Category: Sports

By Philippe Chauveau

Transcript Reporter

The Ohio Wesleyan men’s soccer team extended its win streak to 16 with a 6-0 victory over the Allegheny Gators, the program’s best start since 2005.

“They weren’t a bad team, but we came in and played really well from the start,” said junior defender Ryan Kaplan.

The Bishops started the game on fire despite cold weather. It took OWU three minutes to find the back of the net on a goal by senior forward John Stegner off an assist by fellow senior forward Taylor Rieger.

After the initial goal, OWU did not score again for another 20 minutes. Junior goalkeeper Colin Beemiller had no troubles, collecting a series of stray passes and crosses.

Twenty-five minutes into the game, Rieger and Stegner connected again down the right side.

Kenyon goalkeeper Joe Lichina misread Stegner’s low pass into the box as Rieger anticipated the keeper and hit it into the net on the first attempt.

“We were moving the ball well and finishing our chances,” said Kaplan, who has had a couple of surgeries this season and was delighted to get some playing time in Saturday night’s game.

Ohio Wesleyan kept control of the game by keeping possession and persistently going at the Gator defense. With eight minutes left in the half, sophomore midfielder Ricardo Balmaceda made two crucial plays.

First, sophomore midfielder Brian Schaefer scored on a penalty kick after a foul against Balmaceda to make it 3-0 for the Bishops.

Three minutes later, Balmaceda received the ball on the right side and took a shot at goal. It deflected off an Allegheny defender and went over Lichina, making the score 4-0.

“I was wide open on the right, and when I got played the ball I decided to take a shot,” Balmaceda said. “It was a good shot, but the deflection got it to lob over the keeper and into the goal.”

Allegheny only had three losses in the season before Saturday’s contest, so a four-goal first half was an extremely convincing result for the Bishops.

“We were determined to get another win,” Balmaceda said.

The second half started with some changes in the Ohio Wesleyan line-up. Sophomore goalkeeper Kiyan Pirghyebi replaced Beemiller in goal, and senior midfielder Matt Dodrill took over junior defender Drew Pang’s position as center back.

The Bishops kept attacking the right side. Senior defender Ben Witkoff scored following Lichina’s mishandling a corner kick, the Bishops fifthgoal off a play down the right side. It was Witkoff’s first game this season due to an ankle injury.

“We all thought it was great,” said Kaplan. “Those kind of plays only happen for him, but you could say he was well positioned.

As the game went on, Head Coach Jay Martin made a number of subs and all of the active players for the match saw time on the field.

Freshmen midfielders Nick Norman, Neil Wilson and Phoenix Neitzeit were all on the field together for the first time.

The Bishops were not done scoring. Rieger shot again through the Allegheny Gator’s substitute keeper’s hands, this time after a play down the left side. The game ended in a 6-0 win for OWU.

“I was pleased with the win,” Martin said.  “Obviously, we were ready to play tonight.  I think we’re getting mentally tough.”

By Sadie Slager

Transcript Reporter

In a strong conference that includes last year’s Division III national champions, the Ohio Wesleyan women’s basketball team looks to rebound and compete at a high level this season.

Last year the Battling Bishops had an 8-18 overall record and was 7-9 in conference play. They ranked sixth in the NCAC while conference competitor DePauw won the league tournament and went on to win the Division III championship.

Junior point guard Sarah McQuade, last season’s leading scorer, said she is looking forward to being with the team again.

“We are experienced and all expect the same thing, so everybody is excited and it’s awesome,” she said.

Winning is something junior Caroline Welker looks forward to this season.

We have an amazing group of girls this year with so much talent, as well as experience” she said. “It is up to the players to make it happen. The coaches have done all they can do in order to prepare us for this season, and we just have to compete. We are going to be a great team and I’m truly excited to play on the court with this group of ladies.”

Welker said NCAC teams other than DePauw will also be tough competition, but she said the team hopes to finish in the top three conference spots.

Welker said other goals include “finishing games” and ending the season with a winning record.

“We had multiple games where we were close, but lost it within a five-to-six minute spurt,” she said. “That can’t happen this year. We are also just looking to be flat out competitive in all games.”

