2010 Mississippi College Football Game Notes Mississippi College (0-0) vs. Millsaps (0-0) Jackson, MS / Harper-Davis Field / 7:00 p.m. Sports Information Director - David Nichols / [email protected] / (601) 925-3234 Watch or Listen Live at GameCentral on GoChoctaws.com INSIDE TODAY’S GAME GAME PREVIEW D3football.com Top 25 The game between Mississippi College and Mill- # School (1st votes) Rec. Pts Prev. saps marks the fifth year in a row that the two teams 1 UW-Whitewater (20) 15-0 620 N/A have met in the Annual “Backyard Brawl”. The Choc- taws have won three of the last four games since 2 Mount Union (5) 14-1 604 N/A the series was resumed with the only loss coming in 3 Wesley 13-1 541 N/A 2008 when Millsaps advanced to the Second Round 4 Linfield 12-1 512 N/A of the Division III playoffs. Head Coach Norman Joseph begins his sixth 5 St. Thomas 11-2 496 N/A season at the helm for the Choctaws with only one 6 Mary Hardin-Baylor 10-2 488 N/A losing season under his belt coming in his initial cam- 7 Central 10-1 457 N/A paign. Head Coach Aaron Pelch inherits a Millsaps 8 Wittenberg 12-1 450 N/A team after four successful years from Mike Dubose in which he either share or won outright a SCAC 9 St. John’s 10-1 353 N/A Championship. 10 Delaware Valley 10-2 311 N/A The game’s battle will feature two All-Americans 11 Ohio Northern 8-2 295 N/A on opposite sides of the ball in senior running back Steven Knight from MC and senior linebacker Will 12 Coe 10-2 268 N/A Hawkins of Millsaps. Knight is chomping at the bit 13 Thomas More 11-1 253 N/A to show what he can do against the Majors after 14 North Central (Ill.) 8-2 252 N/A seeing limited touches in last year’s win. Hawkins is 15 Hardin-Simmons 6-4 216 N/A the reigning SCAC Defensive Player of the Year and is looking for some more hardware in 2010. 16 UW-Stevens Point 7-3 170 N/A Over the past four meetings, the winner of this 17 Monmouth 10-1 164 N/A game has scored at least 27 points with the victor 18 Willamette 8-2 162 N/A scoring at least 42 points in three of those match- STEVEN KNIGHT 19 Trine 10-2 159 N/A ups. Senior /Running Back 20 Otterbein 8-2 130 N/A Graves went 16-28 for 331 yards and four 21 Washington and Jefferson 9-2 114 N/A LAST YEAR’S GAME touchdowns for the Majors, including scoring strikes 22 Mississippi College 9-3 107 N/A of 32, 43, and 25 yards. Michael Galatas caught 23 Johns Hopkins 10-3 104 N/A CLINTON, MS - Seniors Adam Shaffer and Renard five passes for 98 yards and two touchdowns to lead 24 Wabash 9-2 97 N/A Ellis connected for a six-yard touchdown pass in the Millsaps. 25 Montclair State 10-2 93 N/A second overtime to defeat Millsaps at Robinson-Hale Defensively, Anthony Simpson led the Choctaws Stadium on Saturday night. The Choctaws (1-0) with eight tackles, including one sack on the night. Open Date withstood a feverish rally by the Majors (0-1) in the Mason Burrell led the Majors with 15 tackles, second half to regain the Backyard Brawl trophy. including nine solo stops. Others receiving votes: Illinois Wesleyan 91, Taylor Russolino of Millsaps kicked a 47-yard field Hampden-Sydney 84, Wheaton (Ill.) 80, Albright 66, goal as time expired to send the game into overtime. Cal Lutheran 59, DePauw 56, Lebanon Valley 49, The attempt came after the Choctaws fumbled the THE SERIES Alfred 39, Occidental 33, St. John Fisher 21, Rowan snap on a punt with only :04 seconds remaining. 20, UW-Stout 16, Trinity (Texas) 14, Case Western In the first overtime, the Choctaws opened by Mississippi College and Millsaps have met 48 Reserve 14, Capital 14, Union 12, North Carolina scoring a touchdown on an 11-yard pass from Shaffer times in their history and nine times since the rivalry to junior Matt Burke. Millsaps only took two plays was renewed heading into the 2000 season. The Wesleyan 9, Curry 6, Christopher Newport 6, Ithaca to knot the score as John Miazzo caught a 16-yard Choctaws lead the overall series, 29-13-6, with a 5-4 5, Huntingdon 4, Franklin and Marshall 4, Hobart 3, touchdown pass from Chris Graves. lead since the “Backyard Brawl” resumed. Mount St. Joseph 2, Carnegie Mellon 2, Bethel 1 Shaffer came back from a knee injury that kept Last season, the Choctaws picked up a 47-44 him out for the entire 2008 season to lead the double overtime victory over the Majors with a touch- The D3football.com Top 25 is voted on by a panel Choctaws to victory. The former Jackson Academy down pass to Renard Ellis to