By Clyde Hughes
D3sports.com
Shortly after arguably Franklin’s biggest football win in school history, a 28-19 conference road victory over three-time Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference champion Mount St. Joseph, coach Mike Leonard had his team thinking not about football, but about pool.
Huh?
Actually, for Leonard, it all made sense after Leonard said he heard from the school’s baseball coach.
“The baseball coach said, ‘Congratulations on the game, now run the table,’ ” Leonard said. “I thought of pool, how you get hot and you hit the next ball and the next one, but there’s one ball you always have to be aware of and can’t knock that one in -- the 8-ball. What’s still on the table that can screw our season up if we don’t guard against it?”
Leonard said he liked the analogy so much he made his players write about it earlier this week. Even though his Grizzlies (5-1, 3-0 in HCAC play) knocked off the king of the HCAC last year in Mount St. Joseph (5-1, 3-1) and remained undefeated in conference play, the lesson to his players was to stay focused because anything can happen.
“I just feel happy for the players,” Leonard said. “One of our players asked the other day where does that game win rank (as for as Franklin football). I really don't rank wins. It's a little bit of a different feel, but the thing about football is that we celebrate it for 24 hours and now you're on to your next challenge. I don't want to say we've forgotten about it, but in some respects you have to forget about it.”
The win will be hard one for forget, certainly for long-time Franklin fans. Before Leonard arrived as head coach in 2003, the Grizzlies’ last winning season was 1998 when Franklin went 6-4. After seasons of 2-8, 5-5, and 5-5, Franklin turned it all around last year with a 9-1 record, including a win over then-nationally ranked Wabash.
Franklin’s only loss was a 21-14 loss to Mount St. Joseph at home and despite a 9-1 record and the win over Wabash, was not invited to the Division III playoffs.
Wabash, now ranked No. 14 nationally, escaped with a 35-33 win over Franklin at Wabash in the second week of the season as Franklin failed to convert a two-point conversion in the game’s final minute.
“Last year’s win over Wabash was kind of a program win for us,” Leonard said. “They got to the second-round of the playoffs the year before and that seemed to catch everyone’s attention. I think it showed how strong Franklin can be.”
Just about everyone knows about Franklin’s offensive behind quarterback Chad Rupp (111-for-158, 1,496 yards, 16 touchdowns, two interceptions) and tailback R.J. Hartsfield (93 carries, 653 yards, 108.8 average per game), the one-two punch that has kept opposing defensives second-guessing all season. Leonard said, though, last Saturday’s game was more about his defense.
A crucial goal line stand just before half time where Franklin recovered a fumble at its own 2, preventing Mount St. Joseph from taking a 14-7 lead into halftime, changed the contest.
“There’s about 180 plays in a college football game,” Leonard said. “When you have two good teams playing, that game will be decided by about five of those plays. The thing is, you don’t know which five plays it will be, so you have to play hard on every one of them. That was a huge play for us and it definitely changed the mood and we felt we would be okay.”
Leonard said his defensive front seven have been the key to defense this year and his defensive coordinator Matt Theobald has stuck with the same scheme since the beginning. He said his secondary has not been as consistent but believes they are coming along as well as the season progresses.
Probably the most pleasing thing about Franklin’s current run, Leonard said, is receiving phone calls and messages from the players who laid the groundwork for the current program back in 2003.
“Getting e-mails and phone calls from some of those guys who were seniors the first year I coached (has been gratifying),” Leonard said. “We went 2-8 that year. We were so close in many of those games but so far away in learning how to win. It's rewarding to hear those guys call and be congratulatory. They wish they were part of this winning but I give those guys credit. They initially bought into the program.”
Now, all Franklin has to is to avoid the 8-ball while trying to knock the remaining HCAC opponents into the corner pocket.
Dillon continues to impress
It’s unfair to make comparisons between the New England Patriots Randy Moss and Defiance’s one-man wrecking crew at wide receiver Luke Dillon. It’s unfair because, believe it or not, Dillon is having a better season.
Dillon caught four touchdown passes and gained 173 yards receiving Saturday as Defiance (4-2, 3-0 HCAC play) beat Anderson 34-7. It as the second consecutive week he won the HCAC’s offensive player of the week award.
Dillon has gone over the 100-yard mark in all six of his games this season and for the season has 946 yards on 66 catches. His 11 catches per game leads the nation as he is poised to break various school records.
He and Defiance is the main reason Franklin can’t rest on its laurels in the HCAC. If the two teams remain undefeated in conference play, they will meet Nov. 3 at Franklin to settle the conference title.
Defiance, though, still has to beat Mount St. Joseph at Cincinnati on Oct. 27 before the Yellow Jackets can start to think about Franklin though, but Dillon’s play is giving them all the reason to be optimistic.
Wheaton tied for CCIW lead with ... IWU?
That was not a typo. Illinois Wesleyan is 3-0 (4-2 overall), which includes a 22-19 victory over one of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin favorites Augustana and a 35-31 win against Carthage.
Wheaton, ranked No. 6 nationally, came away with a big 28-24 win over Augustana this weekend to stay undefeated (6-0, 3-0 in CCIW).
Illinois Wesleyan, picked to finish seventh in the eight-team CCIW, seems to be doing it with defense and the poise of a sophomore quarterback. The Titans lead the CCIW in total defense, giving up 250.2 yards per contest. Sophomore linebacker Nick Nickolich tops the conference in tackles with 10.3 a game while junior linebacker Dan Souder is averaging 8.8 stops a contest.
On offense, Kraig Ladd is averaging 179 passing yards a game and has 197.7 yards in total offense, third best in the conference.
The Titans, though, will face a few more gut checks, starting this weekend against Elmhurst. Illinois Wesleyan will end its season against the other two CCIW favorites North Central on the road Nov. 3 and then Wheaton at home on Nov. 10.
CUW faces Lakeland for IBC showdown
Concordia (Wis.) and its defense (5-2, 4-0 in IBC) remained perfect, shutting out Concordia (Ill.) 45-0, but the task will be a little more difficult when it plays Lakeland (4-3, 4-0) for the undisputed lead in the Illini-Badger Conference Saturday.
Concordia, the defending IBC champs, has yet to allow a point in four conference games while Lakeland, the 2005 conference champions, is averaging 34.5 points per game.
The winner will be in the driver’s seat for the IBC title.
