[1 | week two set for action beginning on thursday]
GLVC football action returns to the field this Thursday as Lincoln travels to Missouri State looking for its second win of the season. Saturday’s matchups feature the other seven programs, including William Jewell, which will be playing in its first official contest of the season after its opener at Drake was canceled due to inclement weather. The Cardinals welcome top-ranked and defending NCAA DII national champion Texas A&M-Commerce to Liberty for a noon kickoff. Truman State hosts Morningside, Quincy brings in former GLVC member Kentucky Wesleyan, and Indianapolis entertains Wayne State. Hitting the road this Saturday is McKendree (at Kentucky State), Missouri S&T (at Northwood), and Southwest Baptist (at Mississippi College). GLVCSN will stream the four home contests at Indianapolis, Quincy, Truman State and William Jewell across all of its platforms, including GLVCSN.com, the GLVCSN iOS and Android apps, and the GLVCSN OTT apps on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, and Android TV. Be sure to download or upgrade to the newest GLVCSN mobiles apps, which now feature push notifications. Now you can know exactly when your favorite school or team begins its stream.
[2 | the week that was]
Lincoln, McKendree and Missouri S&T opened their respective seasons on the right note last week, finding the win column in the first week of action. Missouri S&T earned a 31-14 season-opening win over Eastern New Mexico in a dominant effort over a team that entered Thursday’s contest receiving votes outside the coaches top 25 poll. S&T senior quarterback Tyler Swart was 21-of-30 passing for 293 yards with four touchdowns and one interception, while Braxton Graham caught seven passes for 108 yards and a score, and Deshawn Jones extended his GLVC record to 10 straight 100-yard rushing efforts with 106 yards on 22 carries. On Saturday, McKendree erupted for 27 points in the second half on its way to a 34-28 home victory over Northern Michigan. Senior quarterback Reece Metcalf threw for 258 yards and three touchdowns, while senior running back Preston Thompson had both a rushing and receiving TD to lead McKendree to its fifth season-opening win in the last six years. Lincoln’s defense tallied three sacks, made a pair of interceptions and pitched a shutout in the second half as the Blue Tigers earned a 10-7 win over Lane in the season opener. The Blue Tigers had five tackles for loss and broke up three passes as Lincoln limited Lane to just 123 yards of total offense and nine first downs. For a complete look at week one action, click here.
[3 | hounds slip to 22nd in afca top 25 poll]
Indianapolis remains the lone GLVC football program ranked in the American Football Coaches Association Division II Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, which was released on Monday. After entering the season with a preseason ranking of No. 13, the Greyhounds dropped to No. 22 after a 30-7 setback Thursday at then-No. 10 Grand Valley State, which improved to No. 8 this week. UIndy returns to action this Saturday with a home contest against Wayne State.
[4 | mckendree, missouri s&t earn season’s first weekly awards]
Missouri S&T senior quarterback Tyler Swart and McKendree junior defensive back Blake Benoist and junior punter Monte Wolke were named the season’s first GLVC Players of the Week in football, it was announced by the league office Monday. Swart earned his fourth career Offensive Player of the Week award after completing 21-of-30 passes for 293 yards and four touchdowns against Eastern New Mexico, which also made him the first GLVC quarterback to throw four scores in a game at least once annually in his four-year career. Benoist garnered GLVC Defensive Player of the Week honors after posting a career-high 11 tackles and an interception in the Bearcats’ 34-28 win over Northern Michigan. In that same game, Wolke averaged 45.5 yards over four punts, while netting two over 50 yards and landing two inside Northern Michigan’s 20-yard-line. The Special Teams Player of the Week nod was the second of Wolke’s career.
[5 | bulldogs, bearcats at it again as part of ncaa division ii national showcase]
For the second straight year, Truman and Southwest Baptist will be featured as part of the NCAA Division II Showcase package. The teams were part of the package last year from Stokes Stadium as the Bearcats downed Truman, 21-17. This year’s game will take place in Bolivar on Oct. 20 and be streamed on a hybrid platform that includes the NCAA Division II Facebook and Twitter accounts, as well as the GLVC Sports Network.
[6 | conference standouts among nation’s active leaders]
A handful of GLVC standouts rank among the active career leaders in select NCAA Division II stats. Missouri S&T senior wideout Braxton Graham is second in the country with 139.21 all-purpose yards per game and fifth with 4,037 total all-purpose yards. UIndy senior quarterback Jake Purichia ranks third with a 161.27 passer rating. On the defensive side of the ball, Truman State junior defensive end Sam Reeves is first with 0.96 sacks per game, second with 1.46 tackles for loss per game, and fifth with 22.0 total sacks. Missouri S&T junior defensive end Tershawn Wharton is tied for fourth with 0.27 forced fumbles per game, while senior linebacker Landon Compton is fifth with 266 total tackles. Southwest Baptist senior linebacker Tyler Curts is fourth with 9.16 total tackles each time out.