“Kenyon, Denison and Wittenberg are always competitive,” she said. “We have high expectations for this season, and especially our conference games.”

McQuade said the team looks to improve its mental game this season.

“We had over five games (last season) where we had mental lapses causing us to lose, so if we can eliminate those we should be good to go,” she said.

She said the team can also improve upon rebounding, and preseason workouts have them prepared to improve in all areas. They players have worked on strength, agility and basketball-specific skills five days a week in the summer and fall.

“During off seasons you look to improve your all-around game and try to allow yourself to be the most prepared before practice begins,” she said. “It’s a lot of repetition work in those workout.”

Senior Julia Grimsley said the workouts have gone well so far.

“We are all working extremely hard as a team and individually and we came back in better shape than when we left, which is a bonus,” she said. “We have been lifting, playing open gyms, and working on agility and endurance.”

Grimsley said she is looking forward to seeing offseason work pay off. She said the season will be “challenging but rewarding” with tough NCAC competition.

According to Welker, the team’s hard work in last spring’s workouts was a “huge stepping stone.” This momentum continued when the team left campus after spring semester with more workouts and chances for players living in central Ohio to play in a summer league.

McQuade said this season’s record will better represent the team’s hard work.

“We all expect to be good and are all working hard to achieve that,” she said. “We will be much more experienced which will be an advantage in close games.”

Grimsley said the team, who had three seniors graduate this spring, now has a lot of players back who were injured last year and missed some of the season or the conference tournament.

“I think that in itself will show improvement on just working with them and getting them back into the games and using them,” she said. “Also, we are looking to improve our transition play and just capitalize off of where we left off last year as a team.”

According to Grimsley, freshman players will help the team improve. She said this year the team has many experienced players who know what to expect and will be able to apply everything they have worked toward in seasons past.

According to Welker, this season will be “leaps and bounds” more successful than last season. She said the team is going to win, compete and play together as a team.

“We all finally understand our roles on the team and we are committed enough to always put the team first, even if it is hard,” she said. “We are a team and not just a group anymore. We are really excited to get the ball rolling, and are looking forward to our first game in Boston.”

By Taylor Smth

Sports Editor

The annual tournament was held at Columbus Country Club last Monday and Tuesday, Sept. 30 and Oct. 1. The Bishops finished 12th out of 12, 58 shots behind tournament champion and conference rival Wittenberg.

The Gordin Classic features the top 11 NCAA Division III teams from the previous year’s NCAA championship tournament and OWU. Ohio Wesleyan has hosted the tournament since 1991 and it is the first time the Gordin Classic has been held north of the Mason-Dixon line.

The tournament is named in honor of longtime Ohio Wesleyan golf coach Dick Gordin, who coached the Bishops from 1955 to 1993. Named the NCAA Division III Coach of the Year in 1987 and 1993, he led 22 of his final 25 teams to the NCAA Division III or College Division championship tournaments. Gordin brought home six top-5 finishes in his final eight years of coaching and 12 league titles (7 Ohio Athletic Conference and 5 NCAC) over a span of five decades.

Men’s head golf coach Ian Miller said while he the scores weren’t great, he was pleased with the team’s effort.

“They all gave good effort all the way through even if they didn’t play well, as far as scores are concerned, but they stuck to the game plans and they remained pretty patient out there,” he said.

Miller said the team once again struggled most with their own confidence, more than any other part of their game.

“We just need to play with more confidence and more, what I call, ‘hate to lose’—sometimes when things aren’t going well you just have to will it in the hole, for a lack of a better term, and I don’t think we’re doing a real good job with that right now,” he said.

The team was sitting in sixth place, their overall finish at last year’s Gordin Classic, after shooting a combined 304 during the first round on Monday. However, Miller said the team failed to maintain momentum and stay confident during Monday’s second round as they fell to a tie for 10th place, 35 shots behind the leader, St. John Fisher College.

Freshman Chris Pavelic was tied for 12th among individuals after shooting a one below par 71 in the second round and before his struggles midway through the third round. He finished tied for 29th with a nine-over-par 225.

