Jackets' leader getting back in game
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I also believe it takes an even bigger commitment to be a leader on your team, someone who the coaches turn to in the big moment, and someone whom other players turn to when looking for that leadership.
One person who signifies this is Rochester senior Matt Bielecki. Bielecki, a running back, is less than 100 yards away from breaking the Rochester school record for rushing yards in a career. He has 3,323 yards, 99 short of the record set by Jeremy Hurd from 1989-93.
Beyond the records, a few of which he has already broken, Bielecki is humble and doesn’t like to talk about himself or his accomplishments.
But others don’t mind doing the talking for him.
“Matt is the hardest worker I’ve ever seen at any level,” said Rochester coach Scott Greene, who played in the NFL for the Carolina Panthers. “He’s a great person and a great leader. The other guys have really responded to him.”
Bielecki missed the first game of this season and all of preseason camp with a stress fracture in his foot, but he has been near 100 yards in the two games since against St. John Fisher and Union.
“We’re still trying to get things rolling,” said Greene, whose team has started 0-3. “Having Matt makes things a little easier for us. Without him, we’re very young in certain spots.”
Freshmen Clarence Onyiriuka and R.J. Napadano have stepped in when Bielecki has been out.
“It’s great for them to be able to work with Matt. It will get them ready to step in once Matt graduates,” Greene said.
Because of the injury, Greene said it has been hard for Bielecki to get the 20- and 30-yard runs that he has been so accustomed to over the past two seasons, when Bielecki became the first player in Rochester football history to run for more than 1,000 yards in consecutive seasons.
“When he gets fully healthy, he’ll be ready to go,” said Greene, whose Yellowjackets travel to Canton, N.Y., to play St. Lawrence in a Liberty League contest on Saturday.
 Matt Bielecki doesn't get caught up in the numbers but they're impressive. |
“I’ve been surrounded by lots of great athletes,” Bielecki said. “It’s opened up a lot of holes for me. It makes it so other teams are not just keying on one guy.”
That humility resonates throughout the locker room and with the coaching staff as well.
“Matt’s not as vocal,” Greene said. “His leadership comes from example.”
Despite the winless start for the Yellowjackets, look for Bielecki to start leading his teams to more wins before the year is out.
Big games in the East
In a couple of the big games in the East this weekend, St. John Fisher beat Ithaca 37-16 and Alfred defeated Springfield 37-7.
The Cardinals improved to 4-0, the second straight season they’ve started undefeated after four games. More importantly, it was their first-ever win at Butterfield Stadium.
St. John Fisher’s Ryan Hanson ran for 105 yards and a touchdown and Rob Kramer had a good day, passing for 242 yards and two touchdowns.
On the message board, some Ithaca posters posted Saturday evening and during the day Sunday like their dog had just died. It’s tough to lose two in a row, but Ithaca fans know their team will still be in the thick of things at the end of the season. It’s almost predestined at this point.
In the surprise of the week (or maybe not), Alfred beat up Springfield. The Saxons needed to hold down the nasty Springfield rushing attack and they did. That, to me, was the key right there. For an offense like the Pride’s, it’s very difficult to come back down more than one or two scores, and Alfred scored fast and often against a suspect defense.
Springfield now takes on Utica at the Pioneers’ homecoming next weekend. Good luck, gentlemen.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Hobart College also had a great game that puts RPI in the Liberty League driver seat after a last-second 35-31 win over the Statesmen. Junior Issac Williams scored the game-winning touchdown with nine seconds left for the Engineers.
With Union and Rochester struggling so far, and Hobart losing in the head-to-head matchup with RPI, the Engineers could be the team to beat in the conference.
But there is a team lurking in the shadows and that’s WPI.
Remember this: Six East Region teams are ranked in the d3football.com poll, and two others are receiving votes. Hopefully, the East can keep up the pace with the other regions.
Great performances
Montclair State’s Jeff Bliss, a sophomore, was named as the New Jersey Athletic Conference Special Teams Player of the Week in part because of his 89-yard kickoff return at the start of the second half against Wesley. The return ended up providing the winning points in the Red Hawks victory.
Alfred is undefeated and ranked 22nd in the latest D3football.com poll, and they are doing it on the strength of their offense. Senior quarterback Paul Keeley has thrown for 840 yards and nine touchdowns in his first three games -- games that the Saxons have scored 34, 49, and 37 points in, respectively.
Against Springfield, Keeley threw 15-for-18 for 212 yards and two touchdowns.
Sophomore Vinson Hendrix had another terrific game, carrying 19 times for 121 yards. He came into the game as the third-leading rusher in all of Division III at 181.5 yards per game.
The Saxons will be very tough this season, and could very well be undefeated when they play Hobart, St. John Fisher and Ithaca to end the season, all on the road.
Salisbury’s Jamar Garner was named as the Atlantic Coast Football Conference’s Offensive Player of the Week for his performance against Delaware Valley. Garner only carried the ball nine times, but ran for 127 yards and two touchdowns in a 36-16 win.
Worcester Polytech (WPI) has started the season 4-0, getting another victory on Saturday, this time a 35-0 blanking of the Merchant Marine Academy. Justin Wells relieved Rob Pantalone at quarterback, but Wells did a fine job in Pantalone’s stead, throwing for 236 yards and a touchdown. The defense also came up big, not only throwing the shutout but for junior defensive back Andrew Sides and senior linebacker Dustin Bradway, who both returned interceptions for touchdowns.
