November 7, 2007

Malone Football To Play Geneva In 11th Annual Victory Bowl

The Malone College football team, led by second-year head coach Mike Gardner and currently ranked #23 in the NAIA national poll, has officially accepted a bid to compete in the 11th annual NCCAA (National Christian College Athletic Association) Victory Bowl on Saturday, November 17th.  The Pioneers, who have a current record of 7-3 with one regular-season game remaining, will take on the Geneva (PA) College Golden Tornadoes (7-2), who will serve as the host of this year’s NCCAA game with the game being played at Reeves Stadium on Geneva’s campus.
 
The game had tentatively been scheduled to start at 12:00 p.m. but, due to Geneva also hosting a men’s basketball tournament that weekend (in which the Malone men’s basketball team will be competing), the game has now been moved to a 6:00 p.m. kickoff.  Tickets for the game are $6.00 for adults, $5.00 for senior citizens and $3.00 for students.  Gates will open at 4:30 p.m.

The two teams have a storied rivalry and have met a total of 15 times before Geneva moved from the NAIA (and the MSFA Mideast League) to NCAA Div. III after last season.  Malone holds a slight 8-7 advantage in the all-time series and the Pioneers defeated Geneva is the most recent meeting (last season) by the score of 22-13 (at Malone).  In addition, Malone’s first-ever NAIA playoff game was against Geneva in 1995 (in the Pioneers’ third season of football), in which Malone emerged with a dramatic 24-23 last-second victory at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium in Massillon.

This season, Malone started out with a 7-1 record before losing its last two contests to NAIA #6 ranked St. Xavier (IL) University 36-20 on the road and to NAIA #5 University of St. Francis (IN) 31-17 at home.  Malone’s only other loss so far this season was to Azusa Pacific (CA) University, which is currently ranked 24th in the NAIA.
 
Geneva started out at 1-1 but has since won six of its last seven games including a 24-17 win against a 7-1 Waynesburg (PA) College team last weekend.  That victory gave Geneva the right to host the Victory Bowl contest as the Golden Tornadoes’ 7-2 record edged out the Pioneers’ 7-3 mark by ½ game.

This will mark the second straight Victory Bowl contest for Malone as the Pioneers competed in last year’s game but lost to NCAA Div. II North Greenville (SC) University 56-28 (away).  Geneva has competed in four previous Victory Bowl’s and emerged victorious in all four contests (in 1998 vs. Maranatha Baptist Bible (WI) 27-6; in 1999 vs. MidAmerica Nazarene 31-26; in 2002 vs. Northwestern (MN) 19-9; and in 2003 vs. North Greenville 37-14). 

In addition to the game itself, both teams will participate in a Christian service project on Friday, November 16th in their respective hometowns and will also attend the NCCAA Victory Bowl banquet on Geneva’s campus that Friday evening.

Although Malone has accepted a bid to compete in the Victory Bowl, if the Pioneers happen to upset NAIA #3 Ohio Dominican University (10-0) this Saturday (away), Malone could possibly receive a bid to the NAIA playoffs.  Currently ranked #23, Malone would need to move up to at least the #16 ranking in the NAIA’s final rating (which comes out on Sunday) to earn an NAIA bid.  Should that happen, Malone would be required to compete in the NAIA postseason, in which first-round games are also held on November 17th, and thus would not compete in the Victory Bowl.
  
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