No. 1, No. 2 rushing offenses to face in Saturday`

When Shorter`s Hawks, making their first-ever postseason appearance in their short four-year history, visit Williamsburg, Ky., on Saturday to take on the homestanding Patriots, it will pit the top nation`s top two rushing offenses against a pair of defenses who don`t like to give up the yards on the ground.

As one of Shorter`s assistant coaches said early Monday morning when the staff was starting to break down film: `Get ready for some old-timey football.`

Indeed, at a time when many other college football programs are running wide-open spread offenses, Shorter (9-2) and Cumberlands (9-1) have proven that running the ball out of similar option-oriented wing sets and stopping the run with active defenses can still win games.

Consider:
• The Hawks are the top-ranked team in the NAIA in rushing, averaging 320.5 yards a game. The Patriots are No. 2 with a 286.1 average.
• Shorter`s defense yields just 104 yards via the run, 12th best in the NAIA. Cumberland is No. 13 in the statistical listing, allowing 105.2 yards a game.

Take, for example, the teams in the (Atlantic Coast Conference) when they play Georgia Tech, which runs the ball. `In this case,` he added about the Hawks` game against Cumberlands, `both teams run and run it well. It should be a great game.`

Shorter`s offense has consistently eaten up the yards and the clock to bring a five-game win streak into the playoffs, none more important that last week`s regular season win over conference foe Bethel in which the Hawks fought for a 7-0 decision.

`We want to be able to continue to be productive,` said Jones. `Last week against Bethel, although it was just a 7-0 game, you have to look at the time of possession and yardage. We were for most of the game pretty much in control of our own destiny.`

Running back A.J. Cooley has been the go-to guy for the Hawks all year, and the numbers prove it - the junior broke record after record each week, setting single-season highs in every category on his way to becoming Shorter`s all-time leading rusher with 2,726 yards. Averaging 136 yards a game, Cooley is the third-best runner in the NAIA and has scored 21 touchdowns for the Hawks.

While he is the main weapon for Shorter, the Hawks have the ability to hurt teams in other ways, most notably by sophomore quarterback Ben Williams and senior slotbacks Chris Chapman and Raymone Nesbitt. The trio has combined for nearly 1,300 more yards on the ground.

That doesn`t mean to say that Shorter doesn`t pass the ball at all. Although the Hawks do go to the air sparingly - they have thrown only 43 times - they do it well, with Williams averaging more than 20 yards each completion.

`We work hard on our passing game every day in practice,` Jones said. `In an option offense, throwing the ball is something you must do and you`ve got to be able to utilize it. But when you execute the run, we don`t find ourselves facing a whole lot of third down and long or fourth down and long situations.`

Neither has Cumberlands, and Jones is well aware that the Patriots not only use the run well, but also has reaped more rewards passing the ball.

Leading Cumberlands is senior quarterback Kyle King, who can hurt teams with his legs and arm - he enters the game averaging 179.4 yards a game in total offense having rushed for a team-leading 648 yards and passed for another 1,146 yards and 11 touchdowns.

And like Shorter, he is backed up by a committee of threats in running backs Ricky Walker (476 yards), Freddy West (435) and Justin Pritchett (428).

What the combination has produced is an offense that averages more than 408 yards and 36.7 points a game, the most impressive outburst coming in the Pats` last game of the regular season when head coach John Bland`s squad rolled 567 yards in total offense in a 56-37 win over Virginia-Wise.

`Our coaches and our kids have meshed together,` Bland said after that win, `and have created an unstoppable offense and defense alike.`

`Even though we both run the ball a lot,` Jones said, `they run a lot of their offense from the shotgun and throw the ball more. They`re a little more balanced when it comes to that than we are.`

`The bottom line,` he said, `is that this is the postseason and when you have the chance to be in it, you have to go at it even harder.`