By Matt Florjancic
D3sports.com
Banners have been raised, rings were issued and first-place finishes were celebrated for conference, regional and national championships.
Now that all the rallies have been completed and practices are being conducted, it means only one thing: After nearly nine months of waiting, Division III football is back.
This is my third year writing for D3football.com, but the eighth year I have been involved with Division III competition. The first Division III game I watched was in Alliance on a college visit to Mount Union. Coincidentally, the first game I ever worked was a Baldwin-Wallace/Mount Union game in Alliance.
Since those two experiences, I have seen Mount Union win four national championships, Case Western Reserve make the playoffs and win a postseason game for the first time and most importantly, watched as many student-athletes reached their goals of playing college sports.
Now, we all get to see more student-athletes and teams achieve their goals every Saturday from now through Stagg Bowl XXXVII in Salem, Va., on Dec. 19.
The time has come to take a look at ten games that will shape the 2009 regular season and could very well affect seeding among North Region teams in the NCAA playoffs.
Wittenberg at Washington U., Sept. 19. After a non-conference game in Michigan against Olivet, the Wittenberg Tigers will travel to St. Louis with the sting of last year's three-point setback fresh in their minds.
Wittenberg trailed by 21 points in the game's first 18 minutes last year, but fought back with a 14-point fourth quarter effort. However, an onside kick attempt out of bounds and a Washington University kneel-down prevented Wittenberg's complete comeback.
Washington University finished the 2008 season with a 5-5 record and secured a 16th consecutive season at .500 or better. The Bears gave up more than 300 yards of total offense a game last year, including 145.6 rushing yards per game.
Thomas More at John Carroll, Sept. 5. The Saints ran the table in the Presidents' Athletic Conference and face former PAC member John Carroll to start the season. Last year's meeting went to John Carroll 41-14. The Blue Streaks and Saints were tied at seven when John Carroll scored six-straight touchdowns.
The Saints return starting quarterback Trevor Stellman, who is a threat to run and pass the football. Stellman threw for 1,856 yards and 11 touchdowns, while running for 463 yards and nine scores.
The Blue Streaks will get a good first test for their new quarterback with the graduation of last year's starter Mark Petruziello. Petruziello was directly responsible for 71 percent of the Blue Streaks total yards in 2008. He passed for 2,005 yards, while rushing for another 123. As a team, John Carroll gained 2,992 yards from scrimmage.
Franklin at Baldwin-Wallace, Sept. 5. Franklin was leading last year's meeting 28-14 at halftime. However, a 21-point fourth quarter by the Yellow Jackets, capped off by Tim Miker's fumble recovery in the end zone, made it a one-score game with 1:46 to play.
Franklin, ranked No. 19 in D3football.com's preseason poll, survived the test and made it to the third round of the playoffs before losing to Wheaton. Quarterback Chad Rupp threw for 4,181 yards and 45 touchdowns against 14 interceptions.
Replacing Rupp, who is playing professionally in Germany, will not be an easy task, especially against an experienced corps of linebackers the Yellow Jackets have back this season.
Paul Burger led B-W's defense with 73 tackles, including four for lost yardage. Burger also had two interceptions, three pass break-ups, two quarterback hurries, one forced fumble and one recovery. Ryan Kish added 41 tackles in seven games last year.
Trine at Franklin, Sept. 26. The Trine, formerly Tri-State Thunder won their first-ever Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association championship before a first round exit from the postseason courtesy of Wheaton. Trine returns 40 lettermen and 14 starters to this year's team.
With Franklin having a couple games work out any kinks in the passing game, the match-up could be decided in the secondary. Trine returns three players to its defensive backfield in juniors Aaron Selking and Andrew Pickford, along with sophomore Ryan Rickaby. They combined for 126 tackles and 11 interceptions in 2008.
