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2006 Season Preview |
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The Mount Union College football team
opens the 2006 summer training camp with its record eighth crown as King of Division III football. And making
title number eight so special was the fact that they did However, Mount Union proved that as long as Larry Kehres is on the sidelines, they’re a legitimate national championship threat come playoff time. I find it rather odd that anyone would count the Kehres led Raiders out of the title hunt, but that’s what many were saying in the Division III world after the Purple & White came up just short of winning titles in 2003 and 2004 coupled with the shocking regular season loss to Ohio Northern in 2005. To reinforce the insanity of thinking Mount Union is not a championship contender, one only needs to look at Larry Kehres’ record since taking the head coaching reigns from mentor Ken Wable in 1986 (231-20-3 which equates to a .915 winning percentage). And even more unbelievable are the Raiders' records since the start of the 1992 season:
While the regular season loss to the Polar Bears, which broke the
Purple Raiders’ 99-game OAC winning streak, might have added fuel to the
“Mount Union is slipping” fire, it also added fuel to the Raiders’ resolve
and removed the pressure from the young squad and allowed them to reach
their ultimate The springboard from that loss prepared Mount Union for a stretch run through the 2005 playoffs that included a dominant victory over an always tough Augustana team, a nail-biting victory over fellow conference foe Capital in the national quarterfinals and a perfectly played championship game against the much bigger Warhawks from Wis-Whitewater that boasted the nation’s top running back in Justin Beaver and the WIAC’s Player-of-the-Year in quarterback Justin Jacobs. The biggest questions heading into the 2005 season revolved around how the Raiders would survive the loss of longtime defensive coordinator Don Montgomery as well as most of their offensive firepower, including Gagliardi Award finalist Zac Bruney at quarterback. Based on the successful December trip to Virginia, we can all say those questions were answered with an emphatic “Just fine, thank you!” The hole in the defensive coaching staff was filled by the familiar name of Vince Kehres, and the quarterback spot was filled by Mike Jorris who went on to write his name in the Stagg Bowl record books by having the highest completion percentage in Stagg Bowl history (.714). And those questions didn’t even include the void at running back that ultimately was filled by a freshman tailback (Nate Kmic) that ended his first season holding the championship game's Most Valuable Player trophy. There is no
doubt that the personnel questions of 2005 were answered just fine and those
spots are now the backbone of the 2006 Purple Raiders. Mount Union returns the majority of an offense that finished 2005 ranked second in the nation in total yardage (520 yds/game) and sixth in scoring offense (41.3 pts/game). Leading the charge is senior quarterback Mike Jorris who finished 2005 with 3,736 yards passing and 35 touchdowns against only 11 interceptions. After splitting playing time in the 2005 preseason and opener versus Washington (MO), Jorris solidified his starting position with a stellar performance in week two against John Carroll and continued his solid play throughout the 2005 season and playoffs, saving one of his best games for the national ESPN spotlight. With the Stagg Bowl win, Jorris added his name to a very elite Who’s Who list of great quarterbacks at Mount Union that have led the Raiders to national titles: Jim Ballard (’93), Bill Borchert (’96 and ’97), Gary Smeck (’98 and ’00) and Rob Adamson (’01 and ’02). Backing up Jorris this season will be highly touted sophomore Greg Micheli, who saw playing time as the punter last year as well as some spot duty at quarterback. The tailback position at Mount Union is stacked with talent heading into 2006. Top of the running back list is sophomore Nate Kmic (1219 yds/18 TD’s) who surprisingly burst onto the playoff scene after First-Team All-OAC running back Aaron Robinson (1070 yds/10 TD’s) went down with an injury.
