NCAA Regional Rankings 10-12 and LSC Weekly Football release

Super Regional 4 Rankings Oct 12

1. Abilene Christian (LW 1)
2. Central Washington (2)
3. Northwest Missouri (3)
4. Missouri Western (4)
5. Texas A&M Kingsville (6)
6. Washburn (5)
7. Central Missouri (10)
8. Angelo State (7)
9. Tarleton State (NR)
10. Nebraska-Omaha (NR)
    

Fort Hays State and Midwestern State dropped out after losses last weekend.

Lone Star Conference Football weekly release (10/12/09)
LSC Football Blitz
For the first time since Abilene Christian began playing NCAA Division II football, the Wildcats have been voted the No. 1 team in the nation. The Wildcats moved from No. 2 in the nation to No. 1 in Monday’s American Football Coaches’ Association (AFCA) poll after a 38-14 win over then-No. 23 Angelo State on Saturday and previous No. 1 Grand Valley State’s 27-24 upset loss against previously unranked Hillsdale (Mich.). The last time a LSC team was ranked No. 1 was in 1998 when Central Oklahoma held the top spot for the last three regular season polls. Before that, Texas A&M-Kingsville was No. 1 the last two polls of 1996.

All 13 Lone Star Conference teams are in action during week seven with five divisional, one crossover and one non-conference contest scheduled.

Divisional play continued last week with Southeastern Oklahoma and Northeastern State posting wins in the North Division, while ACU, Tarleton State and West Texas A&M prevailed in the South. TAMUK won the only crossover game to improve the South’s record to 19-2 in crossover contests.

Two teams - ACU and TAMUK - remain unbeaten with 7-0 records in 2009.

In week seven the LSC had four quarterbacks throw for 300-plus yards, five receivers and two rushers over the century mark and 13 double-digit tacklers. Top performances included:
Passing: 371, Taylor Harris (27-43-1), WTAMU vs ENMU
Rushing: 34-109, Chris Davis, NSU vs SWOSU
Receiving: 6-142, Daniel Morrell, UCO at SE
Tackles: 16, D’Angelo Waites, ASU vs ACU

Players of the Week
NORTH OFFENSIVE
Justin Pitrucha, Southeastern Oklahoma, Jr., QB, Carrollton, Texas/Hebron HS
Pitrucha turned in his first 300-yard passing game of the season to help the Savage Storm to a 41-24 homecoming win over Central Oklahoma. He completed 37-of-51 passes for 317 yards on the day, finding the endzone three times. Pitrucha picked apart the UCO defense, finding nine different receivers. Despite only posting a long of 33 yards, he did have four completions of 20 yards or more, all to different receivers.

NORTH DEFENSIVE
Noe Lopez, Southeastern Oklahoma, Sr., LB, Dallas, Texas/Irving-Nimitz HS
Lopez paced Southeastern’s defense in its 41-24 homecoming win over Central Oklahoma. He found the endzone after picking off a pass and returning it 60 yards for the score. On the day he posted a team-high seven stops, five solo and two assisted. He had a pair of tackles for loss, including a sack. He also chipped in a quarterback hurry.

NORTH SPECIAL TEAMS
Cole Jones, Southeastern Oklahoma, Sr., PK, Greenville, Texas/Greenville HS
Jones connected on a pair of field goals and added five PAT’s to help Southeastern to a 41-24 win over Central Oklahoma on homecoming. He connected on field goals from 23 and 46 yards, and for the second-straight week hit a field goal as time expired in the first half. He was also a perfect 5-for-5 on extra points, scoring 11 points total in the game. He is now 6-of-7 on field goals for the year.

SOUTH OFFENSIVE
Billy Garza, Texas A&M-Kingsville, Sr., QB, Brownsville, Texas/Porter HS
Garza had a coolly efficient game on Saturday and kept the team calm in the face of adversity. He broke his own school record by completing 31 passes in the game. Overall, he was 31-of-42 for 308 yards and three touchdowns. Garza saved his best play for the end of the game. In the fourth quarter with the team trailing and the defense knowing he would pass he went 9-for-10 for 89 yards and two touchdowns. For the season, Garza has been spectacular in the fourth quarter going 31-for-37 for 359 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions which computes to a 200.96 quarterback rating.

SOUTH DEFENSIVE
Fred Thompson, Abilene Christian, Jr., LB, Houston, Texas, St. Pius X HS
Thompson was at the center of a dominating ACU defensive effort in a 38-14 win last Saturday night over Angelo State. ... In the first quarter, Thompson partially blocked a field goal attempt to keep the Rams off the scoreboard. ... In the fourth quarter he forced Angelo State turnovers on back-to-back possessions to help the Wildcats put away the Rams and improve to 7-0 on the season. ... First he tipped a Josh Neiswander pass that was intercepted by Drew Cuffee, and on ASU’s ensuing possession, Thompson sacked Neiswander, forcing a fumble that was recovered by Marvin Jones. ... ACU scored after the sack and fumble to put the game away. ... Neiswander had only been sacked five times and thrown three interceptions in the Rams’ first six games, but he was sacked three times and threw two interceptions against ACU. ... Thompson had two of the sacks and three of the Wildcats’ six quarterback hurries in the game.

SOUTH SPECIAL TEAMS
Garrett Lindholm, Tarleton State, Sr., K, Pflugerville, Texas/Pflugerville HS
Lindholm hit two field goals in the final 12 seconds of Saturday’s contest, including a 55-yard school-record boot as time expired, to lift the No. 15 Texans over No. 18 Midwestern State. Lindholm was three-for-three in field goals on Saturday. He put Tarleton’s first points on the board with 9:29 left in the second quarter after connecting from 44 yards away before later tying the game at 28 with 12 seconds left in the game. The tying field goal was good from 36 yards. The senior then kicked a high pooch kick, and following a MSU fumble on the return, the kicker nailed the 55-yard winner against the wind as time clicked off the game clock. Lindholm also scored two extra points and tallied six kickoffs for 356 yards, an average of 59.3 yards per kick.