Ithaca’s Ryan Terlecki had 22 total tackles in their loss to St. John Fisher. Matt Scalice had 19 total tackles as well.
Salisbury’s Brendan Kincaid kicked a 46-yard field goal at the end of the half against Delaware Valley.
Record breakers/milestones
Despite the loss against Alfred, Springfield senior quarterback Chris Sharpe ran 23 times for 106 yards and a touchdown in the 37-7 defeat. The 106 yards puts Sharpe atop the Springfield College career rushing list with 3,263 yards. He surpasses Kevin Cahill who set the previous record between 1997-2000.
Cortland State junior quarterback Ray Miles set career highs in both touchdown passes in a game with four and in passing yards in a game with 304.
William Paterson senior receiver Kareen Moon returned a kickoff 82 yards for a touchdown in the Pioneers 14-13 loss to FDU-Florham Saturday. It’s his 17th career touchdown (14 receiving, 2 punt return and one kickoff return). The 14 receiving touchdowns put him two shy of the Pioneers career record set by Lance Silas all the way back from 1975 to 1978.
Frostburg State’s Nicholas Payne booted an 82-yard punt against Brockport State, breaking a school and conference record.
Why I love Division III
The start of the game between Montclair State and Wesley was delayed for more than three hours because the officials were stuck in traffic in Dover. The reason? The NASCAR race at Dover International Speedway was going on at the same time.
But there’s more to the story. The game, which was supposed to start at 1 p.m., was scheduled very late in the process of scheduling for the 2007 season, and there were more problems than just the NASCAR race.
“It was a clerical error ... It’s my responsibility. Fortunately for us, we were able to get a crew in and they did a great job,” Wesley coach Mike Drass told D3football.com publisher Pat Coleman.
Drass said he found out that there were no officials around 11:30 a.m.
“Usually at 11:30 they meet you and they weren’t there. Some crews don’t e-mail you during the week, so I didn’t think anything of it. I went and checked the Web site and there was nobody assigned, so I talked to the Montclair coach and went back to the office and started making calls,” Drass said.
Eventually, Drass was able to secure a crew from the Centennial Conference, and the game kicked off three hours after the original start.
I don’t know about anyone else, but this could only happen in Division III. Do you see Bobby Bowden at Florida State or Joe Paterno at Penn State having to go back to their office on campus and call around to get an officiating crew?
A tough day at the office
Cortland punter Kyle Peterson had three punts blocked in the first half against Buffalo State, one of which was returned 30 yards for a touchdown.
His team picked him up though, as they came back to win 30-27 on the strength of four Ray Miles touchdown passes.
Where have they come from?
Montclair State. 3-0 after wins over Wilkes, Springfield and now Wesley, the Red Hawks start NJAC play Friday against The College of New Jersey. The three wins have been by a combined 11 points, but they have won all three and that’s what is important.
Can they keep it up starting play in conference? Stay tuned.
Answering some questions
Will Cortland pick itself up after losing to Brockport State and losing starting quarterback Alex Smith?
Yes, and it did in a nice victory over NJAC opponent Buffalo State.
Will Rowan get back to prominence with backup freshman quarterback Tim Hagerty after replacing senior Joe Rankin in the second half against Wilkes?
At least for one week. Hagerty led the Profs to a 41-0 shutout of Widener, throwing for two touchdowns and running for two more. The defense also came up big, only allowing 101 yards of total offense against the Pride.
When will Union score again? They haven’t in six quarters since scored two early touchdowns against Springfield.
They scored against Rochester, but only 13 points against a tough Yellowjacket squad. The Dutchmen face off against winless Merchant Marine Academy on Saturday.
The ‘It’s tough to be a Pool B’ award
Wesley. The Wolverines have had to play the first four games of the schedule against non-conference opposition, since the ACFC only has five teams total. And it’s good non-conference opposition too, with Widener (who’s much better than a 41-0 beatdown from Rowan), Delaware Valley (who has been good the last few years but is down a bit this year) and USAC member N.C. Wesleyan.
This week they faced off against the Montclair State Red Hawks and were nipped at home, 27-26.
Jeff Bliss returned the second half kickoff to provide the winning points for the Red Hawks, who are ranked No. 16 in the latest D3football.com poll, just one spot ahead of the Wolverines at No. 17.
The great thing about having a playoff system in Division III is that if you lose one game, you aren’t completely out of the picture, like the system is now in Division I (or is that FBS?)
However, life for a Pool B is a little different, as the ACFC doesn’t have an automatic qualifier to shoot for. One loss shouldn’t be a death knell in this case, but it’ll all depend on the second-place teams in many of the AQ divisions to see where Wesley falls.
On a non-football related note: Who else thinks the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees will meet in the American League Championship Series for the third time in four years? So do I. Hopefully this time will match the 2004 results and not the ones from 2003. Go Sox!
Now back to our regular programming ...
East Region Top 10
1. St. John Fisher
2. RPI
3. Alfred
4. Montclair State
5. Rowan
6. Wesley
7. Hobart
8. Salisbury
9. Worcester Polytech
10. Brockport State
My one comment about the East Region’s Top 10 is that St. John Fisher stays at the top until they are beaten. The top four teams, though, are very close, and 2 through 4 could be rearranged any way you’d like, and I’d still be satisfied.