FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Titan Q]

Article that covers IWU's personnel...

https://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/illinois-wesleyan/establishing-culture-early-emphasis-for-iwu-football-team/article_173619df-fd57-51c4-8a64-9019db857ff7.html

[Gregory Sager]

Neither Anthony DiNardo nor Frank Mauigoa are listed on the NPU football roster, so they're presumably going to concentrate on their other sports (baseball and men's volleyball, respectively) at North Park and will forego playing football in 2018. That leaves rising sophomore Grant Borsch as the only returning QB with varsity experience for the Vikings. He started the last three games of the season and did quite well against Augustana and Carroll, and not so well against Carthage. The other returning QB on the roster, rising junior Jujuan King, has only seen JV action to this point, and there are four freshman quarterbacks listed on the roster.

It looks to me that it's Borsch's job to lose.

The good news is that two of the most talented Pacific Islanders that North Park has had on the defensive side of the ball over the past few seasons -- nose tackle Patamo Soa, a rising sophomore from the Hawaiian island of Oahu, and linebacker Uati Pati, a rising junior from Samoa -- are back with the Vikings after not being in school last year.

[mwunder]

That leaves rising sophomore Grant Borsch 
QB on the roster, rising junior Jujuan King

nose tackle Patamo Soa, a rising sophomore
linebacker Uati Pati, a rising junior

Did somoene hide your thesaurus?

Ascending....surging...emerging...We expect more from you Mr. Sager.

[Gregory Sager]

Huh?

The adjective "rising" is a commonly-used expression to describe the academic status and/or athletic eligibility status of a college student between the end of one school year and the start of the next.

[AndOne]

Huh?

The adjective "rising" is a commonly-used expression to describe the academic status and/or athletic eligibility status of a college student between the end of one school year and the start of the next.

The crust is also rising, and the pizza will be ready soon! 🍕

Go easy on him GS. Despite playing HS and college football and basketball, I too had never heard the term until I became active on the D3Boards. "Sophomore next year" still sounds better to me than "rising sophomore." 🤗

The beauty is that as of next Monday, all the risers will have risen as the NPU academic year begins! 🚀

[mwunder]

Huh?

The adjective "rising" is a commonly-used expression to describe the academic status and/or athletic eligibility status of a college student between the end of one school year and the start of the next.

I just found it odd that you would use it to describe all four of the players you mentioned.  You, of all posters on this board, clearly demonstrate a grasp of the language and rarely use the same adjective twice in a post much less four times.  It was also a little "poking the bear" / my way of having fun with you as well.  Hope you're enjoying your summer.

[Gregory Sager]

I'll be enjoying it much more this evening, as NPU is hosting Rockford in the annual preseason scrimmage. Time to start memorizing the pronunciations of all of those names!

[matblake]

You have my admiration.  I'd never get those names with a Pacific Islander influence.

[Gregory Sager]

You have my admiration.  I'd never get those names with a Pacific Islander influence.

The big thing this year is hyphenated names. There's about a half-dozen Vikings whose names are long and are made even longer by being hyphenated. And they all seem to either be running backs or linebackers, which means that I'm going be saying their names regularly. Getting them out of my mouth without the call running over into the next play is going to be interesting.

No broadcast this evening, since it was a scrimmage, but I did man the PA mic just to get in some work at negotiating some of those cumbersome names. I'm pleased to say that I stuck the landing on pronouncing the names of newcomers Jordan Macabenta-Torres, Ja-Qwayvieous Jones, Jaykob Naka'Ahiki-Young, Matthew Faufata-Pedrina, Lubens Jean-Paul, and Tyson Shimabukuro this evening, and I only messed up Tyler Pangelinan's name once. WR Abdulla Kassim Alkhulaki and DE Anstelordy Dalusma weren't involved in any plays, so I wasn't pushed to the limit. I even had the chance to break out my Swedish pronunciation when freshman RB and Stockholm native Erik Saving caught a pass out of the backfield. That's nice prep for NPU soccer season.

Speaking of Pacific Islanders:

Neither Anthony DiNardo nor Frank Mauigoa are listed on the NPU football roster, so they're presumably going to concentrate on their other sports (baseball and men's volleyball, respectively) at North Park and will forego playing football in 2018.

Turns out that Frank Mauigoa, who is an Army Reservist, has been called up to active duty and will be in the Middle East this fall wearing a different kind of uniform. That's why he's missing football season. He's expected back for spring semester, which is why he'll be playing on the men's volleyball team when he comes back.

North Park beat Rockford this evening, 21-14. The starters ran up a 21-0 score in the first half, and Rockford came back to score a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns when the reserves were in, one with eight seconds remaining. NPU was missing several of its best players, especially on the defensive side, but the Regents, as usual, weren't exactly stiff competition. Still, I'm sure that the Vikings had fun hitting people for a change that wear different-colored uniforms, and it's always good to see the first live football action of the year.

[Ryan Stoppable]

I'm pleased to say that I stuck the landing on pronouncing the names of newcomers Jordan Macabenta-Torres, Ja-Qwayvieous Jones, Jaykob Naka'Ahiki-Young, Matthew Faufata-Pedrina, Lubens Jean-Paul, and Tyson Shimabukuro this evening, and I only messed up Tyler Pangelinan's name once. WR Abdulla Kassim Alkhulaki and DE Anstelordy Dalusma weren't involved in any plays, so I wasn't pushed to the limit.

As someone who used to do PA announcing for local baseball games, reading that list of names made me shudder.

