By Pat Cummings
D3sports.com
Misery loves company.
Few Division III fans would have predicted that both Bridgewater (preseason No. 7) and Christopher Newport (preseason No. 16) would sit in the loss column following their Week 1 contests. Granted, McDaniel and Rowan are far from pushovers, but fundamental mistakes from both the Eagles and Captains resulted in disappointing starts for the Mid-Atlantic region's top squads.
The Green Terror of McDaniel jumped out to a 14-0 lead over Bridgewater and never turned back. Eagles quarterback Brandon Wakefield tossed two interceptions, including one on a first and goal situation with less than 30 seconds remaining.
"If we pressured [Wakefield], he would screw up, or make mistakes," McDaniel coach Tim Keating told the Carroll County Times. "He did make a big mistake. He shouldn't have thrown it. They had a chance to kick the field goal [to tie the game]."
BC suffered ten penalties, surrendering 105 yards to the McDaniel, despite outgaining the Green Terror in total yardage and possessing the football for nearly ten minutes more than their opponents.
Christopher Newport missed three extra point attempts in their one-point defeat at home to the Rowan Profs. Despite losing quarterback Philip Jones to leg cramps early in the second half, backup Hudson Bryant stepped up and got the Captains to the end zone twice, with two of the missed PATs coming while Bryant was holding on the attempts. CNU coach Matt Kelchner seemed to throw up his hands after two different kickers failed to get the job done.
"We thought we had it solved; we went with Jonathan (Hill) to start and he kicked a poor first extra point and then on the field goal he just kicked a low trajectory," Kelchner said in an interview with the Hampton Roads Daily Press. "I said, man, the kid's just not getting the ball up in the air." Kelchner went with sophomore Jason Broskie who subsequently missed two PATs over the course of the 2003 season, failing on two of four attempts Saturday.
The road gets no easier for the Captains who will host McDaniel this weekend as the Green Terror look to sweep the cream of Virginia's crop. Should McDaniel pull off a victory at POMOCO Stadium, the Green Terror will turn some more heads than they already have.
Performance of the week
Delaware Valley's Adam Knoblauch completed 15 of 25 passes for 196 yards and four touchdowns. In the first game of his junior season, Knoblauch has
completed more passes than any Aggies quarterback in school history and tied the school record for most touchdown passes. Expect the youngster to hold every mark in the Del Val books midway through this season.
Disappointment of the week
Two placekickers missed a total of three extra points in CNU's 33-32 loss to
Rowan.
Newbie update
Congrats to Randolph-Macon head coach Pedro Arruza who notched his first victory in his first game as head coach in Randolph-Macon's 20-10 victory over Chowan. Arruza packed his bags for Virginia in March, having previously coached as an assistant at Washington University in St. Louis.
Shocker of the Week
Dickinson scored 49 points on a Juniata team with seven returning defensive starters. Picked to finish last in the Centennial preseason coaches' poll, the Red Devils went to the air for three scores and put forth a defensive showcase, intercepting four Juniata passes and recovering two Eagles fumbles. Juniata's senior quarterback Greg Troutman went down with an injury early, and the Red Devils pulled clear.
Don't get too excited, however. Dickinson has won six of its last seven season openers and have done no better than a 6-4 season mark going back to 1999.
Mid Atlantic Region Top 5
1. Hampden Sydney
2. Christopher Newport
3. Bridgewater
4. Johns Hopkins
5. Delaware Valley
As I said before, the first week of football leaves much to be desired amongst our Top 5 squads. Hampden-Sydney played well and won, but did allow 17 points to a lackluster Sewanee squad. Their win alone puts them up top and they must be hungry with a second cupcake in Gettysburg this week.
CNU should get its act together after a nailbiting loss to Rowan, albeit an out-of-region loss that does not impact them in playoff consideration. Furthermore, the loss is lessened when considering CNU plays in a much weaker conference than their cross-commonwealth rivals, Bridgewater. Win the weak USAC and get a ticket to the second season.
Bridgewater is not as lucky. The Eagles need a win over Hampden-Sydney, period. Two regional losses is a kiss of death and the Eagles can start shoveling their own grave if the Tigers exact revenge on Oct. 2. The ONLY hope Mike Clark's men would have is McDaniel beating CNU and then winning the Centennial. Such hopes would be slim regardless, but if you are a fan of the red and gold, hang your hat on the "taking it one game at a time" approach.
Editorializing for a moment, I was startled to see Brandon Wakefield at the helm of the offense after the Eagles' 66-0 shelling in last year's national semifinals. Perhaps the presence of a handful of quarterback transfers canceled their effectiveness in camp. I expect Mike Clark to make a decision on a quarterback soon, as Wakefield is riding a costly two-game losing streak dating back to last year.
Johns Hopkins had a basic run of it, doubling up the Rochester Yellow Jackets, 34-17. The Blue Jays are normally rock-solid defensively and 14 of those 17 points came from the Rochester starters against the Johns Hopkins backups. It took six games in the 2003 campaign for the Blue Jays to allow as many lights on their opponents' side of the scoreboard.
Delaware Valley head coach G.A. Mangus told me before Friday's 35-0 win against William Paterson that he viewed the game as a second scrimmage. Not bad for a scrimmage.
"Just two years ago, people would have been ecstatic with a 35-0 opening-day win," Mangus told the Doylestown (Pa.) Intelligencer. "But I'm not satisfied, because it wasn't the perfect game." Indeed the Aggies missed some assignments but 35-0 is impressive regardless.
Games of the week
No. 22 Lycoming at King's, 1:30 p.m., Monarch Stadium, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.: Lycoming begins a ten-game gauntlet for the first time in years, and they do so on the road at King's. The Monarchs played a deceptively close game in Williamsport last season, falling by ten points which was aided by a late Lyco interception returned for a score.
McDaniel at Christopher Newport, 1 p.m., POMOCO Stadium, Newport News, Va.: The Green Terror seek to topple two of Virginia's top three teams in consecutive weeks, this time traveling to CNU. Props to Tim Keating for biting the strength of schedule bullet, something we here at D3football.com respect. A win on Saturday for the Green Terror will significantly aid their chances should they suffer a defeat in conference play. I expect the Captains could come out with anchors blazing after a disappointing loss at the feet of their kickers.
Albright at Wilkes, 1 p.m., Ralston Field, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.: As we mentioned in last week's column, Albright has been the epitome of inconsistent football. Posting schizophrenic records of 2-8, 7-4, 2-8, and 7-3 over the past four seasons, a statistics major would bet tuition on a lackluster 2004 season. That, of course, would fail to take into account senior John Port's presence in Reading. If Albright is to buck their recent performance trend, a win over Wilkes and the speedy Brett Trichilo is necessary. Either way, a solid MAC team will end up with an early conference loss.
Guilford at Methodist, 1 p.m., Monarch Field, Fayetteville, N.C.: There are few rivalries in Division III football and the state of North Carolina. But, behold a game between two such teams. The Quakers celebrated at home last year as freshman Travis Frazier booted a 24-yard field goal to break a 24-24 tie with four seconds remaining. The Monarchs look to regain footing over a Guilford squad they had manhandled prior to last year's late-game heroics.