2006 Division II Teams/Stars

[Colonel_Reb]

Let's start with last year's champs, the Grand Valley State Lakers. These guys have 3 national championships in the last 4 years. Here are the whites starting for them this year, along with a good article on their record setting QB.

Offense
QB-Cullen Finnerty
WR-Mark Catlin
TE-Jake Topp
LT-Sam Allen
LG-Sean Stevens
C-Billy Eisenhardt
RG-Joe Wohlscheid

Defense
CB-Bill Brechin
S-Jacob McGuckin
LE-Dan Skuta
NT-Ryan Gaydosh

A Half White championship team isn't bad, especially in this day and age.

Here's the article excerpt:
By Kevin Allen, USA TODAY
Grand Valley State senior Cullen Finnerty is 37-4 as a starting quarterback with 10 playoffs wins and two national titles, and yet his coach jokingly likes to compare his performance level to a kitchen appliance.
"Watching him, when he gets the football, is like turning on a blender," Grand Valley coach Chuck Martin says, laughing. "Sometimes he drives you nuts, but more often than not he will find a way to make a play to win."

The rambling, multifaceted Finnerty and his No. 1 Lakers (1-0) will be looking for their 15th consecutive win Saturday when they meet Ashland (Ohio) in Allendale, Mich., located just outside Grand Rapids.

Finnerty is on a march to become the fourth quarterback in NCAA history â€â€￾ joining, among others, Alcorn State's Steve McNair, now with the NFL's Baltimore Ravens â€â€￾ to rush for 2,000 yards and pass for 8,000 in a career, but that's of secondary importance compared with his mission to preserve the Grand Valley football tradition.

The Lakers have captured three Division II national titles in four years, and they are 71-5 in their last 76 games. This year's senior class is 38-4 but would have to win every game this season to match the 51-4 record produced by last year's senior class.

"What Grand Valley has done here over the last several years is unbelievable," Finnerty says. "But we try not to focus on what happened before. We put that behind us to concentrate on one game at a time this season."

But clearly the winning tradition has fostered a campuswide enthusiasm that certainly helps motivate the team. Some home games draw 6,000 â€â€￾ in the standing-room areas.

"Even though we are not as big as Division I crowds, the atmosphere around here is like a rock concert or a madhouse," Martin says. "Compare that to some (Mid-American Conference) venues, where they have 18,000 in a 35,000-seat stadium. That's not a great environment. But we have 14,500 crammed into an 8,500(-seat) stadium, and it's a pretty cool place to play."

With 7,904 career passing yards and 1,836 rushing yards, Finnerty, 6-2, 210, is the centerpiece of Grand Valley's program.

"He plays the game like the middle linebacker," Martin says. "He is half-crazy out there. He's not your prototypical quarterback. It's great to have this kind of leader because offensive linemen love to play for a quarterback who loves to stick his face in there and get after people." Edited by: Colonel_Reb

 

[Colonel_Reb]

We talked a lot about I-AA teams beating I-A teams last week, but today Delta State University, my D-2 alma-mater, beat a perennially good I-AA Stephen F. Austin 17-14 in Texas! I don't have the stats on the game yet, but DSU did it with hard running, good defense, and a 27 yard field goal with 16 seconds to go. I'll update the stats info soon, because I'm curious as to how FB Ben Stallings and QB Scott Eyster did today.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

FYI, Delta State was ranked 18 last week. Ben Stallings had 5 carries for 17 yards today, and Scott Eyster went 21 for 38 for 304 yards and 2 TD's. Way to go Statesmen! I expect them to rise in the polls again this week after the big win.

 

[castefootballer]

New Hampshire had quite an amazing 34- 17 upset this weekend over Div. 1 Northwestern!

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Castefootballer, New Hampshire is I-AA, not D2, but thanks for the info. I started another thread for I-AA teams that we can keep up with. Please let us know about anymore upsets like this.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

#16 Delta State plays at GSC rival Henderson State tomorrow. The game will be webcast on CSTV.com at 7PM Eastern.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

DSU lost a close one in OT. They also lost their GSC record breaking QB Scott Eyster in the 4th quarter. No word yet on what the injury was. Delta State plays at home next week against Ouachita Baptist.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Delta State (currently ranked 14) has rebounded from that loss and if they beat North Alabama (currently ranked 3) at home tomorrow, they will be in the drivers seat for the MWC title, their first since winning the D2 national title in 2000. FB Ben Stallings has continued to impress when given the ball, and looks to be a big part of the Statesmen offense in the next few years.

