The Wheaton Thunder football team heads into its 2012 season looking to maintain Wheaton's tradition of success in the 21st century. Wheaton has made six NCAA Division III playoff appearances and won five CCIW Championships since 2000, with the Thunder's last trip to the postseason coming in 2010. In 2011, Wheaton posted an 8-2 record.
Veteran Head Coach
Mike Swider recalls, “Finishing a football season with a top-25 final ranking and an 8-2 record is a great accomplishment. However, here at Wheaton it felt a bit disappointing. When you set the bar high and expect more that happens. The disappointment of being shutout of the playoffs last year has fueled our 2012 offseason. This football team is ready to take a stand and make it happen this fall.”
Swider says of the upcoming season, “There is a lot to be excited about. There always is at Wheaton. I think the thing that helps any football program is expectation and there will always be an expectation to do well, to fight for a conference title and be in the playoffs at Wheaton. That is who we are and is our identity. That is a good thing.” Swider concludes, “There are a lot of teams right now that don't expect that. When you expect to win, fight for championships and be in the playoffs, it really ratchets up all of your efforts and I think that expectation for us will be there again this year and be a positive thing.”
Swider notes, “I think the strength of our football team in terms of returning players is our offense. There are more returning players on the offensive side of the ball than on defense. We have quarterbacks that can play that have proven themselves. We have a backfield that has been around the block, two good receivers coming back with four or five experienced offensive lineman coming back.” He states of the other side of the ball, “Defensively, we lose a lot of starters, but the guys that are coming back and will be stepping in are kids that got some valuable time and played well last year.”
OFFENSE: “Offensively, it all starts with the quarterback position and we have two that are great. Don't ask me to separate them right now.
Garrett Meador (PICTURED LEFT) is already a preseason All-American for this year and he was a backup to start 2011.
Jordan Roberts led us to the second round of the Division III playoffs in 2010. They are both healthy now, have had experience with success and are good players. Training camp will be interesting and there will be a battle there. Either one of those guys can lead us to a championship; there is no doubt about it.”
The Thunder offense returns the 2011 CCIW Offensive Player of the Year in Meador, a fifth-year season. Roberts (PICTURED RIGHT) returns after being slated to open the 2011 season as the starter under center for the Thunder, however, Meador stepped in when Roberts was hurt in the preseason and had a breakout campaign. Swider mentions of the duo, “We have two outstanding quarterbacks coming back. That is going to be a great battle and it will be very interesting to see how that unfolds.”
Meador has been tabbed as a preseason First Team All-American by D3football.com after earning the website's North Region Offensive Player of the Year award in 2011. Last season, he posted the second-highest completion percentage in school history with a mark of 65.2% (227-for- 348); as he threw for 2,852 yards, with 28 touchdown passes.
In 2010, Roberts finished the season as the starting quarterback as he helped guide the Thunder into the Second Round of the NCAA-III Playoffs. In that season, Roberts set a school-record by completing 66.4% (140-for-211) of his passes. He threw for 1,575 yards, with 14 touchdown passes on the year. Additionally, he ran for 493 yards, averaging 5.8 yards per carry with a pair of touchdown runs to his credit.
Experience abounds in the backfield for the Thunder. Senior
Peter Jarrett (PICTURED LEFT) began 2011 as the starter at tailback, but was hampered by injury.
Justin Swider and
Jesse Geary both saw substantial time at tailback filling in for Jarrett. This season, Geary will move to fullback and is expected to step in as a starter.
“At tailback we have
Peter Jarrett coming back. The key with Peter is that he has to stay healthy. He is a good player and a big strong kid. The thing we are most excited about with him is that he had his first offseason. In the past he had been limited by injuries and he was able to train for a full offseason this past year.” Jarrett appeared in five games last season, running for 269 yards on 71 carries with a pair of touchdown runs.
“Justin [Swider] got some playing time last year, giving us a number-two tailback that has been on the field, giving us some valuable experience there.” Swider was tabbed as a CCIW Offensive Player of the Week in the third week of the 2011 season, as he ran for a team-high 390 yards on the year, with an average of 6.0 yards per carry and three touchdown runs.
“We are moving
Jesse Geary to the fullback position. He is a big, strong kid who will do a nice job. He will provide some experience at that position as well.” Geary ran for 223 yards in nine games last season. He averaged 4.3 yards per carry, with five touchdown runs.
Charlie Velling also returns at tailback for Wheaton. Velling last played for the Thunder 2009 when he led the club in rushing with 683 yards on 133 carries and six touchdowns, with All-CCIW recognition.
Teddy Watkins, Wheaton's leader in both receptions and receiving yards last year is graduated, as is
Justin Zeller at the receiver position. However,
Mark Hiben (PICTURED RIGHT) and
Morgan Cook both return with valuable experience.
