AmericanAmerican SSouthwouthwestest CConferenceonference www.americansouthw.americansouthwestconf.org FOOTBALL ● AUGUST 28, 2003 AMERICAN SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE 1221 W. Campbell Rd., Ste. 245 On the Gridiron Richardson, TX 75080 + ASC Game; AFCA/Football Gazette/D3Football.com rankings; Time Local to Site Ph: 972.234.0033 Fax: 972.234.8433 Thursday, September 4 Commissioner: Fred Jacoby Mississippi College vs. Millsaps, 7 p.m. Backyard Brawl IV, Salvation Army College Football Classic (Jackson, Miss./Veterans Stadium) A.S.C.S.C.. MEDIAMEDIA CONTCONTACT Amy Carlton Saturday, September 6 Ph: 972.234.0033 Louisiana College at Belhaven, 7 p.m. E: [email protected] # —/23/5 Howard Payne at # —/15/15 Wisconsin-La Crosse, 6 p.m. # —/3/10 Trinity University at Austin College, Noon A.S.C.S.C.. FOOTBFOOTBALL PRESS BOX PHONES Saturday, September 13 Austin College: 903-813-2571 # —/23/— Southeastern Oklahoma at East Texas Baptist, 2 p.m. East Texas Baptist: 903-407-8320 # —/21/13 Hardin-Simmons at # —/19/12 Wisconsin-Stout, 1 p.m. Hardin-Simmons: 325-671-2237 or 2238 McMurry at Colorado College, 2 p.m. Howard Payne: 325-641-9384 Texas Lutheran at # —/3/10 Trinity University, 7:30 p.m. or 325-642-7313 # —/18/4 Mary Hardin-Baylor at Willamette, 1:30 p.m. Louisiana College: 318-613-6765 Western New Mexico at Sul Ross State, 7 p.m. Mary Hardin-Baylor: 254-933-4539 or 254-721-8548 McMurry: 325-793-4740, 4741 or 4742 or 817-675-3438 American Southwest Conference Football Standings Mississippi College: 601-259-3099 2002 Season FINAL Sul Ross State: 432-837-8080 or 8081 Games through NCAA Championship Texas Lutheran: 830-305-0771 Conference Overall 2003 FOOTBALL EVENTS W L T For Opp Pct. W L T For Opp Pct. NCAA-III Football Championship Mary Hardin-Baylor 9 0 0 366 106 1.000 10 1 0 446 180 .909 ASC Champion earns automatic berth Howard Payne 8 1 0 361 198 .889 9 1 0 378 205 .900 First Round: November 22 Hardin-Simmons 7 2 0 320 196 .778 8 2 0 362 230 .800 Second Round: November 29 Quarterfinals: December 6 East Texas Baptist 6 3 0 207 158 .667 6 4 0 227 192 .600 Semifinals: December 13 Mississippi College 4 5 0 187 233 .444 4 6 0 201 249 .400 Championship: December 20 Austin College ** 4 5 0 173 228 .444 4 6 0 173 277 .400 Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl (Salem, Va.) Louisiana College 3 6 0 219 286 .333 4 6 0 268 307 .400 A.S.C.S.C.. FOOTBFOOTBALL 2002 REVIEW Sul Ross State ** 2 7 0 159 288 .222 2 8 0 182 333 .200 Texas Lutheran 2 7 0 131 280 .222 2 8 0 145 322 .200 ASC Champion University of Mary Hardin-Baylor McMurry ** 0 9 0 128 278 .000 0 10 0 141 302 .000 NCAA-III Championship Participant ASC Champion & NCAA-III Championships Qualifier: Mary Hardin-Baylor University of Mary Hardin-Baylor ** Sul Ross State forfeits wins vs. Austin College & McMurry for use of ineligible player; season records and game statistics stand. NCAA-III Football Championship First-Round: Trinity (Texas) 48, Mary Hardin-Baylor 38 American Southwest Conference / FOOTBALL REPORT / Page 2 / August 28, 2003 NATIONAL POLLS ASC END ZONE REPORT Street & Smith’s Preseason Top 25 Ready for Game Time: As soon as the calendar turns to September, it will be time for No. School No. School the 10 American Southwest Conference football teams get down to business on the field. 1. Mount Union 14. Lycoming Four squads get the 2003 season underway over the September 4-6 stretch with the other 2. St. John’s (Minn.) 15. Augustana (Ill.) six awaiting a September 13 starting date. 3. Rowan 16. Wisconsin-Stout 4. Wabash 17. Muhlenberg 5. Wheaton (Ill.) 18. Hanover Full Force for NCAA Berth: For the first time in the eight seasons of ASC play, all 10 6. Baldwin-Wallace 19. Wittenberg league football-playing schools are eligible for a spot in the postseason NCAA Division 7. Wash. & Jefferson 20. Central (Iowa) 8. Trinity (Texas) 21. Hardin-Simmons III Championship. Louisiana College completes the list of NCAA-eligible squads when 9. Brockport State 22. Widener it becomes an active Division III member on September 1. The conference champion 10. Linfield 23. Alma earns the ASC automatic berth into the national playoffs, with the remaining teams vy- 11. Wis.-La Crosse 24. Worcester State ing for an at-large spot. 12. Bridgewater 25. Ohio Northern 13. Wartburg Best of the Rest (ASC ): 30. UMHB Choctaws Lead Off Nation’s D-3 Schedule: A facility scheduling conflict in Jackson, Miss., has paid off for Mississippi College as the Choctaws face crosstown archrivals Millsaps College Thursday night (Sept. 4) in the first NCAA Division III game sched- Lindy’s Preseason Top 25 uled in the 2003 season. Played at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Jackson, the Backyard No. School No. School Brawl IV is garnering national attention with D3Football.com duo Pate Coleman and 1. Mount Union 14. Pacific Lutheran Keith McMillan webcasting the action live starting with a 6:30 p.m. CDT pregame analysis. 