Baldwin-Wallace Yellow Jackets / 2008 record: 5-5 overall, 5-4 OAC (Tied for 3rd Place)

     Once again the Baldwin-Wallace program was a model of consistency in 2008.  Unfortunately over the last decade for Yellow Jacket fans it’s been a model of consistently average.

     Outside of the ’02 and ’03 seasons when the Jackets were led by Michigan State transfer Dan Larlham at quarterback, B-W has been hovering slightly above the .500 mark.  The ’02 and ’03 seasons were the only ones where they finished any higher than third place in the OAC and can be directly attributed to the play making ability of Larlham.

     Since 1999, their overall winning percentage is 62.7%.  Remove the two Larlham led seasons and the winning dips to 57.5%.  While many programs around the nation would love to average five or six wins a season, a once proud former national champion and OAC bully like Baldwin-Wallace isn’t one of them.

     Their third place 2008 OAC finish by itself looks encouraging, but not when you consider their 5-5 record and surprising losses to Wilmington and Heidelberg, both of whom finished at 4-6.  In a season where half the conference was either 5-4 or 4-5 in league play, finishing tied for third isn’t the same as many previous seasons where third place in the OAC equated to an 8-2 record and a Top 25 national ranking.

     As a testament to their struggles last year, only one B-W player, senior wide receiver Matt Lepley, earned First-Team All-OAC honors.

     The ’08 Yellow Jacket offense was ranked as the conference’s second best offense in total yardage at 378.6 yards per game but that was 168 yards a game behind conference leader Mount Union.  They were misleadingly ranked as the OAC’s third best scoring offense at 25.6 points per game, but were well behind OAC leaders Mount Union (45.5) and Otterbein (38.8) and just narrowly ahead of Heidelberg (25.2) and Capital (24.0).

     Hope abounds in Berea for more points and more wins as the Jackets head into 2009 with an experienced offense that returns seven starters led by senior-to-be quarterback Anthony Gardner (Honorable Mention All-OAC).  Gardner is an athletic quarterback with good decision making skills as evidenced by his third best quarterback efficiency rating in the conference behind Gagliardi Winner Micheli and Gagliardi Finalist Rafferty.  I dare you to find a quarterback amongst any of Division III’s 235 teams that had a better pair of quarterbacks to compete against in conference than Gardner did in Micheli and Rafferty.

     Gardner should have plenty of time to stand in the pocket as four starters return up front, led by senior left tackle Brett Scarl (Second-Team All-OAC).  Joining Scarl is senior left guard Dan Love, senior right guard Broc Dial and senior right tackle John Wilson.

     The backfield returns good depth with senior running back Kyle Crook and sophomore running back Tim Miker, B-W’s top rushers from 2008, as well as backup fullback Scott Weber.

     The receiving corps is a major question mark however as only senior tight end Kyle Skoczen returns.

     2008 saw the once dominate B-W defense fall to the OAC’s sixth rated defense against the rush, pass and scoring as well as shockingly being the OAC’s worst defense in registering quarterback sacks (1.3 sacks/game), thereby garnering special recognition for only defensive tackle Joe Kowalski (Second-Team All-OAC) and linebacker Paul Burger (Honorable Mention All-OAC), both of whom do not return.

     Reasonable numbers do return to the Jacket defense this season with seven starters back, but none of them earned all-conference honors putting in question the ability of the ’09 defense to create the game-changing plays necessary to dictate tempo in the always competitive OAC.

     The most experienced unit will be the secondary where senior strong safety Ryan Clokey, senior cornerback Pete Taylor and junior cornerback Ryan Dugan return.

     The linebacking corps returns senior outside backer Brad Koester and junior outside backer Ryan Kish but loses one of the conference’s best middle linebackers in Burger.  When healthy, Burger had First-Team All-Conference ability, but nagging injuries cost him parts of both the ‘07 and ’08 seasons.

