High expectations on gridiron

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By Dexter Howard, September 10, 2009

Despite the loss of 15 starters due to graduation, including All-Americans Chad Rupp and Dan McManus and every starting receiver, Franklin is favored to win their third straight HCAC title in the preseason coach’s poll.

 

“We will have the same offense this year as we did last year, which is flexible and versatile in itself,” said head coach Mike Leonard. “It will be the exact same toolbox with different craftsmen.”

 

Leonard said he expects the experience of the offensive line – led by junior Chad Schenkel and senior Seth Qualls – to lead the way.

 

“An experienced offensive line is almost vital to the success of a team,” hesaid. “We have 84 starts between all our men on the o-line which is very impressive.

 

 “Confidently executing fundamentals and assignments is one of our biggest offensive goals. The margin of error needs to be small in order for us to get the productivity we seek.” 

 

Leonard is also about the defensive side of the ball, where graduation also hit the team hard.

 

“Despite losing all of our starting defensive line and defensive backs from last year, we’ve responded well after the first game,” he said.

 

It helps to be able to have a rotation of guys in order to allow them to go full throttle for a fewer amount of reps.”

 

 “Three defensive linemen [Josh Bales, Jeremiah Robinson, and Nick Schultz] have already stepped up and got a lot of reps in the first game. I expect some of the other younger guys to step up later on in the season as well.”

 

The goal for the defense, Leonard said, is to hold opponents under 17 points a game.

Though the team experienced unprecedented success the last two seasons, Leonard won’t live in the past.

 

“I expect this group to not rest on their laurels from what happened last year. So far I’ve been surprised, and I feel they’ve surprised some other people, but I feel they haven’t surprised themselves.” Leonard said.

 

He said the team already has good chemistry and seem to already realize the 2009 version of the Grizzlies can continue the program’s recent success.  

 

 “I think we realized from the Baldwin-Wallace game that our quarterbacks can play, he said. “Sure, we will miss Chad Rupp just like any other guy that graduates, but we know we have guys who can step in and carry the torch. We also figured out that despite losses, we will be all right defensively.”

 

The Grizzlies face Division I Butler University at Stewart “Red” Faught Stadium at 1:30 pm.