Wesley vs. Cortland St.: Game Day Central

General Information
Wesley hosts Cortland State in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday, November 24, at 12 pm. The five-time South Region Champion Wolverines are making their eighth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance while the Red Dragons are making their eighth appearance and third in the last five years after winning the NJAC title. The winner of the Wesley/Cortland State matchup will take on the victor of Mary Hardin-Baylor/Franklin in the NCAA Quarterfinals on December 1.

Strength of Schedule
Through the regular season, Wesley had the toughest schedule in the Nation according to the NCAA. The Wolverines faced five ranked teams and became the first school in small college history to take on four-straight ranked opponents in the regular season. Wesley took on five-straight ranked Division III teams when you include Huntingdon, who the Wolverines played after taking on a pair of non-D3 schools.

The Coaches
Wesley head coach Mike Drass has continued the Wolverines' winning tradition since taking over as head coach in 1993. Now in his 20th season as head coach, and his 24th overall with the program, Drass is among the top 10 of active coaches with a .784 winning percentage. Among coaches at the three four-year football programs in Delaware, Drass ranks second all-time to former Delaware head coach Tubby Raymond with his 176 wins. Raymond won 300 contests, but Drass' 78.4% winning percentage is the best all-time of any coach while at Wesley, Delaware or Delaware State. The Wolverines have finished .500 or better in all of Coach Drass' 20 seasons at the helm, with 12 seasons with at least eight wins.

Dan MacNeill, who is in his 16^th season as the Cortland State head coach, was recently named the NJAC Coach of the Year and holds a 108-55 career mark.  His Red Dragons have now made ten postseason appearances, including five trips to the NCAA Tournament.  An assistant coach at Division I-AA Villanova University from 1984-96, MacNeill is Cortland's 11th head coach since the school's modern era of football began in 1924. MacNeill served as linebackers coach at Villanova and was the team's defensive coordinator from 1988-96. A 1979 Cortland graduate, MacNeill began his football coaching career as an assistant at Port Byron (N.Y.) Central High School from 1980 to 1982, prior to being named as a graduate assistant coach at Ithaca College. He coached Ithaca's junior varsity team in 1982 and was in charge of the Bombers' receivers in 1983.

On The Red Dragons
Cortland is a prolific scoring offense, averaging 35.70 points per game and boast a solid passing running attack. Senior quarterback Chris Rose is completing over 60 percent of his passes for 2,264 yards and 21 touchdowns. He is also pretty mobile and has gained 125 yards on the ground to go with a rushing touchdown.

Lining up behind Rose has been Dorian Myles and Justin Autera who are separated by just four total carries. Myles does hold the advantage in yards by a wide 731 to 471 margin to go with four touchdowns, compared to three for Autera. Bronson Greene also gets a lot of carries and has a team-high eight rushing touchdowns while averaging 5.4 yards per carry.

Mike Humphrey is the team's leading receiver with 63 catches for 726 yards (11.5) and six scores while Kordel McInnis has 49 grabs for 641 yards (13.1) and a team-high nine touchdown receptions. Jack Delahunty (37-396-1), Myles (20-203-2) and Rob Van Bargen (12-135-2) are also frequent targets.

The Red Dragons may rank 146th in total defense but allow just 19.9 points per game. Seniors Vaughn Labor (DE), Chris Bright (LB) and Pete Furey (CB) anchor the defense and were all First Team All-NJAC selections. Sophomore corner Andrew Tolosi, freshman safety Andre Green and defensive linemen Dan Cancro and Gabe Ostrow also earned All-Conference honors the defensive side of the ball. Green led the team with 73 tackles to go with 6.5 TFLs, three picks and a forced fumble while Furey and Tolosi combined for nine interceptions. Bright tied with Furey for second on the team in tackles while Labor finished with four sacks and 7.5 tackles for loss. Labor may get the name recognition, but Ostrow had a spectacular year with a team-high 11 TFLs and seven sacks.