For perhaps the first time in his three-year tenure as Haskell Indian Nations University's football coach, Eric Brock feels like he truly will have a home-field advantage today when HINU plays host to Bacone College.
Kickoff is 2 p.m. at Haskell Stadium. Not only are both of the (2-2) Fightin' Indians' wins at home, but also two weeks ago Haskell upended NAIA's 19th-ranked team, McPherson, 18-0.
And, today is Haskell's homecoming, and with it comes a special ceremony to honor seven former HINU athletes.
Plus, Bacone, which is located in Muskogee, Okla., never has traveled to Lawrence; the last two contests were played at Bacone.
"We're hoping all that provides a bit of a difference," Brock said. "Not only will it be homecoming for us, but the last time we played here we had the big victory, and people were really excited. I think that could mean more people will come out and watch us this weekend."
Bacone (2-1), which leads the Central States Football League with 476 yards a game on offense, is led by standout senior quarterback Clay Waggle.
But the Fightin' Indians defense is allowing opponents only 136.5 yards a game -- including just 68.5 passing yards -- and has picked off six passes.
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