GAMENOTES - GAME11 - TSU

SBU vs. Truman State gamenotes

Truman State

November 6

Kirksville, Missouri

12 p.m.

The Series
Truman State University - Southwest Baptist
This is the 17th meeting between the Bulldogs and the Bearcats. This year will be the ninth time to play in Kirksville and TSU holds a perfect 8-0 record on their home field vs. SBU. The Bearcats’ only two wins against the Bulldogs came in 1991 and 1999 in Bolivar. The Bearcats won on October 5, 1991, 37-25, and then on September 18, 1999, 18-16.

Last season, TSU held off SBU for their fourth win of the season, 20-14. Head coach Shannon Currier will face SBU for the first time and SBU’s head coach Ray Richards will try for his first win against the Bulldogs.

The Coaches
Truman State University - Shannon Currier
In his first season at Truman State, Currier picked up his first MIAA win last week against the University of Missouri-Rolla. He comes to TSU from Concordia-St. Paul (MN.) and is the 20th head coach at TSU. At Concordia, he helped to turn a struggling program around and last year they won the NSIC title and played in the Mineral Water Bowl. He inheritated a team that won two games in 1999. By time he left, his record there was 32-12 and he left the school as the second all-time wins leader as a coach.

Courier earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education from Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, and then a master’s degree at Bemidji State. He has coached at Bemidji State, UMinnesota-Crookston, and SW State University (MN.).

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
Truman State University
Picking up their first win of the 2004 season, TSU pulled away from UMR for a 47-33. Jake Czeschin threw for 441 yards and six touchdowns as he was named the co-MIAA “Player of the Week." He was 37-52 with no interceptions. TSU also had two players with over 100-yards receiving in James Walton (159 yards) and Jeff Amundson (112).

UMR took an early lead in the second quarter, 14-13, but that was their last lead as TSU scored the next 20 points for 33-14 lead. TSU extended the lead 27 points, 47-20 in the fourth quarter. UMR then finished out the scoring with 13 points.

The win was also head coach Shannon Currier’s first at TSU and the first MIAA win of the year.

Southwest Baptist
n the "Bearcat Bragging Rights" game, Northwest Missouri State showed why they were the #3 team in the nation with a 34-22 win over Southwest Baptist. SBU threw for 347 yards in the loss.

Coming to play, SBU gave NWMSU a run for their money all the way to the end of the game. On NWMSU's first drive of the game, they took the ball to the SBU seven-yard line before two penalties put them back to the 24-yard line. SBU's secondary then denied two Josh Matthews' passes and then held NWMSU to a field goal try that went wide left.

SBU then went three-and-out and gave the ball back to the Bearcats. NWMSU struck quickly as they only took 1:04 off the clock on a three play 73-yard drive. Matthews connected with Andre Rector on a 61-yard pass for the first score of the game.

Answering right back, SBU took 6:13 off the clock when Clardy mastered a 14-play 81-yard drive that ended on a JoJo Rawls one-yard run to tie the game at seven. Rawls rushed the ball five times for 28 yards while Clardy hit three different receivers.

Jamacia Rector put NWMSU back in scoring position after the opening kickoff with a 54 yard return to SBU's 43-yard line. It only took 33 seconds for NWMSU to go back up by seven as Xavier Oman rushed twice for 29 yards and then Matthews hit Jamacia Rector in the endzone from 14-yards out.

NWMSU added two field goals in the early part of the second quarter when SBU's defense stayed strong in the redzone. Luis Berlanga hit two field goals from 28-yards for a 20-7 advantage. They then scored another touchdown just before halftime to take a 27-7 lead.

On the opening drive of the second half, SBU made a drive into NWMSU territory but could not convert on a fourth down. JoJo Rawls returned the kickoff 53 yards to the NWMSU 47. Clardy then hit Nick Smart on a 17-yard pass and then after a Rawls rush Clardy found David Rogers across the middle for a 20-yard gain to the NWMSU 15-yard line. After a four-yard loss on a Rawls run, SBU garnered a holding penalty to set them back to the 25-yard line. The Bearcats then did not convert on the 4-24 as NWMSU stopped SBU's momentum.

