Numbers don't add up for TLU
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Trinity took an early lead on the strength of Kelly Altman’s 32-yard field goal, but TLU — behind a huge offensive line and displaying excellent speed to the corners — took control. Quarterback Sean Salinas (18-of-39, 328 yards, two interceptions) found a streaking Jason Trahan for 35 yards and a touchdown. Another Salinas-led drive saw the Bulldogs stall within the shadow of the goal posts, and TLU had to be content with a 20-yard Holt Storrie field goal. As the earlier extra point was blocked, TLU’s lead stood at 9-3.
Jacob Cannon (9-for-28, 287 yards, two interceptions) made the most of his few completions. The first of three touchdown tosses came on a screen to Robert Kelner, who got past his man at the line of scrimmage and raced 31 yards to score. A 90-minute lightning delay couldn’t cool Kelner off, either; the senior got behind the TLU defense to score on a 75-yard catch-and-run on Trinity second possession after the storms left. Freshman safety Brandon McCoy turned things around for the Bulldogs when he anticipated an out pattern, returning a slightly underthrown ball 47 yards to bring TLU to within two at the half.
Trinity coach Steve Mohr knows Cannon has some learning to do: “I think he’s still learning — he’s kind of hot and cold … he’s playing like a kid who’s starting his second football game ever. I think when he starts to get more game experience under his belt, that he’s got all the tools and all the talent to be a pretty good one.”
Momentum continued to swing back and forth the rest of the game. Cannon found Austin Kremers for 61 yards on Trinity’s first possession of the second half, setting up a 4-yard Jon Plotnick run to re-establish a nine-point lead. Trinity held and went to the running game, with Jerrold Jones finally able to find small gaps in the line to set up a 16-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Hicks. Just when TLU seemed out of it, though, they implemented a hurry-up offense that left Trinity’s in need of adjustment. The first drive ended with an interception in the end zone, but Salinas did led his charges back after a short punt gave the Bulldogs possession at midfield. A game Chris Edwards caught two passes totaling 34 yards, Darrell White got the ball to the 2 with a 13-yard catch, and Salinas himself did the honors, scoring on a 2-yard sneak. This time the two-point conversion was good, and Texas Lutheran found itself within a touchdown and two-point conversion of tying the game.
Cannon and company were unable to sustain any drives thanks to numerous dropped passes. Some were released due to good play from TLU’s secondary, but others were plain dropped. It was up to Trinity’s defense — now going with only a three-man rush — to keep the Bulldogs at bay, and that they did, forcing a punt from midfield, and then causing three straight turnovers. First was an interception by a diving Lee Patterson; second, a recovered fumble caused by Andrew Baker; finally, on downs when Dustin Allen sacked Salinas on fourth-and-35. The much-maligned Trinity defense, which earlier had problems covering receivers on delay patterns, made the plays to seal the game, a 31-23 win.
Mohr said: “Dustin Allen is awesome; he’s going to cause problems wherever he lines up. David Morgan for a second-year kid is really starting to play well. I thought our defensive line did a super job.
“(TLU is) a much improved team; we knew they would be, and we’re not quite where we want to be yet.”
Salinas’ 328 yards through the air was good enough to establish the all-time passing record for TLU. Edwards had seven receptions for 129 yards while playing hurt; Jason Trahan had four more for 105, and Coy Schneider added 76 yards on five catches. The only receivers with more than one reception for Trinity were Kelner (131 yards on three catches), and Anthony Hicks, who added 17 yards on two receptions.
TLU’s rushing game, effective early, ended the night with only 51 total yards. Bobby Lee had 52 yards on 12 carries. Trinity’s ground attack was led by Jerrold Jones, who had 67 yards on 23 tough carries, and by Anthony Hicks, who posted 33 yards on two ends around.