seal the victory. of 25 coaches, Sports Information Directors and standout went 26-33 for 236 yards and four The Majors won the last matchup on their campus media members from across the country, and is touchdowns, including the game-winning strike to with a 42-6 thrashing of MC on their way to an NCAA Ellis, who caught five passes for 36 yards. Playoff appearance at the completion of that season. published weekly. Eight different Choctaws caught passes, with four different receivers collecting touchdowns. Sophomore Brian Richardson led the way with six catches for 59 yards and a score. Junior Steven Knight led the way on the ground for the Choctaws with 26 carries for 86 yards and a touchdown. MC rushed for 144 yards on the night, while holding the Majors to only 26. INSIDE TODAY’S GAME MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE Norman 2005-PRESENT • Coached future NFL wide receiver Jake to JOSEPH new school records in 2007 with over 1,200 Head Football Coach receiving yards and 12 touchdown receptions. [email protected] • Led the Choctaws to a 9-3 record overall in 2009 and the school’s first ASC Championship since 1998. Since becoming the 17th head coach in Mississippi Collegefootball • Helped quarterback Adam Shaffer to school history in 2005, Norman Joseph has built the Choctaws into a champion- records for attempts (399), completions (236) ship program, winning the American Southwest Conference in 2009 and and touchdown passes (33) in 2009. reaching the NCAA Playoffs for the first time since 1991. Joseph was • Coached Shaffer to career passing records at honored as the AFCA South Region Coach of the Year. MC in pass yards (9,505), completions (704), The two previous seasons before Joseph’s arrival the Choctaws went and touchdowns (91). 3-7 and 2-8 in the tough Division III league, and had only one winning season in the previous five seasons. But under Joseph’s direction MC has used a high octane offense to climb to the top of the ASC standings. LOUISIANA COLLEGE Coach Joseph has used a multiple offense designed to use available talent, a trait he developed as a (2004) successful Division I offensive coordinator at the University of Southern Mississippi and San Jose State • Last year led Louisiana College to best season University. Twice a Choctaw quarterback has led the league in passing yardage and touchdowns during his since 1962 (5-5). tenure, and two different running backs have led the league in rushing. The Choctaws have rewritten the • Passing Offense ranked #7 in NCAA and #2 in offensive record books under Joseph’s direction. ASC (301 ypg). • Total Offense ranked #15 in NCAA. Quarterback Adam Shaffer broke virtually all MC passing records under Joseph and was a finalist for the • Scoring Offense ranked #28 in NCAA. Gagliardi Trophy this past season given to the most outstanding Division III player in the country. In three • Set 38 team and 41 individual school records. full seasons, Shaffer set new records for passing yardage, touchdowns and completions. Last year, Shaffer passed for 33 touchdowns and just nine interceptions. Tailbacks Steven Knight and Desmond Mays both MIDWESTERN STATE led the ASC in rushing. Mays set the mark in 2008 with over 1,100 yards, and Knight followed with a great (2003 / OC) season in 2009 with over 1,300 yards. • Rushing offense ranked #2 in Lone Star Confer- Two years ago the Choctaws went 5-5 utilizing a dominating rushing attack after quarterback Adam Shaf- ence (204 ypg)(2003). fer suffered a season ending injury early in the year. After ranking among the nation’s leaders in passing • Set school record averaging 5.3 yards per carry during the 2008 season, Joseph reworked his offense to use the tools at hand. What resulted was an ASC (2003). rushing title for tailback Desmond Mays who ended the season with over 1,100 yards on the ground and 13 rushing touchdowns. Freshman quarterback Tommy Reyer earned ASC Offensive Freshman of the Year SAN JOSE STATE honors as well. (2001-2002 / OC) In 2007, the 8-2 team rewrote the record books behind Coach Joseph and sophomore quarterback Adam • Passing Offense ranked #24 in NCAA (2002). Shaffer. Shaffer ranked third in the nation with 3,500 passing yards as the team broke school records • Total Offense ranked #24 in NCAA (2002). for scoring offense, total yards, first downs, passing yards, pass completions, pass attempts, touchdown • Passing Offense ranked #18 in NCAA (2001).