COLLEGE GRIDIRON PREVIEW FOR THIS WEEKEND

 The NAIA’s Top-Ranked Sioux Falls Cougars are 5-0 and going on the road to take on the Briar Cliff Chargers.  The Chargers are coming off their 17-7 win over the Dordt Defenders but are 2-3 overall. Cougars receiver Jon “Mountain Lion” Ryan was named the Great Plains Athletic Conference Player Of The Week on offense and must be champing at the bit to get his hands on the ball again this week, considering the fact that last year USF beat the Chargers 41-8. Will the Cougars move to 6-0, or will Briar Cliff catch them looking ahead to next  Saturday’s game  against the Morningside Mustangs, one of USF’s toughest foes of late? Plus there’s the continuing drama of the Cougars trying to threepeat as NAIA football champs!

 The Johns Hopkins Blue Jays take the field Friday night, October 8th, hosting the Dickinson Red Devils. The Blue Jays will be trying to put last week’s game, in which their gutsy comeback attempt versus the Muhlenberg Mules fell short, 30-27, behind them. Some individual Blue Jays will also be playing for the record books. QB “Hurlin'” Hewitt Tomlin will have his 2nd try at becoming the all-time wins leader for a Johns Hopkins starter. Meanwhile, WR Tucker “The Trapster” Michels needs 114 more receiving yards to become the 7th Blue Jay to reach 2,000.

 And speaking of records and the like, the 6th-ranked Northwest Missouri State Bearcats can match their 41-game conference winning streak with a win Saturday evening against the Missouri Southern Lions. The Bearcats have won 15 straight against the Lions and lead the overall series 17-4. Northwest comes in with a 3-1 record, Southern with a 2-3 record. The conference the 2 play in is the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association. 

 A week after making Head Coach Frank Miriello the winningest coach in program history, the Washington and Lee Generals take on the Emory and Henry Wasps. The Generals are hoping to improve to 3-2, but the Wasps have been a tough hive to crack for the Washington and Lee football team. Emory and Henry leads the all-time series 28-11 and have won the last 2 in a row including last year’s 23-16 Instant Classic in Emory. Just as Rutgers is remembered as the site of the 1st ever college football game in 1869,  Washington and Lee is remembered for playing the Virginia Military Institute in the 1st college football game played in the south, way back in 1873. 

 The 2-2 Wingate Bulldogs take on the 3-2 Carson-Newman (Insert your own “Hello Newman” joke here) Eagles tomorrow. Bulldogs Head Coach Joe Reich (Official Balladeer’s Blog Nickname: “Joe”) will be playing gridiron chess against the Dean of South Atlantic Conference coaches, Ken Sparks. Look for incumbent SAC Special Teams Player Of The Week Timmy Rogers (Official Balladeer’s Blog Nickname: “Tigershark”) to have another big game.