MIAMI — After choking down a large slice of humble pie following a 33-31 loss last Saturday to DuPage, Illinois, Northeastern A&M's Golden Norsemen entertain the Drillers of Texas Institute of A&T at 7 p.m. Thursday on Red Robertson Field.
"I've probably coached only once or twice where we turned around and played a game on Thursday after a Saturday game," Golden Norse head coach Ryan Held said. "So, we had to be careful not to overwork them while at the same time making sure we clean up the mistakes we made the previous game.
"I took the loss to DuPage pretty hard personally," Held said. "Just because of the time and effort and hours that was put into the preparation.
"I'm the head coach and I'm responsible for getting the team ready," Held said. "The thing about it was, I went back and said 'what would I do differently' and after closely examining the video, there wasn't anything I would change."
Although Held does not have a negative personality, if there was anything that he and his staff might have changed was the fact that his team was too overconfident."But,
"I think your players went into the game thinking that the College of DuPage was going to come down here in our home stadium and roll over for us," Held said. "This was a great learning experience for our guys because we got brought back down to earth.
"It wasn't like we got our butt kicked, but we got down 17-0 after the first quarter and we had to expend a lot of energy to get back to a 24-24 tie," Held said. "We even got the ball back and had a chance to take the lead, but here again, there were four or five plays during this game that kept us from pulling away."
Statistically, the Golden Norsemen dominated the Chaparrals in every category except the final score. NEO out gained DuPage by a 462-316 margin in total yards. The Norsemen only committed two turnovers (both interceptions) compared to three by the Chaparrals (three interceptions and a lost fumble).
"Of course we had the interception returned for a touchdown right off the bat," Held said. "But, if we just played like it was supposed to be played, we win the game.
"Then, we even had fewer penalties than they did (7 for 85 yards compared to 6 for 65 yards)," Held said. "But, we had a false start after we had gotten to their one yards line and then we didn't score."
Two major changes in the Golden Norse starting lineup should have an impact on the game with Texas A&T.
Sophomore quarterback Zac Cater, from Durant, suffered a hip pointer last week and will miss the game. Cater completed 19 of 34 passes for 221 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions.
Redshirt freshman Mackland Waldman, from Highland, Illinois, will start after replacing Cater in the fourth quarter and guiding NEO to a late touchdown. Waldman completed 5 of 7 passes for 77 yards.
"Mack did a lot of good things," Held said. "He brought us down the field and scored to put us in position to get the ball back.
"He brings a lot to the table and that was a great drive for him," Held said. "Cause, if we had gotten the onsides kick, ran a couple of plays and then kick a field goal, we win."
Veteran all-conference tailback Cameron Booty, from Jenks, returns to NEO's starting backfield after sitting out the DuPage game because of disciplinary reasons.
Booty led the Golden Norse ground game as a freshman with 1,127 yards on 207 carries and nine touchdowns last season. He also caught 16 passes for 137 yards and two TDs. Booty also returned eight kickoffs for 227 yards and a touchdown.
Formerly known as the Southeast Prep Academy, the two-year school is located in the heart of the Houston metropolitan area.
Since the series between the two programs started in 2012, the Golden Norsemen have won all three games.
After earning a 38-9 victory in 2012 on Red Robertson Field, coach Sherrad Poteete's Golden Norse cruised to a 42-10 win in 2013 at Miami.
Last season Booty rushed for 155 yards that included a 34-yard touchdown run to lead NEO to a 45-19 route over the Spartans at Red Robertson Field.
Field.
Although not affiliated with the Southwest Junior College Football Conference, the Drillers are under the direction of first-year head coach Rontrell Bailey.
Last season under the direction of former NEO graduate assistant coach Anthony Fogle, the Spartans finished 0-9 on the year.
Last weekend the Drillers dropped a 38-3 decision to Blinn College (2-0) at Brenham's Cub Field. The lone points for Texas A&T came with less than three minutes left in the game on a 36-yard field goal by Trent Turner.
"We know that a lot of guys will play in this game because of our depth at every position," Held said. "But, not only because of our depth we'll use a lot of players because we don't want them cramping up like last week. It will be very humid and important for us to be hydrated the entire game."