Will Gavit led the TLU defense with ten tackles (four solo); Jake Dearing was active with nine (three solo). The “Black Flag,” which recorded five sacks, got eight tackles (five solo) from Donny Palmertree along with a fumble recovery. Ted Barnhart added six tackles (five solo) and an interception. David Morgan blocked TLU’s first extra point; his four tackles included three sacks, all solo. Kelner and Morgan were named SCAC offensive and co-defensive player-of-the-week for their efforts.
What conclusions can be drawn from this game? The gap between Texas Lutheran and Trinity is narrowing, but it is still there. It would have been educational to see the teams play with both having the benefit of an earlier game. Perhaps next year TLU can schedule Austin College for its opener and Trinity in Week 2. That would put the two teams on more equal footing and let us judge them more fairly against each other.
No. 13 UW-La Crosse 34, at Howard Payne 6
The other ASC team in action against a top-20 opponent did not fare as well. The visitors from Wisconsin overwhelmed Howard Payne, spoiling the debuts of new head coach Mike Redwine and transfer quarterback Adam Johson.
The Eagles (1-1) got right down to business, scoring on an eight-play, 77-yard touchdown drive despite being held in check on the ground. Quarterback John Schumann completed three passes for 75 yards, the last a strike to Ted Everson to put the Eagles on top. The Yellow Jackets (0-1) were able to force a fumble on La Crosse’s next possession, but Johnson and the offense were stymied most of the first half. La Crosse scored again when Schumann found Everson again, this time for 9 yards.
Johnson’s first pass on Howard Payne’s next possession was picked off by Dan Hall, and five plays later Corey Geldernick scored from three yards out. Johnson and the ’Jackets finally got it going on the next drive, a 13-play, 77-yard drive effort highlighted by three Johnson rushes totaling 24 yards and Johnson’s first Division III touchdown throw, six yards to Chris Johnson. Steve Tennies replaced Schumann at quarterback for La Crosse and found Jason Wagner for 43 yards and a score. Johnson tried to rally the troops for a halftime score, but ran out of time with the ball on the La Crosse 18, trailing 27-6.
Howard Payne was unable to mount any sort of a second-half challenge. The Jackets’ first drive ended in a fumble inside the Eagle 30. HPU turned the ball over on downs at midfield on the second, and Johnson was intercepted on both the third and fourth. La Crosse’s Schumann found Mark Wilcox to close out the scoring with over a quarter left to play.
In his first Division III action, Adam Johnson was 24-for-40 for 198 yards, three interceptions, and one touchdown. Gregory Nixon (64 yards), Brandon Tolbert (51 yards) and Chris Jackson (25) each had five receptions for the Yellow Jackets. Juan Gallow added 69 yards rushing on 71 carries, and HPU was actually only outgained 386-342. There appears to be potential in Brownwood if the team eliminate some mistakes.
Elsewhere around the Region
No. 2 Mary Hardin-Baylor 45, at Willamette 24: 504 total yards overcame five turnovers as the Crusaders opened their season with an easy win at Willamette (0-2). It was 38-10 at the half. Freddie Rollins had 122 yards rushing and Jarvis Thrasher had 108 in his first start. Thrasher’s first touch resulted in a 55-yard touchdown run.
Sul Ross State 24, at Southwestern Assemblies of God 20: The Lobos came from behind to uphold the Division III banner against their NAIA opponent. SAGU (1-1) led 20-0 early in the second but could not hold off the surging Lobos, who totaled 429 offensive yards. T. J. Barber led the way with 146 yards and one touchdown on 31 carries. This marks the first time this century that Sul Ross has won its opener.
Centre 36, at Kenyon 25: After yielding the lead for the first time all day, Centre’s defense shut down Kenyon (0-1) for the final 29:21 to go 2-0 for the first time since 2003. The Colonels (2-0) got the win despite being outgained 453-352. Junior quarterback Kevin Phelps was 16-of-26 for 177 yards while Matt Johnson was a defensive force. The sophomore linebacker recorded 13 tackles (12 solo), forced a fumble, and broke up a pass. Junior Brian Dougherty (11 tackles, four solo, 1½ for loss and a blocked extra point) was named SCAC co-defensive player-of-the-week.
