So Saint Francis plays Missouri Valley on Saturday in the first round of the NAIA football playoffs, huh?
Once-beaten. Seventh-ranked. Ten-game winning streak at home. All good stuff for the Vikings from Marshall, Mo.
A team from the Show Me State.
But if Mizzou Valley isn't careful with the little dude wearing No. 2, the visiting ninth-ranked Cougars will show it, all right.
With the help of junior wide receiver/kickoff return specialist
Austin Coleman, Saint Francis (8-2) could show 'em to the door.
It's not the receiving that has been the killer part of Coleman's game, although the 5-foot-8 speedster from Harding has 17 catches, averages 48.3 yards a game and has six touchdowns. What Coleman has added to his repertoire is the kickoff return.
Here's the danger of having Coleman stand in the vicinity of his own goal line: You score a touchdown, a field goal, or start either half, you've got to kick off.
Advantage: Saint Francis.
"He's something special. He really is," Saint Francis coach Kevin Donley said of Coleman. "When he touches the ball, he's got a chance (to score). Nobody's going to catch him."
Every so often Coleman, who averages nearly half a football field with every return, gets caught, but never from behind. Four times he hasn't been taken down, tying an NAIA record.
"When the ball's coming to me, my first question is should I catch the ball?" Coleman began with his anatomy of a kickoff return. "After I catch it, look to see where my blocks are and where they're set up; see if I need to bounce it out or take it in.
After that, make my move, and when I do that, I've got at least one or two guys to beat. And then I make my move and head into the end zone."
It was in the playoff game last season at Saint Xavier when Coleman had the first touchdown return of his career, for 96 yards.
"He grew into it," Saint Francis special teams coach Eric Wagoner said.
"Austin's problem last year was he struggled fielding it sometimes. He'd put it down on the ground or misjudged it. Even when he returned the one against Saint X last year in the playoffs, he fumbled the ball first and then he picked it up and returned it for a touchdown. He went all spring and fall camp working on it. I don't think he's dropped one yet this year."
Now, Coleman, with his 4.3 40-yard-dash speed, has become a significant weapon in the Saint Francis arsenal.
"It's a great experience," Coleman said of returning kickoffs. "Words can't describe the experience I feel every time I see an opening like that. It's a great feeling to have.
"It's just a God-given ability that he gave me and blessed me with. It's just weird how, on kickoff returns, I see things differently. I can see the whole field. I can see my blocks set up perfectly, what I need to do, what moves I need to make. It's just God's gift."
stwarden@jg.net