Pavelic agreed with his coach and said the team struggled with their confidence during the second and third rounds. He added that he felt struggled with multiple aspect of his game aside from confidence and was not happy with his performance or confidence.

“Being our home tournament I felt that we were very pressured to do outstanding,” he said. “We had a little too much riding on our shoulders and we just didn’t go out and perform the way we should’ve. Myself in particular I was lost on the golf course, I wasn’t focused to my full potential and I wasn’t hitting the shots I needed to hit.”

Sophomore Mitch Rice also said the team’s confidence was low, bgut he thought he did do other things well.

“I felt like I had great course management by just playing smart all week,” he said. “I felt like I may have struggled a bit with my tee shots. Basically putting myself out of position on a few of the key par-fours.”

The team has two more tournaments before the conclusion of the fall season; the next will be Oct. 13 to Oct. 14 at the Peter C. Rossin Memorial Tournament in Canonsburg, Pa.

Miller said the Gordin Classic gave the team an excellent learning experience and a sense of urgency, but it must now handle that urgency and turn in good scores.

“We’re going to talk everyday in practice about being more competitive and hating to lose, desire to go out and win,” he said. “Those feelings and thoughts if you carry that to practice everyday and then carry it to tournaments–that’s where confidence comes from.”

By Philippe Chauveau

Transcript Reporter

The Ohio Wesleyan field hockey team left Selby Stadium on Tuesday afternoon with 3-0 win over the Earlham Quakers.

The Bishops started strong. Two minutes into the game, sophomore attacker Montana Knapp hit a shot close to the left post to start the scoring for Ohio Wesleyan. One minute later, after a couple of passes into the circle and a number of shot attempts, the Earlham defense was able to clear the ball out of danger.

Ohio Wesleyan put the Quaker defense under intense pressure. With 26 minutes to play in the half, freshman midfielder Haley Savoie had a shot blocked by the Quaker goalie. Three minutes later, Savoie took another shot, this one redirected by senior defender Jenna Ortega into the Quaker net. The score was now 2-0 for the Bishops.

The Quakers made it to the OWU goal for the first time with 21 minutes left in the first half, but the shot that was saved by sophomore goalkeeper Karson Stevenson.

At the end of the half, the Quakers made a push for a goal. They had several blocked shots and three corner shots in a row, but the OWU defense managed the pressure with poise and denied Earlham their first goal.

OWU started the second half strong. There was good ball movement, with runs being made at all times and defensive pressure on the ball carrier. Two minutes into the half, the Bishops had several corners. The Earlham defense blocked each of these shots.

To assert their dominance, senior Sadie Slager redeemed herself for her miss in the first half and scored Ohio Wesleyan’s third goal. Sophomore midfielder Venessa Menerey crossed the ball to Slager, who tapped it into the net. With the score at 3-0 for the Bishops, the Quakers called a time-out.

The Bishops kept the pressure up and with 14 minutes to go in the half nearly scored again with a sequence of four shots at the Quakers goal.

The Bishops maintained their advantage by never slowing down or dropping back, and the result was a victory in which they outshot the Quakers 29 to 9.

By Philippe Chauveau

Transcript Reporter

The Ohio Wesleyan women’s soccer team started their game against the Baldwin-Wallace Yellow Jackets last Saturday night Sept. 21, at the jay Martin Soccer Complex looking to end a three game losing streak.

At the end of the 90 minutes, Baldwin-Wallace outplayed the Lady Bishops, leaving Delaware with a 2-1 victory and the Ohio Wesleyan team with four consecutive losses.

“In the end we can only control how hard we work and I’m proud of the effort,” said sophomore midfielder Claire Lofgren, the only Bishop to score a goal in the last four games. “…They were a very physical team and came out strong.”

Senior goalkeeper Hannah Zacharias did her part in goal as she recorded 11 saves, seven of them in the second half.

The Yellow Jackets came out strong and ended the half with nine shots against the Bishops. Zacharias made four saves, but just six minutes into the game, the crossbar saved OWU.

A Yellow Jacket player hit a shot from just outside the box that hit the crossbar then bounced on the goal line before getting cleared out of the box.