     The defensive line returns senior tackle Kyle Menn and junior end Keith Darbut and three of the four backups.

     Reasonable expectations for the 2009 Jackets would be for them to continue their string of slightly above .500 play.  The season opener against Franklin should be much easier this time with Gagliardi Finalist quarterback Rupp and almost all his surrounding talent having graduated.  If B-W opens with a home loss to the Grizzlies, they could be in trouble as week two is at cross-town rival John Carroll and week four is a trip to Mount Union.  A slow start to the season could put the Brown & Gold well on their way to only their second losing season in the last 42 years.  The remaining schedule is spaced pretty well with Otterbein coming to Berea in week five, a trip to Ada in week eight to face Ohio Northern and a season finale at Capital.

Ohio Northern Polar Bears / 2008 record: 5-5 overall, 5-4 OAC (Tied for 3rd Place)

     Since the 2005 shocker over Mount Union in Dean Paul’s first season in Ada, the Polar Bears have been respectably “decent”, which does not match the expectations for an ONU program that was pushing Mount Union to the very brink less than a decade ago with great names such as Franzer, Robertson and Vagedes all in the same huddle.

     The 2006 season was a dismal 6-4 mainly due to key injuries.  2007 wasn’t much better at 7-3 but didn’t include any of the injury excuses that ’06 had and saw the Polar Bears score at a rather pedestrian 23 points per game pace and surrender 17 points per contest.  2008 was a further step backward in finishing 5-5 overall with an offense that averaged 19.5 points per game and a defense that surrendered 18.7.

     After the graduation of often injured running back R.J. Meadows, the ONU offense heads into the season centered around junior-to-be running back Brent Donley.  Donley wasn’t on the depth chart to start the ’08 season but with Meadows again lost to injury the young back burst onto the scene and earned First-Team All-OAC accolades after finishing with over 750 rushing yards and seven touchdowns scored over the last seven games.

     Paving the way for Donley is an experienced offensive line that returns three starters in senior left guard Andrew Benchic (First-Team All-OAC), senior left tackle Rick Ingold (Second-Team All-OAC) and senior center Patrick Smith.  The two open spots will most likely be filled by juniors Justin Southwick and Pat Dochenetz, both of whom have prototype size in the 6-4, 290 range.

     The Polar Bear receiving corps returns the starting wide outs in junior Michael Busch and Sam Amidon.  As has been the case over the last several years, both Busch and Amidon are solid receivers but are not the game breakers needed to stretch the field, thereby making it more difficult to run the ball as the safeties can crowd the line of scrimmage knowing the corners won’t get beat deep.

     The biggest question offensively is once again the quarterback position.  Since the graduation of Franzer in 2000, the Polar Bears have been searching for a signal caller to make plays, not just hand off.  Through the last four graduated quarterbacks (Jeff Soliday, Corey Minnfield, Adam Quirk and Jeff Pankratz) and now Kyle Simmons, Ohio Northern has been winning in spite of their play, not because of it.

     The keys to the Polar Bear offense were turned over to Orrville product Simmons last season after he split time with Pankratz in ’07.  While Simmons has shown some flashes of ability, his play has been too inconsistent for Northern to be considered a legitimate threat.  Simmons finished the ’08 season as the OAC’s ninth ranked passer in terms of efficiency and dead last in total passing yardage with 100 yards per game.

     I find it simply amazing that Ohio Northern has struggled for so long with their passing game.  Their passing numbers over the last decade look more like what you would expect from Muskingum, not an ONU team anticipating to contend for a conference title.

     The experienced ’08 Polar Bear defense was built on being disruptive and getting into the opponent’s backfield.  They led the OAC in both sacks and tackles-for-loss and were ranked in the top 10 nationally in both categories.  Their depth and ability was proven by all four of last season’s starting defensive lineman earning some level of All-OAC recognition, led by First-Team tackle Jake Fallis.

