WEEK TWELVE
WEST TEXAS OUTLAWS (6-2, 3-0)
VS.
MID TENN. ST. BLUE RAIDERS (5-3, 2-1)
Normally, an offense's failure to reach the endzone results in a loss. Up against a stout defense, the Outlaws were repeatedly denied in their opponent's territory. Luckily for them, senior Caleb Reynolds was at his best, hitting all six of his attempted field goals while the defense continued their recent trend of game-changing plays as WTU improved to 4-0 in the conference with a 32-21 victory over the Blue Raiders, and matched their best win total in school history with seven wins on the season.
Charles Dickson had a below-average day, completing just 8 of 21 passes for 98 yards and a touchdown. Most of that yardage went to senior Michael Maynard, who had five catches for 71 yards to lead the receiving corps. Luckily for the offense, DeShaun Sands was just as effective as ever, rushing for 170 yards off 33 carries for an average of 5.1 yards per touch. With 1,260 rushing yards and nine touchdowns on the year, Sands has set a new team record for most yards in a single season, and currently leads the conference in rushing yards. But the offense's biggest savior was senior kicker Caleb Reynolds, who hit all six of his attempted field goals, including a season-best 51-yarder in the third quarter to lift the team to victory. Reynolds has performed exceptionally well in his final collegiate season, hitting all of his 25 attempted extra points, and 16 of his 18 attempted field goals for a success rate of 88%, which leads the conference. Defensively, West Texas limited the Blue Raiders to 261 total offensive yards, allowed just three successful conversions on eleven 3rd down attempts, and recorded two interceptions to give them a conference-best +12 turnover differential on the year. They were led by true freshman Nate Williams (CB), the team's nickelback, who recorded his third pick of the year and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown to put the Outlaws up 13-0 in the first quarter.
As for the Blue Raiders, senior quarterback Logan Kilgore struggled in his first start of the season, completing 12 of 28 passes for 128 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions. He also rushed for 41 yards off nine carries. Kilgore had been the team's starter for the past two years, completing 42% of his passes for 1,833 yards, 15 touchdowns, and 20 interceptions, and rushing for 902 yards and two scores before losing his starting job to junior Blake Sims this spring. But a recent injury to Sims has put Kilgore back in the driver's seat for the remainder of the season. Groundwise, senior runningback William Pratcher had a decent outing, rushing for 84 yards and a touchdowns off 21 carries. Middle Tennessee State's defense recorded two sacks, and only allowed one touchdown on seven scoring drives, but the relentless Outlaws still came away victorious.
A second loss in the conference has effectively knocked Mid Tenn. St. out of the running for the Sun Belt title, making it a two-man race between UL Monroe and West Texas. But the Blue Raiders still hope to become bowl-eligible by grabbing one more victory this year. The team will hit the road for the next two weeks to face off against Arkansas State (3-6, 2-3) and North Texas (3-7, 1-4) before returning home to host Troy (5-5, 2-4) in their season finale. As for the Outlaws, their 7-2 overall record is the best in the conference, and they'll look to set a new school record with an 8th win next week when they host UL Lafayette (2-7, 1-3) in their ongoing quest to win their first-ever conference championship.
