Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Shame Mask Congratulations Extra!

Congratulations to Division III Marantha Baptist Bible College on their 14-6 victory over Rockford College on Saturday. The win was Marantha's first since 2007 and snapped their 33-game losing streak. This alone is worthy of congratulations, but the particular way they won is also worthy of note.

The Marantha Crusaders took a 7-0 lead on the last play of the third quarter. Rockford got a good kick return to start the fourth quarter, but they threw an interception at the Marantha 39. Marantha fumbled five plays later, however. Rockford could not capitalize though because they threw a second interception at the Maratha 23. After a Marantha punt, Rockford again drove into Marantha territory before throwing a third interception at the 27 yard line. Their defense forced another punt, but then in the final minute, Rockford threw their fourth consecutive fourth-quarter interception, but this time Marantha returned it 90 yards for a touchdown to seal the long-sought-after victory. And well, Rockford did manage to get a touchdown on the final play, but that wasn't enough.

Rockford Regents' losing streak now stands at 11 games. Their last victory came a year ago at Marantha and was their only win of the season. Their last non-Marantha win was an October, 2008, in overtime against Concordia University of Chicago.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Ole Miss 43, OSM{LA-Lafayette} 21

Novemeber 6--LA-Lafayette headed up to Oxford to take on the Adimiral Ackbar-less Ole Miss Rebels. The Ragin' Cajuns focused that rage impressively on the opening drive, moving the ball 73 yards on 7 plays and taking the lead with a 27-yard touchdown pass from Brad McGuire to Aaron Spikes. Ole Miss responded to the challenge, however, with three toucdowns and a field goal in the first quarter, thanks to two LA-Lafayette interceptions and a fumble.

Ole Miss cooled off in the second quarter, and LA-Lafayette's Melvin White returned a fumble 93 yards for a touchdown with 31 seconds left in the half to cut the lead to only 27-21, although Ole Miss did manage to tack on a field goal on the half's final play.

LA-Lafayette had no answers for the Rebel defense in the second half and only managed two first downs.

FAU 17, GGSM{WKU} 16

November 6--Here's a stat for you: Florida Atlantic fumbled six times in this game, but they lost only one of them. When you only lose by one point and you fail to recover five of your opponent's fumbles. That can really make the difference.

WKU's Bobby Rainey was not to blame, as the Sun Belt's leading rusher carried the ball 33 times for 152 yards, and his 1-yard TD run gave his Hilltoppers a 16-14 lead in the third quarter. However, FAU countered with a field goal to open the fourth quarter and then hunkered down and let their defense hold on for the win.

Ohio 38, OSM{LA-Lafayette} 31

October 30--Once a perenial Shame Mask favorite, the Ohio Bobcats have not taken the field be-Shame-Masked since September, 2004. Since then things, have turned around. Last season, Ohio were 9-3 before losing in the MAC championship game and the Little Caesers Bowl. They have continued their winning ways this year and entered the game with a 5-3 record and tied for first in the MAC East.

Each team went for over 400 yards of total offense in this shootout. LA-Lafayette took advantage of four Ohio interceptions in the first half, and the Ragin' Cajuns led 14-10 at halftime, and 17-16 early in the fourth quarter. In the back and forth final quarter that saw five touchdowns, LA-Lafayette came out on the short side, allowing a sack on 4th and 3 at the Ohio 15 in the final minute.

The loss dropped LA-Lafayette to 2-7.

GGSM{North Texas} 33, WKU 6

October 30--Sadly, this game did not result in the long await Shame Mask unity. North Texas's loss to Florida International cost head coach Todd Dodge his job. His son, starting quarterback Riley Dodge had only a so-so response for interim coach Mike Canales, going 11 of 20 for only 89 yards. However, all he really had to do was hand the ball off to Lance Dunbar. He carried the ball 30 times for 215 yards and three touchdowns.

WKU kicked a field goal in early in the fourth quarter to cut the North Texas lead to only 16-6, but then North Texas countered with a 12-play field goal drive. WKU fumbled on their next possession leading to a North Texas touchdown, and then WKU fumbled the ensuing kickoff.

It was a nice break for the Hilltoppers, playing without a Shame Mask for the first time in nearly two years, but now they start again.