SPORTS

Indians Tame Tigers 42-31, improve to 4-4 on Season
Iggy Cruz | Sports Editor

Throughout Bill Maskill’s tenure as head football coach, the Indians have struggled to keep its starting quarterback healthy for an entire season.
So when starting quarterback Rahsaan Bell went out with an ankle injury early in the season, Maskill turned to the pocket passing of Ryan Roberts and the playmaking ability of Daniel Polk to guide the team. 
Against East Central Saturday night, it was Polk who picked up the slack and accounted for 301 yards of offense and two touchdowns in a 42-31 homecoming victory at Memorial Stadium.
Polk, last season’s Lone Star Conference Freshman of the Year, passed for 107 yards and ran for 194 more to even the Indians record at 4-4 on the season and 3-4 in conference.
“The effort was very good,” Maskill said. “We’ve won two in a row now. We got two games left to get back on top.” 
The MSU offense feed off the momentum gained by the Indian defense. The unit registered four interceptions, three sacks, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, and one blocked punt.
“Our defense jump-started the offense,” Maskill said. “We made big plays of both sides of the ball. Anytime you can get points on the board you feel good.”
Indian fans were up from their seats early in the game when Gary Elliott dazzled his way 77 yards into the end zone on MSU’s first punt return attempt. But the celebration was short-lived after ECU covered 65 yards in two plays, ending with a 48-yard touchdown reception by Keith Jones to knot the game up at 7-7. Max Mauser would connect on a 21-yard field goal to give the Tigers a 10-7 lead in the middle of the first. 
The Indians began the second quarter with Polk under the helm and he made most of the opportunity.
The electrifying sophomore took the opening snap and ran up the middle for 54 yards to the Tiger 2-yard line, setting up a Ulysses Odoms touchdown run for the lead.
ECU regained the edge over MSU after Roberts entered the game and tossed an interception at the Indian 31. King Bennett took advantage of the field position and scored from five-yards out. Bennett finished with 191 yards rushing on 31 carries against the Indians, who rank number one in the LSC against the run.
Polk relieved Roberts on the next Indian drive and displayed poise in the pocket, hitting Darrius Richard for a 27-yard touchdown to give MSU a 21-17 lead at the half. Richard also contributed on special teams by blocking a punt in the second quarter.
Jerome Jefferson added an interception, while Jesse Lewis and Courtney Allen each registered a sack for the Indians in the first half.
ECU drew first blood in the second half when Cody Fagan returned a Roberts fumble 17 yards for a 24-21 Tiger lead.
But the Indian defense took over with big plays that set the offense up for scoring drives. With less than two minutes left in the third, Lewis pressured Tiger quarterback Akeem Leviston into throwing an interception to defensive tackle Marcel Moses at the ECU 4-yard line. Ross Harrison capitalized on the turnover with a touchdown run to give the Indians a 28-24 advantage going into the final quarter.
The next Tiger possession ended with another strong outing by the Indian defense. This time Justin Foyt forced a fumble by Leviston and Jefferson scooped the ball for a 12-yard return to the ECU 30. Polk then connected with Marcus Davis for a 40-yard touchdown after a holding penalty set the Indians back ten yards.
Adrion Butler finished the scoring for MSU, adding a 6-yard touchdown run as the Indians held off the Tigers the rest of the way. 
The Indians finished with 425 yards of total offense, but were penalized 15 times for 165 yards. The team only completed one of 13 third-down attempts in the game, while converting on two fourth-down attempts.
Fred Moore led the Indians with nine tackles, followed by eight from Lewis. The senior defensive end also had one sack, and two quarterback hurries. Elliott and Clifford Jingles each had interceptions to give the Indians four on the night.  
The Indians will travel to Eastern New Mexico to take on the 4-4 Greyhounds. Kickoff is set at 8 p.m.


