LITTLE ROCK — Grimes climbing up chart
Central Arkansas senior running back Brent Grimes led the Southland Conference in scoring last season with a league-record 21 touchdowns and 126 points.
By the time he's done, that might not be the only record he sets.
After scoring his fourth touchdown of the season Saturday at Western Kentucky, Grimes is nine touchdowns from tying former Central Arkansas running back Kentrell Rogers' school recordof 53 career rushing touchdowns.
"Brent's always had a nose for the goal line.
He's built low," Central Arkansas Coach Clint Conque said. "I thought that was a record that might stand for a while, but Brent's got a shot." In the polls
For the 18th consecutive week, the Central Arkansas Bears are ranked in the Sports Network's Football Championship Subdivision Top 25 poll.
The Bears remained at No. 12 following their 28-7 victory over Sun Belt Conference member Western Kentucky.
"I think that when you look at the number of starters back on defense and the overall number of starters coming back period, there were some expectations of this team," Clint Conque said. "We've been ranked at some point in each of the four years we've been in the transition from Division II to the FCS.
"That's one of our goals each season. This team has already put itself in a position to do that. We can't worry about that right now, though."
Players of week
Two Central Arkansas players, senior linebacker James Lancaster and senior quarterback Robbie Park, were named Southland Conference players of the week for their efforts in the Bears' first victory over a Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly IA) team, 28-7 at Western Kentucky.
Lancaster had six 1 tackles, including 1 /2tackles for loss. He also forced a fumble and had his first interception of the season.
Park completed 18 of 21 passes for 177 yards and 2 touchdowns. Park was 10 of 11 passing in the first half.
Central Arkansas has won three Southland awards in the first two weeks of the season, including senior safety Pieri Feazell getting defensive player of the week two weeks ago for his efforts against Hawaii.
"It's been a theme on defense. We've got to create turnovers and negative plays," Coach Clint Conque said. "We've got maybe 11 or 12 tackles for a loss on the season. James has had a hand in three or four of those. That's another example where an experienced, well-prepared guy is doing what we need."
Sports, Pages 23 on 09/25/2009