Independents

There were four independent teams in action last weekend, and though the sparks flew and there were many good things to talk about, all four were defeated. North Greenville lost 36-30 to Mars Hill (the winning score coming with under two minutes to play); Southwest Baptist was beaten by Central Missouri 60-13; St. Joseph's fell to Truman State 23-13; and Oklahoma Panhandle State was defeated 26-14 by Colorado State-Pueblo.

Mars Hill 36 - North Greenville 30

(Mars Hill, NC) Down sixteen points at halftime and 30-15 late in the third quarter, the North Greenville Crusaders worked hard to tie things up 30-30 in the fourth quarter but a Mars Hill touchdown with 1:41 on the clock gave the home team a 36-30 victory. It was the season opener for both teams and two North Greenville fumbles helped Mars Hill to an early 16-0 lead, and a 23-7 advantage at the end of the first quarter. A scoreless second quarter sent the teams to the halftime break with Mars Hill still holding the 23-7 advantage.

With 8:34 left in the game, Crusader Idris Anderson crashed over the goal line for a TD (from three yards out), then a two-point conversion made things all even at 30 points each. However, Mars Hill upped their season record to 1-0 with a touchdown pass with 1:41 on the clock to earn the 36-30 victory.

According to North Greenville Sports Information, Crusader head coach Jamey Chadwell said, "I can't say enough about the effort of our guys gave us. They fought hard and it hurts me because we had a chance to win the game at the end. We had a couple of mistakes on our kicking game early and got in a hole. But we got backed up early and had lousy field position and with a young quarterback, we made put the ball on the ground. But, we got a touchdown and got something and missed a field goal that might have made it 23-10 at halftime. We did move the ball up and down the field in the second half."

On September 4, the Crusaders will be on the road again, this time in Charleston to take on state rival Charleston Southern.

Central Missouri 60 - Southwest Baptist 13

(Bolivar, MO) The Central Missouri Mules visited the Southwest Baptist Bearcats last Saturday and the Mules scored the final 37 points of the game for the 60-13 victory.

The Mules led 23-7 at the half, but with 9:52 left in the third quarter, the Bearcats' Anthony Wiggins scored on a 42-yard fumble recovery and the Mules held just a ten point advantage at 23-13. However, it was Central Missouri the rest of the way as the Mules scored 37 unanswered points. Central Missouri quarterback Eric Czerniewski threw for a school record 435 yards on 37 of 46 attempts and five of his passes were for touchdowns.

According to Southwest Baptist Sports Information, Bearcat head coach Keith Allen said, "We moved the ball well early, but mistakes ruined several crucial possessions in the first half. I'm disappointed in our performance for the great crowd we had. When Central's lead grew in the second half, we compounded the problem by pressing and making bad decisions."

For their next game the Bearcats travel to Kirksville, Missouri, to take on the Bulldogs of Truman State.

Truman State 23 - St. Joseph's 13

(Rensselaer, IN) Truman State (the Bulldogs) made the trip from Kirksville, Missouri to face St. Joseph's on Saturday and jumped to a 20-0 halftime lead and held on for a 23-13 victory. For the game, the tough Truman State defense held the Pumas to a minus-14 yards in rushing, and recorded seven quarterback sacks.

The Pumas did come up with 13 second half points and held the Bulldogs to just one field goal in the final two quarters. The Puma passing attack also kept them in the game, as quarterback Mike Hladik completed 21 of 39 passes for 238 yards. The Bulldog's balanced attack complimented their good defense against the run, as they put up 168 rushing yards and 156 passing yards (324 total), but they fumbled three times and lost two of them.

In the big picture it was a good college football game with less than 100 yards in total penalties, and two teams that worked hard for victory.

St. Joseph's will travel to Terra Haute, on Saturday (9/4) to go against Indiana State.


Colorado State-Pueblo 26 - Oklahoma Panhandle State 14

(Goodwell, OK) The ThunderWolves of Colorado State-Pueblo visited the Oklahoma Panhandle State Aggies on Saturday evening and earned a hard-hitting 26-14 victory. The opening quarter featured an offensive show with 28 of the game's 40 total points going on the board, but the defenders from both teams - with a capital "D" - took over in the final three quarters (when a total of just a dozen points were scored).

The Aggies drew first blood on the games' opening possession as Doug Williams went airborne to snare a five-yard scoring pass from Kevin Lauchland. The PAT was good to give the Aggies a 7-0 advantage, but there was plenty of thunder in the ThunderWolves as they stormed back to take a 21-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The "D" took over on both sides of the ball in the second quarter and the only scoring came on a safety by the ThunderWolves and they had the halftime lead at 23-7.

The third quarter was scoreless with both teams flat "going after each other." In the fourth quarter, the Aggies managed a TD with the point after, and the ThunderWolves got a field goal to get the 26-14 victory.

The overall stats in the game showed the Aggies getting the better of things in most categories, but the "back breaker" for them was over 160 yards in penalties (compared to just over 100 yards for the ThunderWolves).

The Aggies will visit Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas on September 4.


Week TWO?

There is a full slate of games for the Independents and the 2010 football season is rolling! Before I go too far into prognostications, let me share a few things with you:

1) As a former college football player as well as a boxer, I've been hit in the head a great many times, and
2) I wear a Chicago Cubs wristwatch each and every day, and for my entire career I have predicted each year that the Cubs will someday win the National League and go on to win the World Series. My prediction is that someday, they will.

Here we go:

• Central State (0-0) and West Virginia State (0-0) will play in Dayton, Ohio and Central State will nab a three point victory.


• The Panthers of Kentucky Wesleyan (0-0) will open at home against the University of Indianapolis (0-0), and "Indy" should win it by ten.


• Lincoln University (0-0) will travel to Missouri Southern (0-0). Lincoln is in the process of building a good program and they have been working hard to get better, but they might have a long day against MSU. Prediction - Lincoln will have a long day.


• The Missouri S&T Miners (0-0) will be on the road against the Emporia State Hornets (1-0). Give the Hornets a 14 point edge.


• North Greenville (0-1) will visit Charleston Southern (0-0 - Charleston Southern should open with a 13 point win.


• Oklahoma Panhandle State (0-1) at Southwestern College (0-0) - The OPSU Aggies should even their record with a 12 point victory.


• Southwest Baptist (0-1) at Truman State (1-0) - Southwest Baptist should bounce back from their opening week loss and grab a ten point victory.


• St. Joseph's College (0-1) will be on the road against the 0-0 Sycamores of Indiana State (the alma mater of none other than Larry Bird). The Sycamores will get a nine point win.


• The UNC Pembroke Braves (0-0) will host Fayetteville State (0-0) and take their first step back to the playoffs with a seven point win.


• Urbana University (0-0) is on the road against West Virginia Wesleyan (1-0), and give Urbana a six point edge.