By Matt Florjancic
D3sports.com
During the recently completed election cycle, the country was bombarded with messages of change from candidates at local, state and national levels.
While change in terms of retiring from athletic competition can be a difficult decision for those who have spent many years honing their crafts, finding another place to display one's skills is a key part of success for the individual and team.
Being relegated to backup status after getting recruited out of high school is a transition many hate, but when a player is established or emerges during camp, plans to participate early can be dashed.
Otterbein quarterback Jack Rafferty graduated from Coffman High School in Dublin, Ohio and headed south to Western Kentucky. As a freshman, Rafferty was redshirted and held for field goals the next season. Rafferty left the game behind and transferred to Kentucky.
"I went from Western Kentucky because I just decided to not play football anymore," Rafferty said. "Once I wasn't playing football there, I didn't see much reason to continue to be there. After that, I went to the University of Kentucky because they had a similar degree program at the time and that's also where my fianceé was playing soccer.
"When I was at the University of Kentucky, I guess I got to the point that I just wanted to play football again," he added. "Once I figured that out, I started to search where I wanted to continue my career at."
The search led him to Otterbein, where he was the Cardinals' skill player of the year a season ago. Rafferty was 89 of 157 for 1388 yards with eight touchdowns and six interceptions. When he was flushed from the pocket, Rafferty carried the ball for 401 yards and 10 touchdowns.
This year, the Cardinals are 8-1 overall and 7-1 in the Ohio Athletic Conference heading into the regular season finale at John Carroll on Saturday afternoon.
Rafferty seems more comfortable running Otterbein's offense as well. He is 93-of-152 for 1456 yards with 15 touchdowns against only four interceptions. Rafferty has added six touchdowns on the ground.
"I've coached at all levels of football and he's the best quarterback that I've been around or coached," said Otterbein coach Joe Loth. "A lot of times, it doesn't show in his stats when you read the box score after the game. It's just all the intangibles of him getting in and out of good plays, him making good throws and being able to run the option. He's the major reason that we're able to run the type of offense we run right now.
"We're a spread-style offense," Loth added. "It's a spread-style offense, but we can also run the ball. We're second in the conference in rushing. We've been in the shotgun every snap, except for one this year. We still run pro personnel, two backs, tight end, two wideouts, but we go from that to empty. We're just a spread with multiple formations and personnel."
The offensive success comes with practice. Spending time together as a unit perfecting routes, making adjustments and studying opposing defenses are all part of why Otterbein is becoming a factor in the OAC regular season championship race.
Otterbein hosted Mount Union last weekend in what amounted to an OAC championship game. The Purple Raiders won 49-20 over the Cardinals, but this is a sign of progression for the program. In 2006, Mount Union defeated Otterbein 71-14.
"We put in a lot of hard work in the offseason and we knew that we could have a very successful season if we really put our minds to it and put the work in," said Rafferty. "It's always nice to see hard work pay off. We were very fortunate to not play Mount Union until week nine, which really helped us build a very good base to our season.
"If you look over the course of the last 10 years, there's always been a team that has a two- or three-year run where they emerge from the rest of the pack and compete with Mount Union," added Rafferty. "It's been Capital the last couple years and now I think we're experiencing that."
Though they are ready to compete with powerhouse teams like Mount Union, for the Cardinals to get another shot at the Purple Raiders, they must take care of John Carroll and wait for a Pool C berth.
"The easiest way to look at it is, if we beat John Carroll, we've got a decent chance of making the playoffs," Loth said. "That's motivation in itself right there. This is the first chance it's come down to a game where if we win, we're in, hopefully."
"Everything that we worked hard for reaching the playoffs is in front of us right now," added Rafferty. "We're facing a very good John Carroll team. We're at the position that we want to be and are able to achieve what we wanted to achieve which was the playoffs. We just have to execute, play as well as we can and see what happens this week.
"It would be such a big deal to everyone," Rafferty said. "As we've been doing well, it's nice to see some of the old players come back. The success that we're having this year is something that a lot of people have waited a long time to see."
News and notes
Oberlin has been riddled by injuries the entire season. Running back R.V. Carroll, the North Coast Athletic Conference co-offensive player of the year in 2007, did not play a full season due to a knee injury. However, Carroll wanted to finish the year strong and his career with those he entered the college with. In a 27-7 loss on Senior Day against Wooster, Carroll gained 37 yards on 17 carries to become the school's all-time leading rusher. He now has 3,468 yards rushing and is seven points away from breaking Oberlin's career scoring record.
Case Western Reserve did not waste many offensive opportunities against Carnegie Mellon. Six of Case's 11 drives went for scores against Carnegie Mellon in the 23rd Academic Bowl. The Spartans soundly defeated CMU 38-13 behind two Dan Whalen passing touchdowns, as well as rushing scores from Whalen and Corey Checkan. Junior defensive back Bobby Bott had an interception return for a touchdown, his second defensive score of the year.
The chances of Thomas More getting a home playoff game took a stunning blow last Saturday when the Saints lost to Geneva 17-13. The Saints lost two fumbles and had a pair of interceptions that led to a field goal and the end of the game.
A second quarter safety and touchdown in the game's final seven minutes gave Trine the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association regular season championship and postseason berth. Eric Watt rushed for 107 yards and connected with Paul Curtis for a 25-yard touchdown.
Great Lakes teams in the North Region rankings
1. Mount Union
3. Otterbein
4. Wabash
5. Trine
6. Case Western Reserve
8. Adrian
10. Wooster
Great Lakes Region teams in D3football.com's Top 25
No. 1 Mount Union, OAC: No change following 49-20 road win at Otterbein
No. 3 Wabash, NCAC: No change after 630 victory over Hiram
No. 12 Case Western Reserve, UAA: Up one spot after 38-13 win against Carnegie Mellon
No. 14 Otterbein, OAC: Down two spots after 49-20 loss at home against Mount Union
No. 19 Washington and Jefferson, PAC: No change after 54-7 win over Bethany
No. 21 Trine, MIAA: Up two spots after 90 victory over Adrian
Others receiving votes: Thomas More, PAC. Out of Top 25 after 17-13 loss to Geneva
Games of the Week
Case Western Reserve (9-0, 2-0 UAA) at Washington U. (5-4, 1-1), Saturday, Nov. 15, Noon CT: They are no longer considered upstarts in the University Athletic Association or the country, but the Spartans are out to prove last year's victory against the Bears, their first in 16 years, was no fluke.
Behind the strong arm of quarterback Dan Whalen and with a healthy core of receivers, Case's offense will be able to put points on the board. The Spartans defense/special teams must make key stops if they want to run their UAA and regular season winning streaks to seven and 21 games respectively.
Wittenberg (6-3, 4-2 NCAC) at Wooster (7-2, 5-1), Saturday, Nov. 15, 1 p.m.: Wittenberg's season has been thrown off course by three one-score losses to Washington University in St. Louis, Wabash and last weekend at Allegheny. Conversely, the Fighting Scots have won two straight games and are eyeing a long-shot at-large berth to the postseason.
