FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[BashBacker#16]

Wally,

Brent Banach was moved (pretty early this year) to OLB for next year.  Expect he and Matt Craft (210 who can really run) to compete for a starting spot.  Both players are going to be very good and played special teams all year long.

At corner, Peterman should challenge (solid cover skills) along with Ja'Michael Hill from Pike.  You have to like those 2 along with CJ & Bell.

[bashbrother]

Did anyone notice that St. Johns is claiming to have taken over the "Winningest Football Program Ever" status?

[smedindy]

So Keffer is moving back to defense, then?

[wally_wabash]

Bashbro-

By winning percentage, St. John's is the all time D-III leader.  By total wins, St. John's is 11th...Witt is still way out in the lead there. 

This season Wabash moved past Amherst to #6 on the all-time wins list in D-III. 

[reality check]

The Johnnies might be the winningest team in DIII by percentage but they definitely are not math majors.  Their percentage is .708 as opposed to .701 as they state on their webpage.

[WallyFS4]

BB16

Nice post.  I couldn't agree more.  I have heard we might see some surprising things at RB next year.  It will be exciting.

Smed

I think we will see Keffer at J-Back.

As always.

WABASH ALWAYS FIGHTS![/size][/font]

[seventiesraider]

Does anybody here remember exactly when Division III started. Obviously, when I was first in school we were college or small college division, I don't clearly remember what the NCAA designator was.

[frank uible]

1973.

[bashbrother]

Thanks Wally.

[BashBacker#16]

My mistake on Keffer - I meant to say Frank Knez.  Knez has had a lot of playing time over the last 2 years with Selby's injury(s) and has played well.  Keffer could and should be a beast at J-back.

Sorry Smeds for the confusion.  You need to be focusing your efforts on landing the twins!

[reality check]

bashbrother

I just thought this might interest you since you listened to the Aztec Bowl.  Hostetler was selected to play in the Hula Bowl based on his outstanding performance in the Aztec Bowl.  Really good stuff.

[BashBacker#16]

Some of you may not care but others may find it interesting, if you can get the gist of this post without the high school stuff...I think it says a lot about Wabash football.  This was posted from a Roncalli Dad who's son is apparently considering Wabash..here's the post excluding one piece about high school programs: 

Posted by Rebel Dad on 12/21/05 on Gridirondigest.com ---

"Having been afforded the opportunity to learn more and more about the Wabash Football PROGRAM, I have now become more convinced than ever that it really is about the PROGRAM, be it grade school (Nativity), high school (Roncalli, Sheridan, Warren), or college (Wabash, Mount Union).

I listened to Coach Creighton (Wabash head coach) speak about Wabash football on Sunday. He talked about how he and his staff have gone about building a PROGRAM. I see no difference between what he is doing and what other successful PROGRAMS have done. Is it easy? Heck no. Takes hard work (here comes the "we work just as hard as you do statements" - bring um on - I talked with a few high school players from Wabash who clearly said they are working much harder than they did in High School, - the Roncalli players who go to Wabash told me that the level of work and commitment is the same), dedication, commitment, fan support, player "buy in", brotherhood, a winning tradition (Wabash just completed an undefeated regular season). Here are some of the similarities that I found between the two PROGRAMS.

1. Fan Support - saw stands filled on the Wabash side, saw almost empty stands on the team that they werre playing. Spoke with a Brebeuf grad who is a senior at Wabash, said that they had made at best a hundred fans at his games in High School. Roncalli plays in front of at least 5,000 each Friday night.

2. Parental Support - it is there and EXPECTED.

3. Hard Work - Told about a player who never missed a 6:00 a.m. work out in four years, both during both the season and off season. Said it was expected that if you are up all night writing a paper until 5:00 A.M. that you will be at the 6:00 A.M. workout. Make it clear that Wabash football and acadamics is going to "kick your butt". Must have mentioned the words "hard work" ten times.

4. Brotherhood - Very evident that a "brotherhood" exists among the players. One player spoke about how he "wished" that a brotherhood like this could be found at his high school. I know of many Roncalli players who have gone to "other" colleges to play football. Many quit after the first years because, "it's not like it was at Roncalli". Don't see that from the Wabash players.

5. Winning tradition - They believed that they should have been playing in the Division III NCAA Championship game last week.

[BashDad]

BB16:

Good stuff!!  Couldn't be more true. Thanks for posting it.

The merriest of Christmas to you and your family, and to all the Wabash family! 

[wooscot]

Couple thoughts - One, I think its funny how much time was devoted to this USA vs. Mexico game compared to the Stagg Bowl.  Seriously, just because some  kids from Wabash are playing, it suddenly overshadows DIII's biggest stage?  Priorities, people...

Second, after watching the Stagg Bowl last weekend, I truly believe Mt. Union is back and back in a big way.  The game was never really in doubt and Mt absolutely blew Whitewater off the ball all day.  Kmic is the real deal as well.  He played in the same H.S. conference as me (though I was a "few" years before his time) and word from back home is that the only D-I school that sniffed around was BG, who wanted him to walk-on.  I guess size was a concern, but after seeing the kid play, I think somebody should've taken a chance on him.  I wish Wooster would've made a bigger push for him.

Third, maybe Darkside-D has more insight than I do into the current state of Wooster's program, but after this year's performance, we simply need a big and talented recruiting class to help off-set the losses to graduation the last few years.  Any word on how recruiting is going, or is the admission's office being a pain in the behind per usual (see above).  I have 100% faith in Coach Schmitz and the rest of the coaches, but there does come a time when you simply need more talent and depth to compete with the so-called conference elite, which really aren't so elite any more when compared to the national powers.  

Lastly, I hope everybody has a Happy Holiday.

[bashbrother]

RC - 

Great news!   He is a special player.  The on-the-scene reports I received on his performance last weekend, was that he is an amazing athlete and a great person too. 

Great honor for him and for the entire Polar Bear community.