2008 guide - Ohio Wesleyan University

2008 BISHOP OUTLOOKOhio Wesleyan football will havea familiar feel in 2008, as the ruggeddefense and power running gamethat have been trademarks of BattlingBishop football under head coach MikeHollway will make longtime Bishopfans feel right at home.Seven starters, including threeAll-North Coast Athletic Conferenceselections, return on defense for OhioWesleyan.Senior tackle Julian Strother,senior end Britan Tolliver, and sophomorenose guard Taylor Smith willanchor the Bishop line.Strother, an honorable mentionAll-NCAC pick last year, led Bishoplinemen with 48 stops last year andreturned an interception for a touchdown.Tolliver contributed 29 tackles,including 3½ for loss, while Smithemerged late in the season and finishedwith 27 tackles.Junior Justin Saunders, a 2-yearletterman, also returns on the line.Senior middle linebacker TommySaunders, who led the team with 115tackles on the way to honorable mentionAll-NCAC status, returns at thehub of the Bishop defense.Senior outside linebacker MattWeisman, who compiled 34 stops,also returns. Looking to fill the otheroutside spot are senior Jason Chitwoodand junior Sam Bixler.Junior free safety Rylan Mitter-Burke leads the backfield as another2007 honorable mention All-NCACpick. Mitter-Burke led Bishop defensivebacks with 66 tackles and sharedMatt Heinrich returns for his fourthseason as the Bishops’ starting lefttackle.the team lead with 2 interceptions lastseason.Junior strong safety Daniel DeLayand senior cornerback Preston Osbornwill look to reprise their starting roles.DeLay led the Bishops with 6 passbreakups and shared the team leadwith 2 interceptions last year, whileOsborn, an all-conference sprinter forthe Bishop track & field team, had 42tackles and 4 pass breakups.Offensively, senior tackles MarkWall, a second-team All-NCAC pick in2007, and Matt Heinrich serve as bookendsof an experienced and talentedline.Sophomore Jimmy Willisonreturns at center, while seniors BrianAdams and Paul Hardin will be atguard.Sophomore Andrew Eggers alsowill contribute at guard this season,and sophomore Tim Schmidt movesfrom the defensive line to give theBishops more size and depth.Senior Corey Turner, who rankedthird on the team with 12 catches lastyear, has starting experience at tightend. Further bolstering the tight endposition are junior Ryan Prince, whomoves over from the defensive line,and sophomore Danny Flanegan.Halfbacks Kyle Adams, MickeyGies, Zach Rojek, Jerrell Cephas andSteven Brown return in the backfield.All had significant playing timelast season; Adams piled up a teamleading506 yards rushing and ledBishop running backs with 9 catches,Gies saw action in 9 games, Rojek ledthe Bishops with 3 rushing touchdowns,Cephas scored twice in 11carries, and Brown, an all-conferencesprinter and hurdler who adds adimension of speed, was third on theteam in rushing.Senior Steve Hymes and sophomoreMike Fisher return at quarterback.Hymes rolled up over 300 yardsin total offense in last year’s seasonopener before breaking his leg on theBishops’ final offensive play of thegame. He was an honorable mentionAll-NCAC selection in 2006, rankingsecond on the team in rushing andthrowing for over 1100 yards whileranking fourth in the league in passefficiency and sixth in total offense.Fisher, who had opened the seasonas the Bishops’ starting free safety,moved over to quarterback after thefirst game and turned in an impressiveseason, throwing for nearly 1000 yardswith only one interception. He rankedthird among NCAC starting quarterbacksin pass efficiency.Senior Grant Geib, who made 5catches last season, is the top returneeat split end.Senior Chris Kras returns as thekicker and punter. He ranked secondin the conference in field goals, fourthin kick scoring and eighth in puntinglast season.Senior Mark Apsega is back as thelong snapper, junior John Romano returnsas the holder, and DeLay was theteam’s top punt returner a year ago.2008 Ohio Wesleyan Football2