Huntingdon 23, at Sewanee 6: After losing starting quarterback Wes Satterfield to injury before the season started, Sewanee suffered yet another blow when his replacement, Patrick Meighan, broke a collarbone in the Tigers’ 23-6 loss to visiting Huntingdon. Sewanee’s only remaining quarterback, 5-6, 145-pound freshman Chris Murphy was forced to go the rest of the way. He was a creditable 10-for-18 with two interceptions, but only gained 69 yards. Meighan completed six of 11 for 50 yards before his injury. Sewanee’s only score came on a halfback pass from Blake Mears to Patrick Scott. The Hawks (1-0) leaders included Willie Horn, with 65 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries, and quarterback Zach Golson, 9-for-23 for 128 yards and two scores. George Twitty had 12 tackles to lead Sewanee; Bryan Wells had two interceptions for Huntingdon.
Mount St. Joseph 49, at Rose-Hulman 7: The Engineers (1-1) came back to earth in a methodical 49-7 grounding by 2004 HCAC champion Mount St. Joseph (2-0). Rose-Hulman led 7-0 and could have led 10-0 had the Lions not blocked a field goal attempt on the Engineers’ first drive. From that point on, however, Mount St. Joseph was in control, increasing a 21-7 halftime lead by 14 points in each of the final two stanzas. Junior quarterback Cameron Hummel completed 14 of 27 for 113 yards and added 65 on the ground; SCAC rushing leader Charley Key was limited to 53 yards on 20 carries. Mike Alto had eight tackles for Rose-Hulman.
Keeping score
The SCAC closed non-conference play with a 3-0 record against the ASC. The games that count, however, will be those that occur during the playoffs.
Games of the week
Texas Lutheran at No. 2 Mary Hardin-Baylor: After a tough loss to Trinity, it doesn’t get any easier for the Bulldogs as they visit Mary Hardin-Baylor in the ASC opener for both teams. The Crusaders go from facing a running-oriented team (Willamette) to one that favors throwing the ball.
Rhodes at Centre: A battle of undefeateds; the winner gets a leg up in the SCAC race. Centre (2-0) has two fairly unimpressive wins so far, and Rhodes has not played since a 45-35 win against Louisiana College in week one.
Millsaps at Concordia-Selma: The Majors finally hit someone besides their own guys in their season opener against provisional NAIA member Concordia-Selma (2-1). This game will count, according to the NCAA. Concordia has won two straight, 25-6 over NAIA foe Allen University (0-1) and 75-8 over Atlantic College in Charlotte, a first-year program that might be a club program.
All American Southwest Conference teams open conference play this week. Besides the games highlighted above, Mississippi College makes the long trip to Sul Ross (go ahead, Mapquest Clinton, Miss., to Alpine, Texas — thank goodness they fly) and Howard Payne travels to East Texas Baptist. Rhodes/Centre is the only SCAC tilt on the agenda.
South Region Top Five
1. Mary Hardin-Baylor (1-0, 0-0)
2. Hardin-Simmons (1-0, 0-0)
3. Trinity (Texas) (2-0, 0-0)
4. Rhodes (1-0, 0-0)
5. Texas Lutheran (0-1, 0-0)
Honorable mention: Centre (2-0), Millsaps (0-0), DePauw (0-1),
Next week
Thanks to frequent D3football.com poster Josh Bowerman, I’ll be taking in the festivities in Abilene this weekend. The day begins with a noon opener between McMurry and Austin College, followed by a 2 p.m. start between Hardin-Simmons and Louisiana College. This will not only give me a chance to see one of the top teams in the region (that would be Hardin-Simmons for those taking notes), but two teams I’ve never had the pleasure of watching — McMurry and Louisiana College. Josh will be taking photos and I’ll be reporting. It would have been nice if the HSU start could have been at 3 … hey, if CBS can move a start time, why not D3football.com? Just kidding, guys.
Questions, comments, and story ideas are always welcome at ron.boerger@d3football.com.