The following “Pick Six” points offer a quick look inside GLVC football action this week:
[1 | mckendree, jewell set for conference openers]
It’s the second full week of conference play, but Saturday will mark the league openers for both McKendree and William Jewell as the Cardinals host the Bearcats at 12 p.m. CT at Greene Stadium in Liberty, Missouri. Elsewhere in GLVC action, Lincoln welcomes Truman State and Southwest Baptist hosts Quincy. Both kick times are scheduled for 2 p.m. CT. Competing outside of the conference this week will be two teams that earned league victories last week. Missouri S&T heads to Malone for a 2 p.m. CT kick, while Indianapolis looks to remain unbeaten with a home tilt against Hillsdale. All GLVC home games are available for free on GLVCSN.com, the GLVCSN iOS and Android mobile apps, and GLVCSN OTT apps on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, and Android TV.
[2 | indianapolis moves to 14th in afca top 25 poll]
Indianapolis has improved one position to 14th in the latest American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Coaches Poll, it was announced Monday. UIndy (3-0, 1-0 GLVC) scored a convincing 45-17 home win against Southwest Baptist in the Greyhounds’ league opener Saturday. This week the Hounds remain home to host non-conference foe Hillsdale at 6 p.m. ET.
[3 | uindy, quincy garner weekly honors]
Indianapolis senior quarterback Jake Purichia and senior kicker Brad Schickel, as well as Quincy junior linebacker Cody Leonard, were named the GLVC Players of the Week by the league office Monday. In the Greyhounds’ 45-17 home win over Southwest Baptist, Purichia finished an efficient 11-for-16 passing for 267 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions, while Schickel earned his second-straight honor after keeping his perfect kicking mark intact. Leonard registered 16 tackles, including 11 solo stops and three for a loss and one sack, while forcing a fumble on the Quincy 1-yard line to prevent a potential go-ahead touchdown for Lincoln in the Hawks’ 7-3 win.
[4 | hawks, blue tigers nearly turn in record low-scoring game]
Quincy earned a 7-3 victory over Lincoln this past Saturday, marking the second-lowest scoring affair in league history. Lincoln managed to gain 282 yards of total offense compared to just 189 for QU. The record for lowest-scoring game was set back on Nov. 9, 2013, when Saint Joseph’s scored a 6-3 win at Truman State. Quincy was also the fourth GLVC program to score just one touchdown in a victory. During the 2015 season, Missouri S&T defeated Truman State 10-7 in Rolla, Missouri on Sept. 19, while Truman then turned around and beat Saint Joseph’s in Kirksville on Nov. 7, 10-3. Last year, Indianapolis found the end zone just one time but managed to kick three field goals in a 16-6 win at Missouri S&T on Nov. 5, 2016.
[5 | glvc teams, standouts among ncaa leaders]
A handful of GLVC teams and standouts are found among NCAA Division II leaders in select statistical categories. UIndy owns the nation’s best marks in completion percentage (.769), red zone offense (1.000), team passing efficiency (205.09), zero interceptions, and of course, winning percentage (1.000) – one of 27 teams still with an unblemished mark. Lincoln leads the country with four blocked punts and is fifth in total defense (221.7). Among the others ranking in the top five are Truman with zero fumbles lost and Southwest Baptist in fourth with 11.0 tackles for loss. Individually, UIndy’s Brad Schickel is one of 23 players nationally with a perfect kicking percentage, Missouri S&T Ryan Kirkendall and UIndy’s Robert Williams are first with 2.7 passes defended per game, UIndy’s Jake Purichia is first in pass efficiency (205.1), Quincy’s Cody Leonard is second with 8.7 solo tackles per game, while teammate Jordan Smith is third in kickoff returns (40.8). McKendree’s Derrick Curry is fourth in punt returns (21.0).
[6 | tri-tackle leaders leading in their own way]
Heading into this week’s competition, three GLVC linebackers lead the league with 35 total tackles, which equates to 11.7 tackles per game – an average that is 13th-best in NCAA Division II. However, all three are taking different paths on how they got to the top. Southwest Baptist junior Tyler Curts boasts a league-high 27 assisted tackles as part of his total of 35 stops. McKendree sophomore Ricco Gipson is tied for second in the league with three sacks, just one behind GLVC leader Landon Compton of Missouri S&T. Quincy junior Cody Leonard, the reigning GLVC Defensive Player of the Week, owns a league-high 26 solo tackles.
Jeff Smith