OWU’s only shot on target in the first half came from junior midfielder Liz D’Amelio, with 22 minutes left in the half. The shot was saved by the Baldwin Wallace goalkeeper.

Despite the number of shot attempts from the Yellow Jackets, the first half ended tied at zeros.

After a scoreless first half, the two teams were practically equally matched on the field, the second half started off with excitement.

Only four minutes into the half, the referee called for a penalty kick as the ball hit Ohio Wesleyan sophomore defender Caroline Bonee on the hand inside the box.

“We had a few unfortunate calls against us,” Lofgren said about the penalty kick call. She disagreed with the referee, as did most of the Lady Bishops both on the field and in the stands.

“I think she was just protecting her face, I don’t think it should have been called,” junior forward Lindsay Reed said.

Baldwin-Wallace senior midfielder Lindsey Mikula stepped up to take it and hit a powerful shot into the upper left corner of the goal and scored.

Zacharias had to make five saves to keep the score just at 1-0, and the Yellow Jackets had a number of shots that went wide.

With 21 minutes left in the game, Ohio Wesleyan had a breakaway down the sideline from senior midfielder Emily Sattler. She hit a low cross into the box trying to find one of the Bishop strikers, but the Baldwin Wallace goalkeeper was faster to it.

Yellow Jacket senior forward Heather Keller took advantage of a confusing play between Zacharias and the Bishop defenders and beat Zacharias with a low shot. The score was now 2-0 and the Bishops were looking at another defeat.

“I think we’re always improving,” junior forward Kristie Prendergast said. “It was unfortunate that we lost again, but we are looking better each week.”

The Bishops have now lost four consecutive games, but the players have not lost their optimism.

“We have some games coming up that I am really excited about; they will be a good test of our progress,” Lofgren said.

Pendergrast said she thinks the team will be ready for conference play later in the season.

By Philippe Chauveau

Transcript Reporter

The Ohio Wesleyan volleyball team fell 1-3 to the John Carroll Blue Streaks on Tuesday night in Branch Rickey Arena.

The Lady Bishops had a good start to the first set, pulling ahead 9-2 at one point. But John Carroll rallied back and took their first lead at 19 to 18. The game was close until the 24^th point, when OWU and JCU were tied. The set ended with the Blue Streaks winning 28 to 26.

“The team had good chemistry and played well against a strong opponent,” said junior Matt Hunter, one of the students at Tuesday night’s game.

The second set was better one for the Lady Bishops. They took a late lead 19-18, and solid defensive play kept the team ahead.

John Carrol had narrowed the margin to 24-23 when sophomore Meigan Day blocked an opponent’s spike to end the set 2-23. The Bishops were back in the game, and the third set was a crucial one.

During the third set JCU first pulled away by seven, gaining an 18-11 lead; they then increased the lead to nine, 22 to 13. It was a lost set for the Lady Bishops, who had to win the fourth set in order to avoid defeat.

“They would go on long rallies and score consecutive points,” Day said. “We struggled to come back from those.”

They kept to pace with the Blue Streaks and didn’t allow them to go on the runs described earlier by Day. Yet, the Blue Streaks were too consistent for the Lady Bishops. After being tied at 18 to 18, the Lady Bishops suffered a five consecutive point loss. The score was now 23 to 18 for JCU.

After a time out, Ohio Wesleyan managed to get two points back, by on another mistake by an OWU player, the Blue Streaks closed the set at 25 to 20. The game was over at 3 – 1 for John Carroll, and it was a tough home loss for OWU.

“I think they’re still working through some kinks,” said junior Margaux Erilane, and former OWU volleyball player. “Half of the team are freshmen, and they lost four key seniors from last year. The talent is there, they just need to learn how to play together,” said Erilane. “I know the coach has been playing around with different line-ups to see what works best.”

Day said, “Knowing this team we are prepared to learn from it and move forward.”

The Lady Bishops also dropped two more games Saturday Sept. 21. Losing 0-3 to Allegheny and 0-3 to Westminster.

By Taylor Smith

Sports Editor

After finishing second in the NCAC standings for the fourth straight year, the Ohio Wesleyan men’s golf team looks forward to continuing their winning streak.

