Huntingdon Game Notes
Oct. 30, 2009

This Week's Opponent
The Panthers (5-3) travel to Montgomery, Ala. to take on the Hawks of Huntingdon. This game is a rematch of last year's St. Louis Intercollegiate Conference championship game. The Hawks come into the game 6-1 after a 40-14 Homecoming win last Saturday against Greenville. The Panthers will be trying to be spoilers, as Huntingdon is in pursuit of an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III national playoffs.

Series Notes
This is the fourth meeting with Huntingdon. The Hawks lead the series 2-1
 
Year        Location               Winner
2006        at Huntingdon        Huntingdon, 35-0
2007        at LaGrange          Huntingdon, 43-0
2008        at LaGrange          LaGrange, 27-17

The Coaches
Mike Turk is in his sixth season as head coach at Huntingdon. He is 36-19 with the Hawks and has coached all of the seven-year old program's wins. In 2008, the Hawks set a school-record with eight wins. Turk was an assistant at Troy for 13 years before becoming Huntingdon's head coach. He is a graduate of Troy, where he led the Trojans to two NCAA Division II championships. Turk was an All-American as a senior and runner-up for the Harlon Hill Trophy, which is given to the top player in Division II. He is a member of the NCAA Division II Football Hall of Fame.

LaGrange's Todd Mooney is 14-25 in his fourth season and 14-25 overall as a head coach. Mooney was the Schutt Sports NCAA Division III Coach of the Year in 2008. He was also the D3football.com South Region Coach of the Year and the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 2008. Mooney, a 1988 Ohio University graduate, was an assistant at Rhodes College before being named LC's first ever head football coach in 2005. He has also coached at Oberlin and Urbana. Mooney began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Ohio.

Last Meeting
LaGrange downed Huntingdon 27-17 last season at Callaway Stadium. The victory gave the Panthers the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship.
The Panthers finished the regular season a perfect 7-0 in conference play and 9-1 overall.  It was their first win over Huntingdon (8-2, 6-1 SLIAC) after being shut out the first two meetings.
LaGrange rolled up 415 yards of total offense in the game. The Panthers ran for 239 yards against the Hawks, who came into the game allowing an SLIAC best 87.4 yards per game on the ground.
Leading the running attack was junior Mario Wallace. Wallace ran for a game-high 118 yards on 13 carries and a touchdown. Wallace became the first Panther to go over 1,000 yards in a season.
The LaGrange defense limited the SLIAC's highest scoring offense to just 10 points, as the Hawks got a touchdown off a blocked punt. The Hawks came into the game averaging 44.4 points per game and 460 yards of total offense. The Panthers limited them to 221 yards of total offense.

LaGrange Last Week
LaGrange celebrated Homecoming and Senior Day with a 34-17 win over Westminster (Mo.) last Saturday at Callaway Stadium. The win was the fourth in a row for the Panthers, now 5-3. The Blue Jays, losing for the second season in a row at LaGrange's Homecoming, dropped to 3-4.
LaGrange's 25 seniors were honored in a pregame ceremony. The seniors represented the first four-year class for the program.
Westminster threw for 341 yards against LaGrange's nationally-ranked Division III pass defense. But the Panthers intercepted three passes, returning one for a touchdown. The defense forced a total of four turnovers in the game.
The defense came up with big plays in the Red Zone. The Blue Jays were stopped four times inside the 20 on a pair of turnovers and twice on downs. The Panthers also stopped another drive at their 25 on a fourth and short play.
Westminster finished the game with 378 total yards of offense. The receiving tandem of Carl Givens and Ty Kankolenski combined for 10 catches each and a total of 248 yards. Givens had 148 yards, while Kankolenski added 102.
The Panthers overcame 14 penalties for 126 yards to finish with 360 yards of offense. Junior
lagrange last week (COntinued)
quarterback Drew Carter threw for 256 yards and touchdowns to three different receivers. Senior Colt Shope had two catches for 81 yards and a touchdown.

Huntingdon Last Week
The Huntingdon defense allowed just 175 total yards, while its offense averaged better than seven yards per play in a 40-14 Homecoming victory over Greenville College last Saturday at Samford Stadium.
The Hawks defense allowed just 77 yards on the ground on 42 rushing attempts, an average of 1.8 yards per carry. Forced to throw, Greenville managed just 98 yards through the air, and just 42 total yards in the second half.
Huntingdon jumped out to a 19-0 lead in the game on three straight passing touchdowns by senior Justin Ridgway in the first quarter. Ridgeway finished the game 18-of-27 for 336 yards and four touchdowns.
Sophomore Cody Pearcy finished the game with four catches for 147 yards including a touchdown. It was his second straight 100-yard receiving game.
Defensively, sophomore Kirk Johnson led the team with eight total tackles, including five solo stops and one for loss. Senior Chad Hatfield added seven tackles, while junior Quinn Hambrite posted four tackles and 1.5 for loss.

Huntingdon Offense Leads Nation
Huntingdon enters Saturday's game as the national Division III leader in total offense. The Hawks are averaging 533.6 yards of total offense per game. They had a season-high and school record 784 yards of total offense in a 53-34 win over Westminster two weeks ago. The Hawks have gone over 500 yards of total offense in four games. 
 
Another Total Offense Leader
The Panthers' secondary will be put to the test for the third straight week. Huntingdon quarterback Justin Ridgeway is fifth in Division III in total offense, averaging 346.1 yards per game. He is averaging 312 yards passing per game. For the season, Ridgeway has thrown for 2,184 yards, 15 touchdowns and only six interceptions.

Pass Defense Ranking Drops
The Panthers' secondary dropped from 26th in Division III to 60th after Westminster passed for 341 yards last week. The Panthers are allowing 170.6 yards through the air per game. After one interception in the first four games, the Panthers' secondary has seven in the last four games, returning two for touchdowns. Huntingdon is allowing 286 yards per game through the air.
 
Strength of Schedule
The Panthers' four-game winning streak has come against opponents with a combined record of 5-23. The Panthers' first four opponents currently have a record of 18-11, led by Wesley's 7-0 mark. Wesley is currently ranked third in both the D3Football.com and American Football Coaches Association top 25 national Division III polls.

Career Marks
Senior receiver Colt Shope became the second Panther receiver to go over 1,000 career receiving yards this season. He surpassed the mark last week with 81 receiving yards against Westminster. He reached the mark on a 50-yard touchdown reception from Drew Carter in the third quarter.
Senior running back Mario Wallace reached  5,000 career all-purpose yards two weeks  ago against Eureka. Wallace needs 124 rushing yards to reach 2,000. 
Senior Nick Langley became the first Panther to reach 1,000 career receiving yards. Langley reached the mark with a 12-yard reception from Michael May on Oct. 3 at Lincoln. He needs five more receptions to reach 100 in his career.
Junior Stephen Tuck needs 40 yards to reach the 1,000 yard career mark in receiving. Tuck has tied Nick Langley's season record mark of seven receiving touchdowns, set last season.
Junior quarterback Drew Carter went over 5,000 passing yards for his career two weeks ago against Eureka.
Senior free safety Jeremy Pickens recorded his 200th career tackle Oct. 3 against Lincoln.
Senior linebacker Richard Okpani recorded his 200th career tackle earlier this season against Maryville.
Senior linebacker Josh Britt recorded his 100th career tackle against Shorter earlier this season.

Next Week
The Panthers have an off week before closing out the season at Greenville on Nov. 14.