www.centralmethodist.edu
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The Collegian October 23, 2013
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The COLLEGIAN
Page 7
Sports
No.-10 ranked Baker closes out Eagles with strong finish
In a game with a combined 10 turnovers, No. 10-ranked Baker turned four of its takeaways into 24 points to fuel a 46-12 win over Central Methodist on Saturday in the Heart of America Athletic Conference Game of the Week at Liston Stadium in Baldwin City, Kan. Though it coughed the ball up four times on offense, the Baker defense forced six turnovers for the second-straight game, spread evenly between three fumbles and three interceptions. The last of the three interceptions was immediately turned into a touchdown, as Emmerson Clarke returned a pass 40 yards for a touchdown to put the game away on the first play of the
CMU Lady cagers ranked third in pre-season poll
Defending Heart of America Athletic Conference champion MidAmerica Nazarene received nine of 10 first-place votes to sit atop the 2013-14 HAAC Women’s Basketball Preseason Coaches’ Poll, released on Oct. 15 at the HAAC Basketball Media Day held in Kansas City. The Pioneers received a full 81 voting points (coaches did not vote for their own teams) for the secondstraight preseason poll to finish 12 points ahead of runner-up Benedictine. The Ravens claimed 69 points to edge out CMU for second place by two votes. The Eagles picked up the remaining first-place vote and were the only team to claim a victory against MNU last season. One season after a 14-win improvement, Baker was picked to finish fourth with 58 points. Fifth position was shared by a pair of teams, as Evangel and CulverStockton each received 44 voting points while Avila was picked seventh after claiming 32 points. Two programs with new head coaches were separated by just one spot as Missouri Valley earned 21 points to sit ahead of Peru State on 20 points for the eighth spot. Graceland was the final team in the preseason table after going winless in 2012-13. CMU begins the 2013-14 season with two exhibition games, starting with Oct. 27 at Wichita State University. The Lady Eagles begin the regular season at home on Nov. 2 against Lindenwood University-Belleville.
fourth quarter. The Wildcats scored the first points of the game on a 1-yard run by Dillon Baxter at the 8:53 mark of the opening quarter, but the Eagles used a pair of field goals by Ezequiel Rivera and a 3-yard touchdown run by Francois Matthews to take a 12-7 lead at the 10:52 mark of the second quarter. The Wildcats (6-1, 4-1 HAAC) scored next as Camren Torneden scooted across from six yards to finish off a six-play drive and retake the lead, 14-12. The Eagles were forced to punt with 30 seconds left, a kick that was blocked by Adam Novak and downed at the CMU 35. Clarence Clark finished the half
with a 33-yard field goal. The momentum gained late in the half by the Wildcats continued into the third quarter as Clarke forced a fumble on the first play of the second half. Baker added a field goal after recovering at the Eagles’ 25-yard line, followed up by a 79yard catch and run by Clark at the 7:37 mark after a pair of punts by the Eagles. Baker turned the ball over on its next two possessions, but Central Methodist (4-3, 3-2 HAAC) was unable to capitalize as it was limited to one first down before the interception return by Clarke after a fumble by Dillon Baxter late in the third quarter.
Kaleb Borghardt completed 13of-27 passes for 114 yards and three interceptions for Central Methodist while also rushing seven times for 36 yards. Raymond Bradley paced the ground game for the Eagles with 10 carries for 67 yards while Paul Stevens and Stephone Allen each had six catches for a combined 114 yards. ******** Central Methodist women’s soccer knocks off Graceland in overtime Nicki Noreen’s golden goal in overtime lifted Central Methodist to a 2-1 win at No. 22 Graceland Saturday. The Eagles (9-6-1, 1-3-1) are now unbeaten in their last three matches, all of which have gone
Football Eagles roll over Evangel GREG JACKSON
FAYETTE ADVERTISER SPORTS EDITOR
In 2012, Evangel had a banner day offensively to dominate the Central Methodist football team in its final home game of the season. On Oct. 12, the Eagles decided to return the favor. Central Methodist gained 500 total yards on offense and scored the game’s first 37 points, drubbing the Crusaders by a score of 44-14. “Last year, they thumped us when we were really injury-depleted and down to our fourth quarterback,” Central Methodist head coach Jody Ford said. “Tonight, we caught them with injuries. I hope we’re not taking turns here.” Evangel played the game without three All-Conference offensive threats — quarterback Andrew Brimhall, wide receiver Mitch McHenry and wide receiver Jesse Vaughn, the 2012 HAAC Offensive Player of the Year and All-American. All three players suffered injuries the previous week against CulverStockton College. But there were no major injuries on the Crusaders’ starting defense. The Eagles went right after