By Adam Johnson
D3sports.com
For those of you impressed by Bethel freshman running back Logan Flannery scoring the winning touchdown in the MIAC championship game against St. John's -- contain your amazement.
You will need it for when you hear about what he overcame to even be in a position to play for Bethel.
Flannery, who played high school football in Minnesota, originally discovered a lump under his left arm at the end of the 2005 football season but was told it was probably just a cyst. As basketball season came to a close, it had grown and needed to be removed through surgery. After removal doctors realized the lump was Burkitt's lymphoma, a rare cancer of the lymph nodes.
"I had a track meet the day before the surgery and didn't feel any symptoms," Flannery told Rise Magazine. "I was shocked to go from being in good shape to being told I have cancer."
Logan Flannery has averaged 123.7 yards rushing over his past six games. Photo by Scott Pierson, D3sports.com |
Doctors fit his chemotherapy regimen around his football schedule and he was able to have a very successful senior season including 25 carries for 215 yards and a touchdown in a sectional final upset of highly favored Cretin-Derham Hall.
Bethel coach Steve Johnson knew his running back, MIAC all-time leading rusher Phil Porta was graduating after the 2006 season and the Royals were in need of someone who could minimize that loss. Flannery seemed to be the perfect fit so Johnson went to work.
"I read an article on him and saw he had the faith and heart part," Johnson said. "He could really do our stuff well."
He enrolled at Bethel and it took about three days for him to hit No. 2 on the depth chart. However, he didn't exactly bust out of the gate in the Royals' season-opening loss to Buena Vista, where he had six carries for 29 yards.
"I'm still taking heat from our coaches for how many carries he got in that game," Johnson said.
By the third game of the season he had fully arrived. In a 48-45 triple overtime thriller over Concordia-Moorhead he totaled 191 yards and four touchdowns including the game winner. He was the difference in a one point win vs. St. Thomas with 159 yards rushing and a touchdown.
About a week after that St. Thomas game Flannery approached Johnson to let him know he would have to miss a team workout for a cancer checkup.
"I remember he was almost apologetic about it," said Johnson. "That's just the type of kid he is putting his teammates first."
On Saturday, Flannery again was the difference. After a back-and-forth battle in the second half, the Royals finally were making their last push. Flannery had been a horse all day even with a nagging hip flexor injury and the onset of cramps in his legs.
After quarterback Ben Wetzell carried the team to the 1-yard line, the senior handed off to the freshman with the game and likely the season in the balance. Flannery took the handoff and with 23.6 seconds left on the clock plunged over the goal line. His third game winning touchdown of the season was by far his biggest.
"We knew he was really good," Johnson said "Not everyone can be this good as a freshman."
If anyone can get the Royals over their playoff hump, Flannery can.
Action Jackson
The career of Dubuque quarterback Jermar Jackson came to a close Saturday with the senior capping off his career with 10,148 yards of total offense and a seven win increase from when he started his first game as a freshman.
Jackson was recruited to play Division I and Division II but it was clear these programs, such as Texas, wanted him to play defensive back. Jackson wasn't so ready to split up with his first love.
"I'm a quarterback at heart," Jackson said. "I love to throw the football."
Jackson's high school coach was the brother of Dubuque assistant coach Jeremy Fellows so Jackson was immediately turned on to the Division III school in Iowa.
"We told him he could come in and immediately compete for the starting quarterback position," said Dubuque coach Vince Brautigam who immediately started working on throwing accuracy and reading defenses with Jackson when he enrolled.
It wasn't easy initially as Jackson's first campaign at the helm of the Spartans' offense was an 0-10 season.
"We had great individuals but we weren't playing as a team," Jackson said.
They would improve by two wins the following year but it wasn't until Jackson's junior season that they realized how good they could be. They finished 6-4 and were gaining confidence in the ultra competitive IIAC.
The Spartans were one of the surprise teams in 2007 taking conference champion Central to overtime before losing by three. They were in the playoff hunt until a late season loss to Buena Vista.
"We grew so much," Jackson said looking back on his five years (he missed his sophomore year with a medical redshirt for a broken foot).
