2008 Woodie Awards
Football team reaches end of four-game road stretch
Jamie Arthur/Collegio
Issue date: 10/18/07 Section: Sports
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Having a four-game road stretch is rough on any team, there's no denying that.
But it's not always bad.
"You become more of a team," Pittsburg State senior free safety Nick Dellasega said. "You get to spend two whole days together and you learn a lot about each other on the field and off the field. I've seen us grow as a team over the last three weeks."
On the heels of last week's 40-point shutout over Truman State, the Pittsburg State football team has reached the final stop on its four-week roadshow: Bolivar, Mo. The Gorillas (5-2, 3-2 MIAA) travel to Bolivar to take on winless Southwest Baptist (0-7, 0-5) this Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
While the Gorillas were the designated home team in the Oct. 6 Fall Classic game against Northwest Missouri at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., they haven't played a true home game in nearly a month. Not since its 39-32 loss to Missouri Western on Sept. 22 has Pittsburg State traveled less than 200 miles for a game.
"It's hard," junior quarterback Mark Smith said. "You just want to sleep on your bed Friday night so you can get a good night's sleep before the game."
Dellasega acknowledges that a long stretch playing away from home can start to take its toll on a team. "It's hard to get motivated for every game," he said.
"We go on the road to places like Truman and SBU and their fans aren't as good as ours, they only have a couple thousand people. ...It's tough to keep the intensity up when you don't have any fans there and the atmosphere's not the same."
Despite those difficulties, the Gorillas are 4-1 on the road this season and should add another win to their record this weekend.
The Bearcats, who are the only team in the conference without a win, have allowed an average of 432.4 yards and 41.6 points per game. Earlier this season, the ever-struggling team suffered an 86-13 loss at the hands of MIAA-leader Northwest Missouri.
But Pittsburg State head coach Chuck Broyles said it's teams like these that can cause the most problems.
But it's not always bad.
"You become more of a team," Pittsburg State senior free safety Nick Dellasega said. "You get to spend two whole days together and you learn a lot about each other on the field and off the field. I've seen us grow as a team over the last three weeks."
On the heels of last week's 40-point shutout over Truman State, the Pittsburg State football team has reached the final stop on its four-week roadshow: Bolivar, Mo. The Gorillas (5-2, 3-2 MIAA) travel to Bolivar to take on winless Southwest Baptist (0-7, 0-5) this Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
While the Gorillas were the designated home team in the Oct. 6 Fall Classic game against Northwest Missouri at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., they haven't played a true home game in nearly a month. Not since its 39-32 loss to Missouri Western on Sept. 22 has Pittsburg State traveled less than 200 miles for a game.
"It's hard," junior quarterback Mark Smith said. "You just want to sleep on your bed Friday night so you can get a good night's sleep before the game."
Dellasega acknowledges that a long stretch playing away from home can start to take its toll on a team. "It's hard to get motivated for every game," he said.
"We go on the road to places like Truman and SBU and their fans aren't as good as ours, they only have a couple thousand people. ...It's tough to keep the intensity up when you don't have any fans there and the atmosphere's not the same."
Despite those difficulties, the Gorillas are 4-1 on the road this season and should add another win to their record this weekend.
The Bearcats, who are the only team in the conference without a win, have allowed an average of 432.4 yards and 41.6 points per game. Earlier this season, the ever-struggling team suffered an 86-13 loss at the hands of MIAA-leader Northwest Missouri.
But Pittsburg State head coach Chuck Broyles said it's teams like these that can cause the most problems.
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