The All State

When the APSU Govs meet the Murray State Racers in any sporting event, the game promises to be intense and close. Saturday’s OVC match-up was just that, with the Racers coming out the victors, 27-17, at Roy Stewart Stadium.

The Govs jumped out to a quick 10-0 lead after freshman kicker Stephen Stansell connected from 52-yards out at the 12:45 mark in the second quarter and junior runningback Terrence Holt followed up with a 30-yard dash to the end zone on the Govs’s next possession.

The Govs held the Racers scoreless until less than two minutes were left in the half.

After a failed fourth-down conversion near midfield, the Racers began a six-play, 50-yard drive to the end zone.

The Racers quarterback, Casey Brockman, who was starting his first collegiate game, connected with Prince Nwagbara with 22 seconds left in the half to cut the Govs’ lead to 10-7.

While the Govs’ offense appeared to hit a wall in the third quarter, the Racers began to make plays to take over the game.

The Govs’ defense kept the game within reach by holding Murray to two field goals until there was only eight minutes left in the game.

Murray State’s kicker, Kienan Cullen, first converted from 34 yards for the only score in the third quarter. He later made another field goal from 21 yards out to give the Racers a small lead.

After the Govs went three-and-out on their ensuing possession, The Racers’ Derrick Townsel returned Ryan Keys’ punt 56 yards. The return set up Charlie Jordan’s three-yard score for a Racer 20-10 lead.

All-American defensive end Austen Lane pushed the Racer lead to 27-10 when he intercepted a Jake Ryan pass and took it 21 yards for another Racer touchdown.

But the excitement did not end there.

The always dangerous Holt returned the following Racer kickoff 99 yards to the house. But it proved to be the last score for the Govs. The Govs dropped their second straight game.

The loss drops the Govs to 3-6 overall, 2-4 in the OVC.

Holt led the Govs with 241 all-purpose yards, including 77 rushing yards.

Ryan completed 13-of-25 passes for 192 yards and two picks. He found Adrian Mines on seven catches for 119 yards.

APSU finished with 293 yards of total offense and a sour 1 of 15 on third down conversions compared to Murray State’s 6-of-16.

Daniel Becker led the Govs defensively. He had 13 tackles and two sacks. Safety Amius Smith produced six tackles and one forced fumble. Kevis Buckley and Tremanye Townsend both grabbed first interception of the season.

Holt was named OVC Specialist of the week for his performance. This is the second time he has been recognized for his performance.

The Govs will host the Tigers of Tennessee State for Senior Day, Saturday, Nov. 14, with a 4 p.m. kickoff at Governors Stadium.

Opposing teams aim to stop the rushing attack by APSU offensive stars Ryan White and Terrence Holt. On Saturday night, Oct. 31, the Jacksonville State Gamecocks did just that in holding the Govs to 106 yards on the ground in the 28-10 loss on Homecoming.

With the loss, APSU falls into a tie with UT-Martin for fifth place with a 3-5 overall record and 2-3 OVC. Jacksonville State improves to 5-3 overall and 3-1 in the conference. But due to the Academic Progress Rate (APR) penalties, Jacksonville State is ineligible for post-season.

“They are going to try to stop the run, and we need to do a better job of getting guys open down field and taking advantage of that,” said APSU head coach Rick Christophel.

Jacksonville State sealed the win when Jake Ryan threw his second interception to A.J. Davis who returned it 55 yards for the three-score lead.

Former Louisiana State quarterback Ryan Perrilloux opened the third quarter using his dual threat by scoring from 15 yards out after he connected with Greg Smith on a 47-yard pass to set up what would be the game winning score.

“I thought we did a good job against him,” Christophel said. “He [Perrilloux] is an NFL quarterback; he can make all the throws and he can run. He is mobile and sees the field really well.”

Overall, Jacksonville State led the game with 398 yards of total offense while the Govs had only 129 yards.

After Jacksonville State jumped out to an early 7-0 lead on a Jamal Young nine-yard run in the first quarter, the offense was no where to be seen on three straight three-and-outs possessions.