It’s awfully early in Kmic’s career to do so, but the comparisons to former Mount Union great and Gagliardi winner Chuck Moore are already swirling around Alliance. And the Moore comparisons are accurate as Kmic displays the same excellent field awareness, toughness and the ability to “always be falling forward” that allowed Moore to re-write the Purple Raider record books on his way to two Stagg Bowl MVP awards. To further the Chuck Moore comparisons, Kmic even broke Moore’s 2001 Division III tournament record of 998 rushing yards with 1,040 playoff rushing yards of his own. In all fairness to Moore though, Kmic had five games to accumulate those yards while Moore had only four thanks to the expansion of the Division III tournament from 28 teams to 32 teams last year. After earning All-OAC honors in his first year as a starter, Aaron Robinson returns for his senior season fighting for carries in a backfield that also includes sophomore Terrance Morring, who had 60+ carries last year in spot duty, as well as explosive juniors Justin Wray and Trevor Bruney, both of whom missed most or all of 2005 with injuries.
A deep and talented wide receiver core returns a player that has the potential to become one of the best ever to play the position at Mount Union in junior Pierre Garcon. Even after missing four regular season games with a leg stress fracture, Garcon still earned Second-Team All-OAC honors based on his production (1,196 yds/16 TD’s), big play explosiveness, tenacity in downfield blocking and the uncanny knack of stealing a pass out of the air that should have been either incomplete or intercepted. One would have to go back to past Mount Union greats like Adam Marino (2000), Kevin Knestrick (1997) or Ed Bubonics (1993) to find a wide receiver with the game breaking ability of Pierre Garcon. Joining Garcon in Kehres’ versatile offense will be junior Brandon Boehm (478 yds/2 TD’s), seniors Maxwell Smith (220 yds/3 TD’s), J.J. Ditz (123 yds) and Anthony Antonucci (267 yds/2 TD’s) at tight end. Based on spring practice, tailback Justin Wray is likely to see time at the slot receiver spot due to his blazing speed. Allowing the skill players to shine
will be a very talented and experienced offensive line led by senior tackle
Jason Lewis (6-5, 317), the 2005 Mike Gregory award winner as the
league’s premier lineman. The competition for the remaining two starting spots should be fierce amongst a host of players that saw significant playing time in 2005 in back-up roles, including Ryan Creachbaum, P.J. Giordimania, Geoff Dartt and Josh Henniger. Tim Reash, who is coming off an injury, will also be in the mix. Based on the quality of the three returnees and the overall depth of this unit, the Raiders should once again take the field in 2006 with one of the premier offensive lines in all of Division III. As always is the case in college football, each new year brings it’s own challenges and question marks into the next season and 2006 is no different. Last year the personnel questions were mainly on offense, this year it’s the defense as the Raiders return only four starters from the 2005 regular season. If the Raiders hope to duplicate their stellar defensive rankings from 2005 (second in the nation in scoring defensive at 10.3 pts/game and third in total defense at 223.7 yds/game), they will have to rely on the leadership of their few returning starters as well as needing numerous younger players to step up huge. The most veteran group in the Raider defense will be the secondary based on the leadership of returning junior safety Matt Kostelnik (75 tackles/3 INT’s) and senior cornerback Ryan Fehl (28 tackles/2 INT’s), both of whom earned Honorable Mention All-OAC honors in their first year as starters. Joining them in the
secondary will be junior safety Nick Barren (34 tackles) and junior
cornerback Also fighting for playing time in the secondary will be senior Anthony Ursetti, juniors Alex Jamison, Chris Kappas and Jonah Wilson, and sophomore Daryl Ely, all of whom entered the Stagg Bowl in back-up roles and contributed on special teams. And if the spring practices are any indication, Aaron Robinson could be seeing time at safety as well. The linebacking corp returns junior inside linebacker Matt Rees (63 tackles) but must look to junior inside linebacker Tony DeRiggi (21 tackles) to fill the shoes of departing Mike Gibbons who earned the Bill Edwards Award as the conference’s best linebacker. Easing the pain over losing Gibbons is the playing time that DeRiggi received in 2005 as the Raiders' third linebacker. Also making a strong push for significant playing time is sophomore linebacker Chas Yoder based on his excellent showing in spring practices. Junior Kyle Speight also returns after spending 2005 in a backup role and look for Paul Dannemiller to be back in the mix after missing all of last season with mono. The defensive line looks to receive
a huge boost by the return of Second-Team All-OAC defensive end
Justen Stickley (55 tackles/1 INT) for his fifth year.
