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Saturday, October 16, 1999
Midwestern woes echo Javs' trouble
Today's LSC opponent also missing key players
By Javier Becerra
Caller-Times
Like Texas A&M-Kingsville, Midwestern State is trying to find ways to win games.
Without their starting quarterback and top defensive lineman, the Indians might not find much help against the Javelinas.
"We're having a tough year," said first-year Midwestern coach Linwood Ferguson, whose Indians host A&M-Kingsville tonight at 8 p.m. at Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls. "We have struggled. We started the season with Southwest Texas, and to see what a I-AA school does to Division II teams really makes life rough. We came back and won a game and then lost in overtime to Harding.
"After you play a game like that you have to go one way or other. It takes a lot out of you, and we did not respond in the matter I would have preferred. Playing Central Oklahoma the next week didn't help us either."
Ferguson would have preferred not to play Central Oklahoma at all.
After the first quarter against the Bronchos, Midwestern (0-4 conference, 1-5 overall) had lost six of its starters to injuries, including quarterback Brock Bailey, a 6-foot-3, 195-pound transfer from Tennessee-Martin who suffered a career-threatening injury when he was speared by a defensive lineman on a pass rush. The blow shattered Bailey's right tibia and fibula, dislocated his right ankle and tore the majority of the ligaments around the ankle.
Bailey's injury moved freshman transfer Phillip Boggs into the starting quarterback slot.
"Brock had suffered a concussion the week before against Harding, so we had to prepare Phillip then," Ferguson said. "He'll be the man, if he doesn't get knocked out of the box."
Ferguson said Boggs has a strong arm, and the ability to scramble even with his size (6-3, 210).
"That's what you'd like to have," Ferguson said. "But he's also inexperienced. The guys have confidence in him. All he needs is playing time. Now he's gonna get all he wants."
The Indians also lost defensive end Jason Holmes to a hamstring injury against Central Oklahoma. Holmes was sixth on the team in tackles with 28, including three sacks.
Even without Holmes, A&M-Kingsville head coach Ron Harms knows Midwestern's defensive front will clog the line of scrimmage.
"We're going to be faced with an eight-man front, but one that's played a little more aggressively up front," Harms said. "They played the same kind of front last year but they got a little bit of a different flavor to it now. They seem to crowd the line of scrimmage a little bit more with sometimes nine, sometimes 10 guys."
Defensively, A&M-Kingsville (1-3 conference, 1-5 overall) will have to contain wide receiver Bryan Gilmore, the Lone Star Conference South Division Offensive Back of the Year last season. Gilmore, who suffered a mild separated shoulder against Central Oklahoma, leads the team with 22 catches for 411 yards and two touchdowns.
Staff writer Javier Becerra can be reached at 886-3734 or by email at becerraj@caller.com
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