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Former Calhoun City Wildcat M.D. Jennings and the Arkansas State Red Wolves become bowl eligible with a 33-28 win over North Texas.

ASU Becomes Bowl Eligible With 33-28 Victory Over North Texas
Arkansas State Athletic Department

JONESBORO (11/29/08) – Arkansas State junior running back Reggie Arnold and junior quarterback Corey Leonard accounted for a combined four touchdowns to lead the Red Wolves (6-5, 4-2) to a 33-28 Sun Belt Conference victory over North Texas (1-11, 0-7) Saturday afternoon at Fouts Field, giving ASU six wins on the season to make it bowl eligible for the third time in the last four years.

Junior safety Marcus Brown secured the victory when he intercepted Giovanni Vizza with 23 seconds left in the game, stopping a North Texas drive that reached the ASU 41-yard line. The interception completed an ASU rally after the Mean Green had grabbed a 28-24 lead, its only advantage of the game, on a 29-yard touchdown run by Cam Montgomery with 6:54 left in the third quarter.

ASU responded with an 80-yard touchdown drive on its next possession to regain the lead at 30-28 after Josh Arauco’s extra-point was blocked. Leonard found junior wide receiver Brandon Thompkins for a 63-yard reception, the longest of Thompkins career, that set up Arnold’s second touchdown run from the one-yard line at the 5:07 mark of the third quarter.

Arauco kicked a 24-yard field goal with 9:05 left in the fourth quarter to set the final score at 33-28. The defense, led by three players with an interception and a career-high 13 tackles from senior linebacker Ben Owens, then stopped the Mean Green on its final two possessions to clinch the win.

“I am very proud of our football team,” said ASU Head Coach Steve Roberts. “This was a big win for us. We have now become bowl eligible in three of the last four years and that is big for this program. For us to win on the road like this, having played only one home game the last five weeks is also big for our program.”

The Red Wolves finished with 393 yards of total offense, narrowly missing its sixth 400-yard performance of the season. Arnold recorded his third straight 100-yard rushing game, finishing the day with 101 yards to pace ASU’s rushing attack that piled up 188 yards. Leonard completed 12-of-22 passes for 205 yards and tied his own school record with his 16th passing touchdown of the season.

Along with Brown, sophomore defensive tackle Bryan Hall and junior safety Evan Van Dolah both tallied their first career interceptions. ASU, which lost one fumble, improved to 6-0 this year when winning the turnover battle.

North Texas finished the game with 327 yards of total offense, marking the seventh game the Red Wolves have outgained their opponent. ASU had six players finish with five or more tackles and also had six players finish with at least one tackle for loss. Junior corner Daylan Walker followed Owens with eight tackles, while Brown and junior defensive end Alex Carrington posted seven.

ASU led 7-0 and 14-7 in the first half, but North Texas came back to tie it up both times. After North Texas tied the score 14-14 with 48 seconds left in the first half, Paul Stephens returned the Mean Green’s kick a career-best 57 yards to set up Arauco’s first field goal from 36 yards. Stephens’ return was the longest by an ASU player since Darren Toney had a 60-yard return against Florida International last season.

Leonard ended ASU’s first possession of the second half with a three-yard touchdown run that gave ASU a 24-14 lead, its largest of the game, early in the third quarter. The Mean Green came back to score 14 unanswered points before ASU went back on top for good with 5:07 left in the third.

The victory sets up a showdown next Saturday with Troy for the Sun Belt Conference title. If ASU defeats Troy, the Red Wolves and Trojans will both finish with a 5-2 conference record, while Louisiana-Lafayette can also finish with a 5-2 league mark with a win over Middle Tennessee this Wednesday. However, ASU can win the tie-breaker over the Ragin’ Cajuns and Troy with a head-to-head win over the Trojans.

1A: Calhoun City 20 Ray Brooks 12

Jarvis Rounds rushed for 122 yards and 3 touchdowns on 27 carries to lead the Calhoun City Wildcats to the 1A North State Championship with a 20-12 win over previously unbeaten Ray Brooks.

Rounds scored the one-yard game winning touchdown and converted the two-point conversion with thirty seconds left in the contest.

The Tigers could only watch time run out on their hopes of a defending their state championship as the Cats forced the QB to scramble and tackled him inbounds with Ray Brooks having no timeouts left in the game to stop the clock.

