Sun, Nov 22 2009
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Southern’s upset bid fades after halftime Lions can’t hold on after leading at half; Hinspeter snaps yardage mark Junior linebacker Jared Brawner, despite battling the flu, recorded a career-high 17 tackles for the Lions.
A special teams mistake set up the Bearcats’ go-ahead score midway through the third quarter. Punting from the end zone, the Lions’ Ian Harrison fumbled the snap. He retrieved the ball and got off a low kick that hit a Bearcat player, but Northwest Missouri’s Blake Christopher, a backup quarterback, recovered at the 20. Council scored on second down from the 16, giving the Bearcats a 20-17 lead. Just over a minute later Myles Burnside intercepted a Hinspeter pass at the 40-yard line. Council gained 44 yards on six carries during the nine-play, 60-yard drive, including a 21-yarder on the first play and a three-yarder on fourth-and-1 before scoring from the 9. Hinspeter and Daniel Thompson hooked up for two touchdown passes to give the Lions a 14-7 lead after the first quarter. The Lions did not score in the first period of their first eight conference games. The Lion defense set up the first score as defensive back Terrance Scott returned Sheldon Cook’s fumble 30 yards to the 6-yard line. Tackle Dez Johnson forced the fumble. On first down, Hinspeter found Thompson on a flanker screen up the middle for a touchdown and a 7-7 tie. Two possessions later, the Lions covered 68 yards in six plays and took the lead on Hinspeter’s 41-yard strike to Thompson down the left sideline. Unable to find an open receiver, Hinspeter moved to his left and saw Thompson as he broke long past the Bearcat defender with 1:56 left in the first quarter. The Bearcats’ Tommy Frevert kicked 20 and 30-yard field goals in the second period to cut the Lions’ lead to 14-13 at the intermission. It was the first time the Bearcats trailed at halftime since playing Missouri Western nine games ago. The Lions forced the Bearcats to punt on the first series of the third quarter, and Kellen Anderson came up the middle and blocked Michael Stadler’s kick at the Northwest Missouri 31. The Lions didn’t gain a yard on three plays, but Malette nailed a career-best 49-yard field goal, giving Southern a 17-13 lead three minutes into the second half. “The first half was a blast,” Hinspeter said. “It was good to come out and play against the caliber of team we faced — top 3 in the country, No. 1 in our conference, has a chance again to go to a national championship game — we wanted to come out and kind of ruin the end of their season here at home. We wanted to come out and have fun, and for the most part, I think everyone did in the first half. We just ran out of whatever we had in the second half.” “My hat is off to our players and coaches for coming out here when seemingly there might not be that much to play for,” Tatum said. “They came out and fought their tails off, which is what we asked them to, and they responded. “Even at the end of the third quarter, we were still right in the thick of things but lacked that explosion on offense. There were a couple of times we needed an answer. We needed to sustain a drive, put the ball in the end zone, answer. We haven’t been able to do that the last four weeks, and it cost us again today. We put our defense up against the wall a few too many times in the second half, and we just didn’t have the (healthy) bodies on defense to stay with them.” 
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