[79jaybird]

Elmhurst trekked north to scrimmage Lakeland.  I hope the Jays focus was on consistency.  Elmhurst is going to be the underdog in most contests this year,  so consistency (especially 3rd and 4th quarters)  would help to give them any chance.   Pronunciation?  LOL  Augie had Tukes Ayangible  (SP?) that is one name I vividly recall having a fun time saying on the air.   

[Titan Q]

From the preseason articles on the Titans in the Pantagraph, here is a list of the guys in competition for time.  On offense, IWU is extremely talented at the skill positions - probably as good as anyone in the league.  The offensive line is a question. Of defense, the linebacker unit is a big question as the Titans lost all 3 starters...but seems like they are really excited about the guys in the mix there.

Norm Eash and staff have really done a nice job recruiting the last several years.  They seem to always return key starters, and have new guys step up and become very good players.

I'm excited to see how they do this season.  The Titans open Sept 8 at home vs UW-La Crosse.


Offense
QB - Brandon Bauer*, 5-11/190 Jr. 2nd Team All-CCIW

RB - Morgan Alexander*, 5-9/180 Sr. 2nd Team All-CCIW
RB - Martese Scott, 5-11/210 Sr.
RB - Zach Mitchell, 6-1/180 Fr.
RB - Jimmy Trieb, 6-4/210 Fr.

TE - Anthony Ryan, 6-1/210 Sr.

WR - Jack Healy*, 6-5/225 Jr. 1st Team All-CCIW
WR - Liam Keffer*, 6-0/180 Jr.
WR - Zack Walsh*, 6-2/190 Jr.
WR - Dean Zigulich, 6-0/175 Jr.

OL - Jack Moroni*, 6-4/325 Sr.
OL - Kyle Cook, 6-0/300 Sr.
OL - Carsten Anderson, 6-3/295 Sr.
OL - Ethan Emerson, 6-5/260 Jr.
OL - Michael Norwood, 6-2/270 So.

Defense
DL - Eric Dubose*, 6-0/275 Sr. 1st Team All-CCIW
DL - Chance Hilliard*, 6-2/260 Jr.

LB - Andrew Ostrowski, 6-1/210 Sr.
LB - Michael Connolly, 6-0/215 Sr.
LB - Chase Bandolik, 5-10/185 Sr.
LB - David Lux, 6-0/240 Jr.
LB - Ryan Swift, 6-4/235 Jr.
LB - Jake Kapp, 5-11/190 Jr.
LB - Keenan Scott, 6-2/210 So.

DB - Trevor Staley*, 6-2/180 Sr. 1st Team All-CCIW; Preseason All-American
DB - Trevor Koepke*, 5-11/175 Jr. 2nd Team All-CCIW
DB - Quintin Walters*, 5-10/170 Sr.
DB - Nico Gubenko*, 6-0/185 Jr.

Special Teams
K - Patrick Tata*, 5-10/190 Jr.
P - Brock Krohe, 6-4/240 Fr.
P - Tyler Maple, 6-2/180 Fr.
LS - A.J. Lust, 6-6/265 Fr.

* returning starter

[USee]

Candidate for CCIW NOY (name of the year) is Wheaton Sophomore DE River Shindledecker

[markerickson]

Titan WR Healy should be a candidate for POY.  Throw it short or long and often to the 6'5" receiver.  Seems like a very simple offensive plan for success to me.  Has any WR ever earned a CCIW POY award? 

[jaybird44]

WashU dominated its scrimmage at home vs. Greenville.  The Bears scored on each of their first seven possessions to post a 45-0 lead, engineered by their top two QBs.  Greenville was 4-6 last season, but bring back 18 starters and is projected to be 6-4 this season playing in the 27th rated UMAC.  WashU was very sharp on offense, and its defense was very sound defending the option...maybe one or two minor breakdowns during the first half.  Second half was split at midfield, with WashU's offense vs. Greenville's defense, and WashU's defense scrimmaged with the Greenville offense on each side of the 50 for simultaneous football watching.

While WashU's defense doesn't bring back many starters, I believe they will be better than their pre-season advertising.  The Bears have to play a lot of people, because of the extreme uptempo Bear offense--the defense is on the field a lot.  From what I saw with the rotations of the front seven, the Bears have a good bit of experienced depth and should be solid.  Greenville didn't throw the ball well, possibly because WashU had a pretty good pass rush that was good last year with 26 sacks.  The secondary wasn't tested much, but there is experience back there as well.

WashU's o-line pass protected well, giving the QBs ample time to pick out WRs deep in their progressions.  The RB stable is deep, just not anyone with 1,000-yard season pedigrees.   A nice mix of young and veteran WRs and TEs look ready to catch a lot of passes from Johnny Davidson. 

Special teams are very good as long as injuries are avoided...Head Coach Larry Kindbom has always put a premium on having productive special teams units from year to year.

I am quietly optimistic about this group, even as it heads into the very tough CCIW for the Bears' inaugural season.  I think 6-4 is a good possibility, maybe 7-3 if the team stays healthy (especially Davidson, since he is the key to both the offense and special teams as a punter).  WashU took its lumps with one of the toughest schedules in D3 last season, finishing 3-6 while struggling early to find an effective QB.  A lot of players saw action, and hopefully that tough year of experience will pay dividends and flip last year's record 180 degrees.  We will see if that is true beginning this Saturday night, as WashU hosts Chicago for the annual Founders Cup game to start the season.