The Chart Online

Bulldogs bully Lions
Philip Martin

Sports Editor

In a football game that seemed like a chess match, the Bulldogs of Truman State checkmated the Lions in a 28-14 win Oct. 19.

Rob Green, offensive coordinator, said during the second half there were several physical mistakes. Two of the starting offensive tackles were injured and couldn t play, and there were a number of dropped passes. Josh Chapman, senior quarterback, had 35 pass attempts with only 19 completions and one for a touchdown.

We drill catching the ball all the time, that's what s so disappointing, Green said. It s one of those things that s more disappointing for the players than for me.

Cooke said with any football game comes other factors, like the weather, the officials or the A.J. Dewey s that show up.

Years ago there was a guy named A.J. Dewey who played for the Miami Dolphins, Cooke said. I think he ended up having three sacks, three interceptions. People show up and have uncommon performances. We have an ace-in-the-hole with Josh Chapman.

Cooke said if Chapman plays well, then the whole team will be playing on all cylinders. Green said in the upcoming game, Chapman will be as close to 100 percent as he has been since the Miner s Bowl.

Cooke said during practice on Oct. 22, Chapman was closer to shifting into the second gear.

The upcoming game will be a rematch after Southern s surprise 35-13 upset against Central Missouri in 2001, which knocked the Mules out of the running for the playoffs that year.

In the series against CMSU that started in 1973, Southern holds a 13-8-2 record. Cooke is 1-1 against CMSU, while CMSU s head football coach, Willie Fritz, is 4-1 against Southern.

Cooke said this year CMSU will be prepared for the Lions and won t be caught off guard. Saturday s game will be CMSU s homecoming game.

It s kind of tradition usually for a team to schedule an opponent that they think they can take advantage of on homecoming, said Mark Smith, assistant football coach. Our players are aware of that. There are a lot of distractions when it comes to homecoming time. Hopefully, our guys will bear down this week, really focus in and come out with an upset.

Smith said the Mules will be shooting off their cannons and having all of their floats in conjunction with homecoming. The Lions will step up to the challenge this week, he said.

After the Pitt State game, some people have said the Lions entered a slump and won t win again. Cooke said the reason the team has lost the games since PSU was because of a number of injuries resulting from that matchup. He said the goal of the team for the season is to win six games.

Cooke said the Lions and the Mules may be mismatched on paper, but in reality, the Lions could pull off the upset.