Defending Champs Grand Valley State are 7-0 and still at the top of the D2 rankings.

However, the important thing for division 2 teams are the region polls. Prior to 2004, the top 4 teams in each region made the playoffs, but now the field has expanded to the top 6 in each region or 24 teams total. Delta State is in good shape at number 5 in the South region, but they must keep winning.

 

[bigwhitehorse]

University of North Dakota beat University of Northern Iowa earlier this year. UNI is a D1AA power. UND is mostly white.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

I've already posted about Delta State Freshman FB Ben Stallings, who has 55 mainly short yardage situation carries for 210 yards for a decent 3.8 YPC average, along with 4 TDs. The Statesmen beat an all black team today in North Carolina and will be in the quarterfinals next week in Alabama.

Jimmy Chitwood has posted about Danny Woodhead as well. His almost all white team, Chadron State, beat West Texas A&M today 43-17. Danny Woodhead ran for 252 yards and 4 TDs. Woodhead became the all-division single season rushing leader with 2,740 yards! Big time news!

Next week they play at Northwest Missouri State. I don't know about you, but I hope this team wins it all!

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Delta State plays defending champs Grand Valley State next Sunday in the D2 semi-finals. The NCAA will announce the time and location later today.

 

[Bronk]

As you go down the divisions you find more and more white dominated teams, particularly in the north, the east and the northwest.Edited by: Bronk

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Weekend of December 9</font>

The Division 2 Semifinals are this Sunday, with the 4:30 Central ESPN U game being Bloomsburg vs. Northwest Missouri State, and the 6:30 Central ESPN 2 game being my alma-mater Delta State vs. defending Champs Grand Valley State.

As far as I can tell, Grand Valley State has 3 whites who will get the ball some, WR/RB Blake Smolen, WR Mark Catlin, and TE Jake Topp. They also have a great Dual Threat QB in Cullen Finnerty, who has run for 440 yards and 7 TDs while throwing for 2,630 and 34 TDs this year. Smolen has rushed for 238 yards and got 192 from catches.

Delta State has FB Ben Stallings and record setting QB Scott Eyster who has thrown for 3,602 yards and 33 touchdowns this year. Stallings has 224 yards and 5 TDs on the ground and 2 TDs catching the ball.

Bloomsburg has WR Greg Masters 245 yards and a score and TE Luke Kuklick who has 362 yards and 3 TDs, along with WR/RB Kyle Ream who has 126 yards and a TD by way of hands and 3 carries for 15 yards, WR Ryan Schuck 289 yards and 2 TDs, and FB Brad Nailor 81 yards on the ground and 20 in the air.

Northwest Missouri State has RB Brant Gregg who has 174 yards and 5 TDs on the year, as well as RB Zach Sherman who has 46 yards and a TD on the year. Also, TE Mike Peterson has 491 yards and 5 TDs this year, and TE Lon Goss added 51 yards and 3 TDs. WR Abe Qaoud has 279 yards receiving and 3 TDs.

I'll add their stats Sunday night.

 

[jaxvid]

Great stuff Colonel. I really like to follow your coverage of these teams. What I hope for someday is that all of these teams games will be available on the internet and I can tune out the caste system games and watch the players I WANT to see. When that happens the caste system may fall apart. It is only through the monopoly of sports coverage that the current paradigmn exists.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Thanks Jaxvid, and you make a good point about the media and watching what you want. The monopoly is slowly being eroded thanks to less expensive technology. Each year I have been able to access so much more material on a lot of different teams. Smaller schools are now updating their sites and there are ways to identify most players now, although it takes a while to do it. I am a subscriber to Yahoo college football internet broadcasts, and there are 16 I-AA teams you can listen to each week, plus 2 D-II, and 2 D-III. I'm sure the numbers of schools that we will be able to listen to will grow a lot in the future. Another place to listen to games is D2football.com.

 

[jaxvid]

Here's a pic of Finnerty who is going to roll thru that Delta State defense.

How about a little wager Col?

My hometown Lakers over your Alma Mater?

 

[Colonel_Reb]

I'm not a betting man, jaxvid, sorry.

I wouldn't bet against the Statesmen even if I was, but with that said, I doubt they win tonight. GVSU is a power, while DSU has just been on a fortunate roll. They have done very well to get to this point and I don't see them getting any further. Of course, I said the same thing about them last week.

Edited by: Colonel_Reb

 

[Colonel_Reb]

2006 Division 2 National Championship</font>

This game comes on Saturday at 11AM Central on ESPN2. Too bad I won't get to watch it.

