By Ryan Tipps
D3sports.com

Shan Fairbanks had some big shoes to fill on the Averett team this season, but the junior quarterback has long known what it means to be in a big role.

During his junior year in high school in Groveland, Fla., Fairbanks was asked to partner up with Shaun Beebe, a boy who likes to eat pizza, go to movies and watch sports. He also has autistic tendencies, among other disabilities.

From the start, though, there was a lot of common ground in their personalities.

"He's like a miniature me," Fairbanks said. "I guess that's why we were paired up. He's a sports fanatic."

The two met through Best Buddies, a program that is intended to get special ed children more involved in school. At first, they spent time alternating between classes in drafting, ceramics and pottery, art and physical education.

Shaun Beebe and Shan Fairbanks.

A guidance counselor and a teacher first spotted the potential between the two. Turns out for a person with Fairbanks' personality, it was the perfect match.

"He's an outgoing person," said Averett head coach Mike Dunlevy. "He's easy to get along with and easy to have a conversation with. He has plenty of ideas, and is one of our better students on the football team. He does really well in the classroom."

Fairbanks, a biology major at Averett who wants to become an orthopedic surgeon, had reservations early on about the peer-buddy program.

"I was definitely skeptical (at first), because I had never before hung out with someone with special needs, someone who was mentally challenged or physically challenged," Fairbanks said. "I was kind of scared because I didn't know what to expect. ... I'm up for new things, new challenges, so I wanted to see if I could do something with it. I went ahead and tried it for the first semester. And it just evolved from there."

And it didn't take long for the connection between Fairbanks and Beebe to take off. Soon, they were hanging out together outside of school, Beebe was growing close with the rest of the high school football team and he even became the one to lead the team through the banner as they came onto the field. 

Fairbanks was no longer spending time with just a buddy, he was fostering a friendship.

"He just started coming over to house," Fairbanks said. "And he loves pizza and watching sports. And we would just watch football Thursday nights and eat pizza."

It has been four years now, and Fairbanks says the two are friends, first and foremost. Fairbanks talks to Beebe every week on the phone, and whenever he returns to Florida, Beebe is at the top of his list.

Seeing Beebe, now 21, is "the first thing I do when I go home. If I get home during the day, I'll go to school to pick him up. Or if I'm home a little later, I go pick him up from his house."

How has this experience translated into Fairbanks' life outside of the buddy program? He has already worked with Special Olympics, and that's something he says he wants to return to in the future. And overcoming trepidation is part of leadership, something coach Dunlevy says his quarterback is adapting to nicely.

The team "sees Shan as a leader, and a lot of it is because of his knowledge," Dunlevy said. "He's a guy who any of our offensive players -- whether it's an offensive lineman or a receiver or running back -- can go to and ask, 'What do I do on this play.' And he can answer that question. I think that says a lot about his leadership and about his wanting to know what everybody's doing. I think that's why people have confidence in him. They know that if they're not in the right place, he's going to get them in the right place and get them straightened out."

That leadership has helped him fill the big shoes left by the past two quarterbacks at Averett, both of whom had been all conference in the USA South. Dunlevy tells how Fairbanks stepped into the spotlight early in his career, after coming off an 0-10 season in high school.

During Fairbanks' freshman year, "we had two guys (at quarterback), an all-conference guy and another guy who rotated with that all-conference guy," Dunlevy said. "His first year was in a backup role. Before that first game, we announced who was going to be starting for us, and Shan was the third guy. Todd Parsons broke his finger in practice that week, and then in the first quarter, the first-team all-conference guy broke his leg. So Shan was brought in to finish that game. Actually we were down 14 points in his first college game, and he came in for the next three quarters and got us back in the game -- and won the game for us.

"He's never looked back since."

For a person such as Beebe who loves sports, Fairbanks -- a dedicated athlete and student -- is in the ideal role, and that is part of why their friendship has grown.

"When people think of mentally challenged," Fairbanks said, "people think they're isolated, that they really don't get to have a life. But that's what I try to do with Shaun, get him to be just like a friend, to treat him like a normal person."

Are these teams the real deal?