Soccer Team Battles to 0-0 Tie
Josh Mujica | Staff Reporter

Southwest Soccer Conference play heated up at the MSU Soccer Field Sunday when the men’s soccer team clashed to a 0-0 tie with Incarnate Word.
Each team came in with a 7-1-2 conference record and it showed, staying deadlocked the entire 110 minute contest.
MSU freshman goal keeper Raul Herrera recorded his first career shutout with two saves. The Indians outshot UIW 17-14.
 Incarnate Word goal keeper Gil Ben Nachem posted his sixth shutout with eight saves.
MSU outshot the Cardinals 8-4 in overtime play, but UIW displayed an unbreakable defense.
MSU’s best scoring chance came when Jimmy Krueger took an assist from Scott Leonard in the 83rd minute and beat Nachem to make him come off the line. UIW defender Matt Peterson made the play of the day as he hustled to deflect the shot from entering the net.
A tie was fitting for the two teams since they battled to a 2-2 tie back on Sept. 25th.
MSU will host Northeastern State Friday in a 7:30 p.m. contest. The Indians will play two consecutive home games before they end the regular season on the road.


Lady Indians fall to UIW, 1-0
Josh Mujica | Staff Reporter

The MSU women’s soccer team could not get its offense rolling Sunday afternoon, falling at the hands of Incarnate Word, 1-0, in a non-conference match.
The Lady Indians improved to 7-7-1, while the Lady Cardinals are now 11-3-2 on the season.
UIW’s Laura Cannon scored the go ahead goal in the 65th minute of play after she received an assist from Shamsi Arian-Nejad.
Elli O’Dwyer came up with four saves as Incarnate Word Shot at the MSU goal keeper 17 times.
The Lady Indians were held to just five shots, and UIW goal keeper Amy Menegaz recorded one save.
MSU will get back to Lone Star Conference action Friday when the Lady Indians will travel to take on Central Oklahoma in a 4 p.m. battle.


Volleyball picks up non-conference Win
For the Wichitan

The Midwestern State University volleyball team chalked up its 22nd victory of the season with non-conference triumph over Southwestern Assemblies of God University, 30-14, 31-29, 30-13 Monday at Gerald Stockton Court/D.L. Ligon Coliseum.
MSU (22-10) did not trail in games one and three, but had to post a come-from-behind victory in game two.
SAGU (20-11) built a 10-1 advantage before MSU started to catch up.  The Lady Indians chipped away at that lead until tying the score at 24-all.  After giving back a point, freshman Shay Velasquez collected a pair of service aces with a kill from junior Lacey Lanier to claim a 28-25 lead.
The teams exchanged points, leaving MSU serving with a 29-27 advantage, but allowed SAGU rattle off a pair of points before putting the game away 31-29 on forceful kill by sophomore Krissa Johnson.
In a match where MSU played all 15 players dressed, Johnson led the way by hitting .429, recording 10 kills with three blocks.  Senior Kate Pence also notched 10 kills with a .362 hitting percentage and 14 digs.
Junior Kim Doolittle picked up 24 assists coming off the bench, while freshman Allison Schreiber had 12 assists in two games played.
MSU tallied 11 team blocks on the evening, led by sophomore Rachel Gilmore with four.
MSU returns to Lone Star Conference North play on Thursday when it hosts Texas A&M-Commerce in a 7 p.m. match at Ligon Coliseum.


MSU Finishes Eight in Championship Meet
For the Wichitan

The Midwestern State University women’s cross country teams placed eighth in their first running at the Lone Star Conference championships held at the Prairie West Golf Course.
Abilene Christian won the event with 43 points, with it’s top three runners taking the top three places.  Trina Cox was the women’s individual champion, covering the six kilometer course with a time of 21:31.8.
Midwestern State was led by junior Tiffany Stewart of El Paso/Coronado, who placed 19th with a time of 24:31.1.  Senior Anna Crockett of Wichita Falls/Rider placed 34th in 25:32.6.
Maria Cano of Mount Pleasant was 47th in 26:27.1, with Natalie Noblitt running 60th in 27:31.7 and Mindy Burns of Iowa Park 61st in 27:36.0.  Mindy Briones of Alvin was 72nd in 29:06.5 and Katy Blackwood of Dallas/Plano West placed 75th in 29:17.9.
West Texas A&M finished second with 66 points, with Angelo State third with a score of 88 and Central Oklahoma fourth.
The LSC men’s cross country title was also won by Abilene Christian, with ACU's Nicodeumus Naimadu winning the men’s eight kilometer race with a time of 26:25.6.
Midwestern State will run again on Nov. 5 at the NCAA Division II South Central Regional in Abilene.