The second quarter was a different story. The Govs offense came alive by going on a 13-play drive covering 55 yards capped off by Stephen Stansell’s 32-yard field goal to cut the lead 7-3. The Govs used a personal foul penalty to get the drive started.

On the very next Gamecock possession, the Govs forced a punt, and Rickey Thomas blocked Patrick Tatum’s kick at the JSU 34-yard line, was picked up by Jeremy Ross and took it to the house for a touchdown to give the Govs a 10-7 lead.

The block was Thomas’ sixth career block, but the lead did not last long. On the ensuing kickoff, the Govs were called for a personal foul, allowing JSU to start on at the Govs’s 46. Four plays later, Perrilloux found Calvin Middleton, who trotted 34-yards to push the lead to 14-10, going into the half.

From there the Govs could not score again. The Govs’ Ryan finished 3-of-22, 23 yards and two interceptions. Holt finished with 103 all-purpose yards. He had a 70-yard punt return that would have gone for a score but was called back for defensive holding. White finished with 24 carries and 72 yards.

Defensively, the Govs were led by Daniel Becker’s 11 tackles and two pass break ups. Tremayne Townsend chipped in 10 tackles in the effort. The teams combined with 19 penalties for 201 yards. Eight infractions for 75 yards came from the Govs, and JSU was penalized 11 times for 126 yards.

The game was APSU’s 65th Homecoming contest; the Govs are now 28-36-1 in Homecoming games. This loss snapped a two-game winning streak for the Govs in Homecoming and extends their losing streak to Jacksonville State to three games. The Govs will go on the road Saturday, Nov. 7, to take on Murray State (2-6, 1-4 OVC) with a 1 p.m. kickoff.

Afterwards, the Govs then travel back for the last home game against rival, Tennessee State, Saturday, Nov. 14.

Dear Diary,

Ah finally, I have had two straight weeks of losing because a player goes off on a career day, for example, Rashard Mendenhall’s career day. I can not remember the week before spoiler, but according to the great Vince Lombardi “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.” And I have gone by that motto this season.

My running back Joseph Addai went off to get my 38.00 points this week to help lead me to currently beating Marlon. But what I have to say is Marlon may have been the master of fantasy but I am ready to see Ricky Williams throw a dud so I can laugh and poke fun at my knowledge of football.

My wide receiving core led by Larry Fitzgerald has been as consistent as flies swarming a dead horse. Mario Manningham, the Michigan product has been my dark horse all season and deserves a beer for his performance. With my starting quarterback in Drew Brees being on a bye week, I had to turn the rains over to Joe Flacco and I was disappointed. I watched Joe Flacco’s performance disappoint me as the Cincinnati Bengals defeated the Baltimore Ravens. I expected him to be the hot player, since he put up 25-30 point performances on the bench. His so-so performance did not turn out to hurt me, but I will be putting Flacco on the trading block so I can better my wide receiving core.

For everyone who doesn’t know, I faced Marlon’s team last week. The trash talking began and he expected to beat me like a drum. Though, his plan was interrupted when I actually did the beating, holding a 26-point lead at press time on Monday, Oct. 12. Due to his lack of luck, he will not get past me and allow me to jump to a 2-4 record. Well Devon might have posted a higher score then me, I still got the “W” this week. Ah, this was a planned victory speech for the past two weeks and it feels great to get a win this week. Marlon is now 0-5 and Devon is 3-2.

Going to Walmart to buy tissues for Marlon and confidently researching the injury reports,

The Anthony Shingler

Highest Scoring Team: WD Forte

Running Back, Joseph Addai, 38 points

Running Back, LenDale White, 15.1 points

Running Back, Julius Jones, 16.6 points

Wide Receiver, Mario Manningham, 11.6 points

Quarterback, Joe Flacco, 16.3 points

Wide Receiver, Larry Fitzgerald, 24.9 points

Tight End, Tony Gonzalez, 11.5 points

Defense, Pittsburgh Steelers, 12 points

Kicker, Lawrence Tynes, 14 points

Wide Receiver, Nate Washington, 6.7 points

APSU was on a four game losing streak heading into the game on Saturday, Oct. 10, at Southeast Missouri.

