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Game Preview Notes: Malone vs. St. Xavier

Release Date: October 16, 2009

Malone University Football – Game Preview Notes                                   10/13/09

Game:        Malone University                                                2-3  (0-2 MSFA Mideast)  

                  at NAIA #8 Saint Xavier (IL) University                  7-0  (4-0 MSFA Mideast)

Date:         Saturday, October 17, 2009

Kickoff:    1:00 p.m. CDT (2:00 p.m. EDT) at Bruce R. Denton Memorial Field (Chicago, IL)

Broadcasts:WNPQ 95.9 FM, www.thelight959.com

                  1:45 p.m. EDT pre-game (Clint Scroggs – play-by-play)

Tickets:      $5.00 adults; $2.00 students/senior citizens; children 12 and under are free

 

Series:       

The Cougars hold a 5-3 advantage in the all-time series between the two teams.  The squads have split the last four match-ups as Malone won the most recent meeting 27-23 at Fawcett Stadium on November 1st of last season.

 

Coaches:   

Malone – Mike Gardner is in his fourth season at Malone and has directed the Pioneers to a 23-15 record, including a 2-3 mark this year.  Gardner has compiled a 43-18 career record including a 20-3 mark in two seasons at Tabor (KS) College.

St. Xavier –Mike Feminis is in his 11th season as the head coach at St. Xavier and has guided the Cougars to an 83-38 mark, including a perfect 7-0 record this season.

 

Last Season’s Records: Malone 6-4 (4-2 MSFA Mideast), St. Xavier 7-4 (4-2 MSFA Mideast)

 

Malone Notes – The Pioneers lost at home to Taylor University this past Saturday by a final score of 23-17…Trailing 17-14 at halftime, Malone tied the game early in the fourth quarter with a 22-yard field goal…However, the Trojans quickly regained the lead with a 20-yard TD pass and then ran out the clock to record the six-point victory…Malone currently ranks second in the 16-team MSFA (seventh overall in the NAIA) in rushing offense with an average of 225.2 yards per game…The Pioneer defense ranks second in the conference (tenth in the NAIA) in opponent first downs, having allowed just 76 through its first five games.

Malone players to watch:  Redshirt freshman QB Steve Brohl has completed 83 of 158 pass attempts (52.5%) for 933 yards with eight touchdowns and six interceptions…RB Joe Peters has gained 460 rushing yards on just 67 attempts (6.9 average), caught eight passes for 99 yards, returned six kickoffs for 168 yards (28.0 average), gained 72 yards on ten punt returns and scored four TD’s…With these impressive numbers, Peters currently ranks third in the MSFA (11th in the NAIA) with an average of 159.8 all-purpose yards per game…Fellow RB Markus McFolling has also made quite an impact this season, having gained 460 rushing yards on 74 attempts (6.2 average) to go with 11 pass receptions for 125 yards and four TD’s (three rushing, one receiving)…WR Derrick McLean has pulled in 18 catches for 192 yards and two scores through the Pioneers’ first five contests…McLean has also contributed on special teams as he has tallied an average of 23.5 yards on 11 kickoff returns (259 total yards)…DL Cody Carroll has racked up a 25 total tackles this year, including seven sacks…Carroll’s average of 1.4 sacks per contest currently ranks second in the NAIA…LB K.P. Fonseca has registered a team-high 33 total tackles with two tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a blocked kick… DB Jon Latimer follows with 31 total tackles, including one tackle for loss, two interceptions and a fumble recovery…Punter Mike Skvor, this past week’s MSFA Mideast Special Teams Player of the Week, ranks second in the MSFA (eighth in the NAIA) with an average of 41.2 yards per punt.

 

St. Xavier Notes – The Cougars rolled to a 42-7 road victory over Marian (IN) University this past Saturday, giving St. Xavier its first 7-0 start in the program’s 17-year history…The Cougars held a commanding 28-0 lead at halftime of Saturday’s contest and racked up over 550 yards of total offense in the convincing win…St. Xavier currently ranks second in the NAIA (leads the MSFA) with an average of 529.0 total offensive yards per game …The Cougars also rank fifth in the NAIA (first in the MSFA) in scoring offense per game with an eye-popping average of 47.3 points per outing.

St. Xavier players to watch: Through the Cougars first seven games, QB Anthony Kropp has completed 142 of 218 pass attempts (65.1%) for 2114 yards with 24 touchdowns and five interceptions…Kropp leads the MSFA in numerous statistical categories including passing average (302 yards per game), total offense (315.6 yards per game), and pass efficiency (178.3 rating)…He also ranks in the top five in the NAIA in each of these categories (fifth in passing average, fourth in total offense and fifth in pass efficiency)…WR Mike Maher has caught 51 passes for 700 yards and nine touchdowns…Maher currently ranks second in the MSFA (seventh in the NAIA) with 7.29 receptions per game while ranking first in the conference (ninth in the NAIA) with an average of 100 receiving yards per outing…WR’s Bill McKeon and Xavier Torres have also made substantial contributions in the SXU passing game as McKeon has tallied 31 catches for 483 yards and four TD’s while Torres has pulled in 30 pass receptions for 487 yards and eight scores… RB Donnie Selby has tallied 416 rushing yards on 71 attempts (5.9 average per carry) with eight rushing touchdowns…LB Mike Lally has registered a team-high 56 total tackles, including 14.0 tackles for loss with one interception and one forced fumble…Lally’s average of two tackles for loss per game ranks second in the MSFA and sixth in the NAIA… DB Pat Geary leads the NAIA with an average of two passes defended per game…On the season, Geary has also tallied 31 total tackles with two tackles for loss, one sack and two interceptions…DL Corey Smith leads the SXU defense with 4.5 sacks.  

'09 Statistics: Malone - St. Xavier

Rosters: Malone - St. Xavier