Jake Steward and the Warriors have had their arms up a few times this season. Hendrix athletics photo by Madison Dealing

The current Hendrix football program is two years old, and it’s already making waves in what has been an undefeated second season.

Hendrix, like Berry and Southwestern, is part of the trend of Division III football programs popping up in the South. The program is also a restart. Football at Hendrix wasn’t a totally new frontier in 2012 just one that hadn’t been mined in 52 years.

Traditionally, the Northeast (as well as the Midwest) has been the area of concentration for Division III football. But as Hendrix’s head coach Justin "Buck" Buchanan said, “I think this level will continue to be strong, and possibly even stronger,” once all of the dust from the Division I and NFL issues settles.

He was also adamant about what a Division III college football experience provides versus a another level’s experience.

“What we talk about is what kind of person are you going to be when you leave this program, what dad are you going to be, what kind of husband, what kind of businessman … what kind of professional are you going to be, where are you going to go to grad school?

“And then 15 years from now, when you come back in this locker room, and you’re looking at who's in your locker … what legacy would you like for them to see when they look at you?” Buchanan said.

These types of tropes are typical in college sports and Division III football, and for the most part they are genuine hopes and goals from genuinely caring coaches. What separates Buchanan’s message from the others is the symbiotic relationship he stresses between program/school and life/community.

What defines a symbiotic relationship (stay with me here) is the mutually beneficial and mutually reliant nature of the connection between two dissimilar systems or organisms. The totality of the experience is what Coach “Buck” is selling and preaching. Our communities rely on capable and educated people to keep life, in those communities and throughout the nation, working and prosperous. Comprehensive college experiences provide that, and then those people provide the next generation of (hopefully) successful people. It’s a cycle, and one that starts with a Division III-specific college experience.

With all of that said, the Warriors are 4-0 this season, a surprising record to anyone who follows the sport and, maybe, even for their coach, who didn’t really want to talk about accomplishments or any specific goals. He simply wanted to reiterate his team’s focus on the little things and getting better every day, every play.

“We’re trying to get better every time we go out there. We have a motto that ‘every play is for the championship.’ ”

The Denison, Texas, native is full of phrases and sayings that when collected and heard in a choral and repetitious way (from the assistant coaches, I’m sure) become the “word” and, more importantly, a system of football.

Another he uses is “The road of by-and-by leads to the house of never.” That is biblical, of course, but it means for the football team “don’t wait to be good,” he said. Essentially, that is the mantra for his team. And, so far, it has paid off.

It helped that Buchanan was able to implement the blueprint he believed in, by starting small (with only 50 players in Year 1, 78 in Year 2) and building from a quality base of players. It was an added bonus for the school and for Buchanan that the southern coach with, as he said, a stereotypical nickname, an old-fashioned way, and a flat-top fit the Arkansas school’s values so well.

On the purely football side of things, Buchanan’s opportunistic offensive scheme (the spread offense) has melded well with the high-level skill players he has, especially with Dayton Winn, the Warriors’ talented sophomore tailback who has amassed 516 yards rushing in four games and 104 yards receiving.

They seem to find it easy to score, tallying over 40 points twice this year and over 450 yards of total offense three times, including a 618-yard performance in a convincing 42-28 win over Westminister (Mo.) to begin the season.

It all supports the philosophy of taking advantage of opportunities when they present themselves (as well creating opportunities with advantageous matchups) and attaining the absolute best of one’s self.

“We want the best version of those guys every time they go out there. And that’s in life, too,” Buchanan said.

The Warriors will have to continue conjuring the best versions of themselves as to shore up a somewhat leaky defense and create consistent production in the red zone, Buchanan admitted, especially with upcoming games against Austin College (Buchanan’s alma mater), Centre and Rhodes in Weeks 7-9.

If anyone can transcend expectations and lead a team to its better nature, it’s the true believer, Coach “Buck.”

“I think this is what I was built for.”

Tough loss for a good team

It wasn’t enough that coach Dan Gritti was going back to Chicago to play his old team, it had to be a great game, too.

The Maroons edged the Lynx 17-14 in a game that Rhodes was in control of late and essentially lost because of three interceptions and one fumble. It would be great to frame the loss as a good learning experience, which it was and there’s no doubt Gritti is doing, but with the playoff structure and limitations what they are, it was also a heartbreaker. Hopefully, it won’t be a back-breaker.

The Lynx held the Maroons to 43 yards rushing, 1.2 yards per rush and 18 percent on third down conversions, yet the Maroons found a way to score 11 points in the last 4:11 and kick the winning field goal with 12 seconds left.

Rhodes’ remaining five games are all in-conference, which always adds a layer of pressure and difficulty, and the team’s last two are against Hendrix (4-0) and rival Millsaps.

Oh, how we’ll be watching.

Bulldogs do it again

Texas Lutheran improved to 5-0 last week, beating Howard Payne and scoring 54 points for the second straight game.

The Bulldogs accrued 664 yards of total offense, 373 of which were on the ground, while possessing the ball for only 24 seconds more than the Yellow Jackets.

Marquis Barrolle, who won SCAC Player of the Week, ran for 288 yards on 23 carries (which probably should have qualified him for a spot on the D3football.com Team of the Week, too) and had a long run of 90 yards. His running mate, A.J. Saucedo (who I am now calling “The Sauce” because he seems to add that extra flavor to the quality base-meal that is Barolle’s rushing performances), had 83 yards rushing and two touchdowns.

The game and the outcome were never in doubt as the Bulldogs led 33-13 at halftime and never led by less than 14 points the whole game.

What is more interesting than this consistent deluge of offense by the Bulldogs (and a campaign against my own site to rightly crown a player from my coverage area)? Texas Lutheran vs. East Texas Baptist. Look ahead!

Looking ahead

The matchup I’ve been alluding to for a couple of weeks is now finally here. Texas Lutheran plays East Texas Baptist at 7 p.m. at Bulldog Stadium in Seguin this Saturday.

It should be a high scoring affair, especially since neither team is exactly stingy on defense; although, the Tigers did hold Millsaps to 15 points while they rattled off 68. No matter how diminished Millsaps may be this year, that is quite a feat.

Just to make the expectation of scoring even higher, the Tigers are averaging over 47 points per game while the Bulldogs are averaging nearly 49 points per game. Hopefully, the offensive punches keep landing late into the game and this one is a barn- and field-burner.

The advantage (in my estimation) has to go to the Bulldogs because of their more recent experience with success (8-1 in 2013) and a running game that seems unstoppable. But, then again, the Tigers are in spoiler mode this season.