     Unfortunately, Fallis and end Lokai-Owens (Honorable Mention All-OAC) have graduated leaving only senior end Josh Horn (Second-Team All-OAC) and senior tackle Alan Strange (Honorable Mention All-OAC) to shoulder the load up front this season.

     For ONU to continue their trend of tough, aggressive defenses, the Polar Bears have a lot of holes to fill as only three other starters return in senior middle linebacker Gabe Washington (Second-Team All-OAC), senior outside backer Adam Jones and junior defensive back Jesse Richards (Second-Team All-OAC).

     The schedule is the same as last season which puts a serious premium on breaking fall camp in mid-season form.  One could argue that the Polar Bears will face their three best opponents on the entire schedule in consecutive weeks to open the season.  The opener is a home contest with North Central (IL), which beat Northern 20-3 last year.  Week two sees a visit from defending National Champion Mount Union, which pasted the Bears 44-7 one year ago.  Week three is road trip to Westerville to face playoff qualifier Otterbein, which won 37-7 last season.  The combined ’08 record of those three opponents is a daunting 35-3.

     For ONU to reclaim its place amongst the OAC’s best teams, Paul simply must get much better play from his quarterback, especially to start the year.  If not, you can expect another .500 season.

Capital Crusaders / 2008 record: 5-5 overall, 4-5 OAC (Tied for 5th Place)

     The Coach Bickel era began with a 4-0 start to the season but finished with a resounding “thud” as an experienced and playoff tested squad that returned 15 starters finished 4-5 in conference play, losing five of its last six games.  An injury to quarterback Marty Assman was once again a major contributor to the lost season as Assman went down early in the second half of the John Carroll loss in week six.

     Similar to 2007, the Capital offense was clicking right along with Assman under center (33 pts/game) and the Crusaders were ranked as high as fourth in the nation before a week five loss to Mount Union.  But with sophomore Nick Alexander filling in under center, the Capital offense (15 pts/game) and season came to a screeching halt.  In ’07 under Collins, the Crusaders survived the loss of Assman to injury early in the season by riding a stifling defense to an 8-2 regular season and a playoff berth.  However, it seems the magic left Bexley when Collins headed to Saginaw Valley State.

     If Assman can stay healthy and lead the offense for an entire season, Bickel’s fortunes should turnaround quickly with nine starters back on offense including four offensive linemen, led by Second-Team All-OAC senior center Cory Dutcher and Second-Team All-OAC senior right guard Kyle Koblinski.  Also returning up front is junior left tackle Bill Giblin and senior right tackle Chad Davis.

     With the extra time for Assman to stand in the pocket, the three returning receivers should see more passes coming their way.  Headlining the receiving corps will be junior Matt White, an Honorable Mention All-OAC selection last season.  Joining White will be senior Evan Blake, a Honorable Mention All-OAC performer in 2007, and senior Matt Merritt.

     Though Capital hasn’t featured the running game in ages, they do return experience at running back with junior Dominic D’Andrea, a 6-2, 220 bruiser.

     Defensively, six starters return from the ’08 squad that finished in the middle of the OAC pack in almost every statistical category.  The Crusader "D" ranked either fifth or sixth in scoring defense, total defense, rush defense, pass efficiency defense and pass yardage defense.

     The strength of this season’s defense should be the secondary, which returns three starters in senior free safety Brad Pickens (Second-Team All-OAC) and senior cornerbacks Evan DeLuca and Drew Stimmel.

     The defensive line returns senior tackle Drew Ruble and senior end Josh Ramey.  The last returning starter is junior middle linebacker Sam Jacobs (Honorable Mention All-OAC).

     The Crusaders open the season with a trip to Adrian, whom they disposed of rather easily 34-14 last season.  OAC play opens with three favorable match-ups against Heidelberg, Wilmington and Marietta, before the week five showdown with Mount Union.  Hopefully for Bickel, his troops are a little healthier to end this season as the final two weeks will likely define the ’09 Crusaders with contests against Ohio Northern and Baldwin-Wallace.

