FB: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[Ron Boerger]

Wabash either found something at halftime or were really inspired by their TD, as they come out of the locker room and drive straight down the field (8 plays, 72 yards) to take the lead on a 9-yard Yoder run.   Hudson's 2-point try is intercepted so the Little Giants take a 12-7 lead.  

Trinity retakes the lead thanks in part to a 49-yard pass from Davidson to Urban.   Chris Baer scores his second TD from two yards out and it's 14-7 Trinity.  The 'Roos get a return to near midfield, Towery completes his first pass for 31 and just like that AC is in striking distance again.  Two short runs and an incompletion lead to a 37-yard Reisig field goal, making the score 14-10 with 8:35 before the half.

[Ron Boerger]

DPU answers right back with their own 11-play, 80 yard drive - their two point try also fails, it's 13-12 DPU midway through the third. 

I think it's now 14-7 Millsaps with 1:02 left in the half, they just held B-SC who will have to punt from inside their 20. 

[Ron Boerger]

Lordy, things are going fast and furious now ...

Wabash scores again, this time on a 51-yard pass from Hudson to Horn, to take the lead back.  The two point try fails so its 18-13 there, 4:09 left in the third.  A holding penalty on DPU means they will start their next drive at the six.

After Chris Baer rips off a 31-yard run on 1st and 20, Davidson finds Riley Curry from 5 yards out and Trinity leads 21-10 with 4:24 before the half. 

A roughing the punter penalty means it'll end up 14-7 at the half in Jackson.

[Ron Boerger]

Wabash picks off another Spud offering inside the DPU 10, three plays later it's Hudson to Chamblee and the Little Giants up their lead to 25-13.  C'mon, Tigers!

Trinity holds Austin and scores again on the ensuing drive, Davidson finding Curry for his second TD from 12 yards out.  The PAT is no good; 27-10 Trinity with 1:25 to play in the half.  Davidson is 16-19 for 204 in the first half; Baer has 76 yards on 12 carries.  

Austin gets a good return to midfield but can't do anything with it, so they'll go to the locker room down 17.  

Heading to lunch, not that anyone is watching this today.   

[Ralph Turner]

...

Heading to lunch, not that anyone is watching this today.   

Where are you going to eat?   

[Ron Boerger]

Quiznos.

Wabash really turned up the heat in the second half, it appears.  Probably sends DPU to a #8 seed and possibly to (shudder) Mt. Union.  Ouch.

Trinity saved the best for last, putting up 501 yards total offense in their 44-10 win at Austin.  Robert Davidson ended up 20-25-311 and 4 TDs, which may all be career bests.  Chris Baer closed out his career with 139 yards and 2 TDs on 23 carries plus five receptions for 85 yards and another score.  Caleb Urban added one TD and 143 yards on 7 receptions, in addition to 25 yards on five carries.  Riley Curry scored twice on his five receptions (44 yards).   Kyle Trella, who held a narrow lead in punting nationally, didn't hurt his cause with four punts for a 46.2 yard average; Garrett Biel, with a somewhat wider lead in field goals, hit his only attempt today.  I had a quick look at the guys competing with them and it appears they should both lead the nation in their respective categories at season's end.

The 'Roos were led by Ross Hasten's 92 yards in 13 carries, including a long of 57 yards.

Millsaps handled B-SC 38-20.

Fittingly, Sewanee and Rhodes went to OT - Rhodes wins, 19-16. 

[wabashcpa]

Wabash really turned up the heat in the second half, it appears.  Probably sends DPU to a #8 seed and possibly to (shudder) Mt. Union.  Ouch.

Or Wisconsin-Whitewater - not much of a consolation prize.  Welcome to the playoffs, DePauw!

Great atmosphere at Blackstock today - good weather, full house, Bell back in Crawfordsville - couldn't ask for more.

[pbrooks3]

While this game has no bearing on anything, there was an exciting OT finish between Sewanee and Rhodes with Rhodes prevailing 19-16 on a 42 yard field goal. Sewanee rolled the dice on their subsequent OT possession by attempting to score a TD on a 4th and goal on the 1 yard. Rhodes stuffed the play to get the SCAC victory. Hats off to the Tigers whose defense was stout most of the game. While their offense was sporadic at best, they made plays in the last 2 minutes to score the tying touchdown to send it to OT. The winning field goal was a big one for the Lynx  given that earlier 20 yard try in the 4th quarter was blocked by Sewanee.
 

[frank_ezelle]

There must be much more to the 61-year old kicker story.  Either that or the Austin coaching staff just didn't think they could beat Trinity.  Here's a paragraph from the Austin writeup of the game:

"Trinity struck first when Robert Davidson completed a seven yard touchdown strike to Chris Baer with just 33 seconds to go in the first quarter, but Austin College answered quickly when Phillip Gonzales rushed 47 yards for the score just over a minute into the second quarter to tie things up after 61-year-old kicker Tom Thompson converted the extra point, making him the oldest player to ever play college football."

Austin has John Reisig who had taken every kick this season, converting 25 of 26 PATs and 7 of 10 FGs.  When you don't send out your #1 guy for a point that is needed to tie up the game, aren't you telling the team that an insignificant footnote in football history is more important than giving the team their best chance to beat a SCAC foe?

