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Show SU harriers prep for district meet 'Bird runners will compete in the District VII meet Nov. 12 By TIM MAXWELL JOU RNAL SPORTS WRJTER SU's leading tackler (with 94) and two-time American West Conference Defensive Player of the Week, Dustin Connaughton, lays a stinging hit 011 a Sacramento State fullback Saturday, to cause a Hornet incompletion. Gridders to lock up with Matadors 'Birds' final home game of the season is another conference battle years now. Our games with Northridge are always physical, tough football games that I think are JOURNAL SPORTS WRITER exciting games from a fan's standpoint. We still have a shot at a share of the conference title and at a SU's football squad takes on Cal State Northridge winning season, so I don't expect the guys to let up Saturday for the seventh and final home game of the any for this game; it's another important conference season. The Thunderbirds are 3-3 in their nest this matchup," Bishop said. year and will attempt to rise above the .500 mark SU is averaging 329 yards per gam e, gaining 165 on when they meet the 3-4 Matadors at I p.m. in the the ground and 164 in the air. The 'Birds are allowing Coliseum of Southern Utah. their opponents 379 ya rds per outing. The contest will be the second American West Northridge is averaging 361 yards per game on Conference showdown for both teams, who were offense, 3 11 of which is thro ugh the air, but the unsuccessful in their first attempts . Northridge was a Matadors are gaining onl y SO yards on the ground per 30-6 loser to Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo two weeks ago contest. Northridge's opponents are gaining 361 yards and the 'Birds were stopped by the Sacramento State in total offense per gam e so far this season, almost Hornets Saturday, 27-16. 200 of those yards come from the passi ng attack. "I thought [Sac State] was one of the poorest Shawn Jones leads the Thunderbirds in total coached games ever by myself and our staff," said rushiJ1g yards with 433, but Curtis Lindsay is gaining Head Coach Jack Bishop. "Our on him with 390 yards. Lindsay _____, has led the 'Birds in the last two inability to get the ball in the end -,T-~Te_h_a_~_e_a_g_O_O_d_n_•_v_alry zone was the difference in this n • games, with 59 yards against St. game. The call [in which SU had going with Northridge. .. Mary's and 72 against apparently stripped Sac State of ·11 h h Sacramento State. the football with l:51 left in the We Stl ave a S Ot at a Jones and place kicker Benji game, but was later reversed] share of the conference Nelson lead the team in scoring, hurt and it would have been nice d • with 36 points each. Lindsay and to sec what would have happened title an a winning Phil Atkerson are second on the if we got the ball and they hadn't seasonj, said Head Coach team in TDs with four, added that last touchdown, but it h Atkerson's coming on just 21 should never have come down to Bis Op. carries. that," added Bishop. Melvin Lowe leads the team in The teams are not only even in receiving yards with 370 and in their current conference records (both 0-1 ), but they catch es per game with 2.6, but tight end Robbie are even in the overall series at 4-4, including 2-2 in Gunter leads the team in yards per catch with an Cedar City. A win will put th e Thunderbirds on top of average of 32.0, al though he hasn 't caught a ball in their A WC rival, and more importantly, it will put SU the last two games. back on the right track. T he 'Birds. must win all th ree Defensively, the Thunderbirds are led by Dustin of their remaining gam es in order to finish the season Connaughton, who has 94 total tackles, 42 solo, both with a winning record and possibly a second team highs, and also has the team's only interception conference championship. · this season. "We have a good rivalry going with Northridge," Although he has missed the last two games with an says Bishop. They had us figured out there for several injury, James Bleak is the team's sack leader with years and it seemed like we couldn't beat them, but four, but Jeff Galyean has three in the last three we' ve had their numbers for the past two or three games. By JOHN McCLOSKEY Jack I The SU harriers will head to Salt Lake City to com pete in the NCAA regionals Nov. 12. Two teams and three unattached individuals will then advance to the NCAA championships Nov. 21. SU is the only American West Conference team running in this event, while the other three teams will run in a regional in California. Coach Eric Houle believes this region to be the toughest in the nation. He pointed to BYU, Montana, Northern Arizona, and Colorado as among the teams that make the field so strong. But the harriers might have a breakthrough runner to make it to the NCAAs according to Ho ule. "Travis [Anderson] probably stands a better chance than anyone who has ever run here [at SUU] to qualify for the NCAAs," said Houle. Houle also believes the conference's athlete of the year will come down to Travis Anderson and Cal Poly's Coley Candaele, although Candaele should have the inside track because of the AWC championship he won last week. Despite the second and third-place finishes by the men's and women's team at conference, Houle was pleased and said things went as well as he expected. "We did a much better job against Cal Poly than I thought we would. I think the biggest positive that came out of the the conference meet is that our team now knows we can run with Cal Poly. You could sec it in everyone's eyes when it was over," said Houle. This growing confidence could lead to more surprises for the Harriers at the District VII meet. Brown takes AWC Player of the Week For the second time this season, Thunderbird kick returner Anthony Brown has been named the American West Conference's Special Team's Player of the week. Brown returned two kickoffs aga inst Sacramento State Saturday, taking one the entire length of the field,untouched, for a touchdown. It is the second time this year he has returned a kickoff 100 yards or more for a score. The first came in SU's second game of the season against Northern Arizona University, when he raced 103 yards en route to a TD and his first A WC Player of the Week honor. Behind Brown and fellow kick-returner Shawn Jones, SU is second in the nation in kickoff return AJithony Brown yardage, averaging 28 yards per return. Brown and Jones are fifth and sixth, respectively, in the nation in kickoff return yards. Brown is also a starting com erback for the Thunderbirds and he is seventh on the team in total tackles with 40 and fourth in solo tackles with 16. He also has seven pass break-ups, two fumblerecoveries and one sack. |