Haskell football looking for first home victory of season / LJWorld.com

Archive for Saturday, October 3, 2009

October 3, 2009

Who says it’s tough to win on the road?

After five football games, Haskell Indian Nations University has one of the most unusual records in college football.

HINU (3-2) is unbeaten away from home, yet winless at Haskell Stadium. Consequently, the Fightin’ Indians will be hungry when they entertain Westminster College at 1 p.m. today.

“Absolutely,” coach Eric Brock said. “That’s all we’ve been preaching this week. This should be a good opportunity.”

Westminster, an NCAA Div. III team located in Fulton, Mo., has a 1-2 record. The Blue Jays blasted Minnesota-Morris, 51-14, last week in Morris, Minn., after dropping their first two contests.

Haskell is also coming off an impressive road victory, a 35-17 decision over Bacone in Muskogee, Okla. In that game, the Indians rang up 482 of total offense, including 338 on the ground.

Tailback Malcolm Coleman carried 36 times for 173 yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback Dwayne Butler added 80 yards on 14 carries and one TD.

While running 80 offensive plays, HINU didn’t have a turnover. Bacone (0-3) lost four fumbles, three that led to Haskell scores.

Since losing quarterback Ryan Alden to an arm injury three weeks ago, the Indians have transitioned from a passing team to a running team with Coleman shouldering most of the load.

In Haskell’s 25-22 victory at MacMurray two weeks ago, Coleman carried 29 times for 160 yards. During the 2008 season, the 5-foot-9, 200-pound Coleman led the Indians in rushing with 396 yards. Already this season, he has 495 yards.

“It’s just a philosophy change,” Brock said, “and we’re going to stick with it.”

Butler, Alden’s replacement, is a better runner than he is a passer so the switch makes sense in that light. Another reason is the solidification of the offensive line.

“It’s taken us five games,” Brock said, “but we’ve found five guys we can hang our hat on.”

The five linemen are tackles Seneca Gore and Jake Nelson, guards Tyler Archuleta and Emery Brown and center Jared Jones, who is the lone senior on the roster.

Archuleta and Nelson are freshmen, Brown a sophomore and Gore a junior transfer from Missouri State.

Haskell’s next two games also will be at home — Oct. 10 against Kansas Wesleyan and Oct. 17 against Friends.