November 9, 2002
Football: Majors Wallow in Blues, Lose to Rhodes 24-14
Memphis, TN -- In an otherwise entertaining football game, twelve penalties and the resulting 142 yards of punishment spelled doom for Millsaps Saturday afternoon as the Majors left Fargason Field singing the blues to the tune of a 28-24 loss to Rhodes College.
Exciting, heartbreaking, bewilderment -- all could describe the 68th meeting between Interstate 55 foes Millsaps and Rhodes on a cloudy and unseasonably warm November afternoon in Memphis. A seesaw battle throughout, the outcome of Saturday's game teetered with every possession.
Robert Ezelle's first quarter 32-yard field goal capped a 10-play, 64-yard drive on the Majors' opening possession and gave Millsaps an early 3-0 advantage at the 10:11 mark in the initial frame. But Rhodes countered when Lynx quarterback Daniel Swanstrom tossed a 7-yard touchdown pass to Matthew Hart, finishing a 5-play, 64-yard romp, and Andy English's extra point put Rhodes on top 7-3 with 8:52 to go in the first quarter.
A stalled Majors' drive on their next possession led to an Aaron Chenevert punt, and the Lynx again rolled down the field in effortless fashion, swallowing up 57 yards on 14 plays as Philip Hartigan hauled in a 4-yard scoring strike from Swanstrom with 2:04 to go in the first quarter. English connected on the PAT and gave the Lynx a 14-3 lead.
The Majors' league leading defense then adjusted to Rhodes' spread offense and shutdown the Lynx attack, allowing the Majors' offense to slip back in the ball game.
The Majors' Jay Liles answered Millsaps' call for help as he sprinted 6 yards for a touchdown with 3:39 to go in the second quarter. Liles' run capped a 9-play, 59-yard drive, and Ezelle's extra point made the final first-half score 14-10 in favor of Rhodes.
On the opening second-half kickoff, the Majors recovered a Nick Campbell fumble at the Lynx 33 yard line, and then tallied a go-ahead touchdown on the very next play as Brent LeJeune, who rushed for 169 yards on the afternoon, fled up the middle of the field untouched for the score. Ezelle's free kick put the Majors up 17-14.
With superb defense again benefiting the Majors, Millsaps was able to deposit another score midway through the final quarter as LeJeune plowed into the endzone from 1 yard out with 9:00 to go in the game. Ezelle nailed his third extra point attempt to give Millsaps a comfortable 10 point cushion, 24-14.
But all the Majors' good fortune ended there. MIllsaps was flagged 5 times for 66 yards in the last 9 minutes of the game, and Rhodes managed to rally for two late scores to grab the victory.
The Lynx began their comeback with aid of a Millsaps' penalty after Rory Faver returned a Nick Fowler kickoff to the Rhodes 37-yard line. The Majors were docked 15 yards for illegal touching of the facemask, giving Rhodes a first and 10 opportunity from the Millsaps 48-yard line. Eight plays and 48 yards later saw Rhodes pull within 3 points as Faver stepped across the goal line for a touchdown. English's PAT made the score 24-21 with 6:00 left in the game.
In tandem with yet another Millsaps penalty, which spoiled a Majors' first down, the Rhodes' defense managed to stuff the Majors on their failed attempt to run out the clock and forced a Millsaps' punt that set up the Lynx final scoring march.
Including a 15-yard penalty against Millsaps, Rhodes engineered an 8-play, 49-yard scoring drive capped with a Faver 9-yard touchdown scamper. English added the extra point to give Rhodes the 28-24 win.
With the victory, Rhodes ended its season 4-6 overall and 1-5 in the SCAC. With the loss, the Majors fall to 4-5 and 1-4. Millsaps will host SCAC leader Trinity next weekend at Alumni Field. Kickoff is slated for 1:30 p.m.
Of note:
Matt O'Bryant charted a game-high 12 tackles on the day, including 4 stops for a loss of 16 yards. Jed Mooney was credited with 10 tackles on the afternoon including a game-high 6 stops for a loss of 18 yards. With his effort, Mooney is just 1 tackle-for-loss away from tying the SCAC single season record for tackles behind the line of scrimmage. The record is 24 set by Centre's Joey Klausing in 2000. O'Bryant has 22 tackles for loss.
Say what?
The Majors were penalized 12 times for 142 yards, while Rhodes was penalized twice for 20 yards.
Born to run:
Brent LeJeune rushed for 169 yards on the afternoon. LeJeune has now run for 729 yards this season. He needs 106 yards rushing next week to break his career record. LeJeune ran for 834 yards his sophomore season.
Stranger things have happened:
The last time Millsaps lost to Rhodes in Memphis, the Majors defeated nationally ranked Trinity at Alumni Field the next week. In 2000, the Majors endured a 9-6 overtime loss to the Lynx on Fargason field only to turn around the next week and surprise Trinity 35-28.
