By Daniel Johnson, Sports Editor
After pulling out an amazing win over Tarleton State last week, the Wildcats’ playoff hopes lie in their own hands.
If ACU wins its last two regular season games, a spot in the NCAA Division II playoffs is all but certain, but if ACU loses just one, it will probably drop from the top six the NCAA South Central regional poll and miss the playoffs.
Despite the pressure, head coach Chris Thomsen said he isn’t letting his team overstress about the playoffs.
“That’s the big trap a team can fall into, is worrying too much about the playoffs,” Thomsen said.
No. 19 ACU will take on the 2-7 Texas A&M-Kingsville Javelinas in the Wildcats’ last home game of the season Saturday, in a game thats end could be one step closer to the post-season for ACU or spoil any chance the Wildcats have of making the playoffs.
“We have two great teams ahead of us – if we take them lightly we’ll lose,” said senior offensive lineman Cody Savage. “We should prepare to take each team on like they’re a college football team; there aren’t any scrubs in this league.”
Despite struggling the entire season, Kingsville is coming off of a close 38-35 win over Eastern New Mexico and isn’t a team Thomsen or the Wildcats take lightly.
Last season ACU won on a game-winning field goal from junior placekicker Matt Adams, that gave ACU a 41- 38 victory over the Javelinas.
ACU, who was 7-1 at the time, won on the final drive of the game and was nearly upset in Kingsville.
“The game against them last year was an exciting game,” Savage said. “I had a few heart attacks in that one.”
This season, ACU’s offense is coming off one of its biggest win of the season. In ACU’s 70-63 win over Tarleton State last Saturday, the Wildcats racked up 715 yards of offense behind an amazing performance by junior running back Bernard Scott.
Scott was named NCAA Division II Offensive Player of the Week after running for 283 rushing yards and six touchdowns in the win. Scott’s performance broke or tied several LSC and ACU records, and helped ACU outshoot the Texans.
Scott is No. 6 in Division II football in rushing yards per game, with an average of 151.7 yards per game, and is fourth in the nation in scoring.
But Scott is only one weapon on a long list of playmakers.
ACU wide receivers, senior Jerale Badon, junior Johnny Knox, freshman Edmund Gates continue to make big plays for ACU and junior quarterback Billy Malone has been getting them the ball.
“We just got to put the game in those guys hands and go play,” Thomsen said.
ACU’s offense is the conference’s best scoring offense and is the third best offense in the nation. ACU averages 528.8 yards a game and Malone is No. 10 in the nation in passing efficiency. Kingsville’s offense is a different story.
The Javelinas are ranked second to last in the LSC in scoring offense, ninth in pass offense and 10th in rushing offense. Kingsville has struggled to find a consistent starting quarterback, and redshirt freshman quarterback David Garza recently emerged as the starter.
Garza is coming off of his biggest game of the season, he threw for 301 yards and five touchdowns in Kingsville’s win over ENMU. Garza’s performance was the first time a Javelina quarterback threw for more than 300 yards in nearly two seasons.
“We only have a few jobs, as long as we do our jobs right, it should workout,” Savage said.
