2009 Football Banquet

We just had our 2009 Football Banquet! Our award winners this year:
Scout team Player of the Year: Gerard Anderson
Offensive Newcomer of the Year: Derrick Okafor
Defensive Newcomer of the Year: Ino Vitale
Special Teams player of the Year: Jameson Manuma
Offensive Player of the Year: Steve Gachette
Defensive Player of the Year: Jarred Schumpert
Dr. Jim Sell's Spirit Award winner: Tyrin Holt

Congrats to our 2009 Seniors and Award recipients!

Southwest Baptist University - Bearcat football earns winning season with 54-13 victory over Missouri S&T

Southwest Baptist University - Bearcat football earns winning season with 54-13 victory over Missouri S&T

First winning season since 2001

After an 0-4 start to the 2009 season, the SBU Bearcats turned things around in a big way by winning six of their last seven games including Saturday's 54-13 rout of Missouri S&T. Quarterback Steve Gachette threw five touchdown passes and three players scored twice including senior linebacker Jarred Schumpert, who rushed for and caught his first career offensive touchdowns.Schumpert was among 17 seniors honored before the game and capped off his brilliant SBU career by rushing for a one-yard touchdown in the third quarter. He followed that with a two-yard touchdown catch in the fourth period. The Gilmer, Texas, native ended his four years with Bearcats as the only player in school history to lead the team in tackles for four straight seasons."Our kids went out in style and executed well," said head coach Keith Allen. "I was proud of them for taking charge of the game. They remembered what the Miners did to us last year and were determined not to let it happen again. I'm also proud of their effort all season. After being 0-4, we told them, 'it's not how you start, but how you finish.' "After an early 6-6 tie, the Bearcats took the lead for good late in the first quarter on a one-yard touchdown run by Thad Everson. Gachette threw for two scores in the second quarter giving the Bearcats a 27-6 halftime cushion. The Bearcats would tack on two touchdowns in the third quarter and two more in the fourth, giving them their comfortable victory.The Bearcats finished with a flurry, winning six of their last seven games, which were the most wins in a seven game stretch in school history. The 6-5 mark was the first winning season for SBU since 2001.Harlon Hill candidate Steve Gachette added to his resume with five touchdown passes, giving him 28 on the season, breaking his 2008 record of 27 scores. Gachette completed 31 of 39 passes for 407 yards, while also rushing for 163 yards on 15 carries. Gachette ended 2009 with 3990 yards in total offense (975 rush, 3015 pass), which easily surpassed his 2008 former record total of 3360.Two of Gachette's strikes went to seniors Elon Paige and Johnnie King. Paige caught five passes for 74 yards while King caught five for 69 yards. Another senior, John Austin, grabbed six passes for 78 yards. Jameson Manuma had two touchdown catches among his four catches for 82 yards. Justin Duhaney rushed for 71 yards on 11 carries while Thad Everson had two touchdown runs.Senior Tyrin Holt led the 'Cats in his final game with 12 tackles while seniors Lavarus Rue and Shawn Kilduff had interceptions on the day.The seniors honored before the game were Tyler Anderson, John Austin, Scott Crain, Tyrin Holt, Anthony Jackson, Jordan Jackson, Willie Johnson, Shawn Kilduff, Johnnie King, Andrew Lindeman, Henry Ogunjimi, Elon Paige, Tyler Rickard, Lavarus Rue, Jarred Schumpert, Kyle Swallows, and trainer Molly Bryan. After going 0-11 in 2007, the Bearcats went 5-6 last year and bettered that by one this season. The eleven wins were more than the previous five seasons (2003-07) combined.

5-5 with one game left

We came back after a half-time deficit and won a big road game against a good St. Joseph's College team. We are now 5-5 with one more game left. This will be our Senior Game, so our kids better be ready to come out a play their tails off for one more game!

SBU beats Central Oklahoma 31-23

SBU football does it again! SBU upset the UCO Bronchos in Edmond
Oklahoma on UCO's homecoming. Our kids played their hearts out to win
today. We now are getting ready for our game next Saturday (which is
our homecoming). God bless

Big Win over Kentucky Wesleyan

Our team finally put together a complete game on all three phases and won against Kentucky Wesleyan 50-20. It was great to see our kids and fans enjoy the victory afterwards! We are getting better every week and now have a tough challenge on the road against a very good Central Oklahoma team!

