Tabor football
BY RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
Opening the year as a projected fourth place team in the KCAC, the Tabor football team gets a taste of the type of pressure that face perennially powerful league foes Bethany, Southwestern, and Kansas Wesleyan every year.
Since taking over a struggling program in 1998, Bluejay head coach Tim McCarty and his team finally appear to be getting the respect that they've been striving for.
"It's starting out as an exciting format at the start of the season," said McCarty. "The most I've ever had during my tenure here."
The Bluejays are coming off a 5-5 season, Tabor's best finish since 1978.
The bad news for opponents is the Bluejays have the players to make them more dangerous than a year ago.
Ten starters return to an offense which ranked third in the KCAC behind league co-champion Bethany and Southwestern.
But the biggest concern for McCarty offensively will be whether the Bluejays can be more consistent than a year ago.
And it all starts with junior quarterback David Hernandez.
"David's got to set that tone," McCarty said. "He's coming back after basically playing in just six-and-a-half games last year and starting the last five.
"He's surrounded by a good compliment of receivers and I'm excited about his being able to lead us this year."
Hernandez was 107 for 257 a year ago, throwing for 1,780 yards and 18 touchdowns, the fourth best passer in the KCAC.
He opened the 2001 season second on the depth chart to Willie Lopez before taking over as the starter the third game of the year.
Should Hernandez go down, McCarty's got Lopez and redshirt Brandon Bockman to step in as replacements.
"We're deep there and we feel comfortable we can execute with one of the those guys," McCarty said.
Defenses can pick their poison with either one of Hernandez's favorite targets, wideouts Tyson Ratzlaff and Tyler Marsh.
Ratzlaff earned honorable mention All-American honors last season as a sophomore.
As a junior, the magnetic-handed Ratzlaff is expected to only get better.
He teams with utility-man Marsh to form arguably one of the best receiver tandems in the NAIA.
Marsh is a threat that can hurt defenses anytime he touches the ball.
"Defensively, you've got to keep an eye on him," said McCarty of Marsh. "He's going to hurt you with the run, he's going to hurt you with the screen, he's going to hurt you with the pass, he can go down the field and he's got great hands."
Tight end Preston Neufeld's 6-4 250-pound frame makes him an easy target for Hernandez to find.
Neufeld could be pressed by true freshman 6-7 250-pound Blake Davis of the Kansas high school powerhouse Smith Center.
The running game took a blow already during the summer when Kendrick Campbell was injured in an accident.
That makes it harder for McCarty to get consistent production from a ground game that ranked dead last in the KCAC.
"The running game was a concern of mine going into this season," said McCarty. "Last year we made a stride rushing the ball for over a 1000 yards, but that's not where we want to be in terms of being a good football team.
"To be a good football team, we're going to have to rush the ball in two ways, more consistently and for more yardage. We addressed those during camp and right now, we feel we will be able to run the football."
Cameron Conant is a north-and-south runner from a Smith Center offense that strives for pounding the ball down defenses' throats.
Trumpeted transfer Olando Harris is a product from the same junior college program that produced Campbell, Hinds (Miss.) Community College.
Nils Borquist and Scott Yoder should also figure into the mix, giving the Bluejays three different running styles in the backfield.
The offensive line was on the brunt of criticism last year for mobility.
McCarty corrected that problem by switching Ryan Martin from defensive tackle to offensive tackle and Kevin Wahl to guard.
Richard Chandler earned second team all-KCAC honors a year ago and figures to anchor the line.
John Hood and Tyler Grantham are figured in as the other starters.
Tackling and pursuit were the biggest knocks against the Bluejays' defense which ranked sixth in the KCAC against the run and seventh against the pass.
That should be improved with the Bluejays being loaded and experienced virtually everywhere on defense.
Pound-for-pound one of the strongest Bluejays, junior defensive end Chad Duerksen is relentless against the pass.
He's joined by end Keith Herl to disrupt opponents' offense.
On the defensive front, all but one of the first- and second-team units return.
The interior players, Travis Stevens, Brad Solorio, Justin Friesen, Brent Brockmueller and Mike Onijala can be dominating at stuffing the run.
The linebackers are solid too, bolstered by Eli Kennedy, Damian Ratzlaff and Tracy Wehrman.
Tabor's secondary will field four players with strong potential.
Lopez is back to where he was while at Itawamba (Miss.) Community College.
Smart quarterbacks might think twice about throwing with Jason Phelps or Jeremy Loewen on the premises.
For his work in the secondary, Phelps earned All-American honors as a sophomore.
Loewen is coming off a stellar freshman season, gaining all-league honors. His four interceptions left him in a three way tie for fourth in the KCAC.
Hardest hit by graduation was the kicking game with the loss of Dylan Pohlman.
How well successor Keenan Morris can fill Pohlman's vacancy will factor in on the Bluejays' outcome.
"Our team is going to have to grow up and learn to play hard every play," said McCarty. "When I'm talking about growing up, I'm talking about learning to be consistent and that the game is never over.
"There's a lot of lessons that are out there waiting to be learned. If our guys will go in there with the spirit of I want to learn and I will never quit, we'll be fine."
The Bluejays open the much anticipated season Saturday hosting the Southwestern Assemblies of God College Lions.
Game time begins at 1 p.m.
