FB: Southern Athletic Association

[Ron Boerger]

Congrats to Hendrix for the hammer they put down on the TU passing attack on Saturday, should make for an interesting championship game this week.   The hallmark of the TU defense has been bend but not break for the last few years but there's only so much they can do when the offense can't put points on the board.  The bronze medal game against B-SC should be a good one, too. 

The HX players we encountered at the hotel were all fine representatives of their school and their program, not that you expect anything different in D3, but kudos to them for their courtesy and for dealing with the COVID-related bizarreness in a surprisingly full hotel with the world's SLOWEST elevators. 

[Ron Boerger]

For anyone thinking about making a trip to Little Rock, tickets *are* available for each of the four games ($15 general admission; $40 Club Level, limited to 50 per team) as are tailgating spaces.   Full details here. 

[crufootball]

For anyone thinking about making a trip to Little Rock, tickets *are* available for each of the four games ($15 general admission; $40 Club Level, limited to 50 per team) as are tailgating spaces.   Full details here.

Interested to see what club level seating is at a stadium that holds 50,000+ when only a few thousand at most will be at the game.

[BSCpanthers]

I called the stadium to find out.  Club Level is inside the first floor of the press box.  It will include food and drinks and a bar set up as well.  Only 50 per team allowed in the club level, assuming it is separated into two sides. 

My first assumption was the "club level" were the first three rows of the stadium that has the seats with chair backs. 

[crufootball]

I called the stadium to find out.  Club Level is inside the first floor of the press box.  It will include food and drinks and a bar set up as well.  Only 50 per team allowed in the club level, assuming it is separated into two sides. 

My first assumption was the "club level" were the first three rows of the stadium that has the seats with chair backs.

Ok wow, yeah I was thinking more along the lines of what you were thinking. But that sounds like a good deal, of course after watching so many D3 games which allow for such close access to the file, I always find it weird to be that far away from the action. 

Bravo to the SAA for this plan, seems like a great solution to the weirdness of this year.

[Ron Boerger]

If we were still living north of Dallas I'd head up there for at least the championship and third-place games ... but from Austin I'd have to spring for a flight and probably at least one night in the hotel and naah.   A great way for the players to end a strange season to be sure!

[Pat Coleman]

I will be in attendance. Normally I would say hi to people but I am still going to operate as though we are living in a pandemic.

[BSCpanthers]

The SAA now has an app for Firestick and Ruku, the games today will be on the app.  Hopefully all SAA sports are now streamed on the app.

[BSCpanthers]

Trinity wins the first game of the weekend, 38-15 over BSC. 

Championship game will be at 6:00 central Berry v Hendrix.

[Ron Boerger]

Great to hear you on the halftime interview today, Pat, though of course my wife picked almost that exact moment to ask me for help with her laptop.

B-SC had the turnover bug Trinity had last week and that made the difference today.  It's a different game if the Panthers score either of the times before the half they had the ball deep in Trinity territory, and of course the first turnover led to the only TD of the first half for Trinity after they had struggled to do anything offensively.   The other big difference was no Robert Shufford in the backfield - hope that he is OK, but it's a shame he did not play in what could be the last game of his career (that said, he has the option to return next year as do all seniors).

[BSCpanthers]

BSC had 3 out due to issues.  Missing the RB and a strong WR definitely seemed to effect the offense.  Defense played well for BSC, but the Trinity D came up with the plays needed to win the ball game. 

Congrats to Trinity!!!

Berry and Hendrix should be a good one as well.

[BSCpanthers]

Berry wins the SAA with a 21-20 win over Hendrix.  Congrats to them, their games against BSC, Centre and Hendrix were all last minute, last play types of games.  But in the end, they were ahead in the scoreboard. 

Congrats Berry!!!

[Pat Coleman]

Great to hear you on the halftime interview today, Pat, though of course my wife picked almost that exact moment to ask me for help with her laptop.

B-SC had the turnover bug Trinity had last week and that made the difference today.  It's a different game if the Panthers score either of the times before the half they had the ball deep in Trinity territory, and of course the first turnover led to the only TD of the first half for Trinity after they had struggled to do anything offensively.   The other big difference was no Robert Shufford in the backfield - hope that he is OK, but it's a shame he did not play in what could be the last game of his career (that said, he has the option to return next year as do all seniors).

Thanks. I'm going to assume he is OK. He didn't test positive, but was held out for contact tracing.

[BSCpanthers]

On the last day of SAA spring football season, Centre beat Austin 44-20 and Millsaps beat Rhodes 27-13.

So it ends like this:

Berry(champions)4-0
Hendrix 3-1
Trinity 3-1
BSC 2-2
Centre 2-2
Austin 1-3
Millsaps 1-3
Rhodes 0-4

Now the guys get a short break before a spring practice prepare for a normal season next year.  Congrats to all the teams for finishing the season.

Sewanee chose to not play games away from home and played no games so far, however, they are scheduled to go Greensboro on April 3rd and Brevard on April 10th.  Both teams out of the USA South.

[Ron Boerger]

Of course, that's Rhodes 0-4 and not Trinity - and I was happy to see the Lynx nearly double their season offensive scoring output yesterday.

Congrats to Berry who are probably pretty thankful for that missed XP by Hendrix in the fourth quarter on Saturday given the way they stalled offensively in the second half.  One of these years someone else will win the championship outright but until they do the SAA is a Berry-colored world. 

Kudos to the SAA for pulling this short season off despite the myriad COVID challenges, and for giving *all* the teams a unique experience last weekend in Little Rock.   I hope the seniors who are not electing or able to return next season got some kind of closure on their collegiate football experience thanks to the SAA, the schools, and their fellow student-athletes doing what they could this year.