     One advantage to the ’09 schedule is most of the OAC powers are traveling to Bexley as Mount Union, John Carroll, Ohio Northern and Baldwin Wallace all make trips to Central Ohio.  Only the cross-town war with Otterbein is on the road for the Crusaders this season.

     It’s hard to predict the health of a team as injuries are part of the game, but Capital certainly has been snake bit the last couple years with the loss of Assman for significant periods of time.  If he can finally stay healthy for his senior season, the Crusaders could be a force to be reckoned with based on the depth and experience they have back on offense.  The Crusader defense isn’t overly experienced, but Bickel was a great defensive coordinator under Collins and there isn’t any reason to believe he won’t be able to build a reasonably stout defense to go along with a potentially very good offense.

     Simply put, the key for Capital in ’09 is the health of Assman.

John Carroll Blue Streaks / 2008 record: 5-5 overall, 4-5 OAC (Tied for 5th Place)

     If Blue Streak fans thought 2006 (5-5 overall) and 2007 (6-4 overall) were disappointing, they had to be beside themselves at the end of 2008.  The problem wasn’t that their final record was any different from the previous seasons, it was how they got there that made ’08 so painful to watch.

     The Streaks opened the ’08 season winning five of their first six contests, and only a squandered 10-point lead in the fourth quarter of a 21-17 loss at Baldwin-Wallace kept JCU from a 6-0 start.  However, a promising season ended in the dumps as the Streaks lost their last four games, including an embarrassing 15-14 setback at Muskingum in week nine, and an overtime loss to Otterbein (20-17) in the season finale.

     The Achilles heel for the JCU offense was its play along the line of scrimmage.  It finished at or very near the bottom of the OAC in two very telling statistics:

• 10th in rushing offense (90 yds/game)

• 9th in sacks allowed (3.4 sacks/game)

     When you can’t protect your quarterback or run the ball with any consistency, you’re in trouble, especially in the OAC.  In the contest versus Mount Union alone, quarterback Mark Petruziello was sacked seven times and knocked down at least another dozen times.

     The John Carroll offense could have been explosive if the offensive line would have protected Petruziello as he was a talented, athletic quarterback, capable of making the big play and making all the major throws.  As a testament of his playmaking ability, the league’s head coaches voted him Honorable Mention All-OAC.  But the quarterback needs to be upright to deliver the ball and Petruziello simply didn’t have a chance to stand in the pocket and read the defense.

     For Head Coach Regis Scafe’s sake, I hope four returning starters to the O-line equates to improved protection for new signal caller Jeff Javorek, and open running lanes for new running back Mark Elsaessar.  Otherwise Javorek and Elsaessar might not survive the season as both are of slight build in the 5-10, 180 range.

     The returnees up front are junior left tackle Philip Bokovitz, senior center Joseph Micca, junior right guard Brian Stevenson and senior right tackle Keven Dorsainvil.

     One bright spot offensively for the Blue & Gold heading into 2009 is the depth at wide receiver as their top two pass catchers return in senior wide receiver Frank Ross (Second-Team All-OAC) and senior wide receiver Rebere Sparks, as well as the starting tight end senior Nick Spahar.

     Defensively, the Streaks were very strong in 2008 and easily had the second best defense in the conference behind Mount Union.  They were near the top of the OAC in all the major defensive categories including second in scoring defense, second in forcing turnovers and third in total defense.  The strength of that defense was an active and sure tackling secondary and linebacking unit, led by five All-OAC performers including First-Teamers middle linebacker Mike Nettling and free safety Carlo Melaragno.

     Unfortunately, only three starters return from that defense and none of them were all-conference performers.  The returners are senior end Case Allin, senior tackle Matt Hodges and senior outside backer Alex Mileskiewicz.

