Jason Dannelly

NAIA Campus Report for 9/3/2005 from Jason Dannelly: Saint Xavier vs. NW Oklahoma State

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Even the SXU defense got into the mix forcing turnovers and changing the momentum of the game when they needed to. So what did I take from the game?  Here’s a few random thoughts and observations from the NAIA’s top contest on Saturday.

  • SXU is much improved over last season.  If they can stay healthy, they will be in the mix for the NAIA Playoffs and possibly more.
  • Jarred Nowman might be the shiftiest player I have seen since John Booth at MidAmerica Nazarene in 2003.  He has a keen ability to know where defenders are coming from and how to make them miss.
  • Congrats to Andy Ricca of SXU.  After two season ending ACL injuries in the first quarter of the Cougars first games in ’03 and ’04, Ricca made it through the entire game against NWOSU.  If he stays healthy, he could prove to be one of the NAIA’s top wide receivers along with Nowman.
  • Demarko Jones of NWOSU is a heck of an option quarterback.  Of the few teams in the NAIA still running the option as their “base” offense, I would have to say Jones might be the second best in the country behind Larry Hay of Cumberland.
  • Odie Armstrong of NWOSU has proved he is a powerful runner, now he has to prove he can be consistent.  Two costly fumbles hurt NWOSU’s chances of winning and Armstrong was the man who coughed both of them up.  His blooper late in the second half cost the Rangers field position and momentum. 
  • Tony Hatfield’s motor never turns off.  He is motoring all the time whether it is for a sack or recovering a fumble.  In fact the entire “Black Cloud” defense was impressive. Even though the Rangers gave up 21 points, I do not believe defense was the problem.  The Rangers passing game was ineffective and turnovers killed their chances at winning. If they Rangers are to stay an elite team in the country they will have to prove they can be a better passing team or learn to rely on their running game even more.
  • Mike Feminis and the Cougars won with dignity.  After driving the length of the field in the final minutes, the Cougars had a choice; punch it in for another six or kneel on it.  The Cougars did the classy thing and put a knee down to keep the margin of victory at 14.

Next week should be even better as Azusa Pacific travels to Carroll College.  Be on the look out for another game recap via NAIAFOOTBALL.NET.

NAIA Campus Report from Jason Dannelly: UVA-Wise Two-A-Days

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Some players have to miss practice at certain times due to the fact they are finishing up summer classes while others have been hit with the injury bug.  The Highland Cavaliers will be young this season and lack experience at several positions.  However the attitude and work ethic at this point in the game was great.
 
As for the layout, you cannot find many NAIA football teams with better facilities.  The weightroom rivals all that I have seen at this level and the stadium brings a great name to small college football.  Thats all for now, but check back later for more updates.

NAIA Campus Report for 10/30/2004 from Jason Dannelly: Dana vs. Peru State

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Some of the most fun that I have is talking with the trainers, Mark Kwikkel and Jeff Hume. While I was in school at Dana I became very good friends with both of them while I was a student trainer and also because it seemed like I was always in the training room for one injury or another. It was good to see their facilties had been upgraded from racquetball board to actual training room. The face of the facilities has changed greatly since I played my last game at Dana. There is the newly built Gardner Hawks Arena, visiting football stands, and new offices. It is really a nice face lift for a college whose facilities had been out of date.

Seeing old friends was a great time and seeing Dana finish the season with a victory was nice too. Even though I am as unbiased as I can be, I still have my degree from Dana and it was a big part of my life. I can certainly separate business and my past, but it does make me feel good when I see Dana puts one in the win column. Bill Danenhauer is bringing in the local kids and improving the atmosphere of the games. Heck, I even think he was showing off for me Saturday when Dana ran the ball 34 times for over 130yds!

As for Peru State, injuries and lack of depth have killed this team this year. They are athletic and big, but they lack the depth they need to be 5-5 instead of 1-9. Scott Beveridge is still a great wide receiver, but unfortunately he won’t have the numbers needed to repeat his All American campaign from two seasons ago. On Saturday he was Mr. Peru as he spent time as a kicker, kick returner, and wide receiver.

