Leaders roll, thank Linfield
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D3football.com
It wasn't the fastest of weeks in the South Region. The top teams cruised, the conference standings didn't get shaken up, and there were no earth-shattering upsets.
So does that mean it was a boring week for Division III football fans? Don't count on it.
You can bet that gridiron fanatics in San Antonio and Abilene have plenty to rejoice over this week, and for the most part it has nothing to do with convincing wins by both schools.
Trinity rolled to a 39-7 victory over Rose-Hulman to keep the Engineers winless in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play. And of course Hardin-Simmons didn't have a great deal of trouble with first-year program Louisiana College, waltzing away with a 45-12 win.
Those now ordinarily outstanding accomplishments aside, it was the pluck of an formerly unranked Linfield squad that might have been the best cause for celebration.
After all, Linfield helped both schools climb one spot in the American Football Coaches Association's Top 25 poll after knocking off No. 1 Pacific Lutheran, the defending national champs. That puts Trinity in the No. 3 slot while HSU moved up to No. 4 to help the South Region hold its own in the national poll.
Making a name
Sure, Howard Payne's Richard Green was far and away the best running back in the American Southwest Conference last season, but Austin College tailback Aaron Kernek isn't ready to surrender anything to the Yellow Jacket senior this year.
Despite the fact that Green is averaging 121 yards per game and has scored seven touchdowns to put Howard Payne at 3-0 in ASC play, Aaron Kernek has been every bit as spectacular, even though his Kangaroos haven't been.
Kernek has piled up 552 yards in four games and has found the end zone six times to as one of the lone bright spots on a 2-2 AC team. The Kangaroos picked up their first conference win this week with a 24-21 victory over McMurry, mainly because of Kernek's stellar play.
Kernek hung 225 yards rushing on the Indians and scored three TDs -- from 36, 39 and 5 yards. For his effort, he was awarded conference offensive player of the week honors for the first time this year.
Games of the Week
Trinity at Washington (Mo.) University, 1 p.m. CDT
OK, so the Bears may not be playing up to their potential right now, but this is the same team that went to the playoffs last year and dropped a good game on Hardin-Simmons before getting beaten. It should be one of the toughest tests Trinity has faced so far, though the Tigers are likely to turn the Bears away in dominant fashion. This game is the D3football.com Game of the Week, with pregame at 12:45 Central.
Mississippi College at Hardin-Simmons, 2 p.m.
OK, so this isn't the same Choctaw team that devoured opponents in 1997, but Mississippi College is still the only team to win the American Southwest Conference title other than HSU in the last three years. The Choctaws just knocked off a decent Sul Ross State team, but don't expect a similar outcome this weekend. The Cowboys are just too strong.