2009 NJCAA Football Bowl Matchups Announced

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The selections of teams for participation in this year’s NJCAA football bowl games have been announced by the representatives of each contest.

The game everyone will be talking about will take place on Sunday, Dec. 6 when No. 1 Fort Scott (Kan.) faces No. 2 Blinn (Texas) in the first-ever Citizen’s Bank Bowl. The game will be played at Carnie Smith Stadium in Pittsburgh, Kan, which is one of the top playing venues in the Division II ranks of the NCAA and the home stadium of Pittsburg State University.

The Fort Scott Greyhounds (11-0) will be looking for the school’s first football national title since 1970 while the Blinn Buccaneers (10-1) are eyeing the program’s second title in four years. The Greyhounds were the champions of the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference for the first time in 35 years and won the Region 6 Playoffs for the first time ever. Blinn won the Southwest JC Football Conference for the second consecutive season and was ranked No. 1 for eight weeks this season.

The NJCAA National Office and the Citizen’s Bank Bowl committee are currently working out details to officially sanction the Fort Scott – Blinn matchup as the 2009 NJCAA Football Championship Game. Once those negotiations have completed an official announcement will be made by the NJCAA.

NJCAA football bowl action will begin this weekend with the North Star Bowl on Saturday, Nov. 21 when No. 14 Rochester (Minn.) plays No. 19 Coffeyville (Kan.) at UCR Regional Sports Stadium in Rochester, Minn. Rochester enters the contest with a 10-1 record and was runner-up in the Minnesota College Athletic Conference (MCAC). Coffeyville posted a 6-4 record this year and finished third in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference (KJCCC) standings.

On Nov. 22 two contests will take place at UNI Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa in the Graphic Edge Bowl. In the first contest Joliet (Ill.) will face North Dakota State College of Science. Both teams posted 6-5 records this season and finished in second place in their respective divisions of the Midwest Football Conference.

The feature game of the Graphic Edge Bowl will have No. 9 Central Lakes (Minn.) matchup against No. 13 Ellsworth (Iowa). Central Lakes won the MCAC for the first time in school history a few weeks back with a 20-14 overtime win over Rochester and enters the game with a 10-1 record. The Ellsworth Panthers were the champions of the Midwest Football Conference – West Division and boasts a 7-3 overall record.

Four NJCAA bowl games will take place on Saturday, Dec. 5. The Valley of the Sun Bowl, the oldest continuous NJCAA football bowl game, will welcome Glendale (Ariz.) and No. 11 Dean (Mass.) to play in the 29th edition of the event. Glendale finished with a 6-5 overall record this season and will host the game at Matt Hanhila Stadium (the top team from the Phoenix area qualifies and hosts the game). Dean won the Northeast Football Conference for the second straight year and enters the game with a 9-1 record.

Copperas Cove, Texas will host No. 4 Navarro (Texas) and No. 7 Mississippi Gulf Coast in the ninth annual C.H.A.M.P.S. Heart of Texas Bowl on Dec. 5 in a clash between ‘Bulldogs’. Both teams posted great 2009 seasons. The Navarro Bulldogs (10-1) held the No. 1 spot in the rankings for two weeks and finished the regular season undefeated before falling to Blinn in their conference championship game. The MGC Bulldogs (9-2) won the South Division of the Mississippi Association of Community & Junior College (MACJC) for the third straight season and was defeated by East Mississippi in their league title game.

Out west in Salt Lake City, Utah, the ZIONS BANK Top of the Mountains Bowl will have No. 3 Grand Rapids (Mich.) against No. 8 Snow (Utah) on Dec. 5 in the sixth edition of the event. The contest will take place at Rio-Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah (just outside of Salt Lake City), which is the home stadium of REAL Salt Lake of the MLS. Grand Rapid won the East Division of the Midwest Football Conference and escaped the season with a 10-0 record. The Snow Badgers will be playing in the Top of the Mountains Bowl for the sixth straight year. They finished as the co-leader in the Western States Football League and posted a 9-2 record.

One of two new NJCAA football bowl games for this season, the Central Bank Salt City Bowl on Dec. 5 at Gowans Stadium in Hutchinson, Kan., will have No. 16 New Mexico Military and No. 20 Hutchinson (Kan.) in its inaugural matchup. The Broncos of NMMI will be making their first postseason bowl appearance since 1999 while the bowl berth is the first for the Blue Dragons of Hutchinson since 2004. The Broncos finished tied for third in the Western States Football League this season with a 7-3 overall record, while the Blue Dragons finished fourth in the KJCCC at 6-4.

The second edition of the Mississippi Bowl will take place in Biloxi on Sunday, Dec. 6 when No. 5 East Mississippi (10-1) faces No. 6 Arizona Western (9-1) in an East vs. West battle. The Lions of East Mississippi won the MACJC Championship Game with an unbelievable 75-71 win over Mississippi Gulf Coast on Nov. 8. The state title and bowl appearance are both firsts in program history for EMCC. The Matadors of Arizona Western won the school’s first conference title since 1981 with their 30-17 victory over Snow on Nov. 14. The Matadors will be making their first bowl appearance since 1998.

Additional information on the bowl games, including links to official bowl websites, can be found on the NJCAA Football Bowl Games webpage.

More information on the each bowl game matchup will be posted on the NJCAA website when it becomes available.