Choctaws Face Huntington in Playoffs Nov. 21
Anxious to make the almost five-hour trip from Clinton, MC backup quarterback Tommy Reyer of Athens, Ala. was recruited by Huntington out of high school, but decided to wear blue and gold for the Choctaws.
"It should be fun to play them post-season," says the 19-year-old education major. He hopes many of his North Alabama relatives show up for the big game. Reyer saw lots of playing time last fall after star quarterback Adam Shaffer was sidelined with injuries.
Excitement was mounting on the Clinton campus Monday. Some MC students are shelling out $10 to ride by bus and receive a ticket to the game to cheer on the new American Southwest Conference champs. Both teams sport 8-2 records as they enter the noon contest on Huntington's home turf. Led by Coach Norman Joseph, the Choctaws have rebounded after struggling through a 5-5 season a year ago.
Mississippi College definitely has history on its side. Founded in 1826 as Hampstead Academy, Baptist-affiliated MC is the oldest of the two private institutions. MC is the nation's second oldest Baptist college. Huntington was chartered in 1854 as Tuskegee Female College. In 1872, the Alabama Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South assumed control of the college. In 1934, Huntington's first male student was admitted.
Enough history. Let's crank up this NCAA playoff football in Alabama's capital city. No matter the outcome of the game in central Alabama, fans should be in for a treat.
MC received its bid to compete in the 32-team Division III playoffs on Sunday less than 24 hours after knocking off winless Texas Lutheran 38-24 on the Clinton campus.
MC students like Dustin Lunceford, 21, of Clinton, were thrilled to see the Choctaws hoist the trophy as ASC champions for the first time since 1998. He may join the contingent of MC students at Saturday's game. "This is a big boost for MC athletics," said the Clinton High graduate. "It's getting a lot of people involved."
Attendance for Choctaws home games has remained strong all season, Lunceford said. Saturday was Preview Day at MC, and the crowd at Robinson-Hale Stadium was helped by hundreds of prospective MC students and parents at the last home game of the 2009 season.
MC mathematics professor John Travis joins legions of energized fans as the Choctaws count down to Saturday's showdown across state lines.
Travis noted that Adam Shaffer, the former Jackson Academy standout, is one of his math students and making solid grades in the classroom.
"Adam is a nice guy who's doing well - the whole team is doing well," Travis said Monday. This season, Shaffer tossed 29 touchdowns with just eight interceptions. Another offensive top gun is Steven Knight. The former Northwest Rankin High standout is the ASC's leading rusher with 1,181 yards to his credit.
In his 22nd year as an MC math professor, Travis won't calculate the odds of MC winning the national championship, the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl on Dec. 19 at Salem, Va. He says he needs much more information to do that.
But the MC professor, who's seen such Choctaws stars as Fred McAfee and Jake Allen in action over the years at Robinson-Hale Stadium, puts Shaffer in company with that dynamic duo.
McAfee starred with the New Orleans Saints and is now director of player personnel with the NFL team. MC's all-time leading receiver and a 2008 MC kinesiology graduate, Allen was recently elevated to the Green Bay Packers' 53-man roster.
The winner of Saturday's playoff game between the Choctaws and the Hawks will keep playing. In the next playoff round, the victor advances to face the winner of the Wesley and North Carolina Wesleyan game.
Opening the 2009 season with a thriller of an overtime victory against rival Millsaps in the Backyard Brawl, MC was ranked 19th in the last D3Football.com poll. Although unranked, Huntington defeated Millsaps and Louisiana College this season, but lost to the University of South Alabama that is making the transition to NCAA Division I.
MC's biggest game of the 2009 season saw the Choctaws defeat Texas rival Mary Hardin-Baylor 17-14. MC and Mary Hardin-Baylor both went 7-1. But the Choctaws received the conference's automatic bid due to their triumph over UMHB. Huntington enters the game on a roll. They've won six of the last seven games. The team doesn't belong to a Division III conference, but received one of nine at-large bids.
A longtime observer of MC athletics, MC education professor Tom Williams believes the Choctaws have the right stuff to prevail Saturday.
"It's the playoffs. I think our kids will do well," said Williams, the chairman of MC's educational leadership program and the university's faculty athletic representative. "Our guys are well-coached. When it comes down to coaching we will win."
Plus, he noted the American Southern Conference is strong, he said.
What could help Huntington is having the home field advantage in Montgomery, he said.
Shaffer showed real courage to return to lead the football team as a senior this season after a couple of knee injuries, he pointed out.
"The guy has shown a lot of character coming back playing," Williams said. "That's a lot of mental toughness."
Students interested in traveling to Saturday's game by a 54-seat bus can contact Cam Armstrong, the MC coordinator of student activities, at 601.925.3830. Missa Turman of the MC athletic department says tickets cost $10 for adults and $5 for students and can be purchased at the MC athletic department starting Tuesday. Turman can be reached at 601.925.3341 or turman@mc.edu.
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