Pittsburg bowl game will decide juco football title

Sports

Discussion

November 17, 2009

No. 1-ranked Fort Scott to test Blinn, Texas in game at PSU

Anonymous The Joplin Globe Tue Nov 17, 2009, 11:34 PM CST

By Jim Henry

jhenry@joplinglobe.com

The inaugural Citizens Bank Bowl has evolved into a national championship game.

Bowl Invitations were issued at 1 p.m. Tuesday and accepted shortly thereafter, pitting No. 1-ranked Fort Scott Community College against No. 2 Blinn (Texas) College in the Citizens Bank Bowl on Sunday, Dec. 6, in Pittsburg, Kan.

Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Carnie Smith Stadium on the Pittsburg State campus.

“We knew just with the facility, the bowl package the committee put together, we would attract top teams,” said J.D. Ettore, FSCC athletics director and bowl director. “It’s worked out even better than we expected.

“I don’t know if you can do any better than 1 versus 2, especially when your team is one of the teams. The bowl title sponsor is pretty darn happy. ... The stars certainly did align for us.”

In Sunday’s conference championship games, Fort Scott, then ranked No. 2, defeated No. 7 and defending national champion Butler County 13-12 in Region VI, giving the Greyhounds their first playoff championship since Kansas established the current system in 1981. Fort Scott trailed 12-7 before recovering a blocked punt in the end zone for the winning score early in the fourth quarter.

Hours later, No. 3 Blinn knocked off No. 1 Navarro 45-34 in the Southwest Junior College Football Conference title game as quarterback Cam Newton hit 21-of-29 passes for 237 yards and ran for three touchdowns.

The SWJCFC champion receives an automatic bid to the CHAMPS Heart of Texas Bowl, but that bid can be refused if the team wants to go elsewhere and play for the national championship. That’s what Blinn chose to do.

Blinn, coached by Brad Franchione, a Pittsburg High School graduate and the son of former PSU head coach Dennis Franchione, leads all junior colleges in total offense with 492 yards per game — 291 rushing and 201 passing.

Fort Scott, whose 12-game winning streak is the longest in the country, ranks fifth nationally in rushing offense (266 yards per game) and 15th in total offense (404) under the direction of quarterback Dominique Davis, who came to FSCC from Boston College and has signed with East Carolina.

The Greyhounds’ No. 1 ranking, announced Monday, is their first since the early 1970s.

“We knew Jeff (Sims, Fort Scott head coach) had been building each year,” Ettmore said. “He has tremendous coaches who work for him, a great team around him. We were expecting a very good year.

“But to say we expected to be ranked No. 1 in the nation at this point ... it’s turned out better than we’d hoped.”

Ticket prices are $15 for reserved club seats on the west side of the stadium, $10 for adult general admission and $5 for students grades K-12. Tickets are available at the PSU ticket office and at Citizens Bank locations in Pittsburg, Fort Scott, Iola, Mound City, Kincaid, Lenexa and Overland Park.

Text Only

Sports

Colgan's Cichon wins No. 500
The 500-win plateau is an achievement that does not come without some winning formula.

February 11, 2012 5 Photos
Prep Roundup: Joplin's Wood breaks school record
Joplin’s Madi Wood broke a school record, Michelle Barchak and Genny Richards posted the fastest qualifying times Friday during preliminaries of the Southwest Missouri Championships at the Natatorium.

February 11, 2012
Hester, Lions prep for Emporia State
Patrick Hester, one of Missouri Southern’s best free-throw shooters, stepped to the line Wednesday night with 13.5 seconds left in the second overtime, looking to push the Lions’ three-point lead to a two-possession game.

February 11, 2012
MSSU's Gibson sets career highs in consecutive games
In Missouri Southern’s first 20 games this season, guard Larrita Gipson scored in double figures once — 10 points on Jan. 21 at Truman State.

February 11, 2012
PSU women seek record-tying 22nd win
Among Pittsburg State’s four football national championships, three came during seasons that ended in the number 1 — 1961, 1991 and 2011.

February 11, 2012
Kickapoo girls race past Joplin
Annie Armstrong poured in 21 points to lead the Kickapoo girls to a 65-28 victory over Joplin on Thursday night in an Ozark Conference basketball game at Missouri Southern’s Young Gymnasium.

February 10, 2012 3 Photos
Hillsdale women stop OCC
Visiting Hillsdale Free Will Baptist handed Ozark Christian a 68-47 loss in women’s college basketball on Thursday night.

February 10, 2012
Quapaw completes 12-0 run through Lucky '7' Conference
Quapaw High School girls basketball coach Rod Graves expected the 2011-12 Wildcats to compile another successful season.
They haven’t been a disappointment.

February 10, 2012
Pitching holds key for softball Lions
Pitching is the main question Missouri Southern must answer as the Lions open their softball season today in Abilene, Texas.

February 10, 2012
NCAA denies UConn waiver request
The NCAA has turned down the University of Connecticut’s request for a waiver that would allow its men’s basketball team to play in the 2013 national championship tournament.

February 10, 2012
More Sports Headlines

Water company cites reconnections

Sports

Search Results

Discussion

Pittsburg bowl game will decide juco football title

No. 1-ranked Fort Scott to test Blinn, Texas in game at PSU

Joplin City Manager Mark Rohr wants the city to distribute weather radios to all Joplin homes that don’t have one. That’s 11,000 radios. Do you think that’s a good use of $300,440?

Site Map

Contact Us