OPENING KICKOFF

• Snow College will travel to Scranton, Pennsylvania to take on No. 7 Lackawanna College in the final game of the regular season.  Kickoff is scheduled for 12 p.m. noon eastern time.

• The Badgers defeated Monroe College 34-14 Saturday to earn their seventh victory of the season. 

• Snow College finished the season with a perfect 5-0 record at home which marks the second time in three seasons under Head Coach Zac Erekson the Badgers have finished undefeated at home.  They finished the season 4-1 at home last year after losing to Iowa Western Community College 17-14.

• Snow College held the Mustangs to zero rushing yards which is the second time this season the Badgers have held an opponent to zero rushing yards.  The Badgers also held Trinity Valley Community College to two rushing yards in the opening game of the season.

• The Badgers remained in the same slot in the NJCAA Division I Football rankings despite No. 2 Northwest Mississippi, No. 3 TVCC, and No. 4 IWCC all losing over the weekend.  Coffeyville leapfrogged Snow College from No. 6 to No. 4 as the top two remain unchanged and IWCC moved from four to three.

• No. 7 Lackawanna will be the fifth ranked opponent the Badgers will play this season.  It's also worth noting that TVCC was not ranked at the time of the game but is currently ranked 10th and was ranked as high as third this season.

• Snow College is 2-2 this season against ranked opponents and 5-5 all-time under Erekson.  The Badgers defeated No. 8 Butler Community College 50-49 in overtime Sept. 10 and defeated No. 10 Georgia Military College 41-18 Oct. 1.  They lost to No. 1 New Mexico Military Institute 38-7 Sept. 3 and No. 2 IWCC 26-0 Oct. 8.

• The Badgers have not had a single game this season in which they have not committed a turnover.  They have forced at least in turnover in seven of their eight games this season.  

LAST TIME OUT

The Snow College football team earned a 34-14 victory over Monroe College Saturday. The victory was the Badger's third straight win and improves them to 7-2 overall for the season.

Snow College entered Saturday's contest after a two-week hiatus following their last game against US Air Force Academy Preparatory School Oct. 21. The Badgers won that matchup 42-22 and were originally scheduled to play Community Christian College of Detroit the following week, but that game was canceled.

Monroe College held a record of 3-4 entering the matchup with the Badgers. The Mustangs boasted a preseason ranking of 14 but have had a tough season leading up to Saturday's game. They opened the season losing their first two games and had lost two of their last three.

The Badgers wasted no time getting out to an early lead. Carsen Manookin scored on an 11-yard rushing touchdown to cap off a 9-play, 62-yard drive that took just over three minutes to give the Badgers a 7-0 lead.

Snow College would score one more time before halftime. Daisean Cash dropped back to pass and as he faced the pressure from the Mustangs rush, he found an open Dionte Davis who scampered 30 yards down the sideline to find the end zone, giving the Badgers a 14-0 lead that they would take into halftime.

The Badger's defense was stout in the first half limiting the Mustangs to just 95 yards of total offense. Conversely, Snow College was able to rack up 229 yards of offense in the first 30 minutes of action.

Monroe cut the lead in half coming out of the break scoring a touchdown in just over three minutes to bring the score to 14-7.

The Badgers struggled to move the ball in the third quarter. They gained only 23 yards that netted just one first down the entire period. They also turned the ball over twice and punted twice before getting their mojo back to start the fourth quarter.

Snow College used a sustained 12-play 68-yard drive to march down the field and regain the two-score lead. Cash and Davis would hook up again, this time on a 25-yard pitch and catch, bringing the score to 20-7 after a failed 2-point conversion attempt.

Monroe responded two and a half minutes later on a 10-yard touchdown pass that cut the lead to 20-14. They used a Snow College fumble to get the ball back and scored two plays later.

The Badgers would not be denied in pursuit of victory. They scored quickly following the Monroe touchdown. The drive started with a 10-yard rush from Cash followed by a 6-yard catch from Duece Roberson that also netted the Badgers a 15-yard face mask penalty to set them up in Mustang territory.