The unfortunate events at the end of the game were just a symbol of frustration from the entire season. Both teams only had one win. They had a lot of emotion on the field and things got really hot. I’m not going to go into detail about who started what, but there were a lot of personal fouls and ejections during the game that led to the heated skirmish after the contest. It was very unfortunate. I’m sure both teams are disciplining their players right now.

The bad thing is it was a no win situation for anyone after the game. If you take your players off the field after the game and not shake hands people call you unsportsmanlike and classless. If you shake hands and a fight breaks out, everyone says “The coaches should’ve known better than to let them shake hands.”

It was a small black eye to end the season on, but both teams can now move forward and get ready for next season. My time at Dana was great, I’ll be returning in December for the Football banquet. So in the words of Dr. Christopherson “GO DANA!”

NAIA Campus Report for 10/30/2004 from Jason Dannelly: Midland Lutheran/Concordia

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That’s the one thing I have always said about the Bulldogs from Seward. These guys play hard. No matter what the score, the opponent, the type of game Concordia plays hard. They could be playing the #1 team in the NAIA or playing an 0-11 pasty and you’ll still get the same effort from Courtney Meyer’s Bulldogs. That’s the type of thing I think every team strives for and the Bulldogs have mastered.

Midland Lutheran plays on an emotional roller coaster. If things are going well and the team is playing together, watch out. Morningside saw this side of Midland this season as MLC sneaked in a game winning field goal as time expired to win the ball game and give Morningside their only loss of the season. Or there is the MLC that gave up 72 points to Sioux Falls . The ball really got rolling for the Cougars after Midland was flagged and threw an interception to change the face of the game.

Essentially both teams are very different in their style of play. Midland is capable of playing at an extremely high level if things are going right, where Concordia will play on that even keel for 60 minutes. Saturday was a case of Midland Lutheran being on the wrong end emotionally and Concordia bringing their best effort as usual. Even though CU won 49-10, I’ll be the first to say a lot of good things can come from this loss. First, it will make MLC realize they have to turn it back on if they are to finish strong in the conference. Secondly, it gave Concordia hope of getting to .500 again, something the program never did in the late 80’s and early 90’s.

The GPAC is always competitive and this week proved that. Unfortunately for some it looked like two teams going past one another on a highway. Concordia’s was heading upward toward a strong finish, while MLC’s was moving quickly to nowhere. Hopefully the Warriors exit off the highway ramp this weekend and turn things around.

Campus Report 9/18/04 from Jason Dannelly: NAIA Matchup Sterling College at McPherson College

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My dad and I had absolutely no interest being in Hillsboro , Saturday. We were told that between 15 and 30,000 people attend this craft day. We both laughed at the thought of that many people coming to a craft show, but we were wrong. Dad and I got out of town just in time to see a ten mile string of cars waiting to get into Hillsboro . Needless to say we were happy to be out of town.

As for McPherson and Sterling , I had a great time. I’ve always like talking to coaches no matter where they are from and Dave Cunningham and Andy Lambert are no exceptions. Cunningham has done a great job in getting the Bulldogs turned around while Lambert is just starting his quest with the Warriors. Both coaches are personable and are some of my favorite people to talk to.

McPherson has a nice small campus where the majority of the buildings looked very nice. There athletic facilities were some of the best I’ve seen in the KCAC. The football field is SprintTurf and is a great surface. McPherson has also done a good job of recruiting speed to that surface as the Bulldogs are a quick team. The press box is well done as there is plenty of space for the working media.

As for the football game, I really liked what I saw from both teams. Sterling College will win a game this season. They play too hard not too. They are a well coached team that looked to be very disciplined. They won’t win the KCAC, but they will improve.

McPherson was without the services of Lamar Jacobs for much of the game as he is recovering from a knee sprain. The person I came away most impressed with athletically on the entire field was McPherson slot back Sean Eason. His speed and quick moves showed he was probably the best athlete on the field. With Jacobs at full speed and Eason darting all over the place, the Bulldogs will be in the hunt for the KCAC title

Overall the trip to McPherson was productive and short. A big thanks to Carol Swenson for getting me set up at the game and to both teams for putting on a great game. Even though the final was 24-13, the game was much better than the 11 point margin of victory. Until next week.

