Beloit College Buccaneers (0-3, 0-2 MWC)
at Knox College Prairie Fire (0-3, 0-2 MWC)
Saturday, September 24, 2011, 1:00 p.m.
Knosher Bowl, Galesburg, Illinois
Game Notes
Shaking It Off: The Buccaneers have lost their first three games four times in the last 20 seasons, the last time in 2007. In that 2007 season they won the season finale in overtime to springboard to a 5-5 mark in 2008. In 2005 they won five of the last six games to also finish 5-5. They went winless in 1996 but many of the same personnel from that season won 17 games over the next three seasons. In 1993 they won three of their last four to end up 3-6. History is on their side for a turnaround.
Notes from Carroll: DB Kenny Williams had a career night. He returned the opening kickoff 83 yards to jumpstart the big home-opening crowd. Then he intercepted his third pass in three games on Carroll's ensuing drive. He finished with 205 yards on seven kickoff returns (29.3)…P/WR Dillon Hess averaged 37.6 yards on five punts on the night, including a long of 49…RB Raymond Thomas had a career-high 76 yards rushing on 14 carries…Second-year RB Dan Collins and first-year RB Zach Draus both scored their first collegiate TDs. Draus finished with 55 yards rushing on nine carries while Collins had 21 yards on seven carries…
The Series: The Buccaneers and Prairie Fire are meeting for the 95th time, the third most-played series on the Beloit Football books. The Bucs lead the series 51-41 with two ties. Beloit has won ten of the last 13 meetings, including the last three seasons. The teams first met back in 1899 in a 6-6 tie.
Buccaneers Last Time Out: The Buccaneers had their opening night on the new Karris Track & Field at Strong Stadium spoiled by Carroll University last Saturday as the Pioneers grabbed a 49-20 victory. Kenny Williams thrilled the 2,800 fans in the first 11 seconds of the game with an 83-yard kickoff return for the first score on the new field. The point-after was missed to make it 6-0. But Carroll came right back on a 53-yard scoring pass from Ryan Young to Nate Soddy to take a 7-6 lead and then added a seven-yard TD run by Drew Wolkmann to make it 14-6 with 6:10 left in the first quarter. CU shocked the crowd with one more score on a 77-yard pass and run from Young to Soddy with three minutes left and led 21-6 after one quarter. The Pioneers increased their advantage to 28-6 just over three minutes into the second quarter on Joe Beckstrand's 10-yard run and added an eight-yard run by Volkmann at the 6:11 mark to lead 35-6. Beloit got the last score of a hectic opening half on a one-yard run by Dan Collins to cap a 10-play, 59-yard drive with 1:31 remaining to make it 35-14 at the break. Carroll got the only score of the third quarter on a one-yard run from Beckstrand and led 42-14 heading into the fourth. The Buccaneers cut into the lead at the 9:29 mark of the final quarter on Zach Draus' one-yard run before CU closed out the scoring with a three-yard scoring run with 2:11 left by Tim Haumschild. Beloit was plagued by turnovers in the contest, committing seven, but rushed for 194 yards. They passed for 93. Carroll finished with 393 yards of offense, 256 thru the air. Raymond Thomas led Beloit with 76 yards rushing while Terence Steward had 56. Beckstrand finished with 99 on 18 carries. Brian Maughn passed for 93 yards while Derek Carrier had 60 yards on five catches and also rushed once for seven yards. Young finished with 256 yards passing while Soddy caught three passes for 143 yards. Williams had 205 yards in kickoff returns on seven attempts. Will Mack led the defensive effort with nine tackles while Vince Salucci had seven. Williams also had an interception, his third in as many games, while Mack picked off his second of the season. Derrell Carter had the team's lone sack. Mike Dziewit led the Pioneers with nine tackles and two sacks while Josh Zank added eight tackles and a sack. Ted Van Thiel had an interception late in the game, returning it 71 yards, to set up the final score. Dziewit also picked off a pass, returning it 27 yards.
Last Time vs. the Prairie Fire: The Bucs sent 1,250 Buccaneer Homecoming fans home happy on September 25, 2010, with a 42-7 win over Knox College at Strong Stadium. Senior linebacker Tony Baratti had his fourth straight double-figure tackle game with ten and in the process became Beloit's all-time leader in total tackles, passing former #1 David Bilek (2003-06). Baratti now has 372. The Buccaneers struck first at 7:30 of the opening quarter when Dillon Hess scored from four yards away, the first of his three touchdowns on the day. Andrew Christensen made it 14-0 when he and quarterback Brian Maughn connected for an eight-yard scoring pass at 3:40 of the first quarter. Raymond Thomas scored on a two-yard at 3:06 of the second quarter to put the Buccaneers up 21-0 at the break. Hess scored back-to-back TDs in the third quarter - one at 7:51 and one with 55 seconds left in the quarter - both from one yard away to make it a 35-0 game heading into the final quarter. Nolan Byrom scored his first collegiate touchdown to close out the Beloit scoring at 3:51 of the fourth quarter to put the Bucs up 42-0. Knox finally got themselves on the scoreboard with 2:23 left in the game on a 65-yard scoring pass from Drew Diaz to Zach Belk. The Buccaneers finished with a 473-112 advantage in total yardage for the game, including 157-21 rushing the ball, and won the clock 37:15 to 22:45. Thomas finished with 69 yards rushing on 11 carries to lead the running attack. Maughn was 16-23 with two interceptions for 203 yards while Hess was 8-13 for 113 yards. Hess also rushed for 37 yards. Derek Carrier had 92 yards receiving on six catches followed by Christensen with 80 yards, also on six receptions. Dan Kizior led the Prairie Fire's rushing attack with 26 yards on 12 carries. Diaz threw and completed one pass for the 65-yard score. Defensively, besides Baratti, who also recorded three tackles for loss, Matt Fogerty recorded two sacks totaling 17 yards in losses and finished with six tackles, four solo. Michael Underwood had the Bucs' lone interception, returning it 25 yards. Tom Dischler and Kyle Brubaker each had eight tackles for Knox with Brubaker also intercepting two passes. Elliot Madison recorded a pair of sacks.
Up Ahead for the Bucs: Beloit returns to Strong Stadium for the Homecoming Game on October 1 against Grinnell College. Kickoff is at 2:00 p.m. They then continue a two-game homestand on October 8 when they host Lake Forest College in a 1:00 p.m. kickoff.