NWMSU game notes

We had a tough one versus #8 NWMSU thursday night- had it tied 14-14 with 6 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. We had a chance to tie it again to make it 21-21, instead came up short and let them score and take the game away from us. Kids played hard- three turnovers and some execution errors are just too much when you play a great NWMSU team.

Players of the game: Johnnie King- Offense, Tyrin Holt- Defense.

This week we play Harding in Searcy!

NWMSU tomorrow

Well, here we are- less than two days away from game #2 versus the Nationally Ranked, four time consecutive National Champion runner up Northwest Missouri State University. They are a very solid football team with something to prove after last weeks loss to Abilene Christian University.

Our guys have been working hard and are ready for the challenge of playing a team of NWMSU's caliber.

Look for us to play fast, hard and disciplined- We hope to see you out there in the stands cheering for SBU!

Q & A with Coach Allen about the 2009 season

The SBU Bearcats football team has started the 2009 campaign with a loss to a ranked Central Missouri team. Keith Allen, entering his 3rd year as the Bearcats Head Coach, talks about the upcoming season.

After game 1, how has your team changed or grown from the 2008 team? "Last year's team could have given up after giving up 13 unanswered points in the first few minutes of the game, but this year's team will never give up. Our kids know how hard they have worked and they understand that this hard work will pay off!"

What to you hope to accomplish with the 2009 season? "I want to see our kids play complete games, execute their assignments. This 2009 team will be a team that plays with enthusiam and effort every down. If we do those simple things, this will be a very successfull team with a winning record."

Who has stepped up in the leadership roles?"On offense- Steve Gachette, Johnnie King and Eric Mateos have been the leaders this fall, on defense- Tyrin Holt and Jarred Schumpert have really stepped up in the leadership role. This team has matured alot over the last 12 months and I am excited to see what the future holds for them. "

What's the biggest thing you want people to say about the SBU Bearcat football program? "It's not the same 'ole Bearcats anymore. I want opponents, when they see us on their schedule, to be saying this is the "oh crud" game, where they know that we are going to battle every play and give them everything we got and in turn they are going to have to battle as well. Right now we are still a few team's homecoming game and believe me, that will change!"

Any comments for the Bearcat fans and alumni out there in cyberspace? "Hope to see you Thursday night at 6:00 PM- It's black out night!

Sunday Church Service

Church service today at Grace Fellowship Baptist Church was awesome! Our kids got to hear two strong testimonies and a great sermon. Also the lunch was outstanding- Thanks to GFBC for hosting us!

UCM Game

We came up short tonight, we blew a 28-20 lead in the second half. Kids played hard and gave great effort, just made too many mistakes! We will clean it up this week and get ready for NWMU.

TOMORROW

Tomorrow is the big day! We kick off vs Central!

Last practice of Camp tonight

Practice tonight at 6:15- should be a great one- it's the last practice of Fall Camp! Tomorrow the players get a well deserved day off!

Seven Days

Can you believe it- only 7 days till we kickoff against Central Missouri. Our kids have been practicing hard and giving great effort- I know you are going to be impressed with this football team. Come out and support your SBU Bearcats Thursday night in Warrensburg at 7:00 PM!

Day 3

Today is day three of our Fall Camp. Our young guys are figuring out our tempo and style, but are doing a great job of working through. Today's practice will be the first one in shoulder pads. I will let you know how we look- also, stay more informed by following me on twitter!
http://twitter.com/coachkeithallen

28 Days

It's been a while since I've posted. Only 28 days till kick off vs UCM. Our kids report Tuesday and we get going!

SBU Bearcats 2009!

44 Days

Well, it's been a busy summer for us. My wife and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary by renewing our vows in a hot air balloon looking over Napa Valley. We bought and moved into a new 5 bedroom house that has a pool and deck large enough for our football team to come over. With the help of the team we moved houses in less than 3 hours- great team building!!!!!

Also, we have over 40 guys in town getting better everday this summer- I am so excited about 2009!

It's a great time to be a BEARCAT!

Discipline over the Summer

78 Days till kick off!

“We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons.” -Jim Rohn

Less than 90 days till Kickoff!

Are you ready for some football? I am, last week was finals for our guys.

They did a great job, we 17 guys with a 3.0 or better GPA this Spring. Way to go guys!

