Football Dumped by MSU

September 8, 2007

WICHITA FALLS, Texas – Southwestern Oklahoma State University’s bid to join some of the top football teams in the Lone Star Conference was put on an indefinite hold as nationally-ranked Midwestern State buried the Bulldogs, 47-10.

SWOSU entered the game with a 2-0 record and whispered the possibility of upsetting the 18th ranked Mustangs. That hope was quickly whisked away when things went from bad to worse on the game’s first play.

The Bulldogs bungled the opening kickoff and gave the ball back to the Mustangs on their own 19-yard line. Three plays later MSU quarterback and All-American candidate Daniel Polk scored the first of what would end up to be six touchdowns he would be responsible for. His four-yard run gave MSU a 7-0 lead with 14:05 to play.

Polk accounted for 285 of the Mustangs 445 total offensive yards, 100 more than the Bulldogs had given up in the previous two games that resulted in wins over Northwestern Oklahoma and Texas A&M-Kingsville.

The Mustangs led 34-0 before SWOSU scored on the final play of the first half. Spenser Daniel nailed a 24-yard field goal to give the Bulldogs a positive ending to an otherwise forgetful first 30 minutes of football.

The Mustangs waisted no time re-asserting themselves in the third quarter as Steven Harper brought the kickoff back 62 yards to give Polk and his teammates great field position at the Bulldogs’ 31. Polk eventually scored nine plays later when he kept on a four-yard score to make it 40-3 with 10:15 to play in the third.

Quarterback Steve Day, who was subbing for the injured Jimmy Sangster, had his most productive drive in the third quarter. He completed a 13-yard pass to Johnathan Haggerty that gave the Bulldogs a first down at midfield. Then SWOSU was aided by a personal foul on MSU that pushed the ball to the Mustangs 38. Two plays later Haggerty made a acrobatic 34-yard catch in the endzone as he wrestled the ball away from a defender and tipped it to himself for the score.

Haggerty was the team’s offensive star accounting for 142 yards on five catches. His total was one-half of the Bulldogs 285 yards as a team.

Despite the lopsided outcome, SWOSU was not without bright spots. Defensive end Joe Castle had a game-high 10 tackles, two of which were for losses. Linebacker Greg Franklin had eight tackes while Demarcus Render added seven.

The Bulldogs will next play Saturday, Sept. 15 against Oklahoma Panhandle State University. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. in Goodwell.