How Do I Know It Is Fall?

There are the obvious signs – the cool, crisp mornings and evenings, the weatherman said it turned to fall last week and tomorrow the calendar turns to October.
Then there are the signs that anyone around campus this week will see. There is the pep in the step of all of our fall sport athletes this week, there is the business-like feeling at the football fieldhouse and most obviously there is the schedule on my desk that says HSU and UMHB are playing football this week and HSU and UT-Dallas are playing soccer.

Since I have been at Hardin-Simmons there have been some rivalries that have come and gone, but two have remained at the top of the rivalry list. The football game with Mary Hardin-Baylor and the women’s soccer game with UT-Dallas.

Rivalries are good for teams. Rivalries are good for fans. Rivalries are good for the schools. Sometimes you can see rivalry games get ugly. Maybe a cheap shot here and there, some fierce competition and general disregard for the other team.

That is not what I have noticed with these two rivalries. I think there is total respect for the programs on both sides.

The football game has quickly become one of the top rivalries in Division III. Why? The biggest reason is that both teams have been good over a period of time. Both teams have had success (although UMHB has had the edge of late). The winner of the game has been the ASC champion every year since 1998 (there was a three-way tie one year).

The question for this week is how far has the Cowboy program come in a year. Last year UMHB won 47-14. I feel confident the Cowboys are better this year. I expect a close game on Saturday. It will probably come down to who can take care of the ball and who can come up big on special teams.

Now to the women’s soccer game with UTD. Granted there is a game with Ozarks on Friday, but make no mistake the big game for the Cowgirls is on Saturday. UTD and HSU have been the top teams in the ASC for many years. They have played for four of the last six conference titles.

HSU has gotten the better of the play of late. Since 2002, the teams have met 10 times and every one of the games has been decided by one goal or resulted in a tie. HSU is 6-1-2 in that time frame. The two ties are the only two ties during the Cowgirls run of 98 straight unbeaten league games that were not wins. The loss came in the 2002 ASC Championship (and the tournament games don’t count as conference games, thus not the ASC unbeaten streak).

The Cowgirls have won the games in painstaking ways against the Comets as well. UTD led 1-0 until the 88th minute of the game when Kelsey Jensen tied it up and then Amy Kuykendall gave the Cowgirls the win in overtime. In 2005, defender Natalie Longhofer scored in overtime to give the Cowgirls a win.

If the Cowgirls don’t lose either of the games this weekend it would push the streak to 100 games, which is the longest in the nation. What a sweet way it would be to get to 100. The games are always close and the Cowgirls more often than not have found a way to come out on top.

I talked to a former Cowgirl the other day about the streak and what it meant to them and her response was interesting to me. She said there is so much pride in the streak that they will fight to do whatever to keep the streak alive. She said she was part of the team that lost a home winning streak that had gone into the 50’s. It was the lowlight of her career at HSU to have that happen and each team’s leaders have done what it takes to relay that on to the newcomers.

That is the true definition of tradition.

You talk about the two rivalries, but it is also a big weekend for the men’s soccer and volleyball teams. The men take on Ozarks and UT-Dallas in a key weekend in ASC play. One of the three teams has won nine of the last 10 ASC titles and all three are expected to be at the top again this year. With a couple of wins the Cowboys would be in good shape heading into the back half of the league schedule.

The volleyball team is hosting the ASC Crossover for the first time in school history. HSU will play at 4:30 on Friday and will play at 9:30 and 2:30 on Saturday. There will be six games at the Mabee Complex over two days.

I encourage the HSU fans and students to come out to some of the games this weekend. You will not be disappointed and the players would enjoy your vocal support.