The team lost one senior from last year, Jerry Moore, a two-time first-team All-NCAC honoree and a pivotal member of the team the past three seasons. But the team also lost several other players who transferred, which is why they only return six lettermen this year.

Amongst those letterman is junior captain Kaneat Nimcharoenwan who finished second, individually, in the conference last year, was named to the first-team All-NCAC team and was named to the PING All-Great Lakes All-Region team.

Head coach Ian Miller said this year’s team is capable of being better than last year’s team, but the players “need to put everything they have together and practice.”

“We have the ability to be a lot better; we’re definitely deeper,” he said. “We talked about consistency in the four and five spots. We have the ability to be consistently better in those spots, but you also have to remember we’re looking for four freshmen to make impacts. Sometimes just getting them adjusted and confident here in the first couple of months is the challenge… It’s just a matter of putting it into play right now and preparing properly.”

The team has already completed two tournaments this fall, tying for 7^th of 19 at the Transylvania Invitational on Sept. 7 and 8 and finishing 11^th of 12 at the John Piper Intercollegiate Sept. 16 and 17. The latter was hosted by Bowling Green State University and consisted of teams from all three NCAA divisions.

Miller said while there are individuals doing well and each player may have his own struggles, the team as a whole lacks consistency in competition.

“One guy struggled with his putter this week for example, another struggled with the mental side and another hit more fairways than greens,” Miller said. “It’s an individual thing, there isn’t across the board one thing, we’ve indentified that and we know what we’re going to work on this week and try to fix each guy’s inconsistencies.”

Nimcharoenwan said he agreed with his coach regarding the team’s consistency. He also said he thinks most of the things wrong with the team’s performance is its mentality.

“If they don’t trust themselves to shoot a low score, they will never hit it,” he said. “They just have to play more often and keep trying to put themselves in a position to play golf well and build their confidence.”

Miller and Nimcharoenwan both said one player who isn’t struggling with his confidence and is able to play well most of the time is freshman Chris Pavelic.

Pavelic has been the Bishops’ top finisher at both tournaments, taking medals in his first collegiate golf tournament at Transylvania and tying for 23^rd at John Piper.

Miller said Pavelic has been adjusting pretty well to the college golf environment and his striking ability gives him a bit of an edge.

“We’ve played both tournaments about 7,000 yards, and that’s not a bother to him,” Miller said. “The day-in and day-out practice and then tournament weekend after weekend type thing will be his biggest adjustment, but so far he’s handled it pretty well.”

Pavelic said college golf is completely different than playing in high school, but it is pretty similar to junior tournaments he’s participated in.

Nimcharoenwan said Pavelic has extraordinary confidence and stays mentally strong while on the golf course.

“He just goes into tournaments wanting to play well and approaches every round the same, treating it like practice,” Nimcharoenwan said. “He doesn’t worry about significance or other people in the tournament.”

Pavelic said in an email that he plays golf to compete and have fun and knows he can always improve.

“I go out there each day with the same attitude to put the ball in play, hit some greens and make some putts, but most important is to have fun while your doing it,” he said. “I still haven’t played my best golf and I have tons of room to improve.”

Pavelic said he didn’t expect to win his first collegiate golf tournament, but stayed confident and held out for the win.

As for the rest of the season, Miller said the team’s only current focus is the Gordin Classic. The tournament honors former OWU men’s golf coach Dick Gordin, who coached the Bishops from 1955 to 1993.

Named the NCAA Division III Coach of the Year in 1987 and 1993, Gordin led 22 of his final 25 teams to the NCAA Division III or College Division championship tournaments. He brought home six top-five finishes in his final eight years of coaching and 12 league titles (seven in the Ohio Athletic Conference and five from the NCAC) over a span of five decades.

The Classic is held annually and features Ohio Wesleyan and the top 11 NCAA Division III teams from the previous year’s NCAA championship tournament.

OWU will host the tournament Monday, Sept. 30, and Tuesday, Oct. 1, at the Columbus Country Club. Miller said while he doesn’t like the term “expectations” and setting them for his players, he does have think the Bishops can finish well if they do what needs to be done.

