LSC Champions times three
The Lone Star Conference titles were decided on the final Saturday
as Midwestern State, Tarleton State and Texas A&M-Kingsville
each clinched a share of the league championship with identical 7-2
marks. It was the first-ever conference title for the
Mustangs, the second for the Texans and 27th for the Javelinas.
The South Division title was shared by MSU,
Tarleton, TAMUK and West Texas A&M with matching 4-2
records. For the Mustangs it was their third divisional
championship, while the Texans earned their fifth, the Javelinas
their seventh, and the Buffaloes their fourth.
Texas A&M-Commerce went a perfect 5-0 in
the North Division to earn its second divisional title.
Four LSC teams chosen for NCAA Division II football
playoffs
The Lone Star Conference co-champions - Midwestern State, Texas
A&M-Kingsville and Tarleton State - plus Abilene Christian were
all chosen to continue their season next Saturday, November 14. It
is the first time in league history that four teams have advanced
to the playoffs.
The Mustangs (9-2) are the third seed in Super
Region Four and will host the No. 6 Wildcats (8-3) in Wichita Falls
on Nov. 14 at 12 p.m. The Javelinas (9-2) will also host a
first-round game as the fourth seed, with the No. 5 Texans (9-2)
traveling to Kingsville next Saturday for a 1 p.m. kickoff.
MSU defeated ACU, 15-13, on Nov. 7, while TAMUK
topped Tarleton, 34-20, on Oct. 3.
The rest of the region includes No. 1 Central
Washington and No. 2 Northwest Missouri State, with both teams
receiving byes in the first-round and the right to host
second-round contests. CWU will host the TAMUK/Tarleton winner,
while NWMSU welcomes the MSU/ACU winner on Nov. 21.
WTAMU to play in inaugural Kanza Bowl
The teams for the inaugural Lower Kanza Bowl are set as West Texas
A&M will represent the Lone Star Conference and face
Nebraska-Omaha from the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics
Association on December 5th in Topeka, Kan., bowl officials
announced. The game kicks off at 1 p.m. at Hummer Sports
Park.
The Kanza (pronounced CANS-uh) Bowl, one of only two
NCAA Division II bowl games, matches the best non-playoff team from
the LSC against a counterpart from the MIAA.
WTAMU, 6-5 overall, finished the season with five
straight wins to earn a share of the LSC South Division title with
a 4-2 league record. The Buffaloes had two wins and four
losses against NCAA Division II playoff teams this season.
UNO finished the 2009 regular season with a record of
7-4, its 14th consecutive winning season. The Mavericks were
6-3 in the MIAA, finishing in a four-way tie for second.
The two teams have never played each other but WTAMU
holds a perfect 4-0 mark in bowl games. The Buffs won the
Junior Rose Bowl in 1967, the Sun Bowl in 1951 and 1962 and the
Tangerine Bowl in 1957.
LSC Football Blitz
Four Lone Star Conference teams are in action this week in the
first round of the NCAA Division II Playoffs.
Divisional play concluded last week with A&M-C, Central
Oklahoma and Southeastern Oklahoma recording wins in the North
Division, while MSU, WTAMU and TAMUK prevailed in the South.
In week 11 the LSC had four quarterbacks throw for 300-plus yards,
eight receivers and five rushers over the century mark and 17
double-digit tacklers. Top performances included:
Passing: 536, Taylor Harris
(31-37-1), WTAMU at Tarleton
Rushing: 24-187, Fred
Winborn, TAMUK vs ASU
Receiving: 6-201, Brittan
Golden, WTAMU at Tarleton
Tackles: 17, Nathan Uland,
ENMU vs UIW
Players of the Week
NORTH OFFENSIVE
Brandon Noohi, Central Oklahoma, Sr., QB, Oklahoma City,
Okla./Mount Saint Mary
Noohi had perhaps the best offensive performance in
school history during UCO's season-ending 47-38 win over
Northeastern State, accounting for 446 yards and seven touchdowns
in total offense. The senior quarterback completed 20-of-33
passes for 306 yards -- the 16th-best game at UCO -- and a
school-record six touchdowns while adding 14 carries for a
career-high 140 yards and one TD. He had TD passes of nine,
20, 21 and 35 yards as UCO took a 28-21 halftime lead, then added
28- and 32-yard scoring passes and a one-yard TD run in the second
half. Noohi's 446 yards of total offense ranks second on
UCO's single-game list and he finished the season with a
school-record 3,301 yards of total offense.