2A: Baldwyn 12 Eupora 6 OT

Casey Copeland missed a PAT in the final minutes of regulation that would have given the Bearcats a 7-6 win over the Eagles, but had a second chance in OT after Baldwyn took the ball first after winning the coin toss and put points on the board. Luckily for Copeland, the Bearcats defense stood strong and held the Eagles on four downs to finally get over the hump to advance to the 2A State Championship.

3A: Louisville 41 Aberdeen 21

Brandon Speck on the Monroe County Journal reports on the game at Monroe360.com

Other Scores:

Noxubee County 42 Shannon 24
South Panola 24 Madison Central 21

1A – Nine team regions allow teams to have two open weeks for non-region games.

Region 1: Vardaman, Smithville, Okolona, Falkner, Biggersville, West Oktibbeha, East Oktibbeha, Thrasher, and Wheeler.

Region 2: Ray Brooks, Greenville St Joseph, Drew, Coffeeville, Mound Bayou JFK, Montgomery County, Coldwater, Weir, and Durant.

Region 3: Sebastopol, Nanih Wayia, McAdams, Ethel, French Camp, South Leake, Noxapater, Edinburg, and Thomastown.

Region 4: Mt Olive, Bogue Chitto, St Aloysius, Cathedral, Pelahatchie, Dexter, Salem, West Lincoln, and Mize.

2A – Looks like these regions will mainly have five teams with three regions having six teams. I don’t know what team from Region 3 to put with Region 4 to even things out.

Region 1: Baldwyn, Walnut, Belmont, Hamilton, Mantachie, Hatley

Region 2: Bruce, Ackerman, Eupora, Calhoun City, East Webster, West Lowndes

Region 3: West Bolivar, Broad Street, West Tally, Coahoma County, Coahoma AHS, Strayhorn

Region 4: Simmons, O’Bannon, William-Sullivan, JZ George (someone from Region 3 will go here)

Region 5: Philadelphia, Scott Central, Newton, Union, Lake

Region 6: Hinds, Wesson, Loyd Star, St Joe, Enterprise6

Region 7: Taylorsville, Enterprise7, Bay Springs, Puckett, Clarkdale

Region 8: Bassfield, North Forrest, East Marion, Richton, Lumberton, Prentiss

3A – Wow, it’s a mess trying to figure this out!!! These are probably bad off.

Region 1: Ripley, Kossuth, Booneville, Corinth, Alcorn Central

Region 2: Aberdeen, Nettleton, South Pontotoc, Winona, Mooreville

Region 3: Holly Springs, Independence, Water Valley, MS Palmer, Lake Cormorant, Charleston

Region 4: East Side, South Delta, Leland, Leflore County, Riverside, Marshall, Ruleville

Region 5: Velma Jackson, Morton, SE Lauderdale, Carthage, Choctaw Central, Forest

Just wanted to take the time to tell all of my readers Happy Thanksgiving — I hope you all have a great time with your family and friends. There is a lot of traveling going on this weekend with family gatherings and football – so stay safe on the roads.

North State Championship Games

5A: South Panola @ Madison Central
4A: Shannon @ Noxubee County
3A: Aberdeen @ Louisville
2A: Eupora @ Baldwyn (I think this game will be on MS98)
1A: Ray Brooks @ Calhoun City – click here to sign up for updates.

I extend a person invite to make the short drive south from Oxford after the Egg Bowl to come to the Bone Yard for the 1A North State Championship Game between Calhoun City and Ray Brooks — should be an exciting game.

Need more football check out: Speck’s Sports Blog, The Ole Miss Nation, Monroe360, Brad Locke on MSU, and NEMS Daily Journal Sports.

Hilltopper Thanksgiving Classic

Saturday, Nov. 29 @ Houston High School Gym

12:00 p.m. – Houston JV vs. Okolona JV
1:30 p.m. – Aberdeen vs. Okolona
3:00 p.m. – Houston vs. Vardaman
4:30 p.m. – Shannon vs. Calhoun City

All-County Softball Team

The New Albany Gazette will release their All-Union County Slow Pitch Softball Team in Friday’s edition of the paper.

Dukes of the Diamond

The Monroe County Journal has a great story about Smithville’s softball coach Jeremy Dukes and his father Roger — click here for the entire story.

Egg Bowl Madness

Brad Locke blogs about the Bulldogs for the NEMS Daily Journal

Parrish Alford blogs about the Rebels for the NEMS Daily Journal

To get your Ole Miss Athletic fix checkout: The Ole Miss Nation

Notre Dame Basketball

That’s right Notre Dame has a basketball team and a dang good one too. The #8 Irish beat #7 Texas 81-80 in the Maui Invitational to advance to the tournament championship game against top-ranked North Carolina after they picked up a 98-69 win over Oregon.

