By Matt Florjancic
D3sports.com
At 3-1 entering Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association play, the Kalamazoo Hornets are off to their best start since 2003.
Seven seasons ago, the Hornets won their first four games over Wabash, Kenyon, Mount St. Joseph and Tri-State, but lost four of the six remaining contests. They finished the year at 6-4 and 2-4 in the MIAA.
Most of the current players were in high school or junior high when Kalamazoo last posted a winning season, but they have studied the history from coach Jamie Zorbo and figure on making some of their own before the 2009 season is over.
They enter MIAA play this week at home against the Adrian Bulldogs, a team that is 2-2 with wins over Defiance and Bluffton.
"It's hard for non-conference people to stop us, so we're figuring it'll be the same when conference comes," said Kalamazoo junior wide receiver Cory McCain. "When conference comes, everybody plays a little bit faster, including us. What you've seen thus far, we can only improve on.
"We've started something big," McCain added. "There's talk around campus. There's talk around the alumni. Our goal now is to finish what we've started. We've got to continue that momentum all the way through conference and bring home a championship."
Part of the momentum stems from the play of the offense. McCain leads the Hornets and is third in the country in yards per game. McCain is averaging 156.75 yards in the first four games and more than 16 yards per catch. He has 37 receptions and leads all of Division III with 11 touchdown catches.
McCain has already surpassed his productivity from last season. In 2008, McCain caught 31 passes for 497 yards and five touchdowns. With defenses concerned about senior wide receiver Jimmy Semelsberger in the middle of the field, McCain has been able to extend opposing secondaries.
Semelsberger caught 90 passes for 1,053 yards and seven touchdowns a year ago. This season, he has 38 catches for 563 yards and six touchdowns. Both McCain and Semelsberger average a first down every reception.
"It really does fool defenses," said McCain. "Because of what Jimmy did last year, they're really trying to key on him so far. Since I'm coming on downfield plays, it's really hard for a defense to guard deep and underneath at the same time. I put most of it on our offensive coordinator, Coach (Van) Nickert. He sees different things up in the booth and knows what I'm capable of doing. A lot of my success is to him for calling the plays and calling my number.
"It really gets me excited when we call a long route," he added. "I try to run just a tad bit faster at times and know that if I do get behind the defender, I'm gone. It'll be six no matter what because Brandon (Luczak) knows how to hit me when I'm open downfield."
"His relationship with our quarterback is real," said Zorbo. "Brandon (Luczak) has a lot of confidence in Cory. He's a big-play kind of receiver and he's definitely proven that this season. His relationship with the other receivers is pretty good too. He and Jimmy Semelsberger are go-to guys. They're a pretty powerful one-two punch."
Senior quarterback and captain Brandon Luczak enters the Adrian game with 134 completions in 207 attempts. Though he has thrown eight interceptions, Luczak has more than made up for the miscues with 19 touchdowns and 1,750 yards passing.
"It all stems from Brandon basically," McCain said of the team's confidence. "He and I actually practiced a few times this summer getting our routes down and our timing down. He knows the way I run and when I'm going to get open. I know how he likes to run around the pocket and throw when he sees me open and how he's going to throw it. It's working for us this season.
"Brandon is our leader out there," added McCain. "If his confidence falls, you'll see it around the entire offensive side of the bench. It's up to us to pick him up, just like it's up to him to pick us up when we start holding our heads down. We all hold each other accountable and it really goes far for our team."
Luczak's confidence does not look like it will fall any time soon.
After throwing for a school-record 473 yards and five touchdowns against Bluffton last Saturday, the team is ready to rally around its quarterback.
"It's a completely different feel," McCain concluded. "Athletics aren't really big around Kalamazoo College, but now, you have professors starting to look at us. Students are starting to notice that we are serious this year. The feel around the locker room has changed also. Everybody's really excited to keep playing football and keep being successful."
News and notes
Earlham quarterback Dorian Jenkins accounted for four touchdowns in the Quakers' 37-34 win over Anderson (0-3) Saturday. Jenkins was 17-of-31 for 220 yards with two touchdown passes. He ran the ball 19 times for 77 yards and had another two touchdowns. Earlham improved to 2-1 with the win. Kicker Max Crumley-Effinger tied the school record with three field goals in the game. Counting the three field goals and four extra points, Crumley-Effinger scored 13 points. His total set the school record for points in a game by a kicker.
Geneva (3-0) quarterback David Girardi was 22-of-33 for 325 yards and one touchdown in the Golden Tornadoes' 37-13 victory over Thiel (1-3, 0-1 Presidents' Athletic Conference) Saturday. Girardi connected with eight receivers, including three passes to Matt Dean. Dean gained 128 yards on those three receptions and had a 72-yard reception on the first drive of the fourth quarter. Dean capped the drive with one of his two touchdown runs.
Four players scored and two had multiple-touchdown performances in Carnegie Mellon's 42-3 victory over Hiram (0-3). Justin Pratt and Dave Birsen led the Tartans (3-1) with two rushing touchdowns a piece. Jake Nardone had a 4-yard touchdown run and Phil Pantalone threw a 26-yard scoring pass to Chris Garcia.
Otterbein (3-0, 2-0 Ohio Athletic Conference) jumped out to a 35-17 halftime lead, but scored only three points the rest of the way in a 38-36 victory over visiting Ohio Northern (1-2, 0-2 OAC). In place of injured starter Jack Rafferty, Otterbein's Aaron Schlosser went 10-of-15 for 157 yards and one touchdown. Schlosser added 72 yards and one touchdown on the ground.
Great Lakes Region Teams in D3football.com's Top 25 Poll
No. 1: Mount Union (OAC): No change following 45-14 win over Muskingum
No. 7: Washington and Jefferson (PAC): Up one spot after 28-10 road win at Grove City
No. 9: Case Western Reserve (UAA): Up one spot following bye week
No. 12: Wabash (NCAC): Up two spots after 62-24 home win over Kenyon
No. 13: Otterbein (OAC): Up five spots following 38-36 victory over No. 16 Ohio Northern
No. 16: Ohio Northern (OAC): Down seven spots following 38-36 loss at No. 13 Otterbein
No. 22: Capital (OAC): Up three spots after 37-21 win at Wilmington
No. 25: Thomas More (PAC) Into Top 25 after 34-16 win over Westminster
Others Receiving Votes: Trine (MIAA), Wittenberg (NCAC)
Games of the Week
Adrian (2-2) at Kalamazoo (3-1), Saturday, Oct. 3, 1 p.m.: The Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association begins conference play with two team near the top of the league standings playing each other.
Kalamazoo is off to its best start since 2003 when the Hornets won their first four games. Coincidentally, the Hornets last defeated Adrian in 2003.
The Hornets offense averages 39.8 points and 440.8 yards per game, while the Bulldogs defense allows just over 200 yards passing per game.
Wabash (3-0, 2-0 NCAC) at Allegheny (3-0, 1-0 NCAC): The Little Giants are out to another good start. With Matt Hudson running the offense, they are averaging more than 55 points in wins over Denison (56-7), at Chicago (48-10) and Kenyon (62-24).
Allegheny's offense averages less than three touchdowns per game, but with Saturday's shutout of the Oberlin Yeomen, the Gators are giving up only seven points per game.