Snow College scored three plays later on a 20-yard passing touchdown from Cash to Taylor Larsen, giving Snow College a 27-14 lead with just over eight minutes to go.

The Badgers would grit their teeth defensively as they would force the Mustangs to turn the ball over on downs in each of their final two possessions. The Mustangs possessed the ball for just over four minutes in the fourth quarter as a result of Snow College's defense.

The Badgers would add one more score before the final whistle. Manookin capped off the Badgers scoring as he found the end zone on a 14-yard run that extended the lead to 34-14, sealing the victory for Snow College.

Cash led the way offensively for the Badgers as he went 23-37 for 292 yards and three touchdowns. His 292 passing yards were tied for his highest output this season matching his total from the 50-49 overtime victory against Butler Community College Sept. 10.

Manookin had 87 rushing yards on 20 carries and two touchdowns. Dionte Davis led the way through the air, catching five passes for 96 yards and two touchdowns. Elijah Ervin had 77 yards on five catches while Larsen had 62 yards and a touchdown on six catches.

COACHING STAFF 

Zac Erekson (Brigham Young University, 2007: 34-19 overall record) is entering his third season at Snow College (19-4), second as the head football coach and his 13th year overall in coaching. In Erekson's first season as Head Football Coach he led the Badgers to an 8-0 regular season finish and a trip to the National Championship game. Prior to coming to Snow College, Erekson served as the athletics director and head coach at Skyline High School in Salt Lake City. Before his tenure at Skyline, Erekson coached high school football throughout Texas for 8 years. Erekson coached at 5A Abilene Cooper in Abilene, TX where his team went 12-2 in 2011.

Erekson is joined on the sidelines by Defensive Coordinator Jordan Pulou (Missouri S&T; 1st season), Special Teams and Wide Receivers coach James Dye (Brigham Young University; 1st season), Defensive Backs coach Dustin Pressley (Arkansas Monticello; 1st season), Offensive Line coach Trever McFalls (Southern Utah University; 1st season), Running Backs coach Ryan You (Arizona State; 4th season), Defensive Line coach Kyle Murray (Dixie State; 1st season), and Linbackers coach Devon McKinney (Louisiana Tech; 1st season).

BREAKING DOWN THE SCHEDULE 

Snow College will play a total of 11 games this season including six home games and five road games.  The Badgers will play host to Trinity Valley Community College (8/25; 7 p.m.), Gila River Community College (9/17; 7 p.m.), Georgia Military College (10/1; 1 p.m.), Garden City Community College (10/15; 1 p.m.), and Monroe College (11/12; 12 p.m.), while playing road games against New Mexico Military Institute (9/3; 4 p.m.), Butler Community College (9/10; 1:30 p.m.), Iowa Western Community College (10/8; 12 p.m.), Us Air Force Academy Preparatory School (10/21; 1 p.m.), and Lackawanna College (11/19; 11 a.m.).

The Badger's biggest test came against No. 1 New Mexico Military Institute.  The Badgers suffered a 38-7 loss.  Snow College also faced off against No. 3 Iowa Western Community College, both of which were in the NJCAA national title game last season. The reigning national champion New Mexico Military Institute Broncos finished the season 12-1 and culminated the season defeating IWCC 31-13 in the National Title game.  IWCC defeated Snow College in last year's semi-final game 30-29 in overtime and finished the season 10-1 with its lone loss coming at the hands of the Broncos. 

Snow College will also face two other opponents currently ranked inside the NJCAA DI top 15 and another who recently fell out of the top 15 but received votes in the lates poll.  In addition to facing No 1. NMMI, and No. 2 IWCC, and No. 10 GMC, the Badgers will also take on No. 11 Lackawanna College November 19.  The Badger defeated Monroe College, who boasted a preseason ranking of 13.  As mentioned earlier, TVCC was not ranked during their meeting, but now sit at No. 10 in the current rankings.

UP NEXT

Snow College will await their fate in regards to the NJCAA Playoffs.  The Badgers would need to finish in the top 4 teams to make the playoffs. For updates, visit snowbadgers.com.