Chickasaw and Itawamba goes 360

Chickasaw and Itawamba have joined the Monroe County Journal in the world of 360 recently revamping their websites — Chickasaw360.com and Itawamba360.com

Ryan Whittington pointed this out to me in an email.  Taiwan Easterling of Hattiesburgh and other Florida State players keep the thug-like pride rolling at Florida State – click here for the ESPN story.

Brandon Speck of Monroe360 spoke with the MSHAA Offices and has confirmed these classifications as finalized.

6A

Harrison Central, Madison Central, Tupelo, Greenville-Weston, Meridian, Horn Lake, Ocean Springs, Gulfport, Southaven, DeSoto Central, Murrah, Clinton, Northwest Rankin, Brandon, Oak Grove, Biloxi, Terry, Warren Central, Columbus, Grenada, Hancock, Hattiesburg, Wingfield, Jim Hill, George County, Pascagoula, Olive Branch, Petal, South Panola, Natchez, Vicksburg, and Starkville.

5A

Picayune, Provine, Wayne County, Forest Hill, St. Martin, West Harrison, D’Iberville, West Point, Pearl, Callaway, Canton, Hernando, Moss Point, Clarksdale, Gautier, Brookhaven, Ridgeland, Gentry, Long Beach, New Hope, Pearl River Central, Neshoba Central, East Central, Oxford, West Jones, McComb, Yazoo City, Lanier, Stone, Saltillo, Vancleave, and Laurel

4A

South Jones, Greenwood, Mendenhall, Center Hill, Itawamba AHS, Lafayette, NE Jones, Shannon, Pontotoc, Poplarville, Bay High, Magee, Tishomingo, West Lauderdale, North Pike, NE Lauderdale, Florence, St. Stanislaus, Lawrence County, Noxubee County, Quitman, New Albany, Lewisburg, Byhalia, Kosciusko, Cleveland, Amory, Forrest County AHS, Caledonia, Raymond, Pass Christian, Senatobia, Purvis, Newton County, Louisville, South Pike, Rosa Fort, Houston, Crystal Springs, North Pontotoc, Port Gibson, Greene County, Humphreys, McClain, Amanda Elzy, Yazoo County, Columbia, and North Panola

3A

Richland, Kossuth, Jefferson County, Tylertown, Aberdeen, Corinth, Independence, Holly Springs, Alcorn Central, Sumrall, Lake Cormorant, Collins, Ripley, MSMS, Wilkinson Co, Bailey, Hazlehurst, Mooreville, Booneville, M. S. Palmer, Choctaw Central, South Pontotoc, Carthage, Charleston, Raleigh, Franklin County, SE Lauderdale, West Marion, Nettleton, Morton, East Side, Perry Central, Amite County, Heidelberg, Winona, Kemper County, Velma Jackson, Water Valley, Forest, Seminary, McLaurin, South Delta, St. Andrew’s, Leland, Leflore County, Riverside, S.V. Marshall, Ruleville, and St. Patrick.

2A

Philadelphia, Clarkdale, Belmont, Coahoma County, Loyd Star, Our Lady Academy, Newton, Wesson, Mantachie, J. Z. George, Hatley, Prentiss, St. Joe, Eupora, West Tallahatchie, Scott Central, West Bolivar, Taylorsville, East Marion, Bruce, Bay Springs, Lumberton, Coahoma AHS, Ackerman, O’Bannon, New Site. Baldwyn, Enterprise, North Forrest, Williams-Sullivan, Bassfield, Enterprise, Simmons, Strayhorn, Hamilton, Richton, Walnut, Broad Street, Union, East Union, Lake, East Webster, West Lowndes, Calhoun City, Puckett, Hinds AHS, Piney Woods, Pisgah, and Stringer.

1A

Hickory Flat, John F. Kennedy, Ashland, Mize, Pelahatchie, West Lincoln, Shaw, Myrtle, South Leake, H. W. Byers, Drew, Potts Camp, Okolona, Sebastopol, Vardaman, Smithville. Wheeler, Cathedral, Coffeeville, West Union, Bogue Chitto, Coldwater, Durant, Ingomar, St. Aloysius, Biggersville, Houlka, Salem, Ethel, Pine Grove, Falkner, McAdams, Mount Olive, St Joseph, Nanih Waiya, East Oktibbeha, French Camp, Montgomery County, Edinburg, West Oktibbeha, Weir, Resurrection, Thomastown, Tremont, Thrasher, Noxapater, Jumpertown, Sacred Heart, Blue Mountain, Ray Brooks, Dexter, and MS School for the Deaf.

