FB: Centennial Conference

[Matt Barnhart (kid)]

Are there no Dickinson fans out there to chat up about the game?

Same with the ODAC thread - no W&L fans (well, there's one).

[BearFan01]

I will chat for them...lol...how pretentious.....

Dickinson has a very good team.  As all the D3football.com guys have pointed out, to be sucessful in the playoffs you needa good defense and a good quaterback....

Well they have both. 

Their defense is very good, especially against the run.  Their quaterback is not flashy, but man is he a tuff competetior.  He throws a good ball and puts it where it needs to be.  He is not very fast, but fast enough in a game to run away from everyone and score. 

The question is can the offense do enough against Wesley.  I think the defense can keep the game close for a while, and maybe the whole way, if the offense can keep pace.  If the game is close going into the 4th, despite what many think, Dickinson stands a very good chance of winning.  They are a veteran team. 

If Wesley jumps on them and dickinson can't respond, then it could be an early exit for the devils. 

The question is what is Dickinson's mindset comming off the Ursinus Loss.  Was a tuff physical game that went into OT and for anyone was there, was very argueably one of the best college football games on the d-III level this season, it was that good. 

Hopefully we have a good game in De on Saturday......

[terror5005]

Wesley has a lot of team speed. Very fast defense, and very fast on the offensive side of the ball. The Robinson kid is an absolute monster, and Lanouette is a very good receiving TE. Warrick is an athletic QB who throws a nice deep ball to playmakers in the outside. It's going to be a tough matchup for Dickinson's defense. I don't know if they have played anybody this year with the amount of team speed that Wesley has.

BearFan is absolutely right, they may need to rely on their defense early and often to keep them in the game, and grind it out rushing the ball to keep Wesley's high powered offense on the sideline. A special teams play may make the difference in this game if its close. If it turns into a shoot-out I don't like Dickinson's chances. But it would definitely be nice to see a Dickinson upset.

[PA_wesleyfan]

Bearfan

 Wesley has lots of speed on both sides of the ball. They have held teams to negative rushing yardage twice. The defense gets after QB's but they don't leave their lanes so it's hard to scamble against them. Both lines are big and tend to wear down opponents. Some of the D stats are deceiving because the Offense scores so quickly that the D doesn't get a breather sometimes
 The offense is very explosive. They have 4 running backs who can break a long run at any time. The recievers are not the burners they had last year so Clark gets a lot of attention, but if the ball is near any one of them they catch it.  And the QB is a four year starter and has great field presence.

 The coaches know each other very well as they do camps together in the summer. So that makes for an interesting chess match there.

  I think Wesley wins 31-14    

[BearFan01]

Here is to some great games around the MId-Atlantic

Best of luck to the devils in the first round, though I guess I should thank them seeing this site is claiming they "Took it Easy" last week when they lost to Ursinus.  Talk about lack of respect.  I am saying that for both teams involved.  To say the coaches and players of dickinson layed down, took it easy, and let ursinus win is a very insulting assumption. 

I did not hear comments like this last year when Rowan lost to a not very good William Patterson team prior to the start of the playoffs. 

Call me sour grapes I guess. 

Good luck to the Bears in the ECAC bowl.....

[terror5005]

Congratulations to both Ursinus and Dickinson on their seasons. They both finished against a couple of tough teams, but certainly leave something to build on for next year,  for both them, and the rest of the CentenniAl.

[Terrorizer24]

It is time for a change at McDaniel, and i dont mean a uniform change like the one that happend in the 2006 season.  Since the departure of defensive specialist and football genius Al Thomas following the 2002 season, the Terror have gone 5-5, 6-4, 5-5, and 4-6.  Thomas's replacement Brad Fordyce has had his defenses Nationally ranked in 3 of those 4 disapointing season's, so the D simply is not the problem.  The problem is Tim Keating.  The man is a terrible motivator and not the Offensive guru that captured outright titles from '97-'01.  The man has brought in sub-par athletes on the offensive side, and can not protect his quaterback.  Baer is a great athlete, and the ball belongs in his hands, but his numbers have gone south as his career has gone on simply because of the beating he takes on a weekly basis.  Since the name change in '02 from Western Maryland to McDaniel College, the terror football program has gone down hill.  When the name changed, so did the program, and it should be blamed on Tim Keating.