Behind the two-headed ground assault of Ryan White and Terrence Holt, the two made their presence felt in a big way racking up 328 yards. They helped end a four-game skid by APSU, winning 24-14 at Houck Stadium.

APSU improved to 2-4 overall and 1-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference. Meanwhile, SEMO lost their fifth straight game falling to 1-5 overall and 0-4 In the OVC.

White rushed for a career-best 228 yards on 32 carries with his first touchdown of the season, and Holt chipped in 100 yards on 23 carries and two scores. It was the second time this season that both White and Holt have rushed for over 100 yards or more in the same game, the first since the season opener against Newberry.

APSU had to overcome four turnovers (three of which were interceptions) and 12 penalties to before the offense would get something going.

SEMO extended their lead to 14-3 after a 69-yard interception. APSU continued to respond with the White-Holt combo and it proved to be lethal.

With SEMO looking as if they had the game wrapped up, APSU had other thoughts going seven plays for 56 yards. The Govs used a little over three minutes to score for the first time in the half cutting the lead to 14-10 with a six-yard run by Holt.

APSU defense turned up the heat, by forcing an interception from SEMO’s Matt Scheible who threw it to Jeremy Ross.

White rushed for 25 yards on three carries to score his first touchdown of the season to push APSU ahead 17-14 for the first lead of the game.

After another three and out, APSU took over at their own 36-yard line. The Govs chopped seven minutes off the clock with a 13-play drive towards another touchdown run by Holt.

The defense again came up big, holding SEMO to a fourth and 13 at SEMO’s 29 yard line. APSU picked off a Scheible pass, but this time Antwaun Majors came up with the interception returning for 23 yards to the SEMO 32-yard line to seal the win. APSU totaled 418 yards total to SEMO’s 154 yards and 37:24 to 22:34 for time of possession.

Holt, who came into the game leading the nation in all-purpose yards, finished with 179 total yards, while White had 234 yards total.

Jake Ryan, who had his first start, finished 9-of-17 93 yards and three interceptions.

Defensively, APSU held SEMO to 22 total yards the second half, and were lead by Tremayne Townsend’s nine tackles and Daniel Becker’s seven. Kicker Stephen Stansell was 1-of-2 on field goals, hitting a 41 yarder to end the first half. The field goal came after APSU rushed the kicking team on the field with 10 seconds left in the first half. Stansell missed a 43 yarder at the end of the third quarter.

White was named OVC offensive player of the week by gaining 248 yards in the come from behind win against Southeast Missouri.

His teammate, freshman safety Jeremy Ross was named OVC newcomer of the week with his fumble recovery and interception for a touchdown.

APSU is off this week and will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 24, to face No. 17 Eastern Kentucky at home with a 6 p.m kickoff.The Govs stay at home for their homecoming game against the Jacksonville State Gamecocks Saturday, Oct. 31.

Penalties doomed the Govs as they fell to Tennessee Tech 31-23, Saturday, Oct. 3, in Ohio Valley Conference play at Tucker Stadium.

With the loss, APSU has lost their fourth straight game and are 1-4 on the season and 0-2 in the OVC. Tennessee Tech improves to 2-2 overall and 1-1 in the conference.

This also marks the first time the Govs loss against the Golden Eagles under the tenure of head coach Rick Christophel.

The Govs ran the ball like normal, gaining 180 yards on the ground thanks to Ryan White’s fifth 100-yard game in his career on 22 carries. Terrence Holt’s 71 yards on 14 rushes gained two scores. The Govs outrushed Tennessee Tech (180-70).

The Govs, who committed 13 penalties for 138 yards and 4-of-12 on third downs, hurt themselves. Tennessee Tech only had four penalties for 45 yards.

