Indian Football
M  c  M  u  r  r  y      U  n  i  v  e  r  s  i  t  y
Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association Champions
1980  1983
Texas Conference Champions
1947  1948  1949  1953  1955
Texas Intercollegiate Champions
1927  1929

 Head Coach Steve Keenum
 Assistant Coaches and Trainers
 2000 Schedule
 2000 Returning Starters
2000 Roster
1999 Post Season Awards
1999 Records Set
1999 Results
1999 Season in Review
The Wilford Moore Trophy

Additional Football Links

Columbus Multimedia
Dave Campbell's Texas Football
USA Today College Sports Index
NCAA Championships Index
American Southwest Conference Football

Steve Keenum -- Head Coach
    Keenum, a 1980 graduate of McMurry, knows the former TIAA conference well as both a player and a coach. He played from 1978-80 for head coach Spud Aldridge at McMurry. In addition, Keenum has been an assistant coach and head coach at four American Southwest Conference schools.
    An all-district football player at Duncanville High School, Keenum came to McMurry in 1978 and spent three seasons playing offensive line for the Indians.
    After graduating from McMurry, Keenum served as the offensive line coach at Ballinger High School from 1981-85, helping the Bearcats to four district and bi-district titles and a 47-14-2 record. He then spent two seasons at Brownwood High School before becoming the offensive coordinator at Tarleton State University in 1988.
    Keenum moved to Abilene Cooper in 1990, and stayed one season before accepting his first head coaching position at Sul Ross State University. He was the Lobos head man until 1993, when he returned to Abilene as the offensive line coach at Hardin-Simmons University.
    Keenum has honed his coaching skills under some of the top high school and college coaches around, including coach Randy Allen (Ballinger, Brownwood, and Cooper High Schools) and  Jimmy Keeling (Hardin Simmons University).
    Prior to Keenum's arrival, McMurry was known mainly as a school which liked to run the ball. But Keenum has opened up the offense with an aggressive passing attack coupled with a one-back option running game. The "new" Indian offense has risen to become one of the more productive systems in the nation.
    Keenum has a strong commitment to the Lord and has shown this through his involvement in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.  Coach Keenum has been active in the organization at every school he has coached at and is currently the president of the Adult Chapter of F.C.A. in Abilene.
    Keenum believes that a coach should think of himself as a teacher and an educator who is responsible for developing the student-athlete physically, mentally, and spiritually.  "We want our players to grow not only in physical skills and intellectual ability, but also spiritually," Keenum said.  Parents are entrusting their children to us.  We take that responsibility very serious."
    Also, he said, a coach must be fair in his dealings with players, co-workers, parents, and fans.  "A coach's players must think the coach is being fair from the first string players to the last string players," Keenum said.  "This is the only way to create good morale."
    Coach Keenum believes winning and losing are parts of the coaching profession a coach must learn to handle in a professional manner, and he should impart that attitude with his players.
    "Win in a manner that will best enable you to win again.  Be humble, give your opponent, your players, and fellow coaches credit," Keenum said.  "Remember that winning is a means to positively influence young peoples lives.  It is not an end in itself."
    "Lose with dignity.  If you have done your best, you have nothing to be ashamed of;  if you haven't, you deserve to lose.  Remember that we can sometimes grow more in our defeats than our victories."
    Keenum and his wife Susan, a 1982 McMurry graduate and three sport athlete for the Lady Indians, have three children:  a son, Case and two daughters, Lauren and Allison.

Tommy Sauceda -- Offensive Coordinator
    Tommy Sauceda, a 1993 graduate of West Texas A&M University, has been with Steve Keenum's staff since he took over the Indian program in 1995.  Sauceda will be making the switch from the defensive side of the ball where he coached the linebackers for four years to offensive coordinator.
    A Ballinger native, Sauceda played for Coach Keenum at Ballinger High School.  Sauceda was an all-district offensive and defensive lineman for three years at Ballinger and was the defensive most valuable player one year.  He was also named to the all-Area and all-West Texas Super Team as an offensive lineman for two years and as all-South Plains offensive lineman for a year.  Sauceda played on four straight playoff teams in high school. He  was an all-State selection at both defensive and offensive line his junior and senior years.  Sauceda went on to play for West Texas A&M for three years on the offensive line where he became an all-Lone Star Conference player.   He finished his career at Central Oklahoma.
    Coach Sauceda and his wife Yolanda are recently new parents to a future football player named Philip Thomas.

