Case's road ends at home
By Matt Florjancic D3football.com CLEVELAND -- After losing the regular season finale to in-state rival DePauw, the Wabash Little Giants drew the three seed in the North Region. If the No. 2 seed defeated its first opponent, Wabash had to go on the road for its second round matchup. That was the scenario at Case Field Saturday afternoon. When the Case Western Reserve Spartans defeated the Widener Pride last week, they got the right to host Wabash for a chance to make the regional finals. Playing in front of the home crowd had been good for the Spartans, who were 10-2 in their last 12 games at Case Field, but the Little Giants made a statement with a 38-23 victory. Though Wabash rushed for 156 yards, the Little Giants scored all five of their touchdowns through the air. “Our plan worked early,” Wabash coach Chris Creighton said. “I thought the first half was much better than the second half. I don’t think that we ran the ball all that well in terms of the whole game. In the first half, we ran the ball well. People perceive us to be a passing team, but the reality of it is that we’re pretty close to 50-50.” “We definitely wanted to run the ball to start the game,” said Little Giants quarterback Matt Hudson. “We felt like we were able to do that and control the clock. We worked the run to set up the passing game more than anything. We did our quick passing game. I think it made them a little bit more compact in the middle and we were able to spread them out. “We knew coming into it that they weren’t going to give up any deep balls,” Hudson added. “We knew from what we had seen, [they] were a cover three, corners tight where they weren’t going to let anything get behind them.” With the win, Wabash (11-1) will travel to Wisconsin-Whitewater Saturday afternoon. UW-Whitewater defeated North Central 59-28 at home, behind a 241-yard, three-touchdown performance by Warhawk running back Justin Beaver. The Little Giants started the scoring midway through the first quarter. While the defense forced three three-and-outs, the offense began its aerial display. Wabash’s first possession went for 68 yards in 12 plays. Facing a third-and-goal from the three, Hudson dropped back and found Mike Russell for the touchdown. The score stood at 7-0 as the first quarter drew to a close. However, Wabash made sure it did not stay a one-score game for long. On the first play of the second quarter, Hudson connected with Brock Graham for his fifth receiving touchdown of 2007. The extra point made it a 14-0 Wabash lead. The Spartans tried to get back into the game with the passing game, but struggled to get past the first down markers. After two forced punts and one interception, Case set Wabash up with a first-and-ten 39 yards from a score. Hudson and Evan Sobecki led the charge for Wabash on the drive. Following two completions, Sobecki took the ball at the 29 and ran 19 yards, setting up a first-and-goal. This time, Hudson found junior wide receiver Andrew Rode over the middle for the touchdown and a 21-0 lead. “It definitely took us out of our game plan offensively,” said Case coach Greg Debeljak. “You definitely have to change things when you’re down by three scores. They did some things on both sides of the ball that they hadn’t shown. “Defensively, they’re a four-man front and they changed up to a three-man front quite a bit against us,” added Debeljak, now 24-18 at Case. “They did a nice job rushing the football on us. I was really hoping they’d just try to throw because they are huge up front and we are very small. I thought they had a really good plan of attack for us.” Case did not go into the locker room quietly. With 1:15 remaining in the second quarter, the Spartans mustered a 52-yard, four-play drive. On fourth-and-three from the Wabash 45-yard line, Case quarterback Dan Whalen found Jeff Mayer open near the right sideline. After hauling in the pass, Mayer out-ran the defenders for the score. The point-after-touchdown made it a 21-7 game. Wabash tried to answer the Spartan strike with one of its own, but Case cornerback Bobby Bott stepped in the passing lane for the interception, ending the scoring threat in the first half. “It wasn’t schemes or anything,” Whalen said of his 24-for-49, 303-yard performance. “Sometimes, the guys that you play against are going to bigger, faster and stronger. You’ve just to keep playing for four quarters. “Sometimes, teams are going to be more physical,” he added. “I’m not disappointed in the way we played. We still gave ourselves a shot.” Case had the only score of the third quarter, which came on a 38-yard field goal from Sam Coffey. However, the flood gates opened in the final frame. The first five possessions of the fourth quarter went for scores. Wabash started the scoring with a 14-yard pass from Hudson to Bart Banach, but the duo was not done. Up by only eight points with 3:31 remaining, Hudson threw to the left sideline to an open Banach. The senior made the most of the reception, cutting all the way across the field to the right sideline and taking the ball 68 yards to close out all scoring. Case (11-1) will look to build on a season of firsts. By defeating Washington University at home, Case won its first-ever outright University Athletic Association Championship. They also made it to the playoffs for the first time and won their regional quarterfinal match-up with Widener. “It’s an exciting time, even though we have to wish the seniors well in whatever they do,” said Whalen. “Our whole offense almost, except for two guys anchoring our line, [is] coming back. I’m always looking forward, but you can’t replace a Tom Zagorski or a Brandon Jeffries up there. Hopefully, we can get the recruiting going after a season like this and instead of rebuilding, just reload and start this year-in, year-out.” “What their legacy will be is they really changed the culture of athletics at this school,” Debeljak said of his seniors. “When these guys came in here, football was an afterthought, a non-entity. To see the way the school responded is something very special. That is what we’re going to lose with the seniors. “We have a lot of really talented kids coming back, but you never know,” he added. “We enjoyed it while we had it and we’ll go back [to] working hard. Hopefully, [we’ll] get that chemistry and the right people in there and make a run next year. These guys that are leaving are pretty special.” While Case’s postseason run inspired the Cleveland campus, other coaches have taken notice of the Spartans. “They’re a special football team,” Creighton said of Case. “You don’t get very many special ones in your career. It’s never about one guy, but [Whalen] is a special one. “Talking to him afterwards, you can tell that he is so much more than just a great player,” added Creighton. “You can tell he’s a great kid. I’m sure he’s an awesome leader. They’re going to have a lot of fun here at Case the next few years.” | |||||
| Permalink | Nov 24, 2007 | |||||
Central makes Johnnies see red When we picked the winners on Friday, the winners of all eight games were unanimous. The way in which the second round of the 2007 playoffs went down, however, was surprising. Who outside of Iowa, for example, foresaw Central dominating St. John's? Dutch quarterback Tim Connell threw four touchdown passes and the Central defense held St. John's scoreless on four of five red zone trips in a 37-7 win. Wesley blew the game open with two big plays in the second quarter to pull away from Muhlenberg 38-21 and advance to the regional finals (photo gallery). Aaron Jackson ran for 218 yards on just 14 carries, including touchdown runs of 89 and 41 yards. The Wolverines will host Mary Hardin-Baylor, which beat N.C. Wesleyan 64-0 behind 168 rushing yards from Quincy Daniels, 117 from Chris Owen and 95 from Jarvis Thrasher.
The North Region saw Wabash make its national ranking stand up, as the Little Giants defeated Case Western Reserve 38-23, ending the Spartans' unlikely run at 11-1 (photo gallery). After North Central cut UW-Whitewater's lead to 24-21 in the third quarter, the Warhawks scored 25 of the next 32 to put the game away in a 59-28 (photo gallery). Saturday's scoreboard and game stories.
| |||||
| Permalink | Nov 24, 2007 | |||||
News
D3sports.com
Network
Network
News
Columns
Awards
Other departments
Coaches and SIDs
Interactive
Your support helps keep this site operating
Gagliardi Watch