Grand Valley State, who some of us saw beat my alma-mater Sunday night, usually starts 8 whites on offense,and here are the guys to look for:
Dual Threat QB Cullen Finnerty
WR/RB Blake Smolen
WR Mark Catlin
TE Jake Topp

Starting on defense we have CB Bill Brechin, S Jacob McGuckin, LE Dan Skuta, and NT Ryan Gaydosh.



On the other side of the field, Northwest Missouri State also usually starts 8 whites on offense and has these guys to keep up with:
RB Brant Gregg
RB Zach Sherman
TE Mike Peterson
WR Abe Qaoud

On defense, there are FS Brandon Pratt, OLB Ben Harness, MLB Jared Erspamer, DT Kyle Kaiser, LE Ryan Waters, and RE Dallas Flynn starting.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

in an attempt to help out the Colonel, here goes...

Grand Valley State's Bill Brechin (29) intercepts a pass in the end zone intended for Northwest Missouri State's Kendall Wright.

Grand Valley State won its second consecutive Division II National Championship, and its 4th in 5 years, led by Little All American quarterback, Cullen Finnerty, and white cornerback Bill Brechin.

Finnerty, who finished as the runner-up in the Harlon Hill Trophy balloting( to amazing tailback Danny Woodhead), ran for 115 yards and passed for 225 to lead Grand Valley State to the win. The Lakers trailed 14-10 entering the fourth quarter, but took the lead for good with 13:06 to play on a swerving 4-yard run by Finnerty.

Brechin, a junior, intercepted two passes in the end zone for Grand Valley, and almost had a 3rd on a touchdown pass in which the receiver appeared to get away with offensive pass interference. but it was his fumble recovery at the Laker 21 with just under two minutes left that sealed the win.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Delta State's politically correct, all around caste system flunkie AD, Brad Teague, has left for greener (literally) pastures, accepting the AD job at Central Arkansas. As a DSU Alumnus I say good riddance and that Teague shows his true colors by making this move. CAU is moving into 1-AA from D-2. The temporary AD will be Ronnie Mayers. Here's the article from the Clarksdale Press Register.

Statesmen's AD takes post in Arkansas
January 26, 2007

CLEVELAND - Dr. Brad Teague was formally introduced as the new athletic director at Division I-AA University of Central Arkansas at a press conference in Conway, Ark. Wednesday.
Teague resigned from his post as Delta State University athletic director to accept UCA President Lu Hardin's offer Tuesday.
Teague first interviewed with Hardin Friday after being contacted about the vacancy late last week.
"We are obviously disappointed to be losing Dr. Teague," Delta State President, Dr. John Hilpert said. "He has led the Delta State athletic department with character and integrity, and the success Delta State athletics has enjoyed over the past four years is evidence of his leadership.
"This is an opportunity for the Teagues, and we wish them the best in the future," Hilpert continued. "We thank Dr. Teague for the service and commitment he has shown to Delta State University over the years."
Of his decision to resign, Teague offered, "Delta State University, Cleveland and the people of both are extremely important to me and my family. This was not an easy decision to come to; but I feel, at this time in my life, I can not pass this opportunity up.
"I would like to thank Dr. Hilpert, the University family, the Cleveland community, our fans and the coaches, staff and student-athletes that have made my time as athletic director so very special. In my heart, I will forever be a Statesman," he concluded.
Teague is scheduled to begin work at UCA March 1.
Delta State, through its Office of University Relations, will release details of its intended search process later this week.

Article on Mayers-
Mayers interim AD at Delta St.; national search under way
Associated Press
CLEVELAND, Miss. - Ronnie Mayers will serve as interim athletic director as Delta State begins a national search to replace Brad Teague, the school said Thursday.

Teague resigned Tuesday to take the same job at Central Arkansas. He replaces John Thompson, who left the school earlier this month to become Mississippi's defensive coordinator.

Mayers will begin his new duties March 1. The assistant athletic director formerly coached the Delta State swimming and diving team for more than two decades.

"Coach Mayers has the experience and the leadership we will need to transition the Delta State athletic department," university President John M. Hilpert said in a statement. "He will be a steady hand at the helm of the department."

The AD search committee will be headed by Rose Strahan, chairwoman of the Delta State mathematics department and NCAA faculty athletic representative. Strahan also led the school's search for a new men's basketball coach last spring.

Teague, a former pitcher at Delta State, had been the school's athletic director for four years. He takes over a program in Conway that recently moved from Division II to Division I-AA.