ICC/Will Kollmeyer

Itawamba Community College has announced, in conjunction with its 60th anniversary as a College, it will not charge anyone for admission to Monday night’s basketball showdown between ICC and East Central.

“We thought this would be a nice gesture from the College to our fans all around the area,” said ICC Athletic Director Carrie Ball-Williamson. “With all of the kids out of school for Thanksgiving, we should have a lot of folks wanting to take advantage of this great offer to watch two good games in one of the best facilities in this part of the country.”

The women’s matchup between the two schools is scheduled to tipoff at 5 p.m. with the men to follow at 7 p.m.

One noticeable name is missing from the 2008 Mississippi All-Star Football team, senior running back Richard Freelon of Bruce.

As a junior Freelon broke on the scene in the Trojans 19-13 overtime win over 5A DeSoto Central where he rushed for 113 yards and 2 touchdows, including the game winning score, on 29 carries. He would go on to rushed for over 200 yards in the next four games before finishing the season with 2,533 yards and 33 touchdowns on 316 carries – an average of 8.02 yards per carry.

Teams took the defensive attitude of stopping Richard this season, but very few succeeded as Freelon finished his senior season with 1,765 yards and 15 touchdowns on 218 carries – an average of 8.01 yards per carry.

While the All-Star Selection Committee opted not to use the talents of Freelon there are more important people hoping to have the services of the Trojan running back next season as Ole Miss, Southern MS, Louisville, Oregon, North Texas, Western Kentucky, and Jacksonville State all have requested film on Freelon while Northwest MS Community College has listed him on their protection list.

Oregon has reportedly set up a visit for early December.

Tevin Blanchard of Aberdeen, Chad Bumphis and Deauntey Payne of Tupelo, Sam Marshall and William Shumpert of Itawamba AHS, along with Devin Slayton and Montez Phillips of Lafayette County will represent Northeast MS in the Mississippi/Alabama All-Star game.

2008 Mississipp All-Star Team

What a difference a week makes for Notre Dame head coach Charlie Wies.

Talk swirled about the possibility of Wies’ head feeling the pressure from the swift ax of the Notre Dame chopping block heading into their game against Navy, but a shaky 27-21 victory appeared to put the rumors to rest — that was before Saturday’s 24-23 loss to Syracuse woke the rumormill echoes once again.

Wies now stands at 28-20 as the Irish head coach, a similar mark that resulted in the Irish cutting ties with former coaches Bob Davie and Ty Willingham.

He did not directly comment on questions about his future with the Notre Dame football program, but did address the situation during the post game press conference by saying, “Fortunately or unfortunately, whichever way you look at it, that’s just my makeup.”

When asked about getting ready for rival and the sixth-ranked USC Trojans Wies said the team has to go in thinking they can win and if they don’t… “then you’re just asking for a massacre.”

A win or a having a chance to win against the Trojans would go a long way in saving his job, but the past has proven — the Irish administration has a quick trigger when it comes to making heads roll in South Bend.

Notre Dame fans were hoping to celebrate the new year in Texas, but not in El Paso.

It appears the real winner in the 24-23 Syracuse upset of Notre Dame will be the Sun Bowl. Many people that claim/think to be in the know were speculating a five-loss Fighting Irish team to accept an invite to play in the Cotton Bowl or the Gator Bowl, but a shocking sixth loss more than likely removed them from the invite list.

Sun Bowl representatives had been reported to say they hoped the Cotton and Gator Bowl representatives would pass on the Irish and even went as far as to jokingly say they would be more than happy to have a six-loss Notre Dame team play in the 75th edition of their bowl with their high catholic population in the area.

A shameful poor performance by the Irish has now made those jokes a reality.

The Brut Sun Bowl has an automatic tie-in with the Pac-10 Conference and the option to pit them against a team from the Big 12, Big East, or Notre Dame. Representative are looking at Oregon as their most desired selection from the Pac-10 along with California and Arizona.

Other teams along with Notre Dame that are currently on the December 31st bowl wish list: Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and West Virginia from the Big East along with Missouri and Nebraska from the Big 12 Conference.

If selected it would be the first appearance in the Sun Bowl by the Fighting Irish.