From staff reports
sports@joplinglobe.com
MIAMI, Okla. — Northeastern Oklahoma A&M; opens its Southwest Junior College Football Conference schedule tonight by entertaining Trinity Valley of Athens, Texas.
NEO, 0-2, has lost seven games in a row entering the 7 p.m. contest at Robertson Field.
Something has to give in this SWJCFC opener with the visiting Cardinals, 2-0 this season, working on dubious streaks in the league.
Trinity Valley, which has lost nine in a row in the league, finished 2-7 overall in 2007 for the second year in a row.
The NEO record for consecutive losses is eight from the fifth game of the 1931 season to the fifth game in 1932.
Another streak involves consecutive losses at Robertson Field. The Golden Norse haven’t lost back-to-back games in Miami since 1968.
The Golden Norsemen, idle last week, lost 21-6 on Sept. 6 in Miami to Arkansas Baptist after opening the season with a 33-24 loss at Hutchinson, Kan.
Trinity Valley hiked its record to 2-0 by beating the Louisiana College junior varsity 51-14 on Sept. 12.
NEO coach Rob Green said his team emphasized refining its offensive execution during the off week.
“We have to quit gift-wrapping scoring opportunities with our offense,” Green said. “We’ve been our worst enemy in these first two games.
“You know you’re going to make some mistakes when you have a freshman quarterback,” Green said. “But we can’t continue turning the ball over when we get into the end zone.”
Green said that Trey Munden, a 6-foot-1, 205-pounder from Verdigris, will start at quarterback after replacing Danny Knighton in the second quarter against Arkansas Baptist.
Munden has completed 24 of 44 passes for 397 yards and one touchdown with three interceptions in two games.
“A main factor in the production of our offense has been our slow maturation at quarterback,” Green said. “We’ve settled on Trey as our starter, so now it’s up to him to relax and execute our schemes.
“When you look at the turnovers we had in the first two games, the majority have been made by the quarterbacks,” Green said. “Trey played a heck of a game against Arkansas Baptist if you take away the interception and the fumble.
“Trey managed the clock well, he moved the ball and he asserted himself as the leader of the team,” Green said. “But those two plays dictated the outcome of the game.
“We’re working with Trey to anticipate what his options are if gets in a bad situation and how to turn it into a positive,” Green said. “So many times when a quarterback throws an interception, it isn’t his doing, but rather a missed block or a wrong route by the receiver.
“So we want him to learn to not try to make a ‘hero play’ after something happens that he can’t control,” Green said.
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