Ohio Northern at Otterbein, Sept. 26. Otterbein and Ohio Northern were picked to finish second and third respectively in the Ohio Athletic Conference's preseason coaches poll. Otterbein's offense is loaded with nine returning starters from last year's playoff team, while Ohio Northern brings 14 players back to the top line-up.
Otterbein quarterback Jack Rafferty, a finalist for last season's Gagliardi Trophy, ranked 15th in Division III with a 160.64 passer-efficiency rating. Rafferty threw for 1,991 yards and 22 touchdowns. He completed 12 passes for 136 yards in a 37-7 win against Ohio Northern last season.
Ohio Northern, who plays No. 4 North Central (Ill.) at home in its opener and Mount Union on Sept. 19, does not play an unranked team until October.
Washington U. at Case Western Reserve, Nov. 14. This could be the last home game in the brilliant career of Case quarterback Dan Whalen and that would be worth the price of admission alone. Throw in the fact that the UAA title has come down to this game for the past two years and Division III has a good rivalry in the last week of the regular season.
Whalen has been a thorn in the Bears' paw for the last two seasons, combining for 321 yards, three passing touchdowns and one rushing score. Case won both meetings, 35-27 at home in 2007 and 17-0 in St. Louis last fall.
Thomas More at Washington and Jefferson, Oct. 31. Washington and Jefferson's 4-2-5 defensive formation helped the Presidents get to the third round of the 2008 playoffs. With the loss of several prolific offensive starters, the defense must carry the load while new players get familiar with the speed of the game.
Two players expected to stop opposing offenses are All-North Region safety Craig Sedunov and defensive end Jacob Bloomhuff. Sedunov had 85 total tackles, six pass break-ups and two fumble recoveries for 23 returned yards. Sedunov also had a blocked kick and a safety. Bloomhuff led the team with 14.5 tackles-for-loss (89 yards) and 7.5 sacks.
Sedunov's safety came in the third quarter of the W&J-Thomas More game.
With Trevor Stellman back for Thomas More, this game could go a long way in deciding the Presidents' Athletic Conference championship and playoff participant.
Adrian at Trine, Nov. 7. Nine points were all that separated Adrian from a first place finish in the MIAA and a playoff berth last season. The Bulldogs finished 8-2, 5-1 in the MIAA after allowing a safety in the second quarter and 25-yard Eric Watt touchdown pass with less than seven minutes remaining in the game.
Adrian returns 58 players, including 13 starters this fall who are looking to break an 11-year conference championship drought. Though the Bulldogs lost two-time MIAA Offensive Most Valuable Player Troy Niblock to graduation, Mike McGee returns after transferring from Ohio University. McGee threw for 865 yards and three touchdowns last fall.
Wabash at Wooster, Oct. 24. It is going to take a lot to knock the Wabash Little Giants off the perch in the North Coast Athletic Conference, but the Wooster Fighting Scots have the defense to stop their four-year championship run.
The Scots return seven starters on defense, including lineman Chris Wade and linebackers Matt DeGrand and Steve Custenborder. DeGrand and Custenborder combined for 200 tackles, while the secondary corralled a school-record 20 interceptions.
Wabash's prolific offense will once again be led by quarterback Matt Hudson. Hudson is a senior who threw for 3,135 yards and 29 touchdowns against 12 interceptions. Hudson will have his top target from last year, Kody LeMond, to get the ball to. LeMond caught 73 passes for 1,228 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Case Western Reserve at Wooster, Oct. 10. Forget about the regular storylines of contending teams from rival conferences. For Case quarterback Dan Whalen, this game is personal.
Whalen was being courted by Case and Wooster among many other schools before becoming a Spartan. In his Sports Illustrated blog, Whalen previewed last year's game against Wooster with a story from his freshman year. He felt some Scots coaches ridiculed him for choosing Case over Wooster.
Whalen's response has been two straight wins over the Fighting Scots. In those two games against Wooster since his freshman year, Whalen has thrown for 533 yards and two touchdowns.
With all the talk over, it is time to get down to the business of watching Division III football. Enjoy the games!
