FOOTBALL PREVIEW

FOOTBALL PREVIEW

2008 Olivet College Football Preview

A year after winning the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) championship, the 2008 Olivet College football team won only one game, a 59-0 shutout victory at Concordia University Chicago. Despite going winless in MIAA play, the Comets were only a few plays away from possibly breaking into the win column.

Olivet was defeated by Albion College, 10-5, where the Britons scored 10 second-quarter points. The Comets had a fourth down play deep in Albion territory late in the game, but a pass play fell short. A week later, Kalamazoo College rallied to score twice in the fourth quarter to pull out a come-from-behind win. Against Alma College, Olivet needed just a field goal to tie the game on its last drive, but an interception in the end zone stopped the Comet rally.

Look for sophomore quarterback Nick McCleary (Battle Creek/Harper Creek) to lead the Olivet offense in 2009. After starting last season on the junior varsity team, he started the final three varsity games and completed 34-of-60 passes for 364 yards. Sophomoe C.J. Gregory (Canton/Plymouth) may also get a chance to be the quarterback.

Senior Pat Clasgens (Livonia/Stevenson) leads the running backs. Last season, he carried the ball 175 times for 925 yards and eight touchdowns. For his career, Clasgens has 508 rushes for 2,608 yards and 20 touchdowns. He is also a two-time first-team All-MIAA selection.
Sophomore Mike Martin (Caledonia/Wayland Union) joins Clasgens in the backfield. Martin ran the ball 59 times for 308 yards and caught 16 times for 178 yards last year.

Expected to see playing time at wide receiver is sophomore James Williams (Battle Creek/Central). He caught 18 passes for 194 yards in 2008.

Junior Thomas Ivany (Battle Creek/Harper Creek), senior Elijah Keller (Cadillac), senior David Norris (Dimondale/Holt), sophomore Derek Svoboda (Brighton), senior James Tanis (Nunica/Jenison) and sophomore Dwight Tillis (Oak Park/Ferndale) all saw playing time on the offensive line last year, and each are battling for starts on it this year. Junior James Reynolds (Kalamazoo/Paw Paw) played most of last season on the “D-line,” but is switching over to the “O-line” this year.

One of the areas hit most by graduation is the defense, where only four starters return.

Two of the returning starters are in the secondary. Alex Hill (Berrien Springs) leads this group. A two-time second-team All-MIAA selection, he was fourth on the team with 44 total tackles and led the team with six interceptions last year to go along 109 tackles and 20 interceptions in his career. The other returning starter is senior safety Jared Thornton (Colon), who finished the 2008 season with 17 tackles.

Other returning letterwinners in the secondary include junior Nick Glass (Flint/Powers), sophomore Rob Jensen (Boyne City) and senior Scot Peterson (Monroe/St. Mary’s Catholic).

The linebackers are led by senior Hakeem Yakubu (Kalamazoo/Central), a two-time first-team All-MIAA selection. Last year, he led the Comets in total tackles (75), solo tackles (47), tackles for loss (13.5) and quarterback sacks (eight). In his career at Olivet, Yakubu has 220 total tackles, including 124 solo stops. Half of his 26 tackles for loss were quarterback sacks. Junior Chris Behnke (Olivet) is expected to join Yakubu in the linebacker corp.

Up front on the defensive line, senior Billy Albrecht (Holt) is the only returning starter. In 2008, he had 44 tackles. Junior Chris Gottardo (Warren/Center Line), as well as sophomores Travis Farris (Hastings/Thornapple Kellogg), Ron Cadez (Allen Park/Melvindale) and Anthony Silvas (Lansing/Catholic Central), are all in the mix for playing time this fall.

Senior punter Ryan Patten (Charlotte is a two-time first-team All-MIAA and honorable mention D3Football.com All-American selection. Last year, he ranked second in all of NCAA Division III football with a 43.5 average on 45 punts. In his career, Patten is averaging 43.2 yards per punt, has not had a punt blocked and landed 28 inside the opponent’s 20-yard line.

Placekicking duties for kickoffs and extra points are up in the air. Four-year letterwinner Kyle Zabel has graduated and the only returning player with kicking experience is junior Alex Willard (Charlotte).

The Comets’ 2009 non-conference schedule ranks as one of the toughest in school history. Olivet opens its season Sept. 6 when it welcomes Wittenberg (Ohio) University to the Cutler Athletic Complex for a night game. A week later, the Comets travel to play Elmhurst (Ill.) College. After hosting Concordia University Chicago Sept. 20, Olivet will make the trip to Naperville, Ill., to play North Central College, who is No. 2 in the preseason Sporting News Top 25 poll. Three of the four teams had a winning record last year, and they combined to post a 27-15 record, including an 11-1 mark by North Central.