Baker, Haskell look to rebound / LJWorld.com

Archive for Saturday, October 17, 2009

Staff reports

October 17, 2009

It’s bounce-back time — hopefully — for the football teams at Baker and Haskell Indian Nations universities.

Baker, coming off a 52-30 thumping from unbeaten Lindenwood, will play host to Benedictine tonight. Kickoff will be at 6 p.m. at Liston Stadium in Baldwin City.

HINU will hope to rebound from its 14-12 home loss to Kansas Wesleyan when the Fightin’ Indians tangle with Friends University. Kickoff will be at 2 p.m. at Haskell Stadium.

On paper, the Indians (3-4) will face the tougher task because Friends (4-1) is ranked No. 15 in this week’s NAIA coaches poll. Baker (2-3) will also be trying to reach the .500 level against a Benedictine team that snapped a three-game losing streak last week with a 31-0 victory over Avila.

Baker senior running back Richie Bryant rushed for 135 yards and two touchdowns last week to increase his season total to a league-best 10 TDs.

Bryant has moved to No. 5 all time at Baker in career rushing with 2,713 yards and is tied for second with 36 career rushing TDs.

With its top two quarterbacks out due to injuries, Haskell has relied primarily on a running attack featuring sophomore tailback Malcolm Coleman who has rushed for 723 yards and four touchdowns.

Friends features a more versatile attack, with quarterback Tim Rozzell the centerpiece. Rozzell has thrown for 1,430 yards and 14 touchdowns and rushed for five TDs.