By Ryan Tipps
D3sports.com
North Carolina Wesleyan’s Mark Henninger is comfortable pacing the sidelines in front of his team. After all, he’s been doing it for five seasons now, but not until this year has he done it as the Bishops’ head coach.
Henninger has been in Rocky Mount, N.C., since the program’s beginning in 2004, mostly serving as defensive coordinator. He took the reins of the team earlier this year after former head coach Jack Ginn accepted a position at Division II Grand Valley State.
The Indianapolis native graduated from Wittenberg in 1996 and had a handful of assistant gigs before signing on with N.C. Wesleyan. After starting the season with two losses, NCWC went 5-2 over the next seven games, punctuated with a win Saturday over Ferrum, which was tied with Christopher Newport as the leader in the USA South.
Some favorable events are what even kept Ferrum in the game -- and tied at 14 -- going into the break. Then during the second half, the Bishops responded in grand fashion, turning the day into a 41-14 onslaught.
In every way, the Bishops turned Ferrum’s weaknesses against them, especially in picking apart the secondary and capitalizing on a very physical performance. That’s where Henninger’s expertise in coaching factored in.
So what’s it like to be the boss in his first year? D3football.com talked with Henninger to get his perspective on the challenges he has faced and the lessons he has learned.
D3football.com: Coming into the role of head coach, what do you feel was your biggest challenge?
Henninger: Since I had been here since the program started, I think that the biggest challenges were not necessarily assuming the role of head coach but more where does our program go after losing 25 seniors that started the thing. We had real questions about leadership, and while we had a decent-sized group of seniors coming into the year, none of them had been asked to lead. And I think that was the biggest challenge, trying to find leadership from a bunch of guy who had never been asked to do that before. I feel like we’ve done a pretty good job with that. We’ve definitely had some players step up, and while everything hasn’t gone the way we wanted it this year, I think the guys have done a pretty good job.
D3f: For better or for worse, what has been the biggest surprise for you this year?
Henninger: The fifth year, I don’t know if it’s necessarily a surprise, but it’s uncharted water for our program. How to respond after the 25 guys who built the program were gone. I don’t know if you want to call it a surprise as much it was just an unknown. I think our players have done well, and I think we’ve kind of settled in now. We’re just like every other program that’s been around for years and years. You’ve got your class of seniors; you’ve got your underclassmen who we’ve got to prepare to continue to move forward with our programs.
D3f: What would you describe as being your best characteristics as a coach?
Henninger: I think that being a young guy, high energy, I think that I relate well to my players. I’m still learning. Every day, I feel like I’m learning something new. I have great mentors, in Joe Fincham at Wittenberg, Rick Willis at Wartburg, Chuck Martin at Grand Valley. And Jack Ginn and I are still very close. I’m constantly looking to those guys for advice. … I’m still learning that after a game is over with, if the offense played well and the defense didn’t, trying to keep those things separate and not take it out on the offense. Just little things like that, they’re all new experiences, and I’m really enjoying it.
D3f: What can you point as some of the lessons you have learned after your first year as a head coach?
Henninger: The importance of organization. ... As a Division III head coach, you’re not like the guys at UNC or the big schools that have the huge staffs and football operations guys. I am the football operations guy. Getting meals prepared, we go to play a night game at Shenandoah, and it’s just all the little behind-the-scenes things that come into play. Now instead of just getting up and having one meal, now you got to find two meals, you got to get late check-out times. It’s just all the behind the scenes things. In the future, I’m going to try to get as much of that done as early as I can get it done so I don’t have to mess with those things during the season.
D3f: You took over the head coach job in February. Now that you’ll have a full offseason a head of you, what kind of things are you going to focus on?
Henninger: We were fortunate to be in a position last week that we were still playing for a champion and possibly a chance at the playoffs and all that stuff. And having experienced that a year ago, and now we’re at the point that we’re not playing for those things, we’re trying to get our players to understand those things just don’t happen. It takes a certain amount of dedication to the offseason program. We just got to get our guys going. The guys who are going to be seniors next year, they were sophomores when we went to the playoffs, and they were able to experience that. That’s what you’re playing for. Our goal at the beginning of the season is a championship and going to the playoffs. I hope that our players understand that it just takes an immense amount of work to get to that level. And I hope that we can get back there.
Gunslinging galore
When Catholic and Guilford brought two of the top passers in the region together, it was sure to be a shootout. The 49-34 Cardinals victory showed that to be true and kept CUA in control of their playoff destiny. A win next week would assure a Pool A bid.Guilford’s Josh Vogelbach had 274 yards through the air, putting him over Division III’s career records for passing yards and total offense. The previous mark was held by Westminster (Mo.) graduate Justin Peery and was set in the late 1990s. But that wasn’t the only milestone to be passed on Saturday. Catholic’s quarterback, Keith Ricca, packed on a mind-blowing 530 yards, the most passing yards by a Division III quarterback this year and among the most ever in ODAC history. Two of his targets -- Andrew Buis and Greg Brown -- each had more than 100 yards and combined for three touchdowns.
