Atlantic Central Football Conference/Independents

Raider 68 · October 26, 2011, 11:42:39 AM

teamski, wesleydad,

How you see the Wesley/Salisbury game? Is this Wesley's stepping stone to the playoffs again? $:-\$

Hope all is well and that you can see the game if possible!

Teamski · October 26, 2011, 01:25:22 PM

Wesley obviously needs to wrap up the season so every game is like a playoff game. I know Wesley has the ability to close down Salisbury's run game. They solved the triple option a long time ago. However, this is the Route 13 Rivalry and as happened before, it will be a highly spirited game. Salisbury is coming in undefeated, so they will have a chip on their shoulders. I do not think their surging passing game will be really effective due to the Nor'easter coming in on Saturday with 45 degree temps with rain.

It will be a trying Saturday without Coach Knapp on the sidelines and the effect that the tragedy that hit Ben has on the team. It will take some serious focus to play at 100%. That said, I have faith that they will do so. Coach Az is more than than capable of taking the offensive reigns and the team is starting to gel on both lines. The team played really well last week and if they can get through the first half without major mistakes, then I think Salisbury will be in trouble.

-Ski

Raider 68 · October 26, 2011, 04:05:10 PM

Quote from: Teamski on October 26, 2011, 01:25:22 PM
Wesley obviously needs to wrap up the season so every game is like a playoff game. I know Wesley has the ability to close down Salisbury's run game. They solved the triple option a long time ago. However, this is the Route 13 Rivalry and as happened before, it will be a highly spirited game. Salisbury is coming in undefeated, so they will have a chip on their shoulders. I do not think their surging passing game will be really ineffective due to the Nor'easter coming in on Saturday with 45 degree temps with rain.

It will be a trying Saturday without Coach Knapp on the sidelines and the effect that the tragedy that hit Ben has on the team. It will take some serious focus to play at 100%. That said, I have faith that they will do so. Coach Az is more than than capable of taking the offensive reigns and the team is starting to gel on both lines. The team played really well last week and if they can get through the first half without major mistakes, then I think Salisbury will be in trouble.

-Ski

Teamski,

Thanks for your informative post! +k!

wesleydad · October 26, 2011, 07:37:32 PM

raider68, i think this will be a good game. checking out the stats, salisbury has fumbled the ball 26 times this year losing 15 of them. that is an average of 2 lost fumbles a game. they certainly will not want to give the ball to wesley any more than they have to. salisbury is averaging over 50 points a game, but only scored 21 against ithaca and 27 against christopher newport. i think wesley has a better defense than any team the gulls have faced and they are well versed in stopping the triple option. the weak part of the d in my opinion is the secondary. ski has stated that they seem to have tightened up that area. a huge area to look at will be how different the offense looks with a different coach calling the plays. the game plan may be the same, but no 2 coaches see things the same way. finally, if the weather turns ugly and there is a chance of that, then wesley will have a huge advantage or at least it would seem they would. i cant imagine the triple option being easy to run in heavy rain. as usual the weather people are throwing darts at the forecast right now so the only thing i am sure of is that if the world is still spinning then they will have a game on saturday with either clouds and wind or heavy rain, wind, wet snow, or just shy of armageddon. i believe that wesley will handle the tough situation with coach knapp's son just fine. he would want them to play their best and would expect nothing less. can salisbury stop wesley from scoring? the offense has not put up the points as in past years, but they are playing well right now. play calling seems to be pretty even run/pass. wesley should win the game and i expect them to. salisbury's run through the e8 is not surprising to me or anyone here, most of us have thought the e8 is not as good as advertised. wesley must win to have any shot at the playoffs so that must be the mentality. first game of the year that i am really looking forward to with wesley, they have been all over the place.

Raider 68 · October 26, 2011, 07:50:19 PM

Quote from: wesleydad on October 26, 2011, 07:37:32 PM
raider68, i think this will be a good game. checking out the stats, salisbury has fumbled the ball 26 times this year losing 15 of them. that is an average of 2 lost fumbles a game. they certainly will not want to give the ball to wesley any more than they have to. salisbury is averaging over 50 points a game, but only scored 21 against ithaca and 27 against christopher newport. i think wesley has a better defense than any team the gulls have faced and they are well versed in stopping the triple option. the weak part of the d in my opinion is the secondary. ski has stated that they seem to have tightened up that area. a huge area to look at will be how different the offense looks with a different coach calling the plays. the game plan may be the same, but no 2 coaches see things the same way. finally, if the weather turns ugly and there is a chance of that, then wesley will have a huge advantage or at least it would seem they would. i cant imagine the triple option being easy to run in heavy rain. as usual the weather people are throwing darts at the forecast right now so the only thing i am sure of is that if the world is still spinning then they will have a game on saturday with either clouds and wind or heavy rain, wind, wet snow, or just shy of armageddon. i believe that wesley will handle the tough situation with coach knapp's son just fine. he would want them to play their best and would expect nothing less. can salisbury stop wesley from scoring? the offense has not put up the points as in past years, but they are playing well right now. play calling seems to be pretty even run/pass. wesley should win the game and i expect them to. salisbury's run through the e8 is not surprising to me or anyone here, most of us have thought the e8 is not as good as advertised. wesley must win to have any shot at the playoffs so that must be the mentality. first game of the year that i am really looking forward to with wesley, they have been all over the place.

wesleydad,

Hope you enjoy the game and thanks for the input. IMHO, Wesley will win this one! +k!

thewaterboy · October 27, 2011, 09:52:41 AM

Great article for Ben on the cover of D3football.com. It seems almost unreal that a person can go from completely healthy one second and in a hospital the next. They will give him another MRI soon to see how he is doing. Still praying lots.