Evangel to start the game, scoring in the second minute of the first quarter on a 35-yard touchdown run by Maurice Coon. In the blink of an eye, the Eagles led 7-0. “We challenged our offense,” Ford said. “On the coin flips, we’ve been taking the ball. If we win the toss, we want the ball. In the previous games, we haven’t done anything on our first drive. It’s been really frustrating. So tonight, I said, ‘We’re going to take the ball and I’m going to challenge you guys to put a great drive together.’” Central Methodist (4-2, 3-1 HAAC) forced a threeand-out on Evangel’s first offensive possession and got the ball back with great field position. The Eagles found the end zone just as quickly as they did on their first possession. This time, it only took three plays to hit paydirt. Quarterback Kaleb Borghardt pitched the ball to Paul Stevens for a 26-yard touchdown run. It wasn’t even four minutes into the game and Central Methodist already built a 14-0 lead. Evangel was held to one first down in the entire
first quarter and a sack by Hunter Kelley stopped the next drive cold. The Crusaders punted away and pinned the Eagles at their own 1-yard line. No problem. Francois Mathews carried the ball on four consecutive plays to put the Eagles at the 29-yard line. Borghardt then completed first-down passes to Jamall Williams, Martin Bayless and Stephone Allen. Once the Eagles made it inside the 10-yard line, Borghardt scored on a 5-yard keeper up the middle to extend the lead to 21-0. “That’s a tribute to our offense and what they’re learning,” Ford said of the 99-yard drive on 14 plays. “Our offensive coaches have done a great job and they know what they’re doing.” Evangel added to the Central Methodist lead with a safety. On a bad punt snap, Stone Phelps tossed the ball out of the back of the end zone to give two more points to the Eagles before the first quarter ended. Central Methodist had a chance to score on two drives in the second quarter, but both field-goal attempts by Ezequiel Rivera — from 34 and 45 yards — sailed wide left. It wouldn’t be until the 5:52 mark of the quarter before the Eagles scored again. The fourth touchdown came from the fourth different player to score on the ground. After Nick Stephens was sacked, Raymond Bradley came back and scored on a 17-yard run to give Central Methodist a 30-0 lead it would hold at halftime. The play of the game came in the third quarter. With Central Methodist facing second-and-14, Borghardt looked for an open receiver but the Crusaders defense quickly appeared in the backfield. After moving to his right, Borghardt scampered back to the left, breaking four to five tackles in the process. He escaped a broken tackle at the 10-yard line and made it into the end zone for a 26-yard keeper, extending Central Methodist’s lead to 37-0. “That’s a result of Kaleb putting in the work in the offseason in the weight room,” Ford said. “The other thing that’s really cool about that play is, while it’s very easy to watch Kaleb, if you watch the other 10 guys, they’re all working to try to spring him loose and stay on their blocks. I really appreciate the hustle of the other 10 guys.”
into extra time. The Central Methodist men’s soccer team lost (8-7-1, 0-5) 3-2 at Graceland on Saturday, but bounced back on Monday with a 3-2 win at Harris-Stowe State University in double overtime. Guilherme da Silveira scored the golden goal in the 105th minute. ******** CMU volleyball loses to CulverStockton in five sets Down two games, Central Methodist’s furious rally fell short Monday inside Charles Fieldhouse as the Eagles lost at Culver-Stockton in five games. Central Methodist (18-9, 2-4) lost the match by scores of 11-25, 2225, 25-14, 25-17 and 9-15.
CMU men’s basketball ranked fifth in pre-season polling
Defending Heart of America Athletic Conference champion Evangel received seven of 10 first place votes to sit atop the 201314 HAAC Men’s Basketball Preseason Coaches’ Poll, released Oct. 8 at the annual HAAC Media Day festivities. CMUmen’s basketball head coach Jeff Sherman and his Eagles are picked to finish in fifth place. The Crusaders took 79 voting points (coaches did not vote for their own teams) to finish eight points ahead of runner-up MidAmerica Nazarene, which received a pair of first-place votes to finish with 71 voting points. Fresh off a quarterfinal appearance in the national championship event and runner-up regular-season finish a season ago, Culver-Stockton was picked third in the poll with 62 points. The final first place vote went to Benedictine, which was picked to finish fourth for the second-straight campaign with 60 points. Central Methodist rounded out the top five with 52 points. Baker began the second half of the preseason standings with 41 points while Avila (28 points) edged out Peru State (27) for seventh position. Missouri Valley (19) and Graceland (11) finished off the 10-team table. CMU begins the 2013-14 season at the MidAmerica Nazarene Tip-Off Classic, starting Oct. 31 against Park University followed by a Nov. 1 contest against Baptist Bible College.