sports
8 Wednesday
October 26, 2011
he twichitan
www.thewichitan.com
MSU football team defeated one of the toughest defenses in the Lone Star Conference, Abilene Christian, at Saturday’s Homecoming game. With a score of 70-28, the Mustangs jumped five spots in the ranking yet again to 8th in the nation.
Kassie Bruton
Homecoming kings
Midwestern State got defensive Saturday, defeating the formerly undefeated ACU
JOSH HOGGARD FOR THE WICHITAN
For the first time in school history, the Midwestern State Mustangs are 7-0 and undefeated in conference play. The Mustangs took the field Saturday night for their homecoming game against the Abilene Christian Wildcats at Memorial Stadium and came up victorious by a lot, with a score of 70-28. The Mustangs came into the contest ranked 13th; the Wildcats, ninth. It was set up to be a nail-biter. It was anything but that. Against one of the toughest defenses in the Lone Star Conference, the Mustangs put up over 400 yards on the ground and over 300 yards in the air. They set a new school record of 740 total yards of offense. ACU has never allowed that many yards. The attack was led, once again, by
quarterback Brandon Kelsey. Kelsey threw for 205 yards and three touchdowns. Kelsey also rushed for 114 yards and a touchdown. The other passing touchdown scored by the Mustangs was thrown by Backup Quarterback Jake Glover. He threw one pass, but it was for a 99-yard score. In addition to the four passing touchdowns, the Mustangs scored six times with the ground game. Keidrick Jackson had another incredible game, rushing for 129 yards on 16 attempts and reaching the end zone three times. Freshman Running Back Jimmy Pipkin found the end zone once, rushing for 94 yards on seven carries. Peter Smith saw the end zone once as well, rushing for 41 yards on four carries. Lester Bush ran 10 times for 58 yards on the day. Altogether, the MSU ground game gained 436 yards total, the highest
they’ve gained on the ground so far this season. And that’s saying something. They haven’t rushed for less than 250 yards yet this season. Wide Receiver Edgar Theliar was Kelsey’s favorite target in the end zone. The Kelsey-Theliar connection was good for three of the Mustangs four scores through the air. Theliar had four catches for 54 yards on the night. The other was the 99-yard completion from Glover to Wide Receiver Vernon Johnson. Johnson had two receptions for 109 yards and the touchdown. David Little had seven catches for 86 yards on the night. Sheldon Galloway, Kelvin Swanson, Mark Strange, and Thomas Carper each had a reception on the night, for four yards, 36 yards, 13 yards, and two yards, respectively. The Wildcats drew first blood in the contest, only a minute and a half into
the contest, as ACU quarterback Mitchell Gale found Taylor Gabriel for his first of three touchdown passes of the day. It appeared – at least early on – that the Mustangs may have finally met their match. That was absolutely not the case. The Mustangs stampeded back with 35 unanswered points in the first half alone. The scoring started when Kelsey found Theliar from nine yards out for the first Mustangs touchdown. Later in the first quarter, with three minutes and thirty seconds left, Jackson posted his first touchdown of the game, putting the Mustangs up 14-7. Kelsey would run it in from 11 yards out and find Theliar twice more, from five and 16 yards out, scoring 21 in the second quarter and putting the Mustangs up 35-7 at the half. The Wildcats scored once the second half started, but that score was quickly answered by two Mustang rushing
touchdowns, one by Pipkin and one by Jackson. The Wildcats scored early in the fourth, bringing the score to 49-21. Jackson managed to put his third touchdown on the board, running it in from two yards out with just over eighth minutes left in the game. Shortly thereafter, the Wildcats managed to run it in from 43 yards out, bringing the score to 56-28. But, that’s all the scoring the Wildcats would do. After a Peter Smith rush and a NCAA record-tying 99 yard touchdown reception to put the nail in the coffin, the final score became Mustangs 70, Wildcats 28. “My touchdown was great to the game,” Smith said. “It helped put another score on the board.” The Mustangs jumped five spots in the raking yet again, jumping to 8th in the nation. They take the field Saturday at Eastern New Mexico. Kickoff is at 3 p.m.
MSU claims conference championship DAMIAN ATAMENWAN SPORTS EDITOR
The Midwestern State cross country team claimed its fourth straight Lone Star Conference championship Saturday morning at Red Arroyo Parkin San Angelo, Texas. The Mustangs finished with a score of 43 and an average of 22:32:40 among 16 runners to dominate West Texas A&M, Angelo State University, Abilene Christian University and Eastern New Mexico. MSU Senior Brissia Montalvo was the top individual finisher in the competition with a running time of 21:40.00. Head Cross Country Coach Koby Styles lauded Montalvo’s effort in helping the Mustangs claim a title. “One of her goals was to win the conference championship and she did it,” he said. “She worked very hard and it paid off.” Ashley Flores followed Montalvo for MSU with a sixth overall position. The sophomore runner finished with a time of 22:26.00. Janel Campbell (22:30.00), who was close to Flores, settled for an overall position of eighth. MSU had three consistent freshmen who help the team with positive results. Michelle Krezonoski (22:41.00), Kim Krezonoski (23:25:00) and Sara Cuba (23:46.00) finished 12th, 16th and 23rd
respectively. Kim Krezonoski was satisfied with her performance as well as the team’s hard work. “I think I did as good as I could that day. I gave it everything,” she said. “I am ready to compete in the regionals.” According to Styles, the Mustangs came out impressive even after hectic practice sessions. “Last week was rough and the runners were not feeling great going into the meet Saturday,” Styles said. “The freshmen are one of the reasons we are who we are; they are always there to step up.” Juniors Heather Owens (24:04.00), Melody Caldwell (24:10.00) and Senior Lindsey Pate (25:16.00) rounded up the 43 points for Midwestern State. The runners finished 31st, 32nd and 53rd correspondingly. “We were the favorite going into the meet. Other teams wanted to take the title as well,” Styles said. “But we weren’t going to have any of that.” Cuba was thrilled with the victory especially being a freshman. “I came up to such a good team,” she said. “I am really nervous about regionals but I can’t wait.” The Mustangs will host NCAA Division II South Central Region Championships on Nov. 5th at the former Hawk Ridge Course.
Courtney Bingham The 2011 Midwestern State cross country team went a long way in pursuit of its fouth consecutive Lone Star Conferenc Championship title.
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