NORTH DEFENSIVE
J.P. Oliver, East Central, Jr., LB, Everett, Wash./Cascade HS
(Feather River CC)
Oliver posted a team-leading 13 tackles, including five
solo efforts, in the Tigers' 27-26 home loss to Southeastern
Oklahoma. Oliver also had a quarterback sack for a loss of eight
yards and intercepted a pass as SE went scoreless the final three
quarters of the game. Oliver led the Tigers in total tackles (101)
and solo stops (56) for the 2009 season. He was second on the team
in tackles for loss (7.5 for 27 yards) while also breaking up three
passes. He also ended up with one fumble recovery to go with his
one interception on the year.
NORTH SPECIAL TEAMS
Jerome Hewitt, Southeastern Oklahoma, Sr., KR, Gainesville,
Texas/Gainesville HS
Hewitt picked up his fifth return touchdown of the season
in Southeastern's 27-26 win over rival East Central. For the
second-straight week he scored a return touchdown on what would
have been SE's first offensive possession of the game, this one
going 54 yards after the Storm held ECU to a punt on the game's
first possession. His fifth score ties him for the national
lead in both division two and in all-divisions. With his
performance against ECU he became SE's all-time leader in kick and
punt return yardage for both a season and a career. He also
now owns the LSC records for kick return yards and average in a
career, as well as kick return yardage in a season.
SOUTH OFFENSIVE
Taylor Harris, West Texas A&M, Jr., QB, Whitesboro,
Texas/Whitesboro
Harris' performance at Tarleton State was simply
unbelievable. He completed his first 17 consecutive passes
for 264 yards and had just two incompletions at halftime
(completing 20-of-23 with an interception). His game total of
536 passing yards were the most ever allowed by a Tarleton State
team, surpassing the previous mark of 473 (also set by West Texas
A&M in 1994). Included in that total was a season and
career-long 92 yard TD pass to Brittan Golden which was one of four
touchdowns he threw.
SOUTH DEFENSIVE
Emmanuel Bagley, Midwestern State, Sr., LB, Dallas, Texas/Kimball
HS
Bagley made 10 tackles including two tackles for loss, a
sack and recovered a fumble to lead a suffocating Midwestern State
defense which limited the Abilene Christian to one touchdown and
two long field goals as the Mustangs claimed their first Lone Star
Conference championship with a 15-13 win over Abilene Christian.
The Wildcats managed just two plays of 20 yards or more.
SOUTH SPECIAL TEAMS
Morgan Lineberry, Abilene Christian, Fr., PK, Dallas,
Texas/Lakehill Prep Academy
ACU freshman placekicker Morgan Lineberry kicked two of
the longest field goals in ACU history in Saturday's 15-13 loss at
Midwestern State. ... With 1:05 left in the first half, Lineberry
kicked a 56-yard field goal to cut MSU's lead at the half to 15-10,
and then he scored the game's only second-half points with a
51-yarder with 6:03 left in the game. ... His 56-yard field goal is
the third-longest in school history (behind Ove Johansson's
world-record 69-yard field goal vs. East Texas State in 1976 and a
58-yard effort by Bob Bearden against Angelo State in 1969). ...
Lineberry is also the first kicker in ACU history to have two
50-yard-plus field goals in the same game. ... Earlier this season
he drilled a 52-yard field goal in a win over East Central to make
him the first kicker in school history with three 50-yard-plus
field goals in a season.