2. St. John’s (Minn.) 15. Baldwin-Wallace The schools received a date exemption from the NCAA for the special Thursday night 16. UMHB 3. Rowan game when Veterans Stadium became unavailable for Saturday, September 6. The 4. John Carroll 17. Wittenberg 5. Bridgewater 18. Central (Iowa) Backyard Brawl is formally called the Salvation Army College Football Classic. The 6. Wabash 19. Widener rivalry between the schools — separated by nine miles — was suspended for 40 years 7. Trinity (Texas) 20. Wartburg after tension between the two student bodies reached the breaking point in early 1960 21. Wis.-Stevens Pt. 8. Hanover following a basketball game. The football series was revived in 2000 with Millsaps hold- 9. Wash. & Jefferson 22. Howard Payne 10. Linfield 23. Brockport State ing a 2-1 advantage in the first three games. 11. Wisconsin-Stout 24. Alma 12. Wheaton (Ill.) 25. St. Norbert National Preseason Buzz: A trio of ASC teams earned preseason notice from four pub- 13. Hardin-Simmons lications. Defending champion Mary Hardin-Baylor snagged the league’s highest rank- ing with a No. 4 spot in the D3Football.com poll, and earned two Top 20 and a Top 30 placings. Howard Payne, runner-up to the Crusaders a year ago, was slotted at No. 5 by Sports Illustrated Preseason Top 10 D3Football.com with Top 25 spots in two other lists. Two polls put Hardin-Simmons at No. School 13th while a second set of pollsters had the Cowboys 21st. 1. St. John’s (Minn.) 2. Mount Union ASC Composite Preseason National Rankings 3. Rowan D3FB NWFG S&S LIN SI 4. Wabash Hardin-Simmons .......... 13 ........... 21 .......... 21 ........... 13 .......... NR 5. Washington & Jefferson Howard Payne ............... 5 ............ 23 .......... NR .......... 22 .......... NR 6. Wheaton (Ill.) 7. Bridewater Mary Hardin-Baylor ...... 4 ............ 18 .......... NR .......... 16 .......... NR 8. Baldwin-Wallace KEY: D3FB=D3Football.com; NWFG=Don Hansen’s National Weekly Football Gazette; 9. Hanover S&S=Street & Smith’s; LIN=Lindy’s, SI=Sports Illustrated. 10. Wisconsin-Stout Players Rate National Honors: Seven ASC players were named to 2003 Preseason All- America teams by four different publications. Hardin-Simmons DB Alex Hansen and Dave Campbell’s Texas Football East Texas Baptist P Scott Verhalen each garnered three First Team awards while Cow- ASC 2003 Preseason Ranking boys’ TE Matt Moskosky was awarded one First Team and two Second Team citations. 1. Mary Hardin-Baylor 2. Hardin-Simmons Also chosen for Preseason All-America honors were WR Walter Hays, Howard Payne; 3. Howard Payne OL Adam Hernandez, Hardin-Simmons; AP Shaun Rochon, Mary Hardin-Baylor; and 4. East Texas Baptist OL Matt Miller, Louisiana College. 5. Louisiana College 6. Austin College 7. Mississippi College 8. Texas Lutheran 9. Sul Ross State 10. McMurry American Southwest Conference / FOOTBALL REPORT / Page 3 / August 28, 2003 ASC Composite Preseason All-America Listings NATIONAL POLLS D3FB NWFG S&S LIN Alex Hansen, DB, Hardin-Simmons ..................... 1st ................ 1st ................. -- ................ 1st Nat’l Weekly Football Gazette Top 40 Walter Hays, WR, Howard Payne ........................ 1st ............... 3rd ................ -- ................ 1st Preseason (July 17) Adam Hernandez, OL, Hardin-Simmons .............. -- ................ 3rd ................ -- ................ 2nd No. School Record Matt Miller, OL, Louisiana College ...................... -- ................ 3rd ................ -- ................. -- 1. Mount Union Matt Moskosky, TE, Hardin-Simmons ................. 2nd ................ -- ................. 1st ............... 2nd 2. St. John’s (Minn.) Shaun Rochon, AP, Mary Hardin-Baylor .............. -- .................. -- .................. -- ................ 2nd 3. Trinity (Texas) Scott Verhalen, P, East Texas Baptist .................. 1st ................. -- ................. 1st ............... 1st 4. Wabash KEY: D3FB=D3Football.com; NWFG=Don Hansen’s National Weekly Football Gazette; 5. Rowan S&S=Street & Smith’s; LIN=Lindy’s 6. Linfield 7. Wheaton (Ill.) Crusaders Top ASC Pick: Defending American Southwest Conference football cham- 8. Brockport State 9. Bridgewate pion University of Mary Hardin-Baylor has been projected to repeat as league champs in 10. Baldwin-Wallace 2003, edging Howard Payne University in preseason polling of the conference head 11. Wittenberg coaches, sports information directors and media. The Crusaders, who are looking to earn 12. Wartburg a third consecutive berth in the NCAA Division III Football Championship, collected 13 13. Hanover first-place votes and totaled 239 points. Howard Payne trailed UMHB by eight points 14. Muhlenberg (231 pts.) while taking six first-place votes. Five-time ASC champion Hardin-Simmons 15. Wisconsin-La Crosse 16. Washington & Jefferson University finished third in the balloting with 217 points. Upper-division finishes 17. John Carroll were predicted for East Texas Baptist University (192) and Mississippi College (138) 18. Mary Hardin-Baylor who were picked fourth and fifth, respectively. First-year NCAA-III eligible Louisiana 19.