Jon Rhiddlehoover -- Defensive Coordinator
    Jon Rhiddlehoover joined the Indian staff in 1996 and served as the offensive coordinator for three years.  In 1999 he will have a sort of homecoming as he returns to the defensive side of the ball as the defensive coordinator.  Under his reign the offense basically rewrote the McMurry record book.  In 1998 Rhiddlehoover coached the offense to 17 McMurry records and 3 American Southwest Conference records.  The Indians were ranked 9th in the nation in passing offense, 11th in the nation in total offense, and in the top 20 in the nation in pass efficiency.
    Rhiddlehoover was a blue-chip all-State defensive and offensive lineman at Abilene Cooper.  He was voted all-District 4-5A, the 4-5A Outstanding Lineman, and received the Millerman Award for outstanding athlete at Cooper.  He played in the North-South All-Star Game, the Oil Bowl, and was also named a high school all-American offensive lineman.
    Rhiddlehoover went on to play four years of college football for the University of Arkansas.  He was named to the all-freshman and all-sophomore teams his first two years as a Razorback and was named to the all-Southwest Conference team his junior and senior seasons.  He was dubbed Arkansas' outstanding defensive player in 1973 and 1974 and the team's Most Valuable Player in 1974.  Rhiddlehoover also received the Crip Hall Award for outstanding performance by a senior in the homecoming game and the Chism Reed Award for the outstanding senior football player at Arkansas.  He earned honorable mention all-American honors his senior year and was named one of the Outstanding Athletes of America in 1975.
    After serving as an assistant to the defensive coaching staff at Arkansas in 1975 and 1976, Rhiddlehoover was an assistant and head coach in the high schools of Arkansas before returning to Texas.  He worked at Abilene Cooper, Ballinger, Wall, Irving MacArthur, and Granbury before coming to McMurry.
    Coach Rhiddlehoover and his wife Stacy are the parents of twins - Jon and Ann, both of whom are student-athletes at McMurry.

David Yowell -- Defensive Line
    David Yowell has been on the Indian coaching staff since 1997 as the defensive line coach and the head coach of the junior varsity.
    Yowell brings a storied coaching record with him to The Reservation.   For 14 years prior to joining the McMurry staff he was an assistant coach at Waxahachie High School.  Yowell helped lead the team to consecutive 13-2 records and state semifinal appearances in 1990 and 1991.  In 1992, he helped Waxahachie finish 16-0, as they claimed the state championship.
    Prior to his stint at Waxahachie, Yowell spent three years as the head coach at S&S Consolidated near Sherman and nine years as an assistant coach at Gainsville High School.
    As a player, Yowell was named junior college all-America while playing at Eastern Oklahoma State.  He finished his playing career at Austin College, where he earned all-Texas honors.  Yowell went on to earn both his bachelor's and master's degrees from Southeastern Oklahoma State University.
    Coach Yowell and his wife Sandra are the parents of Coby and Ashley, both are students at McMurry.

Cole Adams -- Defensive Backs
    Cole Adams, a 1998 graduate of McMurry, joins the staff as the secondary coach after serving the team for a year as a graduate assistant.
    Adams came to McMurry in 1994 and quickly found his place on the Tribe's roster.  He was a four year letterman for the Indians and started 40 consecutive games during his four year career.  Adams earned all-conference honors in his sophomore, junior, and senior seasons.  Prior to his senior year he was one of College Football Preview's preseason all-America selections and closed out the season on the all-West Region and USA III all-America Team.  Adams was also a leader in the classroom.  He posted a team high 3.81 G.P.A. and graduated Summa Cum Laude.  These grades landed him on the Academic all-Conference team for three years and on the GTE Academic all-District team his senior season.
    Adams is a Lamesa native and enjoyed a great athletic career as a Golden Tornado.  He was a four sport letterman in his junior and senior years lettering in football (3 yrs.), basketball (2 yrs.), baseball (4 yrs.), and track (4 yrs).  Adams was named to the all-district football team two years and the all-district baseball team three years.
    Adams has been actively involved in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes throughout his high school and college years.  He served as the huddle leader for two years both in Lamesa and at McMurry.  He will now take an active part as a sponsor for the McMurry Huddle.  Adams is also a member of the First United Methodist Church.
    Coach Adams and his wife Jennifer are newlyweds.  Jennifer is also a graduate of McMurry (class of '99) and enjoyed a successful college career on the basketball and tennis courts where she earned all-Conference honors in both sports for the Lady Indians.
 
 

Jimmy Allen -- Wide Receivers
    Jimmy Allen, a 1975 McMurry graduate, has been working with the football team as a volunteer coach since 1971.  This marks the 28th consecutive year that Allen has been associated with McMurry Football.  He is in his fifth year under coach Steve Keenum.
    His coaching career began with the Abilene Cooper teams of Merrill Green in the late 1960s.  He was inducted into the Cooper High School Hall of Fame in 1994.  Allen was inducted into the McMurry University Hall of Honor in 1997.
    Allen has a vast knowledge of football, and has written a book on the subject.  He posses great skills in helping breakdown film in preparing scouting reports on upcoming opponents.