“That (penalties) doesn’t determine who wins the game and who doesn’t win the game,” said APSU head coach Rick Christophel. “We played hard, but we can’t play undisciplined football.”

Tennessee Tech struck first by scoring on a Timoth Donegan 23-yard field goal, but the Govs would come right back and exchange a 35-yard field goal from Stephen Stansell to even the score 3-3.

TTU came back with a four-yard run from Tremain Hudson, who ran the wildcat offense, gaining 64 yards on seven plays to take the lead 10-3.

Again, Tennessee Tech struck when Lee Sweeney found Anton Robinson on a 21-yard pass and catch to push the lead to 17-3.

APSU found their stride on a 14-play, 72-yard drive capped off on Terrence Holt’s first touchdown of the night from six yards out.

The Govs used 12 plays and 75-yards when Gary Orr hooked up with Ashlon Adams for a seven-yard score to tie it at 17-17.

The Golden Eagles answered with a touchdown of their own to make the score, 24-17.

The Govs used a six play, 45-yard drive finished off by Terrence Holt’s second touchdown of the night on a 10-yard scamper. But with a missed extra point by Stansell, APSU trailed 24-23.

It was Stansell’s first miss all season on extra points, and he also missed a 33-yard field goal with 9:38 left in the game.

Offensively, with the running game brewing, Orr went off on 15 of 23 passes for 198 yards and one touchdown.

Defensively, freshman Jeremy Ross led the way with 12 tackles, while Daniel Becker and Amius Smith both contributed eight tackles each.

EDITOR’S NOTE:
The suspensions of Tremayne Townsend, and James Barker were lifted and both played in Saturday’s game. Barker and Townsend were arrested Wednesday, Sept. 23.

Coming into the match, both APSU and Jacksonville State were the final two unbeaten teams in conference and both were riding a winning streak.

In a hard-fought match, Jacksonville State prevailed, winning 3-2 (25-13, 19-25, 25-18, 19-25, 15-11) over the Lady Govs at the Dunn Center.

A win would have given APSU sole possession of first place in the conference standings as well as extend their best start in conference play in school history.

“There are never any excuses, as I told the girls,” APSU coach Mike Johnson said. “We’ve played a tough schedule, with five matches in our last nine days and [Jacksonville State] probably our toughest opponent in that time.”

The match didn’t start for the Lady Govs (11-5, 5-1) as planned. Jacksonville State (13-5, 7-0) scored seven consecutive points to build a six-point lead that allowed them to take the first set to lead the match 1-0.

“It would have been easy to roll over after that first set,” Johnson said. “We didn’t. The girls kept fighting. I’m proud of them.”

The Lady Govs fought back, taking a 14-4 run that saw six service aces to even the score 1-1.

Jacksonville State again traded blows with the Lady Govs taking the third set behind six kills from their senior outside hitter, Brittney Whitten.

The fourth set was the best for the Lady Govs, in which they earned 15 kills, led by Ilyanna Hernandez, who had six kills. Stephanie Champine also chipped in for kills to even the match at 2-2.

In the final set, the Lady Govs stumbled, giving up six errors as a team with five errors from Champine to only seven kills by the entire team.

“If a couple of different calls go our way, or we had gotten a couple of breaks in the fifth set, we’re all smiles right now,” Johnson said.

Champine, the current OVC Player of the Week, recorded double-digit kills (15) for the 12th consecutive match but had season-high 10 errors. Kirstin Distler and Hernandez also chipped in 15 kills each. Paige Economos had 21 digs in the loss. The Lady Govs, as a team, had 20 errors its most since a 26-error match against Loyola (Ill.) on Sept. 12, the Lady Govs’ last loss.

“Jacksonville State game-planned to stop Champine, and when that happens, (Kirstin) Distler and Hernandez are open,” Johnson said. “We’ll see this team again.”

The Lady Govs will go on the road Friday, Oct. 9, to face Tennessee State with a 7 p.m. serve.