In a normal year, the average Division III program opens camp with about 110 players. For Grinnell, however, the numbers of late were one-third of that, and the program had to cancel its final seven games in 2019. More than 700 days later, the Pioneers are back, and looking a little better. Brian Lester has more.
Grinnell, which started the season with a roster numbering in the 30's, did not make it out of September and will call off the rest of its 2019 Division III football season.
Wartburg brought an end to Central's unbeaten run and threw the ARC title chase into a four-way tie, while Misericordia scored twice in the final 61 seconds to win and Grinnell's Ryan Slager set the record for career tackles in D-III history in Week 8 action. Meanwhile, Eureka and Kalamazoo continued their undefeated ways.
The Pioneers are searching for their first win of the season, but have the nation's leading tackler. Sophomore Ryan Slager's numbers are not just the product of a struggling defense, and the Pioneers have two more years to build around him. More in Around the Midwest.
The addition will give the Midwest Conference 12 teams and a title game starting in 2014. It also means that Macalester will not bring football back to the MIAC in the near future.
After being named Midwest Conference Football Coach of the Year this past season while serving in an interim role, Jeff Pedersen has been named head coach at Grinnell.
This year, thanks to the new automatic qualifier rule, a Midwest Conference team is guaranteed a berth in the national playoffs for the first time since 1993. And that team could be St. Norbert. But Grinnell is standing in the way.