                Rory Peacock            Most Touchdowns Caught - Season:  12
                                                   Most Touchdowns Caught - Career:  27

                Clayton Runyon        PAT's Attempted - Game:  8 (vs. Sul Ross, 10-16-99)
                                                  PAT's Attempted - Season:  44
                                                  PAT's Attempted - Career:  73
                                                  PAT's Made - Game:  8 (vs. Sul Ross, 10-16-99)
                                                  PAT's Made - Season:  40
                                                  PAT's Made - Career:  65

                Braxton Shaver         TD Passes - Career:  93
                                                   Total Offense - Career:  8,527 yards
                                                   Passing Yards - Career:  8,721 yards
                                                   Total Plays - Career:  1,366
                                                   Passes Attempted - Career:  1,268 passes
                                                   Passes Completed - Career:  687 passes
                                                   Passes Attempted - Game:  64 (vs. Hardin-Simmons, 11-13-99)
**Shaver owns 19 McMurry Records --- these records are those set or improved in '99
 

                Team                         Yards Passing - Game:  401 (vs. Texas Lutheran, 10-9-99)
                                                  Passes Attempted - Game:  64 (vs. Hardin-Simmons, 11-13-99)
                                                  Total Offense - Game:  677 yards (vs. Sul Ross, 9-4-99)
                                                  Points Scored - Game:  68 (vs. Texas Lutheran, 10-9-99)
                                                  Average Yards Per Game - Season:  495.8 yards
 
 

                Braxton Shaver         TD Passes - Career:  93
                                                   Passes Attempted - Career:  1,268 passes
                                                   Passes Completed - Career:  687 passes
                                                   Passes Attempted - Game:  64 (vs. Hardin-Simmons, 11-13-99)
** Shaver holds six ASC records (TD Passes - Game:  7 & TD Passes - Season:  34 set in '98)

    In the tradition of great college football rivalries across the United States, McMurry University and Hardin-Simmons University have added their names to the list of teams vying for a prize.
    In the spirit of "The Little Brown Jug," "The President's Cup," or even the "Monon Bell," officials at McMurry University and Hardin-Simmons University have added their annual gridiron contest to the list by creating the Wilford Moore Trophy.
    The two schools, which are affiliated with the NCAA Division III and members of the American Southwest Conference, have named the traveling trophy in honor of the legendary Wilford Moore, who played football at Hardin-Simmons and coached football at McMurry.
    "There is not a better man to represent both schools," said Dr. Marvin Stringfellow, McMurry University Athletics Director.  "He exemplifies so many of the characteristics of what college football is all about -- integrity, honesty, teamwork, and leadership."
    "Wilford Moore has been a great ambassador for Hardin-Simmons and McMurry," said John Neese, Hardin-Simmons University Director of Athletics.  "I think the addition of the Moore Trophy will enhance a rivalry that is special to the players, students, fans, and alumni of both universities."
    Wilford Moore was always associated with winning football as both a player and a coach.  He played along side such great players as Bulldog Turner and Truett Rattan while at Hardin-Simmons.  He later coached players like Les Cowan, Brad Rowland, and Grant Teaff.
    Moore is a 1984 charter member of the McMurry University Hall of Honor and a 1996 inductee into the Hardin-Simmons University Hall of Fame.
    During his playing days as a Cowboy, Moore, who was a three-year letterman, was a part of the perfect and unbeatable team of 1940 that finished the year undefeated and untied -- the first of its kind at the campus.  He was described as one of the best blocking guards in Texas for both the pass and the run.  Moore also played linebacker on defense for HSU.  During his three years as a starter on the Forty Acres, Moore saw the Cowboys go 25-3-1 from 1938-40.
    As a coach at McMurry, Moore still holds the best overall winning percentage at the school at better than 60 percent.  He was 45-28-5 over eight seasons.  He captured at least a share of four conference titles, more than any other Indian coach and took McMurry to its first two post-season appearances, including the 1950 Oleander Bowl in Galveston, Texas.
    Five of Moore's players earned all-American honors and better than 30 players landed all-conference honors during his eight-year span as head coach.  Personally, he landed Associated Press Coach of the Year honors for the Texas Conference in 1948, 1949, and 1953.
    A native of Littlefield, Moore earned his Physical Education degree from Hardin-Simmons University in 1941.  Following his graduation, he reached the rank of captain as a B-26 pilot during World War II.  His coaching career included stops at high schools in Abilene, Cleburne, Lubbock, and Port Neches-Groves.  His overall coaching record for for both high school and college stands at 100-69-10.