LIKELY: It's becoming even more difficult to understand how Randolph-Macon lost to a now 1-5 Frostburg State in Week 3. The Yellow Jackets came out this weekend with probably their biggest win of the season, holding off Emory & Henry in a 28-25 win. Sophomore quarterback Brandon Braner was in crisp form and connected with the end zone three times through the air. R-M had a star on defense, as well, as junior Hassas Shonekan came down with a first-half interception in the end zone, saving what could have been a game-deciding score. But the bigger picture for the Yellow Jackets means that, as the only team undefeated in conference play, they are in control of the ODAC. And right behind them is Hampden-Sydney. Does this scenario seem to be mounting into a conference-deciding matchup on Nov. 10? Sure does. That adds even more weight to what is historically the Old Dominion's most intense rivalry.

POSSIBLY: Albright extended its win streak to five games last weekend with a narrow 24-21 victory over winless King's. The Lions are looking sharp on paper, and first-year coach John Marzka has certainly turned the team around after a poor 2006 performance. But there is still reason to tiptoe around the bandwagon: Albright's wins come against opponents that are a combined 6-24. And the only opponent that has a strong overall record is Salisbury (7-0), and the Gulls dished out a 42-12 pummeling in Week 1 against the Lions. A win for Albright against Wilkes this coming weekend will be a psychological hurdle for the team and one that should ensure they end the season as a top MAC competitor. Too bad the Widener and Delaware Valley games aren't until the last two weeks for the season. Therein lay the real tests.

UNLIKELY: It's hard to see how far the mighty have fallen. Wilkes has scraped the ground with its loss against Lycoming, which had played several games this season to within four points, but before Saturday, had always been on the losing end. Of course, it's harsh for the Colonels that the Warrior win came at their expense. The Colonels have come off of two playoff seasons in a row to start 2007 with a 2-4 record, its worst in at least eight years. Many people knew that Wilkes was going to have some holes to fill this year after losing its star rusher and other playmakers, though Wilkes seemed to have enough talent returning to allow other positions to reload. Not so this season. Maybe what they build here will be the foundations for a better season in 2008.

The blitz package

Shenandoah broke its nine-game losing streak that extended to last year with a hefty 33-7 win over USA South foe Greensboro. Last year, the Pride accounted for the Hornets' only in-conference win, though time will tell if that bit of history repeats itself. Prior to Saturday, Shenandoah had posted only 40 points all season, making this 33-point game even more impressive. The Hornet run game was by committee, with nine players logging positive yardage en route to a 300-yard day.

Muhlenberg stayed on course by beating McDaniel for the first time since 1993. The win is the sixth for the Mules this season and keeps them as the lone team atop the Centennial Conference. Muhlenberg has also stepped it up on defense. After shutting out its first two teams of the season, the Mules are back at that level, giving up just a field goal in the most recent pair of weeks.

Lebanon Valley's final effort to tie the game against Widener fell short when Orlando Brown picked off a pass with under a minute to go in the game. Widener walked away with a 20-13 win Saturday, and for the second weekend in a row held its opponent to fewer than seven second-half points. This is key for a team that has struggled this year to keep up its stamina coming out of halftime.

Washington and Lee was involved in a rare shootout in its loss against Hampden-Sydney. The Generals racked up more than 40 points for the first time since 2005, however, they also gave up 45 points, a first for them since the Hampden-Sydney game in '03. The second quarter saw a combined 49 points by both teams. For the day, while each team's passing yardage was similar, the Generals were outgained on the ground more than 2-1 by the Tigers.

Sports Illustrated on (small) campus

The folks at Stone Station, Bridgewater's well-known tailgating crew, welcomed a special visitor during the Homecoming game this past weekend against Guilford. Bridgewaterfootball.com owner Matt Barnhart -- with an assist from fan Hal Duff -- tells us all about it in their words:

Imagine for moment that, prior to the 2007 college football season, you could choose, and attend, any Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly called Division I-A) game that you wanted. A dream for any college football fan, right? Well, Andrew Reed is living that dream, and then some.

Over 14 weeks, and 16 games, his plan is to drive across the country to fully penetrate and examine the college football culture in different locales. Through his blog (Road Games) and Sports Illustrated's On Campus, he will report not on the games. Instead, his focus will be on the college football fans, their love of the sport and how it relates to their social, political, geographic and religious attitudes. He will discuss with them their feelings on the current changes facing the sport, and how their fandom is entwined with their day-to-day life, among other things. To learn more about his big plan -- which includes writing a book -- click here.

