By Pat Coleman
D3sports.com
WASHINGTON -- Two-and-a-half quarters into Catholic's game with Randolph-Macon, things looked grim. Catholic fans (and anyone who's been on the ODAC message board over in Post Patterns know there are a lot of them) had to be cringing as Randolph-Macon took a 26-7 lead.
I was one of them. Yes, I'm a Catholic grad, as many people take delight in pointing out.
Now, I'd seen this before. Catholic trailed John Carroll by 20 in the season opener. But I'd also seen Randolph-Macon get out to an early lead and lose it in the second half. So had the press corps which followed the Yellow Jackets north. "I've seen this happen too many times before," said one of them.
Nonetheless, I had my doubts. And when Randolph-Macon came out and put its longest drive of the afternoon to make it 26-7 with 7:40 left, I was about ready to write them off.
Spoke too soon. Randolph-Macon got 1 yard the rest of the way, while Catholic put up 305 yards and 28 unanswered points, winning the first game in the round-robin between them, Emory & Henry and Randolph-Macon that is expected to decide the ODAC champion.
"We were afraid to play man defense in the first half," said Catholic head coach Tom Clark. "Once our kids started covering them, no question they got fatigued."
Meanwhile, the players had drawn upon one of the same experiences I had. "I think playing John Carroll and what that was like was important for us today, dealing with the emotion of being down." said Clark.
Catholic's attempts to balance the pass offense worked to a point, with leader Mike Hunter catching 12 of the 24 completed passes. But the rookie trio of Brian Gallagher, Jim Jankiewicz and Dan Evans combined for three catches (two by Gallagher for 38 yards and a touchdown and one by Evans). Expect to see senior Brad Jones get some more balls thrown his way after only two went his direction last week.
The second of the three biggest ODAC games of the season is Saturday, when Emory & Henry travels to Randolph-Macon. The Wasps then travel to Catholic Oct. 30.
Centennial Aspirations
It seems a foregone conclusion that the Ohio Athletic Conference will get two bids this year, but what other three conferences will get multiple teams in the playoffs? The Centennial is hoping it will be one of them.
"I think the chances (of getting a runner-up in the playoffs) are pretty good," said Ursinus head coach Paul Guenther. "We're playing a lot of MAC crossover games. I think if two teams are 9-1 they should be in."
Right now Western Maryland has the clear advantage as the only undefeated conference team. The battle for second is currently between Guenther's Bears and Muhlenberg, each 4-1, 3-1 in conference.
Johns Hopkins coach Jim Margraff is not as optimistic. "I think if you look at the conference there's Western Maryland and three or four at the next level. ... I'd be shocked if they did (take two Centennial teams). Not that they wouldn't be deserving, just other conferences are traditionally better."
For those of you keeping score, the Centennial is 3-3 against the ODAC, 1-1 against the MAC and 4-2 against everyone else (Oberlin, Hobart, Union, Kings Point, Carnegie Mellon).
The week ahead
No. 5 Lycoming at No. 35 Wilkes (12:30)
This is likely the MAC Freedom League championship game, as the two teams are undefeated on their side of the conference and hold a combined record of 8-1. Wilkes is coming off two consecutive shutouts, while Lycoming is off its bye week.
"First, the game is huge because at this point of the season, both teams are in the thick of the race for the league and conference championships. Their only loss was at Juniata which is out of the league. When you add the fact that this has become a big rivalry, it is going to make for a great football game," Lycoming coach Frank Girardi said.
No. 26 Emory & Henry at Randolph-Macon (1:00)
Wish I could see this game, because this is going to be a good one. It will be interesting to see whether the Jackets can avoid the second-half letdowns that have plagued them in big games this season.
No. 12 Frostburg State at Brockport State (1:30)
Brockport is in the midst of a hellacious stretch of games against Top 25 programs, and they've held their own, losing to Montclair State by 15, Buffalo State by two and Ithaca by 10. Is this the week they break through? Or is this the week Frostburg, in the eyes of many, earns its No. 12 ranking?