The Spartans went out a winner against Luther 34-31, and he finished the season with 1,091 rushing yards and 1,986 passing yards. His career totals are 2,323 yards rushing and 7,825 yards passing. He has 103 touchdowns (47 rushing and 56 passing) and has scored 282 points in four years for the Spartans.
"I don't think we'll see another Jermar for a while," said Brautigam. "I think he's the best dual threat in Division III."
Jackson has been rewarded for his record breaking career by being invited to the Aztec Bowl. He has aspirations to continue his playing career wherever he can get noticed.
"I'm gonna try to play for whoever wants me," said Jackson. "If you're good you can go to the pros from any division."
Jackson is good, and the pros might just be the next stop in this talented quarterback's future.
Whose Shoes
Occidental and Whittier battled it out Saturday for the coveted "Shoes" traveling trophy. The bronzed shoes the teams play for originally belonged to Myron Claxton, an All-American Poet running back who was drafted in the 1940 NFL Draft by the Giants. Occidental players stole his shoes in 1939 on the Thursday before the teams were scheduled to play, forcing Claxton to play in his work boots. Nonetheless, Whittier still won 36-0 and went on to win the SCIAC championship that season.
According to Claxton's account of the game, he retrieved his shoes from the opponents' sideline after the win and brought them home. The shoes were then bronzed in 1946 by members of the Franklin Society.
This year's game was one of the best in recent memory. The teams scorched each others defenses in a 67-61 Poet victory. They combined for 1,283 total offensive yards, 57 first downs and a combined 53 points in the fourth quarter alone. It's the Poets' first win over Occidental since 2000.
Everybody scores!
Gustavus Adolphus got everyone involved in its season-ending win against Carleton. They had three offensive scores, two defensive scores and a 99-yard kickoff return to beat the Knights 37-14.
The Augsburg connection
Augsburg finished the year 5-5 for the first time since 2000 and much of the credit for their revived team falls on the shoulders of quarterback Jordan Berg and wide receiver Royce Winford. Winford caught six passes for 112 yards and two touchdowns, setting a single-season school record for touchdown receptions with 16. Winford broke the old record for touchdown receptions, 15, set by Scott Hvistendahl in both 1997 and 1998. Winford finished the season with 101 receptions for 1,403 yards, finishing second on the Augsburg single-season record list in both categories.
Berg completed 23 of 36 passes for 414 yards and four touchdowns against no interceptions, cementing his single-season school records in every passing category. Berg finished the season passing for 3,444 yards, the second-most overall passing yardage by any quarterback in MIAC history. Berg reached his yardage total in 10 games; the MIAC record, 3,489 yards, was set by Tom Linneman of St. John's in 15 games (including playoffs) in 2000.
News, Notes and things you might have missed ...
UW-Whitewater extended its unbeaten streak in Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play to 21 games -- three full seasons.
Justin Beaver's career rushing total of 38 touchdowns is one more than former Warhawk Chad Wurth accumulated (2000-03).
The Tommies' P.J. Theisen had 16 receptions for 278 yards and two touchdowns. The 16 receptions tied a UST record and the 278 yards were the second-most in MIAC history.
Senior quarterback Chris Hawkins became the single-season passing yardage leader in BVU history with 263 yards in the contest. He concluded his senior campaign with 2,195 yards through the air.
Freshman Elliot Rausa came on to kick his 10th field goal of the season from 30 yards to tie the single-season school record set by Michael Herzberger in 2003.
Dubuque finished with the school's best record since 1980 with a 7-3 finish.
Whitworth has now broken a school record for number of wins in back to back seasons with 19 (11 in 2006 and 8 in 2007), beating the consecutive nine-win seasons of 1960 and 1961. The Pirates have won 13 NWC games in a row
He said it
"This is a team that never gives up," said fourth-year coach Jeff McMartin, who won his third consecutive league crown. "I'm really proud of our guys. They have great heart and great passion."
"If this doesn't mean something to you, then you don't have anything inside of you. This is the biggest damn game of your lives," Whittier coach B.J. Hammer to his team the Monday before playing Occidental.
"It was way worth it," said Vance Schuring, a two-time league MVP who used a medical hardship to come back for an extra year, only to spend much of it sidelined with injury. "I'd come back for another seven years if the NCAA would let me."
