Football to host first round
The University of Indianapolis football team was selected on Nov. 17 to host in the first round of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II Football Playoffs for the second year in a row. Like last year, the Hounds, who received the No. 3 seed in the Super Region Four, will host a team from Texas, only this time that team will be the No. 6 seeded West Texas A&M University Buffaloes.
Head Football Coach Bob Bartolomeo said the team is excited to be hosting another playoff game.
Players and coaches of the University of Indianapolis football team celebrate after discovering they were selected to participate in the NCAA Division II playoffs.
“We’re real happy with the selection obviously. Playing at home, we’re pretty hard to beat at Key [Stadium]. So we have to keep that streak intact,” he said. “This team [West Texas A&M] will be a very challenging team both offensively and defensively with the speed that they have and the athletes that they will come up with. They will be a formidable opponent for us.”
Senior running back Klay Fiechter shared the same excitement about the team hosting again this year.
“It’s [hosting] a great feeling. It’s always nice to have a home game and not having to travel anywhere,” he said. “… They [West Texas A&M] have to travel a long ways from Texas. It’s a big advantage.”
On the day before the announcement, the Greyhounds all but locked up their playoff berth by defeating the Truman State University Bulldogs 21-14. The win over the Bulldogs also helped the Hounds secure their second-consecutive Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship.
Headed into the matchup, the Greyhounds already possessed a share of the GLVC crown after the Bulldogs, who were undefeated in conference play as well, fell to the Saint Joseph’s College Pumas 6-3 the week before. The Bulldogs’ championship hopes were far from over, however, as a Greyhound loss would have provided the Bulldogs with a share of the crown.
The Bulldogs got things rolling early in the first half, as a partially blocked punt against the Greyhounds put the Bulldogs in perfect field position at the UIndy 46-yard line. The Bulldogs took advantage of the short-field position and scored on their first drive of the game, taking a 7-0 early lead with 9:02 remaining in the first quarter. UIndy responded several minutes later, after the Greyhounds drove the ball 78 yards on eight plays for their first score of the game. The drive was finished off with a 44-yard touchdown pass by redshirt sophomore quarterback Connor Barthel to redshirt junior wide receiver Greg Johnson with 1:05 remaining in the half. Truman State then ran out the clock on their next possession, and at the half both teams were tied 7-7.
In the second half, after a scoreless third quarter, the Greyhounds finally broke the tie with a 6-yard touchdown pass by Barthel to redshirt sophomore wide receiver Reece Horn with 13:42 remaining in the game. Truman State responded later in the fourth, as the Bulldogs found the end zone on a fourth and goal with 5:59 remaining, tying the score up at 14.
It was the Greyhounds who reigned supreme in the end, however, as the UIndy offense drove 57 yards for nearly five minutes to take the lead with a 3-yard rushing touchdown by Fiechter with only 1:03 remaining. As Truman State tried to tie the game up with less than a minute remaining, the Greyhounds secured their championship with an interception by freshman linebacker Rob Dury.
The Greyhounds will open up postseason play at home against West Texas A&M this Saturday, Nov. 23, where kickoff will take place at noon. The winner of that game will advance to the second round on Nov. 30, where No. 2 seeded Ohio Dominican University will host.
