Redshirt senior wide receiver Garrett Willis celebrates victory over Missouri University S&T on Nov. 4. The Hounds moved their record to 10-0, while also securing the GLVC conference title for the first time in UIndy history. Photo by Juliana Rohrmoser
Increasing its undefeated record, the University of Indianapolis football team picked up another win over the University of Missouri S&T on Nov. 4, as well as taking the GLVC conference title and moving to a 10-0 record for the first time in UIndy history.
The Hounds defense allowed the Miners to rack up a few touchdowns in the first half, letting them have the lead over UIndy. The Hounds followed the Miners with a score of 28-17 going into the halftime break.
Coming out of the locker room into the third quarter, the Hounds refocused and shut down their opponents offense. UIndy held Missouri to their 28 points while racking up 23 of their own. Leaving the field for the quarter, the Hounds led 40-28.
The Miners attempted to make a comeback in the final quarter, but the Hounds defense held them to just one touchdown, not allowing the Miners to take the lead. UIndy won the game 43-34.
Prior to the win redshirt senior kicker Brad Schickel was nominated to the October edition of the Fred Mitchell Award Watch List. The award is presented to the nation’s top kicker in December, and takes into account the kickers’ performance and their community involvement. The award is named after the Wittenberg University alumnus and Hall of Fame Kicker Fred Mitchell. Mitchell worked as a philanthropist, author and Chicago Tribune sports columnist, which led to the award being named in his honor.
Schickel was one of 12 Division II athletes, and a total of 41 nationwide to be nominated for the award on Nov. 3. He has already achieved the highest career field goal percentage in UIndy history. He is also second in the conference for scoring and third for punting.
The week before, the Hounds came out on top 42-3 against the William Jewell Cardinals on Oct. 8. The Cardinals were the first on the scoreboard with a field goal putting them up 3-0 at 8:58 on the clock in the first quarter. Along with being the first to score, William Jewell was also the first team to score on UIndy for three games. The first quarter ended in favor of the Hounds 7-3 after a touchdown from freshman running back Al McKeller after a 45-yard rush.
The first half ended 14-3 after a 5-yard touchdown pass from redshirt junior quarterback Jake Purichia to redshirt senior wide receiver Garrett Willis.
In the third quarter the first points came from a 2-yard rush from McKeller with 12:32 on the clock. UIndy then continued with another touchdown, following a 5-yard pass from Purichia to junior wide receiver Malik Higgins.
Going into the last quarter the Hounds once again scored early in the quarter and increased their lead to 35-3 after Willis caught a 19-yard pass from Purichia. The final touchdown of the night came from a 28-yard run from senior running back Tuwan Payton, finishing the game 42-3 in favor of UIndy.
Prior to the game against William Jewell, Head Coach Bob Bartolomeo was focused on the defensive aspect of the game.
“We play William Jewell who first of all is a very dangerous football team offensively,” said Bartolomeo. “They have a senior quarterback that’s played at a high rate. He’s throwing the ball very, very well [and]he’s got good receivers. So offensively they’re going to be a big challenge for us defensively. For our offense, we need to continue to grow and run the football, we have got to be able to start there and let our play makers make plays on the outside.”
According to Bartolomeo, focusing on one area of the team is difficult because each player has a critical role in the game.
“It’s hard to pinpoint one thing, I really like [about] this football team. [But what I like] is that they come to work everyday, they’ve come with good attitude, they’ve prepared themselves mentally to play each and every Saturday. And they’re as good a team as I’ve had in a while,” Bartolomeo said. “All three phases are in sync right now; offense, defense and special teams.”
Along with their success as a team, the fans have also succeeded in helping the team excel, according to Bartolomeo.
“I’d like to thank the Hound Pound Nation. I think they’ve been huge in our home games,” Bartolomeo said. “We take a lot of pride when we play at home and it sure does help when the students support and the Hound Pound Nation behind us. They’ve done a great job this year and we look forward to having them the last two weeks with us. Hopefully they come out again like they have and have some fun. The campus gets excited about winning and our players sure do enjoy it when the students get behind them and support them vocally in the stands.”
The next game for the Greyhounds will be the final game of the regular season as they face Notre Dame College on Nov. 11 at home in Key Stadium. Kick off will be at 1 p.m.