Summer classes begin this week, so our guy will be back! Remember, we kickoff in 89 days.

Finals week at SBU

This week is finals week at SBU. Our kids have been working hard both
academically and athletically. Good luck to all the students!

Finals week at SBU

This week is finals week at SBU. Our kids

Missouri Weather

Well, we had some high winds and hard rains yesterday. Power was out for the morning, but all was normal by the afternoon. SBU's campus suffered only minor damage. We had a tree blow down on a car, but fortunately the person in the car suffered only minor injuries.

New look

We have officially become a "Nike" Football team. They came down and put our football team head to toe in Nike. Our uniforms look really sharp. I think our fans and alumni will like our new look!

Finishing Strong

Our guys are finishing the semester strong. They are lifting and conditioning everyday, so I am pleased with the team. We voted on our "Blackwatch" and the 13 members are:
Andrew Lindeman (OL), Johnnie King (WR), Steven Gachette (QB), Tyrin Holt (DB), Jarred Schumpert (LB), Chris Tejeda (DL), Will Ramirez (DL), Shawn Kilduff (LB), Jordan Jackson (DB), Scott Crain (OL), Eric Mateos (OL), Deandre Brown (RB), John Austin (WR), The first 6 are also the 2009 team captains.

Donor plates on our lockers

We are looking for some friends of the program to sponsor 37 of the
lockers in our locker room that so not have donor name plates.
Donation is $100 for each locker to sponsor. Call the football office
for open locker numbers. Alumni, this is a great way for you make
sure the guy who wears your number lives up to your standards!

Purple / White game

We finished our 2009 spring practices this weekend with our 2nd annual
Purple / White spring game. I was very pleased with the progress we
made as a team. Our guys played hard and gave great effort. We had a
great turnout to the game with our fans, signees & recruits!

Scrimmage #2

We just finished scrimmage #2. Our guys are flying around with great
intensity and effort. Still a few mistakes but we will clean it up.
Hope to see you the 25th for the purple/white spring game.

Practice #10

We just finished practice #10 last night and we have our second scrimmage this Saturday morning at 11:00 AM. Our offense is lookinh great and our defense is getting better everyday. I hope you'll come out and support your bearcats!

Scrimmage #1

We just got off the field for our first scrimmage. We had an MIAA crew officiate the game so our guys could work more game like situations. The field was in sloppy conditions due to the thunderstorms we had overnight, but our guys came out today and got better.

OFFENSE: Our offense picked up right where we left off in 2008. We struggled a little on the goal line offensively (mainly because we didn't put our GL Offense on the field). I am really seeing (Steve) Gachette improve as a leader of this team. Our OL and RB's really stepped up and began to display of a more aggresive running attack. Our WR's did a great job of finding the football and making plays. Our offense overall is getting better and better everyday!

DEFENSE: Our linebacker play and secondary play was getting much better and they did a great job of finishing and tackling. Our DL gave great effort, but the depth of our DL for the spring made the rotations very hard and for an 80 play scrimmage the wore down at the end. The defense overall gave great effort and swarmed to the football.

SPECIAL TEAMS: We only went live for punt and FG today. Our punt team did a great job of protecting and covering. We didn't get a bpunt blocked in 2008 and if we keep working on it, we won't get one blocked in 2009. Our FG team did a great job with operation and execution (especially with the sloppy conditions)

We hope to see you at our next scrimmage Saturday the 18th at 11:00am

Practice #6

We just finished practice #6. Our offense had a great practice and moved the ball very well. Our defense looked good as well and is continually improving. We will continue to stress fundamentals and great effort. Next practice is Thursday at 4:00pm!

Practice #5

With the close of practice #5 tonight, the Bearcats are 33% done with
spring practices. Coach Allen says "We are improving with each
practice but it's hard to know exactly where we are until our first
scrimmage this Friday morning. Then we will see our guys fly around
and be physical."

Q & A with Coach Allen about Spring Practices:

The SBU Bearcats football team started the 15 NCAA allowed spring practices on Monday March 30th. Keith Allen, entering his 3rd year as the Bearcats Head Coach, talks about the upcoming spring sessions.

How much fun is it for you, as a coach, to get on the field again in the spring?