Going for seconds
In the waning minutes, Franklin and Marshall went for the win against Johns Hopkins but fell short in a two-point conversion attempt. However, the Diplomats got a new breath by recovering their onside kick. JHU would have none of that.The Blue Jays brought that final series to a quick close, ending it after three plays and preserving a 26-25 victory.
Each team totaled more than 300 yards of offense, keeping almost parallel in passing and rushing. From the first quarter to the game’s closing whistle, the two teams traded touchdowns -- and the lead -- back and forth.
Still in the hunt?
Hampden-Sydney remained on the fringes of the Pool C hunt by toppling the undefeated and regionally ranked Huntingdon on the road in Alabama. The Tigers play host next week to rival Randolph-Macon, and a win there puts them at 9-1 but still on shaky ground in the eyes of the NCAA criteria. The number crunching didn’t look favorably on the Tigers before the Huntingdon game, but that raised its opponents’ winning percentage and there’s still a week left to play.The blitz package
Muhlenberg clinched the Centennial Conference title Saturday in grand fashion, drubbing Ursinus 45-8. The Mules put up 561 total yards, giving room for three quarterbacks and seven receivers to get touches.Dickinson and Juniata combined for nearly 100 points and more than 1,200 yards in a 53-41 outing that saw two record-setting performances. Dickinson quarterback Ian Mitchell and wideout Pat O’Connor became the school’s all-time leaders in total offense and receiving, respectively.
Playing at home, Christopher Newport intercepted a pass in the closing minutes to fend off an Averett rally and hold on to a 19-13 victory. The Cougars scored 13 of the 16 second-half points, but the pick by CNU’s Jay Kirkland sealed the game as the Captains were able to run out the clock.
Overtime heroics from kicker Luke Hawk lifted Emory & Henry past Washington & Lee 17-14. Wasps rusher Caleb Jennings had 203 yards and a score, while defensive end Matt Baldwin notched 10 tackles and forced a fumble.
Frostburg State took the lead in the second quarter against Apprentice and never looked back, finishing 20-7 for their first conference win. The Builders stumbled amid four turnovers while the Bobcats were able to produce a balanced 163 yards rushing and 192 yards passing.
Methodist got its first win of the year against a Division III opponent, downing fellow North Carolina contender Greensboro 20-10. Both teams moved the ball (MU 253 yards rushing; GC 257 yards passing), but turnovers deep in opposition territory were costly.
High five
The Around the Mid-Atlantic top teams:1. Wesley
2. Muhlenberg
3. Salisbury
4. Catholic
5. Hampden-Sydney
Ferrum is out after the weekend loss. Christopher Newport is the team on the bubble, but they’re there because in looking at one-loss teams, H-SC’s win on the road against an undefeated Huntingdon team gave them the edge over CNU’s close home win against a .500 Averett squad. There’s no doubt this is a subjective call -- setting up an even trickier perspective if CNU wins the automatic qualifier next week and teams like H-SC and Salisbury get left out of the playoffs. Does a playoff bid automatically mean a better team? No. Most experts will tell you that the NCAA’s playoff selection process (from Pool A down to Pool C) is intended to be fair -- that doesn’t mean we wind up with the 32 best teams in Week 12, rather we wind up with 32 teams out of the nearly 240 total that knew what they had to do, and executed it, to get there.
My perfect prize
I know that it almost seems sinful to leave the mid-Atlantic on the last weekend of the regular season, when we there will be rivalries such as Hampden-Sydney/Randolph-Macon or Muhlenberg/Moravian, not to mention games with playoff implications such as Ferrum at Christopher Newport. But, as in 2007 and every other year for the past 12 seasons, I’m going to be in west central Indiana for the Monon Bell Game between Wabash and DePauw.It’s the only close football connection that remains between me and my alma mater. The Monon Bell rivalry is regularly discussed as one of the top three rivalries in all of Division III (the others being the games between Cortland State and Ithaca and between Williams and Amherst). The intensity of a multigenerational rivalry is one of the best parts of college football.
And this makes me appreciate even more the relatively young rivalries taking place every year, such as the Souper Bowl between Greensboro and Guilford or the Regents Cup between Frostburg State and Salisbury. I know what they have the potential to become -- in the years down the road when past players see their own sons taking the field in the same matchups. There is a connection to history and the shared experience of those who went before you at your alma mater.
Living that rivalry spirit is why I tear myself away from whatever else I’m doing in Week 11, to return to Indiana and take in one of college football’s greatest games, with one of the greatest trophies at stake. Saturday is the 115th meeting between Wabash and DePauw, and my alma mater leads the overall series 53-52-9. And once again, hopefully, Wabash will win the Bell!
Contact me
I would be happy to hear from anyone who has questions or feedback regarding the Around the Mid-Atlantic column or Division III football in general. Please write to me at ryan.tipps@d3sports.com. I take the good, the bad and the ugly. Or, if there is an idea you’d like to see me write about, I’m always open to hearing about that, too.