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Shorter, Bethel tangle for possible league title, postseason berth
By Jim O'Hara
ROME – With all the potential outcomes possible involving the four top teams in the Mid-South Conference West Division on the final day of the regular season, the Shorter University football team is making sure its attention is focused one thing: Beat Bethel!
That will be the sole mission for the Hawks (6-3, 3-2 Mid-South) on Saturday afternoon at 1:30 pm at Barron Stadium when they square off against the No. 14-ranked Bethel Wildcats (7-2, 4-1) in one of two conference showdowns that will decide who will win the 2011 West Division title and claim an automatic berth to the NAIA national playoffs.
While Shorter fans will be rooting for the Hawks to pull through, they will also keep an eye on the other critical conference clash taking place simultaneously in Lebanon, Tenn., between the University of the Cumberlands (6-3, 3-2) and No. 20 Cumberland University (7-2, 4-1).
“It’s a long shot, but you just don’t know what will happen,” Shorter head coach Phil Jones said of Shorter’s chances to finish the season in a four-way tie for the division title, which would be the case should the Hawks win and Cumberlands (Ky.) upends Cumberland (Tenn.).
“But our full attention has to be on Bethel and being ready to play,” he said. “We don’t want to focus on the other game. We want to focus on our game.”
Cumberland could bring an end to all the scenarios and claim the outright division championship with a win, something it failed to do last week when the Bulldogs squandered a chance to clinch with an upset loss to Belhaven. That loss opened the door for what could end up being the closest finish ever in the Mid-South.
Shorter fully realizes, however, that Bethel comes into the game with just as much as stake. A win over the Hawks coupled with an upset win by Cumberlands gives the Wildcats the title and postseason berth.
“They’ve done what they’ve had to do to get into this position,” Jones said of Bethel.
Entering Saturday, the Wildcats have won six of their last seven games, the lone blemish coming on Oct. 22 when they lost to Cumberland by a two points.
Averaging more than 36 points a game, Bethel has gained a solid 387 yards a game, 209 of that coming via the rush thanks in large part to the legs of running back Cordarious Mann. Mann ranks third in the conference in rushing having eaten up 732 yards with six touchdowns.
“He makes people miss,” Jones said. “He’s a very good player.”
Shorter will also have to cope with a Bethel passing attack led by 6-foot-7 quarterback Wil Masoud, who has started behind center for the Wildcats for the past two years. Masoud has thrown for 1,289 yards and 13 touchdowns and rushed for eight more scores. His favorite target is Justin Hazelray, who has 27 catches for 468 yards and three TDs.
Bethel will be up against a Shorter defense that is among the best in the conference against the run and one that has given up just 21 points a game.
Anchoring the Hawks on the defensive side of the ball has been junior middle linebacker Demery Hawkins, who leads the Mid-South in tackles (99) and tackles per game (11). He is just 15 tackles away from setting Shorter’s single-season tackles record.
Offensively, the Hawks hope to remain hot on the ground after two solid performances against Edward Waters and Union (Ky.). In a 42-16 blowout of Union last week, Shorter rolled up 536 yards on offense with an incredible 505 of that coming on the ground, the third best rushing and total offense totals in the program’s history. So balanced was the rushing attack that 11 different Hawks carried the ball and helped Shorter average 11 yards per carry.
“The players have responded well in the last two weeks,” Jones said. “Last week I was proud of them getting the win. That solidified a winning season for us.”
Shorter would like nothing else than to cap the season with its seventh win of the year, one that would keep them in contention for a share of the championship.
Jones and his team continue to keep it all in perspective.
“When we talked at our team meeting Sunday night, we talked about what our focus should be – that every person, player and coach be the very best you can be,” Jones said. “We are all created in God’s image and He expects us to be the best we can be.
“It all starts in the heart.”