<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /><link href="http://dynasties.operationsports.com/css/osdyn.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"></head><body><table cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1" class="osdyn" width="575"><tr class="masthead"><td align="center" colspan="6">West Texas Outlaws at Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders</td></tr><tr class="stathead"><td width="48%">Nov 9, 2013</td><td align="right" width="10%">1ST</td><td align="right" width="10%">2ND</td><td align="right" width="10%">3RD</td><td align="right" width="10%">4TH</td><td align="right" width="12%">SCORE</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>West Texas Outlaws (7-2, 4-0)</td><td align="right">13</td><td align="right">7</td><td align="right">6</td><td align="right">6</td><td align="right" class="active">32</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (5-4, 2-2)</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">14</td><td align="right">7</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right" class="active">21</td></tr></table><table cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1" class="osdyn spacer" width="575"><tr class="masthead"><td colspan="3">Team Stats Comparison</td></tr><tr class="stathead"><td width="60%"></td><td align="center" width="20%">WTU</td><td align="center" width="20%">MTU</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td align="center">Total Offense</td><td align="center">329</td><td align="center">262</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td align="center">Rushing Yards</td><td align="center">231</td><td align="center">134</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td align="center">Passing Yards</td><td align="center">98</td><td align="center">128</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td align="center">First Downs</td><td align="center">25</td><td align="center">16</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td align="center">Punt Return Yards</td><td align="center">79</td><td align="center">15</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td align="center">Kick Return Yards</td><td align="center">81</td><td align="center">138</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td align="center">Total Yards</td><td align="center">489</td><td align="center">415</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td align="center">Turnovers</td><td align="center">0</td><td align="center">2</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td align="center">3rd Down Converstion</td><td align="center">9-18 (50%)</td><td align="center">3-11 (27%)</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td align="center">4th Down Conversion</td><td align="center">0-2 (0%)</td><td align="center">1-2 (50%)</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td align="center">2-Point Conversion</td><td align="center">0-0 (0%)</td><td align="center">0-0 (0%)</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td align="center">Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals</td><td align="center">6-1-4 (83%)</td><td align="center">3-3-0 (100%)</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td align="center">Penalties</td><td align="center">7-50</td><td align="center">11-88</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td align="center">Posession Time</td><td align="center">34:57</td><td align="center">25:03</td></tr></table><table cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1" class="osdyn spacer" width="575"><tr class="masthead"><td colspan="4">Scoring Summary</td></tr><tr class="stathead"><td colspan="2">FIRST QUARTER SCORING</td><td align="right" width="10%">WTU</td><td align="right" width="10%">MTU</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td align="center" width="10%">7:23</td><td width="70%">(WTU) FG: Caleb Reynolds, 48 yard kick</td><td align="right">3</td><td align="right">0</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td align="center" width="10%">3:29</td><td width="70%">(WTU) FG: Caleb Reynolds, 33 yard kick</td><td align="right">6</td><td align="right">0</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td align="center" width="10%">2:53</td><td width="70%">(WTU) TD: Nate Williams, returned interception 30 yards</td><td align="right">13</td><td align="right">0</td></tr><tr class="stathead"><td colspan="2">SECOND QUARTER SCORING</td><td align="right" width="10%">WTU</td><td align="right" width="10%">MTU</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td align="center" width="10%">14:07</td><td width="70%">(MTU) TD: Arthur Williams, 4 yard pass from Logan Kilgore</td><td align="right">13</td><td align="right">7</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td align="center" width="10%">7:49</td><td width="70%">(WTU) TD: Kevin Irvin, 3 yard pass from Charles Dickson</td><td align="right">20</td><td align="right">7</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td align="center" width="10%">2:51</td><td width="70%">(MTU) TD: William Pratcher, 1 yard run</td><td align="right">20</td><td align="right">14</td></tr><tr class="stathead"><td colspan="2">THIRD QUARTER SCORING</td><td align="right" width="10%">WTU</td><td align="right" width="10%">MTU</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td align="center" width="10%">10:39</td><td width="70%">(WTU) FG: Caleb Reynolds, 32 yard kick</td><td align="right">23</td><td align="right">14</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td align="center" width="10%">6:17</td><td width="70%">(WTU) FG: Caleb Reynolds, 51 yard kick</td><td align="right">26</td><td align="right">14</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td align="center" width="10%">2:48</td><td width="70%">(MTU) TD: Kyle Griswould, 4 yard pass from Logan Kilgore</td><td align="right">26</td><td align="right">21</td></tr><tr class="stathead"><td colspan="2">FOURTH QUARTER SCORING</td><td align="right" width="10%">WTU</td><td align="right" width="10%">MTU</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td align="center" width="10%">8:35</td><td width="70%">(WTU) FG: Caleb Reynolds, 30 yard kick</td><td align="right">29</td><td align="right">21</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td align="center" width="10%">3:44</td><td width="70%">(WTU) FG: Caleb Reynolds, 28 yard kick</td><td align="right">32</td><td align="right">21</td></tr></table></body></html>