Central pays tribute to a legend
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On Saturday, the Dutch unveiled what they had built for him — Ron and Joyce Schipper Stadium.
When the Hall of Fame football coach and father of three passed away on March 27, 2006, a heart attack took his tough demeanor and old-fashioned style. It couldn’t touch his legacy.
“The players realize what he meant to the program and what his legacy is about,” said current head coach and Schipper-pupil Jeff McMartin. “And it’s good for us to continue to learn about that.”
 Joyce Schipper with Central president David Roe following the surprise announcement Saturday that Central's newly renovated field will now be known as Ron and Joyce Schipper Stadium. |
The only potential holdup was that the stadium already had a name — A.N. Kuyper Stadium. Surprisingly, adding the new stadium name after renovation was at the request of the Kuyper family who wanted to pay tribute to Schipper following his unexpected death.
The tribute on Saturday was extra special as it came before Central’s first-ever meeting with Hope — Schipper’s alma mater. Long before he won games as a coach at Central, he won them as a strong armed quarterback for the Flying Dutchmen in Holland, Mich. He also played baseball and tennis and was named a distinguished alum in 1994.
Schipper was anxiously looking forward to this year’s clash after Central athletics director Al Dorenkamp scheduled the game in 2002. He wouldn’t have been disappointed as the Dutch rallied for a 24-13 victory.
While he never had the chance to watch his two dearest colleges battle it out on the gridiron on Saturday, his name will now forever be associated with the program he cared so much about.
“It’s a really special thing,” McMartin said. “Coach Schipper meant so much to so many people. This is a real testament to the service, dedication and hard work he put into Central College and speaks volumes to the impact he had.”
Central trailed 13-0 before scoring the final 24 points. Quarterback Tim Connell fueled the Central turnaround, passing for 240 yards and running for 89. He completed a career-best 26 of 36 passes with one touchdown and rushed 14 times, also getting a score on the ground. Connell’s previous single-game completions high was 16 against Coe last Sept. 17.
Clark’s the spark
Quarterback Joel Clark broke the Whitworth career total offense record while leading the Pirates to a 28-3 season-opening win at Redlands. Clark passed for 188 yards and ran for 49 more to finish with 237 yards of total offense, surpassing former Pirate quarterback Danny Figuiera's record of 6,763 set in 1993. Clark now has 6,979 yards of offense in his career.
Not half bad
Carleton’s R.J. Jackson put in a solid day’s work on Saturday and he did it all in the first half. The junior utility player/running back scored a school record six touchdowns in the Knights 50-14 victory over UM-Morris. Jackson scored on touchdown runs of two, 11 and 30 yards in the first quarter, and added a kickoff return of 93 yards, a screen-pass touchdown reception of 46 yards and a touchdown run of two yards in the second quarter. Jackson ran for 69 yards on 10 carries and had 208 all-purpose yards in breaking the previous record of five touchdowns held by Skye Flanagan '98 and Jim Bradford '92.
Similarly, Macalester freshman receiver Jacob McDonnell caught 6 passes for 193 yards and three touchdowns — all in the first half. These two first half stars will meet next week when Macalester travels to Carleton on Saturday.
The good with the bad
Simpson punter Bill Nelson had an interesting day on Saturday. In the first quarter, he broke his own school record of a 50-yard field goal when he boomed a 51-yard field goal through the uprights to give Simpson a 3-0. With 2:13 to go in the third quarter, Nelson was forced to punt from his own end zone. Bethel’s Nate Porter was credited with the blocked punt recovery for a touchdown.
Did you know?
St. John’s quarterback Alex Kofoed had an errant first-quarter pass intercepted by Jamie Bisch for a 39-yard interception return for a touchdown. The last time an opponent returned an interception for a touchdown against St. John’s was Sept. 28, 2002, when St. Olaf’s Kipp Pennau returned a Ross Denne pass 84 yards for a touchdown in the Johnnies 59-20 victory.
It’s been a while
Linfield’s 28-14 loss to Western Oregon at home on Saturday was a bit unusual. For years, the regular season has just been the warm-up for Linfield. The Wildcats hadn’t tasted a regular season loss since the third game of 2001 versus Pacific Lutheran.
Trying something new
Macalester defeated Principia 50-6 on Saturday with the help of Nick Honan (nine tackles), Conrad Lichty (eight tackles, half a sack and a 49-yard interception return) and Colin Smith (53 yards, one touchdown). Their stats aren’t gaudy, but their similarity is unique. All three players were involved in a different fall sport in 2005. Honan played junior varsity soccer, Lichty ran for the cross country team and Smith played on the golf team. All three decided to switch sports after Glenn Caruso was hired in December.
One-liners
• UW-Eau Claire gave up minus-3 yards rushing to Black Hills State, the third fewest in team history
• Bethel and Simpson combined for nine fumbles in the Royals’ 23-17 victory.
• Dubuque held Wisconsin Lutheran to 64 yards on 69 plays from the line of scrimmage.
• Simpson Dustin Schelling tallied 11 tackles including five for loss, forced two fumbles, recovered two fumbles and returned one 88 yards for a touchdown.
• The University of St. Thomas is one win away from the 500-win benchmark, sitting currently at 499-320-34.
• Macalester head coach Glenn Caruso and Carleton head coach Kurt Ramler picked up their first Division III head coaching victories. Both are Division III alumni, Caruso from Ithaca and Ramler from St. John’s.
• Linfield’s game against Western Oregon was the first night game at Linfield since 1969.
• Bethel is averaging 234 yards per game on the ground while allowing a measly 9 yards per game rushing.
Games to Watch
No. 11 Linfield at No. 7 Hardin-Simmons, 4 p.m., Abilene, Texas: Linfield is fresh off its first regular season loss since 2001. Hardin-Simmons is coming off the bye and a crushing of UW-Stevens Point 59-17. The Cowboys are the favorite but Linfield should have some issues ironed out but need the victory to avoid a plummet towards the bottom of the top 25. A win for Hardin-Simmons could bump them into the Top 5.
Concordia-Moorhead at Bethel, 1 p.m., Arden Hills, Minn.: Bethel is feeling pretty good after rolling through two IIAC foes to open the 2006 campaign. Their defense has been stellar and they have managed to maintain a running attack while All American Phil Porta has been injured. Concordia is coming off a bye but still trying to figure out what went wrong against Division II MSU-Moorhead in a 28-7 defeat in Week 1. The Cobbers need someone to step up and replace the hole left by two-time MIAC MVP Brian Schumacher. The Cobbers won 30-12 at Bethel last season.
Remember: I am always interested in your ideas for stories. I’m bound to miss something covering five conferences and a handful of independents. Have a story idea? E-mail me at adam.johnson@d3football.com.