two returning starters and just one returning senior, the Mustangs will have a new look and feel.
“It’s exciting and nerve-wracking going into this season,” Flores-Stafford said. “This team has a fun personality and is very easy to be around. While there is a lot of uncertainty, these girls love to work hard.”
ASU volleyball powers to victory
The Angelo State University volleyball team opened the 2009 season with a dominating victory against New Mexico Highlands in the first game of the Angelo Retina ASU Invitational Thursday at the Junell Center.
Rambelles set to kick off '09 season today
The end of the 2008 season left a bad taste in the mouths of the returning members of the Angelo State University women’s soccer team. In head coach Travis McCorkle’s first season, the Rambelles were 10-4-1 overall and 4-1 in the Lone Star Conference. But over their last five matches, they went 0-3-1 and missed the LSC tournament for the first time since 2002.
Dominguez powers WT to 3-0 victory
West Texas A&M used 10 shots to score three goals in a 3-0 season-opening men's soccer victory against St. Edward's on Thursday at Austin. Forward Victor Olivares and midfielder Jacob Fynboe Jensen hooked up twice for two scores, one in each half. Dominic Furness scored the final WT goal with 41 seconds left.
Buffs cruise in opener
West Texas A&M used 10 shots to score three goals in a 3-0 season-opening men's soccer victory against St. Edward's on Thursday at Austin. Forward Victor Olivares and midfielder Jacob Fynboe Jensen hooked up twice for two scores, one in each half. Dominic Furness scored the final WT goal with 41 seconds left.
Mustangs want to build on momentum in 2009
Admittedly, one season usually doesn’t have an impact on the next. But even Midwestern State coach Jeff Trimble admits with eight starters and 18 letter winners returning from last season’s 14-7 squad which rattled off seven-straight wins to end the regular season just might make the difference in 2009.
“We’re returning so many players, so the confidence could make the difference,” he said. “It will be easier to find our rhythm and play as a team. We will have to find our identity early.”
No. 5 Mustangs start season in transition Two-straight trips to the NCAA Division II national quarterfinals including a venture to the Final Four two seasons ago have placed Midwestern State close to the top of the small college soccer world. It has also given the Mustangs a No. 5 ranking in the preseason NSCAA national poll.
“It’s one of those years where people expect us to win because we’re Midwestern,” MSU coach Doug Elder said. “We’ve been on the top of the mountain and everyone wants to push us off of the hill and everyone feels this is the year for that to happen.”
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