     The season starts with a home date against Thomas More, whom they beat 41-14 last season.  The OAC slate opens with a visit from Baldwin-Wallace which should be a good, even pairing between programs that are fighting to stay above the up and coming Wilmington Quakers and Heidelberg Student Princes.  Much like last year, its season will likely be made or lost in weeks six through eight when JCU faces Capital, Ohio Northern and Mount Union in successive contests.

     For the Streaks to win enough games to match their ’08 win total, their offensive line is going to have to be much better than last season and the defense needs to find some new playmakers.  From my vantage point of watching MTU vs. JCU varsity and junior varsity games over the last few years, I seriously doubt the quality depth exists in University Heights to fill all the holes in the defense.  So I’m expecting another disappointing season in for the Blue & Gold.

Wilmington Quakers / 2008 record:  4-6 overall, 4-5 OAC (Tied for 5th Place)

     After consistently alternating between 2-8 and 3-7 seasons over the last six campaigns, Wilmington took a step forward in ’08 by winning four OAC games , which is the second most conference wins since joining the conference in 2000.  Only their 7-2 inaugural season ('00) saw the Quakers be more competitive in league play than they were in ’08.

     Third-year starter at quarterback, Billy Blackburn, entered last season with high hopes based on the eight other returning starters, including four players that earned All-OAC honors last season in senior First-Team All-OAC wide receiver Marque Jones, senior First-Team All-OAC tight end Wes Anders, sophomore Second-Team All-OAC running back Marc Otte and senior Honorable Mention All-OAC wide receiver Brandon Hiatt.

     However the injury bug bit the quarterback position hard in mid-season as Blackburn went down against Muskingum in week five.  One week later against Otterbein, backup sophomore quarterback Adam Reynolds was lost as well.  The Reynolds injury was extremely costly for the win/loss column as the Quakers were leading the Cardinals in the third quarter before he went down.

     When Mount Union came to town in week seven, the Quaker starting quarterback was a true freshman taking his first collegiate snaps from center.  Making your first start against the nation’s best defense isn’t the best way to ease yourself into the college game, but that was exactly what Nate Stierhoff was facing.  Unfortunately the injury bug bit again when Stierhoff left the game in the second quarter, leaving the quarterback duties to a rotation of wide receivers taking a direct snap and attempting to run.  As expected, it didn’t work.

     Without the injuries, the Quakers probably would have cracked the .500 mark which would have been a very successful season.  Even so, the improvement from 2-8 to 4-6 with the close scare they put into playoff qualifier Otterbein was enough to garner Head Coach Barry Wulf OAC Coach-of-the-Year honors.

     Heading into 2009, Blackburn will be taking the snaps for his fourth season and will have the comfort of all five of his offensive linemen returning in senior left tackle C.J. Potter, senior left guard Luke Harris, junior center Randy Swain, senior right guard Matt McCabe and junior right tackle Adam Salyers.

     Both running backs also return for ’09 with senior tailback Tim Pugh and junior fullback Brett McEvoy.

     The receiving corps was a good one last year as the flanker, split end and tight end all earned All-OAC honors, but unfortunately for Wulf, they were all seniors last season.  So for Blackburn to have a successful senior campaign, he’s going to have to find some new targets.

     Defensively, the Quakers return seven starters from a squad that was rather porous in ’08.  However it may be too harsh to completely hang all of the blame on the defensive personnel without any consistent production from the decimated offense.  The Wilmington defense was on the field way too much and finished the ’08 season ranked somewhere between seventh to ninth in the major defensive categories like total defense, scoring defense, rush defense, pass defense, etc.

     Wulf has the makings of an improved defense with good experience up the middle with all three defensive linemen, both inside linebackers and both safeties returning to his 3-4 alignment.

     Junior end Kenny Marsh (Second-Team All-OAC), senior nose guard Cedric Holmes and senior end Nathan Geers bring stability to the front line.  Senior Chris Medley (Second-Team All-OAC) and junior Bryce Martin return to the inside linebacker spots.  The secondary will be built around junior free safety T.J Burbridge (Honorable Mention All-OAC) and junior strong safety Donta’ Stone.  The holes are on the edges with both outside linebacker and cornerback spots up for grabs entering camp.

