Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009

Hot Bearcats prepare to pounce on slumping Hawks

McKendree has won 7 in a row

LEBANON -- College football coaches have enough to worry about without fretting over field conditions.

That won't be a problem today for McKendree University coach Carl Poelker, whose No. 11-ranked Bearcats (7-1) play host to Quincy University (2-6) at 1:30 p.m. on the artificial turf of Leemon Field.

The nearly 4 inches of rain that inundated the area over the last three days would have rendered McKendree's old natural grass field unplayable.

"It's such a relief not to have to worry about the field," Poelker said. "When it rained like this in the past, our field would just be a mess. Heck, that one year (2002), it was so bad we had to play at Central.

"It's hard to practice in the mud, it's hard to get any kind of precision and detail. The other thing is, you end up getting kids with pulled groins and that kind of stuff."

Two area prep teams, Mascoutah and Central, practiced on McKendree's field Friday afternoon in preparation for their playoff games today.

The Bearcats bring a seven-game winning streak into today's game against the slumping Hawks, who have lost six of seven. McKendree built a 21-0 lead on the road against William Penn last week before hanging on for a 24-14 victory.

"We've been playing pretty good in all three phases -- offensively, defensively and kicking game," Poelker said. "There's two things going on. No. 1, our kids are having fun. The second thing is, they have confidence in each other. They trust each other."

McKendree, which hasn't made the NAIA playoffs since 2005, are barreling toward the postseason. The Bearcats are off next week before facing Grand View University (6-2) in their regular-season finale on Nov. 14.

McKendree is a half-game ahead of Grand View in the Midwest League of the Mid-States Football Association. The Bearcats are 5-0 in the league while Grand View is 4-0.

Poelker said it's still too early to start talking about the playoffs.

"You can think about it, but you don't talk about it," Poelker said. "We have work to get done. We need to win two more football games, then we can start talking about it."

The Hawks are coming off a 21-9 loss to Saint Ambrose. Quincy's defense has been strafed for an average of 32.8 points and 348 yards per game. By contrast, the Bearcats rank third nationally in scoring defense (12.1 ppg) and 10th in total defense (264.1 yards per game).

Poelker said the Hawks, who are 3-7 lifetime against McKendree but have won two of the last three in the series, are hot and cold.

"It depends on which Quincy team shows up," Poelker said. "There's times they play really good, and there's other times it's like 'Where did they go?' They have talent, but they haven't been able to put it together yet.

"They have a quarterback that can make some things happen and they have a good running back. There's times, looking at the film, they look awfully good."

Former Columbia High quarterback Tyler Truttmann is a backup with the Hawks but has appeared in all eight games, completing 22-of-38 pass attempts for 205 yards. Former Mater Dei wide receiver Aaron Fuehne has caught one pass for the Hawks.