The Fighting Scots football team plans to rebuild after a disappointing season last year. The Scots were expected to contend in the North Coast Atlantic Conference, and the started started off their season well, going 3-1 with strong wins against Ohio Wesleyan University, Earlham College and Denison University, but only won two of their remaining six games including a 42-6 beating at the hands of arch-rival Wittenberg to finish 5-5.
Not only that, but the Scots graduated 18 seniors last year, a group that included several All-NCAC players.† The future seems bleak for the Scots, but all is not lost.† They return with several skilled offensive players and have an experienced defense that is hungry to prove that they are better than 5-5
The biggest problem is replacing longtime quarterback Austin Holter ’10, who led the Scots in total offense with 7,459 total yards.† Those are not easy shoes to fill, but a group of six quarterbacks including three first-year competed for the chance at training camp.
The most experienced candidate is returning, junior T.J Atkinson ’12, who started eight varsity games as wide receiver and played starting quarterback for the junior varsity team.
The other two candidates with experience are sophomores Ian Haley ’13 and Zach Wedrick ’13.† But, it is not unheard of for the Scots to start a freshman under center, so there is a good chance that freshman quarterbacks Richard Barnes ’14, Brett Frongillo ’14, and Jarid Heffers will all get a shot in what should be an intriguing battle to lead the offense.
A much clearer picture is at running back, with the Scots returning second team all-NCAC back Robert Flagg’12.† Flagg, who totaled 867 yards (570 rushing, 297 receiving), looks to have another standout year.† He will be complimented by senior Kyle Murdock’11 who added 297 yards last season.
With these two, the Scots will have a versatile running game that should give opposing teams fits next year.
Another strong position is the receiving corp which has senior wide receiver Mike Redick ’11† and slot receiver Jordan McIntyre ’13.† McIntyre is looking to carry over an impressive year where he had 28 catches for 306 yards.† Redick has started for the Scots as receiver for all three years and is coming off of a strong year where he had 22 catches for 291 yards and two touchdowns.† These two, along with tight end Cameron Daniels ë12 who was second team All-NCAC last season, give the Scots a lot of offensive weapons.
The Fighting Scots defense has a lot to prove this year.† Last year, the defense was young but promising. In the 2009 season, the Scot defense gave up 25.5 points per game and 376.6 yards per game.† But the benefit of a bad season is that there is nowhere to go but up for the Scot defense.
They lost all-conference linebacker Matt DeGrand ë10, whose 320 career tackles will be missed, but returning linebackers Hector Clavijo ’12 and Eric Keyes ’11 look to fill the void.† Clavijo had 63 tackles last season and Keyes added 60 of his own.† The defensive line looks strong as it returns four starters.† After last season, the defense definitely has a chip on its shoulder and is looking to prove that last season was a fluke.
Many believe that Scots have too many holes to really be competitive this year.
But the Scots still have several excellent players and with a coaching staff determined to keep the Scots in line with their winning ways, this should be an exciting season for the Scots.