     Their season once again starts against a quality Mount St. Joseph team that has either won or challenged for the last couple Heartland College Athletic Conference crowns, and is likely to do the same this season.  The OAC slate opens with a potentially winnable game against Marietta before the OAC’s big boys come calling.

     Overall, I think the Quakers have the potential to finish .500 if their defense can improve against the run and if the young receivers step up to provide solid targets for Blackburn.  With a four-year starter at quarterback and an experienced O-line, they should be able to score enough points to win some games.  My only question is whether the defense can improve enough to make the difference between a close loss versus a gutty victory.

Heidelberg Student Princes / 2008 record: 4-6 overall, 3-6 OAC (8th Place)

     The Student Princes could be the poster child for how quickly expectations can change.

     Two years ago the Student Princes were in the midst of a 30+ game losing streak and would give anything to just win a single game.  Enter Hallett at head coach for the 2007 season and immediately hope sprung eternal on campus that the losing streak was history.  They were right as Hallett’s charges went 4-6 in that inaugural season.

     Heidelberg finished the ’08 season at 4-6 for the second season in a row, however this time that record left a somewhat hollow feeling as they were expecting much bigger things from an experienced team returning eight starters on offense and nine on defense.

     It doesn’t take long for the expectations to change in college sports.  Just two short years removed from a 36-game losing streak and the Student Princes were unsatisfied with a four win season.

     What made the ’08 season so frustrating was exactly how close The ‘Berg was to six wins.  A failed two-point conversion in the closing minutes of its week three battle at John Carroll was the difference in a 17-15 loss, and a week eight home loss to Wilmington (23-20) was a hard one to swallow after leading 20-10 at halftime.

     With eight starters returning last season, the Heidelberg offense was productive and finished the year ranked as the OAC’s fourth best offense in scoring and total offensive yards.  Their “O” was well balanced being ranked fifth in both rushing and passing yardage gained.  Based simply on the offensive numbers, the Orange & Black should have garnered more than four wins.

     As we look forward to 2009 offensively, the Student Princes will have some holes to fill as only five starters return led by senior Second-Team All-OAC running back Jemar Lewis.  Also returning is junior quarterback Andrew Miller, junior fullback Chance Ferrell, sophomore right guard Derrick Arbogast and sophomore right tackle Paul Dunn.

     Miller had a reasonably successful sophomore season, throwing for over 200 yards per game with a good quarterback efficiency rating of 133.20, which placed him fourth in conference behind Micheli (Mount Union), Rafferty (Otterbein) and Gardner (Baldwin-Wallace).

     The downfall for much of 2008’s woes hangs on a defense that finished dead last in the OAC in rush defense, giving up a staggering 209 yards per game, and was ranked ninth overall in total defense and scoring defense.

     Hopefully another year of experience, and maybe more importantly, another year in the weight room, makes the difference on “D” as Hallett returns eight starters, headlined by senior tackle Matt Grieves, a Second-Team All-OAC selection.

     Joining Grieves up front is junior tackle Chris Bowden and sophomore end Wayne Lanum.  Junior outside backer Vaughn Klein (Honorable Mention All-OAC) and senior middle linebacker Justin Dawson return at the linebacker spots.  The secondary returns senior cornerback Julius Higginbotham, senior strong safety Wayne Glisson and sophomore cornerback Tony Gordon.

     I’m somewhat hesitate to assume that a defense porous enough to surrender over 200 yards rushing per game in a conference known more for its passing attacks is going to drastically improve from one year to the next with the same personnel.

     Their season starts with a road date against Westminster (PA), whom they easily throttled last year 62-27.  If you ever wondered about the relative strength of the OAC versus the Presidents Athletic Conference, the comparison between Heidelberg and Waynesburg is rather telling.  In 2008, Waynesburg finished tied for third in the PAC with Grove City whereas Heidelberg finished eighth in the OAC.