As far as this weeks game goes, the weather will definitely play a factor to benefit the Wolverines, and since they have historically been able to solve that option attack of Salisbury, things are in Wesley's favor if they come out and play clean solid football.

See you all out there!

wesleydad · October 28, 2011, 11:00:02 PM

well here we go. looks like the weather will play as much a part in the outcome of the game as either team will. shame, this should have been a real good game and it may well still end up being a good one. i will be there as i hope most wesley fans will be. it sounds like the johns hopkins game in the playoffs a couple of years ago. i can not imagine how the poor weather does not favor wesley. i thought they would win the game in good weather so i still think they will win, but the score is a crap shoot. safe travels to all in the east as this could really get ugly in some areas.

Teamski · October 29, 2011, 08:58:00 AM

YYAAAWWNNN! Just got up. It is nice and crummy out there and I am really pumped up! Cold, Rain, Wind and blowing leaves with a heavily leaden sky above. This is the game of the season for Wesley, right here, right now. I see a lot of fumbles and a marked lack of passing today.

-Ski

wesleydad · October 29, 2011, 09:10:43 AM

hopefully only a lot of fumbles for one team. i think that wesley needs to get in the 20's to win the game, but there is a chance that little scoring occurs due to the weather. will be no tailgating for me today, arrival planned for 1230 or so attempting to stay warm and dry as long as possible. will be a chilly time on top of the press box for you ski. i still think it will be a good game, just like the johns hopkins playoff game a couple of years ago. wesley needs to win to keep playoff hopes alive. time for the d line to step up and control the game, pounding the qb on every play. ball control will also help so the o line needs to handle salisbury's unusual d set up, think they play a 4 2 5. see you there, breaking out the jersey for this one.

beenhit2hard · October 29, 2011, 12:23:48 PM

We hope y'all do not get the rain we just had here in Chincoteague,,could not see 15 feet in any direction and some 30 mph winds,,hope y' all stay dry,,we got soaked at our HS game last night,,tough to do 2 days in a row, GOOOO Wolvs!!!!

Teamski · October 29, 2011, 05:12:32 PM

Wow, that was one cold, windy and wet game! I was uncontrollably shaking throughout the game and I am still thawing out. Wesley was definately the better team out there today. It was silly penalties that kept the game closer than it should of been (9/99). That said, Salisbury played tough. The high number of personal fouls and unsportmanlike penalties reflected this fact. The weather played havoc. However, both teams did a decent job keeping the ball off the ground even though Salisbury got some breaks on some fumbles they had. I was surprised by the ability to pass the ball by both teams in driving rain conditions. Gusts exceeded 25MPH.

It was great to see Ben Knapp stickers on the helmets. I know Coach Drass was going to hit the road to Pitsburgh right after the game with the ball.

It was a key win for Wesley this year limiting Salisbury to 14 points. The defense really did a sweet job denying salisbury some key first downs.

Now that I am getting feeling back into my right pinkie....

-Ski

wesleydad · October 29, 2011, 05:27:45 PM

overall a very good football game. the weather was cold, but the rain stopped during the second and third quarters. the wind made it tough to pass away from the scoreboard end. wesley's d did a real nice job stopping slaisbury, only gave up 2 big plays for td's. key stop on 4th down at midfield with 7 min to go in the game. Wesley o holds the ball the rest of the game. Salisbury is a pretty good team and I will be interested in seeing next weeks game against fisher. They have a tough d and the offense has potential to break a big one on any play. wesley looked under control the whold game and made the plays when they needed to. looked like salisbury thought they could pass on them as it seemed like they threw the ball more than i expected. wesley needs to clean up the personal fouls, 2 of them could have been key had they lost the game. wesley gave themselves a chance to get in the playoffs. win out and they should be in as a pool b or c. best game i have seen this year, these 2 teams along with del val and johns hopkins all should make the playoffs and will be tough games for anyone.

DE Wesley Fan · October 29, 2011, 09:15:13 PM

Worth freezing to see a good game. Missed Uncle Frank - hopefully he's ok and just had the good sense to stay warm and dry in NJ? Been a long time since I've seen the side lines as vocal as they were today, even against Salisbury. Seemed like even the coaches were enjoying the win a little more than usual. Hope we can use the next two games to keep working on the secondary and get ready for the playoffs (please please please).

thewaterboy · October 29, 2011, 11:27:34 PM

Great game today for the Wolverines! They seemed to control the entire game. McSweeny was able to throw the ball pretty well despite the wind and rain. All in all a great win for Wesley.....minus the penalties of course. Still need to clean those up. But that will come hopefully. Wesley made plays win they needed to and came out on top. Dont think that Wesley "feels somewhat vulnerable" at all. Remember that they have beaten a D1-AA full-scholarship program, an scholarship NAIA program, and now the top team in the Empire 8.

STAND IN THE GAP! Go Wolverines!

PA_wesleyfan · October 30, 2011, 12:04:12 AM

I am still stunned that the Refs let Salisbury taunt Wesley players from their sidelines .And I have never seen an organized taunting like I did today!!. No 4 was getting under the Wesley players skin and getting the reaction he wanted .i.e. the three unsportsmanlike. Wesley palyed a very charged enthusiastic game today. The small home crowd was dissapointing but the snow started a lot sooner up here in Pa and NJ and travel was a lilttle dangerous.

I spoke with Ben Knapps baseball coach today . They were selling the wrist bands with Ben's name on it!! Nice of them to tackle that task!! Also talked with Chips brother and nephew. They are hanging in there . Keep them in your thoughts and prayers .. Thanks!!