“If we go in and play well and prepare and have confidence going in, I would think a top five finish would be great,” he said. “If we play really well we can definitely do better than that.

“We didn’t set a goal for what our finish should be for that tournament, we just want to go out each day of practice and each day at the event and worry what we have to worry about and the score will dictate at the end where we finish, and we have no control of that. We’re just going to control what we can control and go from there.”

By Phillipe Chauveau

Transcript Reporter

The Ohio Wesleyan men’s soccer team stepped onto Roy Rike maintained their perfect record twice this weekend with wins over the Heidelberg University Student Princes and the Berry University Vikings.

Senior forward Taylor Rieger was active early in Friday night’s game against Heidelberg with two shots in the opening minutes and another with 28 minutes left in the half.

Rieger scored on his fourth shot, from inside the six-yard box with an assist from senior midfielder Paolo Bucci with 24 minutes left in the first half.

After the goal, the Bishops maintained possession. From the 20^th minute to the eighth, there were a total of four OWU corner kicks and five shots. But with six minutes to go in the half, the Princes tied the game 1-1.

The Bishops answered Heidelberg’s equalizer less than five minutes later. With 31 seconds left in the half, sophomore forward Evan Lee scored off an assist from junior midfielder Colton Bloecher, who faked out two defenders before feeding Lee in the box for the goal.

The second half started with the teams trying to keep the ball moving as much as possible. OWU handled the ball early and created a number of opportunities to score. Senior midfielders John Stegner and Matt Shadoan both had shots blocked by Heidelberg’s goalie, while Rieger had another shot go wide.

With 29 minutes on the clock, Heidelberg’s sophomore forward Kurt Wilhelm was playing into the box, but junior goalkeeper Colin Beemiller got there first. Wilhelm kicked Beemiller in the face, which earned him the first yellow card of the game.

With three minutes to go, the Princes scored their second goal, tying the game 2-2 and sending the contest into overtime.

The first half of overtime saw more fast-paced play, with the Heidelberg defense blocking four of the six shots taken by OWU.

A minute and 50 seconds into the second half, Stegner scored off a Bloecher assist, leading the Bishops to victory and improving their record to 6-0.

On Sunday afternoon, the Bishops defeated the Berry University Vikings 2-1, keeping the undefeated record, now at 7-0, intact.

OWU started strong with six shots in the first ten minutes. Senior midfielder Martin Tobias attempted a penalty kick, but Berry sophomore goalkeeper Logan Hill made the save.

With four minutes left in the first half, Berry got a corner kick. After a partial clearance from the defense, senior midfielder Matt Seib hit a volley into the bottom corner of junior goalie Colin Beemiller’s net. Despite outshooting Berry by 6, OWU was down by one at the half.

Six minutes into the second half, Bucci made a shot from 30-yards out, tying the game 1-1.

The Vikings were doing what they could to maintain the tie. With 20 minutes left Berry started fouling OWU players, and the referee showed a yellow card to Berry’s freshman midfielder Christian Zapata for excessive fouls. Near the end of the half, junior midfielder Zak Wallingford got into an argument with Bucci. Both received yellow cards.

Overtime was approaching, but Bloecher connected with a goal from about 25 yards out, giving OWU the lead with four minutes left on the clock. The Bishops held on for the 2-1 victory.

By Taylor Smith

Sports Editor

The Ohio Wesleyan football team returns one year after tying Wittenberg for the first conference championship in 23 years, and now their eyes are set on larger goals.

The Bishops won their first game of the season Saturday, Sept. 7, at Selby Stadium when they defeated Bluffton 37-20.

Starting quarterback senior Mason Espinosa said the team missing the NCAA tournament last year while still winning a share of the conference title was motivation for the offseason, but they still plan on taking it one game at a time.

“We’re not satisfied with tying for a conference championship; we’re only going to be satisfied with winning it outright and going 15 games and winning it all,” he said. “We set out goals at the beginning of the season and first and foremost we have to take care of the regular season, obviously 1-0 every week.”

Which explains why Mason said the team’s motto this year is S.N.S., “still not satisfied.”