I'm not seeing something in this story so maybe one of you can point out the angle that I am missing.

[Ron Boerger]

I'm with you, Frank.  Seems that there could have been better opportunities during the season to let this relic kick than in a game that at the time was very, very close.   Maybe the AC players were the ones saying he should have the chance?

It has nothing to do with football, but two of the "Elite Eight" teams remaining in the NCAA volleyball playoffs are from the SCAC.  Top-seeded Colorado College won the West Regional tonight in five sets over LaVerne after another five set nailbiter last night; more surprisingly, Trinity, seeded fifth in the South, overcame ODAC champion Randolph-Macon in four sets, defending NCAA champion (and #2 ranked) Emory in straight sets, and second seed Southwestern, they of the 31-match winning streak, also in straight sets to book their ticket to Ohio.

OK, DPU folks - tough game today.  Let's have you back to start talking about your first round match soon.

[Tex]

Rumor has it several AC players were caught with beer in their room(s) in DePaul.  Hence, #2 was in blue jeans and jersey. 

Great game for TU to send their seniors off on.  Photos being uploaded now. 

[RooBro]

  No rumor Tex, several players were "caught" with beer in their rooms after the Depauw game. While this had been the practice of players and coaches alike, over the past couple of years , it is against team policy and the punishment is a one game suspension.
 
  I can not and will not defend the action of the boys/men who decided on their own too buy and consume beer on the last away game of the year , but I do question the reasoning behind the administration for deciding to enforce a rule in the next to last week of a season. A rule which had not been enforced all year, much less over the past several years.

  It seems to me if the "line that was drawn"(as it was put to one of the suspended players) had taken place prior to the season, or even after the first road game, it may have had more of an affect on the players and staff. Sure seems like a which hunt to take place so late in the season.

  All this being said, it could have very easily been avoided be simpily following the team rules. A sad end to a sad year for AC.

[roocru]

  No rumor Tex, several players were "caught" with beer in their rooms after the Depauw game. While this had been the practice of players and coaches alike, over the past couple of years , it is against team policy and the punishment is a one game suspension.
 
  I can not and will not defend the action of the boys/men who decided on their own too buy and consume beer on the last away game of the year , but I do question the reasoning behind the administration for deciding to enforce a rule in the next to last week of a season. A rule which had not been enforced all year, much less over the past several years.

  It seems to me if the "line that was drawn"(as it was put to one of the suspended players) had taken place prior to the season, or even after the first road game, it may have had more of an affect on the players and staff. Sure seems like a which hunt to take place so late in the season.

  All this being said, it could have very easily been avoided be simpily following the team rules. A sad end to a sad year for AC.

RooBro,
In my opinion, the parts of your post which I have bolded are all that needed to be said about the issue.  The rest of your post regards issues that need to be discussed in private with the people you are questioning  in public.  Issues such as this are always handled best internally and do no good whatsoever being aired on these boards. Despite your best efforts to say that these student athletes were responsible for their actions, this comes close to sounding like sour grapes.  In all my years as a coach and athletic director in Texas high schools, I never saw anything good come by making such issues open to public debate. It was a sad ending but I, in no way, see this as a sad year for AC football.

[evacuee]

It sure was great to see the seniors for Trinity really reach their potential as a team on Saturday.  The last two weeks have been quality wins over quality opponents.  It's too bad that we won't be seeing many of those playmakers next year, but it looks like Davidson has come a long way at quarterback.  Although I've been tough on the team this year, I've still been quite proud of the program, because when 7-3 is your worst record in fifteen years, that says a lot about the big picture.  Congratulations to the group for finishing strong.

[Bill McCabe]

  No rumor Tex, several players were "caught" with beer in their rooms after the Depauw game. While this had been the practice of players and coaches alike, over the past couple of years , it is against team policy and the punishment is a one game suspension.
 
  I can not and will not defend the action of the boys/men who decided on their own too buy and consume beer on the last away game of the year , but I do question the reasoning behind the administration for deciding to enforce a rule in the next to last week of a season. A rule which had not been enforced all year, much less over the past several years.

  It seems to me if the "line that was drawn"(as it was put to one of the suspended players) had taken place prior to the season, or even after the first road game, it may have had more of an affect on the players and staff. Sure seems like a which hunt to take place so late in the season.

  All this being said, it could have very easily been avoided be simpily following the team rules. A sad end to a sad year for AC.

RooBro,
In my opinion, the parts of your post which I have bolded are all that needed to be said about the issue.  The rest of your post regards issues that need to be discussed in private with the people you are questioning  in public.  Issues such as this are always handled best internally and do no good whatsoever being aired on these boards. Despite your best efforts to say that these student athletes were responsible for their actions, this comes close to sounding like sour grapes.  In all my years as a coach and athletic director in Texas high schools, I never saw anything good come by making such issues open to public debate. It was a sad ending but I, in no way, see this as a sad year for AC football.

Roocru, I agree with you that this should have been handled internally.  Ultimately the young men are responsible for their actions.  AC had a very good year.