NAIA Campus Report for September 11, 2004: Jason Dannelly watches MSFA’s Olivet Nazarene and Saint Xavier

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At Saint Xavier I had an opportunity to tool around before the game see the players and coaches going through their rituals. One person I was saddened to see would not be participating in any of those rituals was Saint Xavier wide receiver Andy Ricca. Ricca has been hit with bad luck once again. Last season the Cougars started off their season against NWOSU and in the first quarter, Ricca went down with an ACL tear. This season Ricca was back to full strength and ready to get after it against Illinois State . But in the first quarter, Ricca went down again with another tear of his ACL. You can’t help but feel sorry to see such a great athlete go down like this, but there is a silver lining. Ricca is available to get a medical hardship for this injury and play next year if his body and mind will let him. Physically two ACL tears on separate legs are tough to get over, but the mental end of it is just mind boggling.

As for the game, Whitewater was physical. Their running back was a punishing runner. Colin Burns ran the ball 30 times for 224yds in what was probably the best running performance I’ve seen this season. SXU had good size on their defense, but anyone who took Burns on high did not bring him down. Overall the Cougars played tough and made some mistakes that probably cost them a better chance at winning the game. At one point the Cougars were ready to punch it in during the first half, but threw an INT in the end zone to give Whitewater the ball and momentum.

SXU had a good football atmosphere. Being located in Chicago during a pennant race does not help the attendance at the game, but I felt SXU had a good crowd on hand for their home opener. The Alumni Association even had tents and tailgating going on right outside the stadium which I thought was great until the wind started blowing the aroma over the field and making me hungry as heck.

SXU made a couple attempts at the end of the game to get the win, but in the end it was just Whitewater’s day. The staff at SXU was great and I though they accommodated me very well.

Then it was down I-57 to Bourbonnais to watch ONU and Azusa Pacific. I was very surprised when I got to the game to see just how big the crowd was for ONU’s game. It was 4000 plus with standing area’s around the field being pushed to the brim. It was a great atmosphere. Even the rowdy students in the east end zone added to the excitement as they kept chants going through the game. Their enthusiasm rivaled that of the “Carroll Crazies” which I saw during week one.

The one thing I could feel around me at this entire game was a positive atmosphere. APU fans were happy to be there and to be playing, while I think ONU’s fans are just positive people. It was a great family orientated game to be at.

As dumb as this may sound, the band was definitely a highlight for me. I’m not a band person at all, because most the time at this level of football it is poorly constructed and sounds terrible. But when Olivet Nazarene brought their marching band onto their field I was at a loss for words. They looked professional, they sounded professional, and they did a professional job of entertaining the fans. Then during pregame, the President of the College emerged from the band to great the fans. And I don’t mean he came in from behind the band were he was standing. I mean, HE WAS IN THE BAND. Definitely a cool thing for a President of a College to do.

As for the game, Azusa Pacific is good. They are physical and are the type of team that just keeps hitting you in the mouth. Their new defensive scheme worked very well against ONU’s young line, but I will be interested to see in the weeks to come how they do against a bigger faster line.

The most impressive player on the defensive side might have been DT Pedar Moore. This guy looked line a man among boys at times. Moore only had to guess which way ONU was going to run or rollout and he’d be there to stop the play. Moore is the best defensive linemen I’ve seen this season in the NAIA.

ONU’s Billy Lawrence and APU’s Ben Buys both ran the ball well. Lawrence is quicker than I expected, while Buys is exactly what I expected; big back, good speed, physical runner. Overall this was a great game to see, even though ONU fans probably did not like the display they put on the field. One thing I reminded people after the game was “there’s a reason was APU is a top 10 team”.

On the trip home I had to call my wife and have her read me the NAIA scores. It was a good thing I was parked in my motel parking lot when she told me a few. Otherwise I might have driven off the road right into the ditch when I heard a few.

Another great weekend of football. Next week I’ll be in Kansas , so I’ll talk to you later.