ACU's title is second in last three years; Wildcats earn first-round bye in playoffs
ABILENE – No. 2-ranked Abilene Christian University scored touchdowns on its first five drives of the game and rolled to a 47-17 thrashing of Southwestern Oklahoma State that gave ACU its second outright Lone Star Conference South Division championship in three years, and its first-ever 11-0 regular season.
The win sealed a bye for ACU in the first round of the NCAA Division II playoffs, and earned the Wildcats the right to host home games at Shotwell Stadium through the national quarterfinals, beginning Nov. 27. The NCAA Division II playoff pairings will be announced Sunday at 2 p.m. (central time) on ESPNews.
ACU finished 6-0 in the LSC South. Southwestern Oklahoma dropped to 3-8 overall and 3-4 in the LSC North.
“This is the culmination of a lot of hard work,” said ACU head coach Chris Thomsen. “I'm proud of our team and our coaches. It's great to see the hard work pay off in a special way. This team has kept its focus all year, and the senior leadership has been outstanding.”
ACU's balanced offensive attack rolled up 492 yards (245 passing and 247 rushing) against the Bulldogs, powered by two TDs on the ground each from freshman
Charcandrick West and junior
Daryl Richardson.
Sophomore ACU quarterback
Mitchell Gale – a regional finalist for the Harlon Hill Award as the nation's top player – directed ACU's offense to 301 yards and five touchdowns in the first half, completing 9 of 15 passes for 128 yards and one TD. Senior
Clark Harrell took over for Gale in the second half.
Richardson, who gained 65 yards on nine carries before resting in the second half, ran for two first-half touchdowns. He helped ACU to a 7-0 lead with a 2-yard run at 8:54 of the first quarter, then added a 25-yard run with a little over a minute left. Sandwiched between was a 16-yard pass from Gale to junior fullback
Justin Andrews at the 5:06 mark.
SWOSU's Colton Rainey kicked a 28-yard field goal at 11:07 of the second quarter to cut ACU's lead to 21-3, but the Wildcats pounced again 18 seconds later when wide receivers
Harold Jackson and
Raymond Radway teamed on a 61-yard pass play in which Jackson took a lateral from Gale and threw to a wide-open Radway for the TD. Jackson and Radway also are veterans of ACU's national powerhouse track and field team.
West, who ran 11 times for 113 yards on the afternoon, added an 11-yard run with six minutes left to make ACU's halftime lead 35-3.
The Bulldogs scored on a 9-yard pass from Dustin Stenta at 11:11 of the third quarter, but ACU – again resting its starters in the second half and allowing its deep bench to get some valuable experience – padded its lead to 47-10 on
Morgan Lineberry field goals of 31 and 22 yards, and a 66-yard TD run by West.
SWOSU made the final score 47-17 when Ryan Corbin caught a 42-yard TD pass from Mike Van Deripe with 38 seconds remaining in the game.
ACU's defense held the Bulldogs to 108 yards rushing and 284 yards overall, led by linebacker
Fred Thompson's three sacks and 12 tackles from junior defensive back
Nate Bailey. Linebackers
Eric Edwards and
L.B. Suggs added seven tackles each. Wildcat defenders tackled SWOSU ballcarriers for losses 14 times.
"To be able to finish 11-0 is very important,” said Thomsen. “We've had a lot of hard-fought games this year, and to come in here and finish it against an unranked team, you want to finish it the right way. I think our guys have earned the right to call themselves the best in the toughest conference in the country.”
The LSC is well represented in the latest American Football Coaches Association national poll. The Wildcats are No. 2 and Texas A&M-Kingsville (9-1 entering tonight's game) is No. 4. West Texas A&M (7-3) is No. 19. Four LSC teams are ranked in the top 8 of Super Region 4: ACU (1st), A&M-Kingsville (2nd), West Texas A&M (5th) and Midwestern State (7th).