Mason is one of nine returning starters for the Bishops’ offense, coming off his junior season in which he threw for a school record 3,371 yards and was named first-team All-NCAC, as well as NCAC Offensive Player of the Year.

Second-year head coach Tom Watts also returns with some new awards on his mantel. In his first season with the Bishops, he led the team to nine wins, tying the school record, and was named Regional Coach of the Year in NCAA Division III.

Watts said Mason is one of the best players and one of the most diligent he has ever seen, and it doesn’t go unnoticed by the rest of the team.

“Everybody sees Mason as this big kid that can throw, but what people don’t really see is his leadership—the way he prepares, I’ve never seen a kid work as hard as does in the off season,” Watts said. “Even in the summer—he stayed around this summer and worked hard through out the whole summer. He’s contagious; he makes guys around him better.

“Guys listen to him, they follow him; he’s phenomenal and the sky is the limit for this kid, not just because of the amount talent he has, but because he is humble. He’s not an ego guy; he’s a team player.”

Mason is joined by an offense that brings a lot of depth, according to Watts, and will pose quite the threat to opposing teams.

“I think where a lot of teams pigeon hole their guys into playing a certain position, our guys are pretty versatile and that wreaks havoc,” Watts said. “When going against another team to try and prepare for a certain look, a certain way, you know you’re getting things thrown at you that look different.”

Watts named a mix of student-athletes that will be sharing the ball on offense this season.

Pre-season All-American and second-team All-NCAC junior tight end Calvin Cagney, second-team All-NCAC senior wide receiver Dave Mogilnicki, honorable mention All-NCAC junior running back Kevin Herman, senior tight end Erik Wall, junior wide receiver Steven Uhler and senior wide receiver Scott Jenkins, were a few he named.

“We’re very fortunate and, you know, there’s only one football, and all those guys are pretty unselfish and realizing it’s just about what’s the end result,” Watts said.

 

The Bishops defense returns only six starters this year after losing names like second-team All-NCAC outside linebacker Tyler Swary and three-time first-team All-NCAC defensive end James Huddleston, who led the NCAC in tackles for a loss last year.

Senior linebacker Justin Segal, an honorable mention All-NCAC and one of the six returning starting Bishop defenders, said they have great multi-year starters like senior defensive lineman John Valentine and senior nose guard George Newcomb. He also said first year starters like junior linebacker Chris Mondon, stepping up for Swary, and sophomore nose tackle Dom Wilson have stepped up to fill the vacancies.

Fortunately, Huddleston didn’t go too far. He returns this season with the Bishops as a member of the coaching staff, working with the linebackers and defensive coordinator Pat Delaney.

Segal and Watts each said Huddleston is doing a great job transitioning from player to coach and what makes him a strong leader is his credibility with the players and the fact that most have seen the way he plays and goes about his business.

“He’s doing well,” Watts said. “I think he’s been enlightened that there’s a little bit more to coaching than he originally thought, but he works his tail off.

“He sees this as a career. He sees this as an opportunity to do something that he loves to do. I think the guys just naturally listen to him because they know what type of player he was, but he draws that line as far as being a student and being a coach.”

Huddleston, voted the team’s most valuable player last year, said the conversion from player to coach has been an enlightening learning process.

“It’s a lot different when you have to know everyone else’s assignments, instead of just yours…I never realized how much it took to make things move the way they did last year (as a member of the team) and this year (as a coach),” Huddleston said. “I’m happy to be able be able to see both sides of the coin.

“Sometimes I feel like I can do a better job with what I am doing, but I have to take the time to learn to be able to be a coach. At the same time it’s learning something new, I just have to learn everyday and get better everyday.”

With a 1-0 record for the season, several members of the Bishops’ football organization said the goal each week is to go 1-0 and focus on one opponent at a time.

“If we take one game at a time, let the chips fall the way they fall and as long as we prepare and treat each team with respect, obviously we fear nobody, but we’ve got make sure we show respect and do our preparation that we need to do,” Watts said.

After having a bye week last weekend, the Bishops keep their attention on Kenyon as they face off Saturday at Kenyon, looking to go 1-0.