[xterjstrap]

What happened to the football chats? Now that the post-season teams have been issued, there should be lots of chatter!
First of all, McDaniel had an up/down, on/off year, but relied heavily on youth. Recruiting had sagged the past 2 years, but jumped back up with a good group this year. Other than their captains, Baer & Abbo, they didn't have much. O-line was absolutely pathetic-could not open a hole, could not protect; there rides the season! The D-line & LB's were so-so; Catucci being doubled every play and no consistency from LB's as a different set started each week with none playing every game due to multiple injuries. See was welcomed as a 2nd yr player at safety but will he be back? Gingrich had an awesome year at WR and did not get enuff credit; he seemed to score 90% of the rare Off. TD's. Even tho the Fr. class looks good, next year doesn't---should be much of the same... Baer as the only threat, no O-line, WR's should be very good but will there be time to throw? With Abbo graduating, someone needs to step up on D, as he was their only stopper and toward the end of the season, no one would run or throw at him! Thank God, Hansen Gazette saw this and posted him as a 2nd team All-American. (How come Dickinson's Dube, who incidently also had a monster year, got CC DPOY when he only received HM All-Amer. from Hansen and his stats weren't even close to Abbo's [who is a safety, NOT an LB]; Abbo's CC stats got even better , as a POY should when it really counts, whereas Dube's dropped???
Keating & Co. are going to need an even better recruiting class this coming year.
Congrats to all the CC players who got post-season nods.
Looking forward to continued strong inter-conference play next year. It is a shear delight to watch CC teams go at each other.

[Pat Coleman]

You must be kidding throwing the All-Hansen team around here like it's something legit.

[xterjstrap]

At least Hansen "looks" at what a player has done (production) instead of whether he was on a winning team or has been heard of before! How can you not pay attention to stats that are in the top of the DIVISION Sometimes you writers (who have soooo much experience PLAYING the game) just ride each other's shirttails. Had McDaniel won the conference or had a winning season, you all would have been sniffing Abbamonte's jock for an interview, but since they did not make the playoffs and have not had a great year for a while, lets just play with the winners. You don't spend enuff time (Or just are not willing) to look past the top teams to see what else is out there. Poor Sturges from Gettysburg; again, if they had been winners, he would have been an All-American! Even though he isn't huge by todays "Standards", and they weren't top 25, his films and stats speak volumes for him---he is damn-near impossible to bring down ---good moves, decent speed, leg-drive, balance and DETERMINATION!But gee, since Mt. Union & Wesley et.al. are top dogs, their RB's must automatically be Top Dogs, too. I'm sure they are very good, but how about honestly looking at other players in the division to see if they might not also be good in spite of their size or how their team did.
Oh, I forgot, because you are a "writer" your opinion is gold.

[Pat Coleman]

At least Hansen "looks" at what a player has done (production) instead of whether he was on a winning team or has been heard of before!

Please -- he looks at how many schools' kids he can get on there so he can get free publicity and get the "all-americans" to buy his shirts.

If my opinion's no good because I'm a ... gasp ... writer, then what about the ... wow ... coaches who didn't name your guy conference defensive player of the year? What's your excuse for discounting their opinion?

[xterjstrap]