"It's the best part of what we do in the Spring! I enjoy recruiting and the off-season conditioning, but I really love being around our players and have a chance to see them improve on the field and gel as a cohesive team. It's nice to focus on the game of football without the pressure of anyone worrying about a Saturday and how their performance will be. We can just work on the game of football and not be rushed trying to put in certain plays. I just love teaching and coaching."

What to you hope to accomplish with the 2009 spring practices?

"Our first goal is to become fundamentally sound in every aspect, offense, defense, and special teams. We will focus on footwork, alignment and assignments, which will be beneficial. Our second goal is to find out who our playmakers are and make sure we have them in the right spot. The third goal is to establish a first class defense to go along with our offense. With promotion of Zach Wilkerson as defensive coordinator and the hiring of Darnell Walker as our secondary coach I expect to see a new swagger and attitude on defense, especially with the addition of our 2009 signing class. On Offense, I know coach (J.C.) Dawkins and staff will keep our offense as one of the best in the nation. The fourth goal as a program is we need to keep changing the mindset of what the Bearcat football program is all about- our guys need to expect and believe that they can execute every play and win every game in 2009.

You lost a big senior class last year. Are you excited to see who steps up in the leadership roles?

"We had 21 seniors last year, which is a great compliment to the program that we're able to keep seniors around each and every year. This year is another big class of seniors, so this off-season, we've been meeting twice a week to discuss leadership and what it really means to be a Christian leader on and off the field. I am also very excited about the progress our guys have made in the weight room this off-season under Coach (Ben) Blake and really expect it to spill over into these spring practices. One of the most important positions in football is the quarterback position, and Steve Gachette is really coming around as a leader of this team. Other guys will have to prove and earn their leadership role on our team during these 15 practices, I am excited about the great leadership these kids will display. "

Can you complete this sentence: Come the end of the spring practices, the Bearcats will be better at ...?

"Being a better team. We want our players to believe in themselves, believe in each other and believe in the coaches, and the coaches need to believe in them. At the end of spring ball, we need to have that confidence that we are a strong team, knowing we will face adversity, but knowing that if we face it together as a team we can overcome any bumps in the road."

Any comments for the Bearcat fans and alumni out there in cyberspace?

"We hope to see you at some of our practices and our 2nd annual Golf Outing and Spring game. We need your support to take this team to a higher level. I know our fans, alumni, student body and community will be pround of this first class group of young men that wear the purple of the SBU Bearcats."

Related Links
http://www.coachallen.com/offseasonSchedule.html

Spring practice #3

We just finished practice #3. Our guys are flying around and playing
with great enthsuiam. Tomorrow morning at 9:00 am we go full pads and
will get after it. Hope to see you there. It's a great time to be a
bearcat!

Practice #1

We officially started spring practice Monday night. I was very
excited about our intensity, tempo, enthusiam and effort. The offense
picked up right where we left off at the end of the '08 season. Our
defense, under new leadership, came out with a new swagger and swarm
attitude. Hope to see you at one of our practices this spring.

Spring ball starts Monday night

We start spring ball Monday! We are excited about the 15
opportunities we have to prepare for the 2009 season. Come by and
visit us, the practicw schedule is posted on
http:/www.coachallen.com

Spring Break

We are officially on spring break. We will have our new coach on
board next week. Get ready for some football 'cause we start the 30th!

Change

E.J. Junior, our former Defensive Coordinator, just took the Head Coaching job at Central State University. We are excited about the opportunity he has there!

We are aleady interviewing outstanding candidates for the open position and will hopefully have someone in place next week.

Morning workout update

We got finished with another one of our "4th Quarter Conditioning" drills. Our guys have responded well. Also, today will be great day for our guys to enjoy the warm Spring weather.

"I hated every minute of training but I said "Don't quit, suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion." - Muhammad Ali

Don't forget about our Golf Outing on April 25th

Winter Conditioning Update

Our players are working hard this off-season. We've got two more weeks of winter conditioning and then start Spring Ball on March 30th! Don't forget about our Golf Outing on April 25th

University of Missouri coaches clinic

Our coaching staff is speaking at the MU football clinic this
weekend. It is the first time that any SBU coaching staff has been
invited to speak.

Blood drive

We had 58 guys give blood a few weeks ago. We are learning what it
means to be servant leaders.

Mobile update

We are updating via iPhone. We had a great recruiting class and our
guys are working very hard.