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Notes: Hawks face first MSC West test, host Faulkner Saturday
ROME, Ga. - Shorter University opens Mid-South West Division play this Saturday, Oct. 2 when it plays host to Faulkner University at 3:30 p.m. at Historic Barron Stadium.
Saturday is Homecoming and Alumni Weekend for the Hawks (2-2), who are receiving votes in the latest NAIA Top 25 Coaches Poll and riding high after their thrilling 47-46 overtime win over perennial Mid-South and national power Georgetown College last weekend.
In that game, Shorter freshman fullback Kenny Foster rushed for career-highs of 128 yards and four touchdowns on 14 carries. His efforts earned him Victory Sports Network National Offensive Player of the Week honors while the four touchdowns tied the school record for rushing scores in a single game.
Hawks' sophomore Octavious Edge also surpassed the 100-yard rushing mark with 113 yards on 17 totes. As a team, the Hawks rolled up 397 yards rushing on the Tigers and have gained a total of 865 yards on the ground in their last two outings.
If history holds true, Shorter is poised for another strong rushing performance on Saturday against Faulkner (1-2).
The Hawks lead the all-time series between the schools, 2-0. Shorter's two games against Faulkner have produced the two best offensive yardage outputs in school history, with the Hawks racking up a program-best 541 total yards in last season's 43-27 win over the Eagles in Montgomery and tallying 526 yards in a 42-0 shutout of Faulkner at Barron Stadium in 2008.
Shorter rushed for 515 and 421 yards in those two games, respectively, while former Hawks' All-American fullback A.J. Cooley eclipsed the 200-yard mark in each of those contests, including a 209-yard effort in 2008 that stands as the fourth-best rushing performance in school history.
Faulkner, however, enters Saturday's bout a much improved team than over the past two seasons.
The Eagles are coming off of a dramatic overtime victory of their own - a 42-36 win at home against Pikeville College last Saturday.
The 42 points were the most ever scored by a Faulkner team and the triumph was sealed by a wonderfully executed trick play in the extra session that resulted in a 25-yard TD toss from wide receiver Courtney Pete to fellow receiver Kyle McDowell.
Faulkner has shown the ability to put points on the board, and while Shorter has yet to allow a 100-yard rusher thus far in 2010, the Eagles figure to test the Hawks' secondary early and often with quarterback Zach Tribble, lengthy wideouts McDowell (6-1, 190) and Deonta Allen (6-3, 190) and versatile running back Triston McCathern, who has been a viable option in the passing game out of the backfield.
The game will be broadcast live on the radio on 95.7 WATG-FM The Ridge and also via webcast at theridge957.com or by accessing the link provided on the Shorter University Athletics homepage. Coverage begins at 2 p.m. with "Hawk Talk" and continues with "The Phil Jones Show" and the "Meet the Shorter Hawks" segment.
For Game Notes previewing Saturday's MSC West contest, please click here.