Throughout his career Stickley has shown definite “playmaker” ability as
evidenced by his blocked punt versus Ohio Northern, 17 tackles for loss, and
eight passes
batted down last year. What makes Stickley’s return so valuable is the fact
that Mount Union loses Trying to fill the huge void (pun intended) at defensive tackle will be juniors Pat McCullough (38 tackles) and Nick Parr (11 tackles), who will make the move inside from end. Both saw significant playing time in 2005, along with junior Dan Gund (11 tackles) and senior Zack Lyon (6 tackles), who contributed and lettered as well last season. Based on his performance last year in spot duty, McCullough looks to be a player capable of making big plays from the tackle position and he’ll need to do just that for the Raider D-line to be successful. The hole at defensive end opposite Stickley is expected to be filled by senior Sam Vucelich (32 tackles) who returns for his final year after battling injuries and backing up Brauer in 2005. Mount Union's special teams should be a team strength as both junior kicker Mike Zimmerman and sophomore punter Greg Micheli return to go along with the always present speed and athleticism that MTU has available for the coverage and return teams. Zimmerman led the team with 115 points last season after making 79 of 83 extra point attempts and 12 of 19 field goals tries, including a long from 40 yards. As it has been the last decade plus
with Larry Kehres at the helm, the goal of every season is to win the OAC
and get ready for a playoff run that hopefully ends in Salem, Virginia with
a national title. And this season promises to be a real test of the
Raiders’ mettle as Mount Union must deal with a senior laden And for the first time since 1984, the Raiders play only four home games. The 2006 conference schedule does shine on Mount Union though as the three best OAC opponents (Ohio Northern, Capital and John Carroll) must all travel to Mount Union Stadium. In fact, only a week two match-up with Otterbein pits the Raiders against an OAC foe on the road that had a winning season last year. The early part of the schedule sets itself up well for the young defense to get settled in as the Raiders don’t face one of the expected title contenders until week five when ONU comes to town in what should be a real battle. Weeks 7-9 are sure to be a great preparation to a possible playoff run with match-ups versus Baldwin-Wallace, Capital and John Carroll in consecutive weeks. Hopefully for the Raider program and its legion of fans, the 2006 season will be one to remember. See you all in September!
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so in a season when many thought the Purple Raiders were slipping
back into the realm of just being another “very good team.”
potential.
Kmic’s playoff run began with
157 yards against Mount Saint Joseph and exploded with a MTU single
game record
361 yards against Augustana, followed by a 177-yard performance against Capital, 160 yards against
Rowan and was capped by a Stagg Bowl MVP performance of 185 yards versus
Wis-Whitewater that included an electrifying 95-yard touchdown run.
The quality
of depth at tailback has sent the coaching
staff searching for ways to get more of these players on the field at the
same time. To that end, Robinson saw time in spring practices at safety, Morring was working with the fullbacks and Wray with the receivers.
Raider fans that have been with the program for a while may remember the
name of Dustin Blake who made a very successful switch from tailback to
safety late in his Mount Union career. And based on the work this spring,
it looks like Aaron Robinson might have that same opportunity.
Also returning along the O-line is junior guard
Derek Blanchard (6-1, 310) and junior center Eric Safran (6-3, 273),
both of whom are very highly regarded by the coaching staff.
Cameron Rose (23 tackles/4 INT’s), who both started the Stagg
Bowl due to injuries and made the most of their Stagg Bowl experiences.
Rose made a tough interception near the MTU goal line to go along with his
seven
tackles and Barren chipped in with nine total tackles including one for loss.
the best tandem of defensive tackles that they may
have ever had on the field together in First-Team All-OAC
performers Jesse Wells and Buddy Wolf, as well as a very productive Greg
Brauer at the other defensive end spot.
Capital team
that pushed MTU to the limit in the NCAA North Region Final, as well as Ohio
Northern which was a whisker away from a split OAC title last year.