     The conference slate gets interesting very quickly with weeks two through six being a gauntlet of Capital (A), John Carroll (H), Otterbein (A), Ohio Northern (A), Mount Union (H) and Baldwin-Wallace (H).

     The ’09 season will be an interesting one to see if the Student Princes have stockpiled the talent and depth necessary to remain a mid-level OAC team, or whether they will regress a bit with the graduation losses on offense.  Though I’m sure Hallett would disagree, I think it will be very difficult for Heidelberg to improve on their win total this year.  And in fact, it might be considered a success if they retain their place in the standings with the lack of players returning on offense and lack of strength defensively against the run.

     One thing is for sure though, Heidelberg isn’t the guaranteed win that they were a couple years ago before Hallett arrived on campus!

Muskingum Muskies / 2008 record: 3-7 overall, 2-7 OAC (9th Place)

Marietta Pioneers / 2008 record: 2-8 overall, 1-8 OAC (10th Place)

     As expected, Jeff Filkovski’s first season as head coach at Marietta was a rough one after taking over from Kurt Weise who left the cupboard pretty bare leaving little depth for Filkovski to build a viable team with.  In the OAC it’s very rare for a young player to be physically prepared to compete, especially on the line of scrimmage, but that’s exactly what Filkovski had by season’s end with five freshmen and six sophomores in the starting lineup.  Three of which were on the defensive line.

     An old adage in coaching is that every freshman starter equates to one loss on the field and that was the case and more for the Pioneers last season as they struggled to get their two wins over Thiel (2-8 overall) and Muskingum (3-7 overall).  The upside of all the youth that played in ’08 is a lot of experience returning for ’09.

     Offensively, Marietta returns the entire starting lineup except for the center, headlined by senior Honorable Mention All-OAC running back Lamar Hunter, which was their only offensive all-conference performer.  Joining Hunter in the backfield is junior fullback Matt Ischy and quarterbacks Dexter Hughes (senior) and Ander Keller (sophomore).

     The receiving unit consists of junior flanker Cory Kreichbaum, junior tight end Zach Lashaway and sophomore slot receiver Jahmaal Jones.

     The offensive line should be senior left tackle George Frisch, senior left guard Chris Carter, sophomore right guard Matt Myers and junior right tackle Antoni Santilli.

     Defensively, the Pioneers return seven starters but lose their best two players from last season in middle linebacker Grant Cowell and cornerback Clinton Thompson, their only All-OAC performers.  The ‘Etta defense was horrendous in 2008 and finished the season ranked 229th out of 235 teams nationally in pass defense and 218th in scoring defense.  Any hope of increased wins must begin with improved play defensively.

     The most experienced unit on “D” will be the secondary where three seniors return in cornerback Corey Lemke, strong safety George Davis and free safety Rob Williamson.

     The front four was extremely young last season and returns junior end Adam Tate, junior tackle Pete Santagate and sophomore Cody Andrews.  The only linebacker returning is sophomore outside backer Dan Starr.

     What can we expect from the Pioneers this season?  The 17 returning starters point to a more competitive team, but I’m not sure that will equate to more actual wins.  Besides their two wins, the only other game they were even remotely competitive in was the 42-40 loss to Heidelberg.  Their next closest game was a 31-6 home loss against John Carroll.  So even though their play should be improved, I doubt the improvement will be enough to get more than two or three wins.

     Marietta has a reasonable season opener with nearby Thiel (2-8 in ’08) coming to the river.  The 21-18 Marietta win over Thiel accounted for half of their season win total and likely could be so again in ’09.  Their OAC slate opens at Wilmington, who drilled Marietta 34-7 last year.  From there the schedule gets noticeably tougher with Baldwin-Wallace, Capital, John Carroll and Ohio Northern in succession.  The Pioneer season ends with a trip to Mount Union.