GAMENOTES - GAME 5 - CENtrAL MISSOURI STATE

SBU vs. Central Missouri State gamenotes

Central Missouri State

September 25

Warrensburg, Missouri

1:30 p.m.

The Series
Central Missouri State - Southwest Baptist
This is the 18th meeting between the two schools. SBU will return to Central Missouri State this year after two years in Bolivar. CMSU leads the series 15-2 and is 7-1 in Warrensburg. The Bearcats last trip to Mule country was in the 2001 season when CMSU defeated the Bearcats, 49-17. SBU’s only two wins in the series came in 1989 and 1990. The Bearcats defeated CMSU 51-21 on Oct. 7, 1989 and 21-18 on Oct. 6, 1990. Head Coach Willie Fritz is 7-0 against the Bearcats while at CMSU and the Mules have won the last 12 contests. Last years 30-23 loss was the closest game SBU has played against CMSU since the Bearcats fell by two points, 7-5 in 1996 in Bolivar.

The Coaches
Central Missouri State - Willie Fritz
In his eighth year at CMSU, Fritz has a 59-24 record. In the past three seasons, he has had nine or more wins and had two 10-win seasons in 2001 and 2002. He has helped CMSU to the best MIAA record the past three years at 29-6 and been to the post season 2001 and 2002. In 2001, CMSU’s first post season berth since 1970, the Mules defeated Minnesota-Duluth in the Mineral Water Bowl and then the 2002 season brought a NCAA playoff game. Last year, CMSU tied for the MIAA Championship.

Prior to CMSU, he was at Blinn Junior College in Brenham, Texas. He helped the team there to back-to-back junior college national championships and was named the national junior college coach of the year. Before Blinn, he coached at Sam Houston State and Coffeyville C.C. He graduated from Pittsburg State in 1983 and a master’s degree from Sam Houston State in 1986. While at PSU, he was a four-year starter for the Gorillas and played two years of baskeball.

Southwest Baptist - Ray Richards
Ray Richards begins his fourth year at SBU. He has led the Bearcats to a 12-21 record in three years and was 6-5 in his first season. The 2001 season was the first winning season in 10 years at SBU and because of his accomplishment he was named the MIAA “Coach of the Year."

Richards came to SBU from NCAA Division I University of Louisiana-Monroe. He spent two years there as the defensive backs coach. Prior to ULM, he was at Southeastern Oklahoma State for 10 years. He has also made one more stop at the NCAA Division I level as he was a graduate assistant at Texas Tech for one season.

Graduating from Northern Michigan in 1981, Richards helped NMU to the NCAA Division II playoffs in 1980.

The Teams
Central Missouri State
The Mules are coming off of a close win over Missouri Southern, 40-33. Lee Thompson ran for 184 yards on 24 carries while Mike Spiegel threw for 102 yards while Jimmy Sangster had 97 yards threw the air. Jimmy Conners was the leading receiver with 105 yards.

MSSU had the lead twice in the first half but CMSU took the lead for good with 8:16 left in the second quarter. MSSU cut the lead back to four, 30-26, with 12:30 left in the game but CMSU scored the next 10 points for 40-26 lead. MSSU scored with 24 seconds left in the game on a 78-yard pass but could not get any closer for the win.

Thompson and Jimmy Conner each had two tds while Spiegel threw for two tds.

Southwest Baptist
SBU could not get anything going against #4 Pittsburg State as the Gorillas took a 69-0 win. The Bearcat defense did record garner a sack vs. PSU, which was the first sack given up in the 2004 season.

The kickoff return team returned the ball six times for 139 yards. SBU only had 70 yards of total offense in the game. Marco Kirven was the leading rusher with 37 yards.

Punt That Ball
With a 62-yard punt at Pittsburg State, Tim Bowers tied the record for longest punt in SBU history. The record is held by David Sepanski when he booted the ball 62 yards in a game against Truman State in 1999. Bowers had nine punts for 389 yards vs. PSU. He averaged 43.2 yards per punt and landed two within the 20-yard line.

NFL Watch
In his final season at SBU, senior L.V. Hill is being watched by the NFL scouts. Early on in spring practice, through summer, and now two-a-days, several NFL scouts have come to see what L.V. Hill is about. L.V. is a 6’5", 300 pound, offensive tackle that use to play tight end. Last year, he moved from tight end to strong tackle in the middle of the season because of injuries on the offensive line. Since that move, he has not left and was awarded 2003 all-MIAA honorable mention at the tackle spot.

Specs on L.V. Hill
4Squat 545
4Bench 400
4Clean 300
440 5.19
4Broad 9 ft.
4Pro I 5.2

Getting Through
The defense is broke through the PSU line to record their sixth sack of the year. The sack against PSU was the Gorillas first of the year. No one else had touched the Gorillas quarterback until SBU came to town.

Legendary Line
The SBU offensive line is having an outstanding year when it is coming to keeping the quarterback safe. Robert Clardy has only been sacked five times in four games. That stat is good for second in the MIAA. SBU and NWMSU have only given up five sacks this year. Tied for first place is Washburn and PSU who each have only given up one sack.

No Foul
Averaging only 47.8 yards of penalties per game, SBU is second in the MIAA as the least penalized team. They have had 22 penalties for 191 yards. UMR is the least penalized team with only 40.8 yards per game.

Top Runners
Marco Kirven and Deon Boykin are two of the top 10 runners in the MIAA. Kirven is ranked #4 in the MIAA averaging 91.0 yards per game. Deon Boykin is 10th with an average of 58.0 yards per game.

Both runners have had 100-yard games this season. Kirven has had two games with over 100-yards. He had 180 vs. Harding and then 129 against Western New Mexico. Boykin gained 100 yards against Western New Mexico.

“Smart" Catch
Freshman Nick Smart has worked his way into a starting position as wide receiver since the second game of the season. He has now caught a pass in every game and has 194 yards receiving on the year. He caught a career high seven catches for 87 yards vs. Western New Mexico. The converted quarterback is averaging 10.8 yards per catch.

Making Headway
JoJo Rawls is turning some heads when he touches the ball. Against Missouri Western, he had 26 of the 28 yards gained on one drive for a touchdown as he scored his first collegiate touchdown. He is averaging seven yards per catch and 2.1 yards per carry. He had 27 yards receiving in his very first collegiate game against Harding.

He is also a enforcer on special teams. He has four tackles to date and one forced fumble. His biggest game was against Missouri Western as he had two solo tackles and a forced fumble.

“Katz"illa
Senior Chris Katz broke through the PSU offensive line to record his first sack of the seaons. The sack he picked up was the first sack that PSU had given up all year. He now has three career sacks and 110 total tackles.

No Points
This was only the second time in Coach Richard’s tenure at SBU that the Bearcats had been shutout. The last time SBU did not score any points was in 2002 against Missouri Western as the Griffons won 28-0.

Holding Onto The Ball
Only turning the ball over six times in four games, SBU has a +8 turnover margin. They have forced 14 turnovers in nine fumbles and five interceptions. They are forcing 2.00 turnovers per game. They are only +1 ahead of NWMSU, who has +7 margin.

Keep Swatting
Michael Pearl has been a tough defender in the defensive backfield. In four games, he has had four breakups and two interceptions for six passes defended. With the six passes defended, he is tied for the MIAA lead with Fletcher Terrell from Washburn. He is also leading the team in tackles with 26 and has forced one fumble and recovered another.