Now for the really cool part. In the interest of full disclosure, Andrew decided he wanted to attend one small college game. After selecting the Division I FBS slate, there was an open window between the Texas-Oklahoma game on Oct. 6 and the October 18 game in New Jersey matching South Florida and Rutgers. Bridgewater was hosting Guilford on Oct. 13 and the drive from Texas to New Jersey brought him through Virginia's Shenandoah Valley and, lucky for us, he chose Bridgewater.

He contacted me after stumbling upon Bridgewaterfootball.com, and I did all I could to show him what Division III is all about. Up to that point, his travels had taken him to the football meccas; Notre Dame, two Death Valleys (Clemson & LSU), Seas of Red in Nebraska and Wisconsin, the Pac 10 in Washington, and the State Fair in Dallas for the Texas-Oklahoma game. I jokingly warned him about the smaller town, smaller school, smaller crowd and smaller tailgates, however, those differences actually turned out to work in his (and our) favor. He met with the President of Bridgewater on Wednesday, and on Friday, had breakfast at the home of Bridgewater head coach Mike Clark. Yes, at his house. I doubt that he had muffins and juice with coaches Weis, Miles or Stoops! He also arranged interviews with a handful of Bridgewater super fans prior to Saturday's main event, the famous Stone Station tailgate. 

Once again, the Stone Station crew brought their "A" game. Saturday's Homecoming menus included barbecued chicken quarters, homemade Maryland crab soup, a low country boil, grilled tuna bites, beef brisket, homemade dumpling soup, a deep fried turkey, fried mahi-mahi, homemade chili and grilled shrimp wrapped in bacon. (I won't bore you with all the side items and desserts, but they were plentiful and tasty). Most important were the fans, parents, former players and alumni who all took part in the tailgating festivities and many of whom were able to share their experiences with Andrew, who seemingly made time for anyone willing to talk. He saw a little bit of everything!

After leaving Bridgewater, in a thank you e-mail to one of Bridgewater's super fans, Andrew commented, "I really feel like I lucked out in choosing your school for my D-III destination. I can't wait to write about the whole experience."

Although I am glad that Bridgewater was chosen, I am confident that the true Division III tailgating spirit would have been on display wherever he ended up.

High five

The Around the Mid-Atlantic top teams:
1. Christopher Newport
2. Bridgewater
3. Dickinson
4. Widener
5. Muhlenberg

Since none of the teams in the High Five lost this past week, I see no need to change the order of things. Bridgewater's huge win over Guilford solidifies their place high in the ranking, if not helping to make the argument that the Eagles could be in the No. 1 spot. Still on the radar are Delaware Valley and Albright, though both of them have their own shortcomings that just keep them out of reach of the No. 5 spot. Also, I am adding N.C. Wesleyan to my watch list. The team has made quick work of recent opponents, scoring 50, 51 and 49 points in the past three games, respectively -- while never giving up more than 20.

At the head of the class

By grade level, here are the mid-Atlantic's players of the week:
Freshman
Charles Curcio, halfback, Gettysburg: Found the end zone twice and had 184 all-purpose yards in the Bullets' 42-21 Homecoming victory. Curcio scored on a 25-yard run in the second quarter and later returned a punt 56 yards for a touchdown.

Sophomore
Mike Isgro, quarterback, Delaware Valley: Went 18-for-24 for 239 yards and three touchdowns in the Aggies 42-14 win over FDU-Florham. Isgro also reached the endzone on a 13-yard run.

Junior
Dionte Beatty, cornerback, Shenandoah: Made 11 tackles and was key in holding an all-conference receiver to just 54 yards in the Hornets 33-7 win, their first of the season.

Senior
Brandon Copeland, wide receiver, Bridgewater: Hauled in four touchdown receptions, setting a Bridgewater single-game record. Copeland had 165 yards in total catches.

Games of the week

Dickinson at Gettysburg: The Bullets have been the Centennial surprise of the season, cranking out some solid wins so far. And they've had a bye week to think about things going into the Dickinson game. A Gettysburg win here could set the stage for a CC tie if the Red Devils knock off Muhlenberg the following week. Both teams need this to stay in the hunt. 

Albright at Wilkes: As mentioned above, Albright is in the MAC's driver's seat, and amid Wilkes' down year, a win for the Lions could help them get over a mental hump against the defending conference champ.

Bridgewater at Emory and Henry: With so many teams in the running for the conference title and such an even playing field, having more than one conference loss isn't necessarily a death blow in the ODAC. But there's a lot of ground yet to tread, and both teams need this boost to be certain of staying above the pack.