The SBU Bearcat defense took back the momentum two plays later. NWMSU was set up on the SBU six-yard line when Brigham Rowe sacked Matthews in the endzone for a safety. That cut the lead to 18, 27-9.

SBU took the free kick and once again could not convert on a fourth down. They drove to the NWMSU 27-yard line but was stopped on a fourth-and-5 to give the ball back to NWMSU, again.

Six plays later, NWMSU went up 34-9. It was the Oman Xavier drive as he rushed six straight times for 77 yards and capped off the drive with a 20-yard touchdown run.

The SBU Bearcats did not give up and bolted right back. It only took four plays as Travis Howry went 55-yards on a pass from Clardy to add another six points on the board, 34-15.

Surprising NWMSU, SBU's Ryan Smith recovered his own onside kick and gave SBU great field position at the SBU 46-yard line. The Bearcats drove to the NWMSU 10-yard line but for the third time in the game did not convert on a fourth down.

It was not until the 1:43 mark in the fourth quarter the SBU scored their final touchdown. Putting together a 91-yard drive, Deon Boykin finished "Senior Day" with a one-yard touchdown run to make it 34-22.

SBU's passing game came alive as Clardy threw for 270 yards as he was 27-of-44 with one interception. Eric Sanderson finished with 77 yards passing on a 4-of-9 performance. Howry had a career day with seven receptions for 127 yards receiving. Clardy also was SBU's leading rusher wtih 92 yards.

SBU had more total offense then NWMSU, 461 yards to 387 yards, but gave up 204 yards on the ground to NWMSU.

SBU's defense combined for four sacks on the day and one safety. Donald Williams led the team with 13 tackles and two tackles-for-loss.

“How"ry You’d Do That
In only his fifth game as a wide receiver, Travis Howry had an outstanding day. He caught seven passes for 127 yards. His biggest reception was a 55-yard touchdown pas from Clardy. It is only the second time this year that a reciever has caught over 100-yards in a game. Nick Smart did it earlier this season.

Howry sat out the first five games of the season due to an injury and returned against Missouri-Rolla. Last season, he was a defensive back and then was moved to wide receiver this fall.

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.0

Earlier this season, the SBU Sports Information Department received a call from ESPN’s Mel Kiper on L.V. Hill. Mr. Kiper was just asking for L.V.’s information.

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

Pass Happy
In the loss vs. NWMSU, SBU threw for more yards in the game than rushing. SBU had 347 yards passing as Clardy was 27-44-1. He also threw for one touchdown. Eric Sanderson came in to releive Clardy in the fourth quarter and went 4-9-0 for 77 yards. Each quarterback had a pass for over 40-yards. Sanderson’s longest was 44-yards while Clardy’s was 55-yards.

Different Second Half
SBU came out in the second half and played a whole new game against the #3 team in the country. They outscored NWMSU, 15-7, in the second half. The SBU defense started off the second half with a safety at the 10:55 mark and then Howry had a 55-yard td reception. Deon Boykin finished out the scoring with a one-yard run with 1:43 left.

Big Boykin
Deon Boykin will finish out his career at SBU on Saturday as a running back. In his five years at SBU, he has rushed for over 1,000 yards. Heading into the final game, he has 1,770 career rushing yards and 14 touchdowns. In the 2001 season, he rushed for 709 yards. He has played in 41 career games for SBU.

Offensive Line WIll Be Missed
With five senior seniors on the offensive line, the SBU offense will have several holes to fill next year. Three of the seniors are starters in L.V. Hill, Aubrin Rhem, and Jeremy Montz. Both Ben Jones and Justin Davis have been added help on the line as have played extended time on the line.

All the offensive linemen have helped SBU become one of the top rushing teams in the MIAA and the nation.

Williams Ties Career High
Senior Donald Williams tied his career high of 13 tackles in a game vs. NWMSU. He had four solo and nine assisted tackles along with one sack. He now has 71 total tackles to lead the team (33 solo, 38 assisted). He has two sacks, four breakups, and one interception.

Last year, he led SBU with 64 tackles and had 10 tackles-for-loss.