Hiben had a breakout season as a freshman last year with 38 receptions for 628 yards, earning First Team All-CCIW recognition. He averaged 16.5 yards per catch, with eight touchdown catches. Swider says of the sophomore, “
Mark Hiben is a special football player. He has gained 20 pounds since last year, is 6' 4”, is faster than when he came in last year and has a year under his belt. He brings a quality of receiver that you don't see in Division III very often.”
He adds of Cook, “
Morgan Cook is a big receiver who saw some time last year and now as a senior, his time has come. We expect Morgan to jump to the forefront and become a very good receiver for us this year.” Cook caught 13 passes last season for 231 yards. Cook averaged a team-best 17.8 yards per reception with two touchdown catches.
Swider concludes of the wide receiver position, “We have a number of guys fighting for the third and fourth receiver positions.”
Swider notes of several experienced returnees to the offensive line. “
Jesse Peterson (PICTURED LEFT) and
Nolan Randall at the tackle position are going to be good football players for us. They are tough kids who played all last year and gained valuable experience.” Swider continues, “
Charlie Bell (PICTURED RIGHT) and [Bradley] Hahn are at the guard positions and they are solid football players. Plus,
Spencer Clark had a big year as a freshman at center for us last year. Those five guys are good players and have valuable experience.”
DEFENSE: “I am really excited about our defense,” notes Swider. He adds, “We have some really good players coming back at linebacker and defensive back.”
The Thunder mentor says of his defensive backfield, “We have eight returning players in the secondary who may not be returning starters, but they have a lot of experience, been around the block and are highly competitive athletes.” He continues, “We have four cornerbacks that are good football players in
Oskar Cadena,
Matt McReynolds,
Jackson Edwards and #C.J. Nightingale#. Having those four players competing against each other in practice is a good thing.”
“I am excited about the safety position.
Tony Vargyas (PICTURED LEFT) and
Garrett Cook are the front runners right now,” mentions Swider. Vargyas and Cook each appeared in eight games last year as the duo combined for 39 total tackles in ample playing time. Swider continues, “Both of those guys started games for us last year. They were both big time special teams players for us last year. Plus, we have good players like
Sam Burt and
Mark Schmitt behind them.”
At inside linebacker, Wheaton returns starter
Pat Dansdill (PICTURED RIGHT) and key regular
Brett Anderson. Swider states, “Dansdill and
Brett Anderson have been vital contributors for us, both on special teams and at linebacker.” Dansdill played in every game last season and recorded 29 total tackles and Anderson saw quality playing time with 19 total tackles, including 3-1/2 tackles for lost yardage.
Swider mentions, “At outside linebacker, we have
John Carnegie,
Ben Johnson,
Sam VanHeest (PICTURED LEFT) and
Jordan Higgins. Those are four players that we are excited about. VanHeest is a returning starter, Johnson and Higgins saw time on special teams and we expect good things out of Carnegie after being banged up last year.” VanHeest played in every game as a junior last year with 31 total tackles to his credit. Higgins and Johnson each played in seven games for the Thunder last season.
“On the defensive line, we are strong at nose tackle with
Brandon Dykstra (PICTURED RIGHT) and
Sam Weatherred,” notes Swider. Dykstra is Wheaton's leading returning tackler for this season, with 38 last year. He racked up four tackles for lost yardage. Wheaton's head coach continues, “Dykstra is as good a Division III defensive lineman as there is. Weatherred got some playing time last year and he will be an experienced player backing Dykstra up.”
Swider states, “The place where we are going to have to find some players is our two defensive ends. We lost our top three players there in
JD East,
Robert Ramsay and
David Seamon; so we need to find players who can play there. We are going to have some kids who are going to have to step up and grow up in a hurry. Players like
Ryan Kerns,
Jared Todd,
Jay Conkin and
Ethan Cooper are going to have to step up.”
SPECIAL TEAMS: In 2011, placekicker
Scott Roche earned honorable mention All-American recognition with 13 field goals in 16 attempts. Swider notes, “We lost an All-American kicker and that is hard to replace. We have a young man in
Sam Cote (PICTURED LEFT) who took over our punting chores last year and did a great job for us. He has a great leg. He has already proven himself as a punter, but he is a very capable kicker as well. He might be called on to do both of those duties.” Cote booted 34 punts last season, averaging 36.1 yards per punt for the Thunder.
Swider continues in the special teams, “Two key positions that are not as glamorous, but we have to replace are at long snapper and holder. We have had some consistency there with
JD East as our long snapper and
Teddy Watkins as our holder for the last few years. So we have to find some people there.”
The Thunder will have an open competition to find players to serve on punt and kick return duties. “We have to find some returners to replace
Micah Markley and
Teddy Watkins,” states Swider. Last season, Watkins led a Wheaton special teams unit that led NCAA Division III in kickoff return average, and Markley was Wheaton's leading punt returner.
