Momentum Pushing Buccaneers Toward Strong Finish
Beloit College Buccaneers (4-4, 4-3 MWC)
at Lawrence University Vikings (1-7, 1-6 MWC)
Saturday, October 30, 2010, 1:00 p.m.
Banta Bowl, Appleton, Wisconsin
The Game: The Buccaneers hit the road for the last time in 2010 when they play at Lawrence University on Saturday afternoon.
The Teams: The Bucs built a big lead and then held on at the end for a 34-7 win over Monmouth College at Strong Stadium last Saturday. The Vikings fell to Lake Forest College in Lake Forest 35-14 on Saturday.
The Coaches: Chris Brann is in his fifth season as head coach of the Buccaneers. He is 2-2 against the Vikings, 1-1 at Banta Bowl. Chris Howard is in his sixth season as head coach of the Vikings. He is 2-3 against the Bucs, 1-1 at Banta Bowl.
The Series: The Buccaneers and Vikings are meeting for the 94th time, the second-oldest series on the Beloit College Football books. Lawrence leads the series 55-34 with five ties. The Bucs have won two straight in the series and ten of the last 13 meetings. The teams first met in 1899, an 11-0 Beloit win. The Buccaneers won the first two meetings before the Vikings put together a 13-1-3 series record between 1902 and 1922.
Buccaneers Last Time Out: Beloit College held on at the end for a 34-27 win over Monmouth College last Saturday at Strong Stadium, the first for the Bucs over the Fighting Scots since the 2002 season. Andrew Christensen started the excitement in the first 13 seconds of the game, returning the opening kickoff 86 yards to put the Bucs up 7-0, a score that held through the rest of the first quarter. Christensen caught a nine-yard scoring pass from Dillon Hess at 13:45 of the second quarter to give Beloit a 14-0 lead before Monmouth got on the board with a one-yard scoring run three minutes later. Mat Kahl booted back-to-back 30-yard field goals, at 4:57 and 2:48, to put Beloit up 20-6. But the Scots scored on a 35-yard pass 18 seconds before the break to make it 20-13, Beloit, at the half. Derek Carrier got in on the fun in the third quarter with a pair of receiving TDs, the first a 79-yarder from Brian Maughn at 11:52 and the second, a 31-yard play, from Odin Grina on a receiver option pass at 4:50. The Buccaneers entered the fourth quarter with a 34-13 cushion and held that advantage until the final seven minutes. Monmouth pulled to within two TDs on a five-yard run at 6:53 and then closed the gap to seven points with 2:29 left in regulation. After a Beloit drive stalled MC drove the ball to the 50 and then, with the clock ticking to :00, threw a pass into the endzone that fell off the receiver's hands to secure the Buccaneer win. Maughn finished with 252 yards passing and the two TDs, going 18-26 on the day. Raymond Thomas led the rushing attack with 56 yards on 17 carries, including an exciting 24-yard run. Carrier caught four passes for 127 yards while Ross had five receptions for 72 yards. Matt Fogerty paced the defense with 12 tackles, eight solo.
Last Time vs. the Vikings: The Bucs used both the ground and the air to get past Lawrence University at Strong Stadium for a 44-14 Midwest Conference win on October 24, 2009. In the process, Brian Maughn set a new Buccaneer single-season record for passing yardage while Julian Ross continued to add to his pass receiving totals for the season while tying a record. Mathew Kahl got things rolling for Beloit with a 23-yard field goal less than five minutes into the game. Maughn and Ross then hooked up for an 81-yard TD play at 3:20 and the Bucs led 10-0 after one. Cody Large broke away for a 75-yard touchdown run 27 seconds into the second quarter to make it 17-0 before the Vikings got on the scoreboard on a 22-yard scoring pass. But the Buccaneers weren't done with their first half just yet. Ross grabbed his second scoring pass from Maughn, from eight yards out, at 8:08 and then Derek Carrier got in on the action 48 seconds before halftime, hauling in a 20-yard touchdown pass from Maughn to make it 31-7 at the break. Ross scored his third TD of the day early in the third quarter on a 55-yard TD reception before Vince Salucci made it 44-7 just before the end of the third quarter, returning an interception 79 yards for a score. LU closed out the scoring early in the fourth with a 54-yard scoring pass. Maughn finished the day with 305 yards passing and a school record-tying four TD passes, the fourth time it's been accomplished in Buccaneer Football history. He passed Jeremy Warren, who threw for 1,980 yards in 1994, with his first completion of the day, a 29-yarder to Carrier. Ross caught seven passes for 186 yards and a school record-tying three TD receptions, accomplishing the feat for the fourth time in Beloit history. Ross also went over 1,700 career receiving yards. Large led the rushing attack with 93 yards on ten carries. On defense, Tony Baratti and Matt Fogerty both had eight tackles and shared a sack. Also getting sacks were Quentin Layne, Kyle Hansgen and Nick O'Block. Hansgen also recovered a fumble, as did Mark Coogan.
Individual Accolades: Julian Ross became the career leader in receptions with his fourth catch on Saturday, passing Mike Meteyard (1993-96). He goes into the Lawrence game with 164 catches. He was already the career leader in receiving yards, a mark he set earlier this season, and receiving touchdowns, a record he set in 2009…Derek Carrier got his name in the record books with his second TD catch on Saturday against Monmouth, giving him nine on the season. That surpassed the previous single-season mark held by Ross (2009) and Meteyard (1994). Carrier also moved into second behind Ross for career touchdown catches and is now fourth in career receiving yards with 1,641…Matt Fogerty has his second straight 12-tackle game against Monmouth after putting up the same number against Ripon College on October 16…Mat Kahl now has six field goals (in ten attempts) on the season after hitting two against Monmouth. Four of his six have been for 30 or more yards (long of 37).
Up Ahead for the Bucs: The Bucs return to Strong Stadium for their home and regular season finale as they host Illinois College in a 1:00 p.m. Senior Day game on November 6.