Absolutely no idea, especially in light of the fact that immediately after each game at least one opposing coach, and sometimes many, sought him out to speak with before lining-up to shake hands. I'm kinda sure they weren't looking for him to say how poorly he played. Opposition crowds constantly cited expressions such as "how many Abbamontes" are on that team" because of how many plays he was in on. I'm sure Dube was well deserving---I said that he had a monster year; it just did not seem as deserving as Abbamonte...except that he was on the Centennial Champion team! It really seemed to be a joke---much like last year when Muhlenberg's LB got DPOY over McDaniel's Ringold who, just like this year, had stats that were obviously much better than the eventual honoree. Although, trust me, I am happy for those other players, it just does not seem fair or right. But then again, the McDaniel guys were taught a valuablke life lesson---in life you don't always get what you deserve or have earned! Maybe the conference is just tired of always giving the award to a Green Terror (check recent past honorees).
I cannot believe that you would bad mouth another publication, except for the fact that they might be in direct competition with you and D3.com!!! It would seem far better to me that other and more honorees than the few that you constantly site (with far inferior stats) get desrved recognition. Players that played exceptionally well deserve credit. Its great that Hansen reaches out to more than the ones that D3.com tries to keep elite for whatever reason. How do you account for so many players with inferior stats getting various team awards over others that seem to be more deserving?
And you never addressed the playing experience question. Were you just another one of those who sat in the crowd dreaming that you could play, too? Or can you honestly say that you are applyingyour playing experience and your first hand knowlege toward your reporting? You do not have to have played to be a good reporter, but I feel to truly understand the game and understand what goes on on the field (and off), it certainly helps to have played!
Now I realize that as a long-time Terror fan, that I am obviously biased. But I will never understand how, at every level, this seems to happen----the players that seem most deserving are passed over to accomodate the winners! The winners already got their recognition for winning---they are the champions. Only if they truly deserve other awards should they be so acknowleged! Check out Mario Harris' stats; how does he get Def back of the year when his stats aren't anywhere close to Abbamonte's? Is it because he earned it (?) last year? Does that automatically qualify him to repeat? I can only rationalize that this happens because of writers' lack of playing experience or understanding. How else can it be justified? Please enlighten me (and the rest of your readers).

[xterjstrap]

Sorry to jump bacjk so soon, but I failed to address your comments on Hansen:
OK, he is in business to make $. However, he still provides a great service to his readers. If he was just looking to place as many kids as possible to make $, what does it matter where he places them. Obviously he saw something in Abbamonte's stats to place him 2nd team above so many of your noteworthys. I still disagree with him as Abbo's stats blow away even the DBs on his first team, but at least he was given some due! How do you not rate a player with stats at the top of the division? There are thousands of players in D3; what harm is it to list hundreds that did especially well? The more that deserve it the better. List any and every kid that is DESERVING! Set a bar and stick by it, but do not fail your readers (and the players) by "tweaking" one player over another unless it can be validly applied. Again, how can you possibly deny proper recognition to a player, any player, who has the stats to justify/qualify? Do some research; Harris made def back of year last year also--why, what qualified him? Abbamonte led D3 in passes defensed as a junior. This year he switched roles to mainly stop the run since they graduated Ringgold, their run-stopper. With 125 tackles, he blows away almost every other DB in D3; yet he still had 4 int.s,11.5 tfl, 2 ff,and many more than the 3 pbu.s that he was credited for (game films would prove this true). That is an all-around player, pass & run defense! He paced the CC in tackles (Dube , a LB, did not have as many in 1 more game). He set a program record with 174 career solo tackles and finished 3rd in McDaniel history in total tackles. Beside Hansen AA 2nd team, he earned CC 1st (also 1st as Jr and 2nd team as soph),Hansen's South All-Region 1st team, ECAC All-SW 1st team, and D3football.com All-South Region 3rd team.
Pretty deserving, huh? I know that there are many, many others as well, but how can you deny such a prolific season and career and admit that some players DO get screwed--sometimes they are passed over by less deserving players and that being on a winning team (especially a champion) will elevate a player's status irregardless of stats. Why must you be so obstinate. Can you understand, if not agree, with my points? If not, WHY?

[Gray Fox]

However, he still provides a great service to his readers.

Abbamonte led D3 in passes defensed as a junior.

Great? "Don Hansen" and "great" are usually not put in the same sentence on this these boards.

Interesting email address you have.   You must know Abbamonte  personally. 

[Gray Fox]

Gray Fox:

>>You must know Abbamonte  personally<<

Now, now. Perhaps xterjstrap has a daughter who was childhood friends with the young man.

OxyBob

FYI to regular CC posters, this is an inside joke to those of us who post regularly on the SCIAC board. 

It is slow in the off season.  "Idle hands are the Devil's playthings"