St. Joseph Bears (2-0) VS. Coldwater Cardinals (0-2)

Transcription

1 St. Joseph Bears (2-0) VS. Coldwater Cardinals (0-2) Friday, September 8, :30 Dickinson Stadium ABOUT THE MATCHUP Tonight s game will only be the 4th all time meeting between Coldwater and St. Joseph and the second in St. Joseph, the first of which was 5 years ago yesterday at the old Dickinson Stadium, a game in which the Bears shut out the Cardinals Last year St. Joseph rallied from a 28-7 halftime deficit to tie the game at 28 before falling in overtime ABOUT THE BEARS The Bears enter tonight s game with the Cardinals with a 2-0 record THE BEARS SCHEDULE St. Joseph 24, Battle Creek Central 21 08/31 St. Joseph Portage Northern 20 09/08 Coldwater 09/15 Mattawan Battle Creek Harper Creek Niles Lakeshore Benton Harbor 10/20 Jackson Lumen Christi after another nailbiter last week at Portage Northern. The Bears came away with the dramatic win over the Huskies. Burnell Granderson returned the opening kickoff 87 yards for the touchdown and the offense was able to settle down and tie the game at 14 before the half on a 5 yard run by Elliot Heiney. St. Joe would take the lead for good when Ethan Schweir found Brad Guinane for a 44 yard touchdown pass. Northern would score a late TD to make the score but missed the extra point wide left and the Bears came away with the 1 point victory. The Bears outgained the Huskies in total yardage and out gained them through the air. The Bears did turn the ball over 5 times. Quarterback Ethan Schweir was 9 of 12 for 157 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception. ABOUT THE CARDINALS Special teams miscues were responsible for 21 of Matttawan s 38 points in Coldwater s 38-7 loss on the road at Mattawan last Thursday. Two kickoffs were fumbled away, both leading to touchdowns. The Cardinals only score would come in the 4 th quarter on a 9 yard touchdown run from Aaron Piotrowski. Coldwater coach Mark DeMeester told The Daily Reporter, It s was the worst scenario possible. When they hit those special teams plays, their intensity level went up and ours went down. Mark DeMeester is in his first season at the helm for the Cardinals, he served as an assistant coach under former Coach Tom Sweitzer who retired following last season. THE MEDIA Midwest Family Radio Sports is once again the home of St. Joseph Bears football, with News/Talk 1400 WSJM serving as the flagship for St. Joe football in their 10 th straight season. Midwest Family Radio Sports provides weekly coverage of St. Joseph, Lakeshore, South Haven and various SAC and Lakeland Conference football contests. Phil McDonald and Bret Witkowski enter their 15 th season of calling games together. The broadcast is also available worldwide at Plus the area s most comprehensive post game wrap up shows Friday Night Fever follows tonight s broadcast. St. Joseph also welcomes AM 1590 WTVB The Voice of Branch County with Aaron Coyle and Randy Spangler providing the broadcast for Cardinals fans back in Coldwater. Fans can also check out coverage of the Bears on the official website for St. Joseph Football at Postgame results will be available on Saturday in print in the Herald-Palladium for fans in St. Joseph and the surrounding areas of Berrien County, recaps will also be available in the Daily Reporter in Coldwater St. Joseph Bears Football Harder, Smarter Page 1 of 15

2 THE NUMBERS... Series History: Coldwater leads 2-1 St. Joseph points: 84 Coldwater points: 78 Record in St. Joseph: St. Joseph leads 1-0 Record at Coldwater: Coldwater leads 2-0 Games Decided by 3 Points or Less: Coldwater leads 1-0 Games Decided by 7 Points or Less: Coldwater leads 2-0 Games Decided by 10 Points or More: St. Joseph leads 1-0 St. Joseph s Longest Winning Streak: 1 (2001) St. Joseph s Longest Losing Streak: 2 (2002, 2005) Current St. Joseph Streak: Lost 2 Biggest St. Joseph Win: 17-0 (2001) Biggest St. Joseph Loss: OT (2005) Last St. Joseph Home Win: 2001 Last St. Joseph Road Win: None Last Coldwater Home Win: 2005 Last Coldwater Road Win: None St. Joseph Enrollment: 1,041 (Class B) Superintendent: Dr. Carole Schmidt Principal: Jeff Runser Athletic Director: Kevin Guzzo Nickname: Bears Colors: Maize and Blue Fight Song: St. Joseph Fight Song Conference: Southwest Michigan Athletic Conference (Big 16), Charter member since 1931 First Year of Competition: 1913 All-Time Record: (91st season) *(No teams in , influenza and WWI) State Titles: 0 Runner Up: 1, 1988 S.M.A.C. Conference/Division Championships: 32 Undefeated Seasons: 8 (1938, 71, 73, 80, 84, 86, 87, 88) Longest winning streak: 37-9/26/86-9/30/89 Retired Jersey s: 82 Rob Fredrickson (Class of 1989) THE SERIES The St. Joseph-Coldwater series began in 2001 when the Big 8 Conference absorbed 5 members of the dissolved Twin Valley Conference. In that year, St. Joseph met Coldwater for the first time in football. St. Joseph defeated Coldwater 17-0 that season under the direction of Ike Muhlencamp who retired following the 2001 season. The two schools have met twice since then, in 2002 Coldwater defeated St. Did You Know??? St. Joseph defeated Coldwater to win the 1931 Class B State Championship in Basketball; Henry Howe was the coach for the Bears as they won their 2 nd championship in 5 years. Joseph 42-39, and then again in 2005, when Coldwater needed overtime to defeat St. Joseph Both the 2002 and 2005 contests were played at Cardinal Field in Coldwater. This will be the first time the two schools will have played at the current Dickinson Stadium. St. Joseph s victory in 2001 took place at the old Dickinson Stadium, which was demolished later that year to allow the construction of the current facility. THE BEARS WHEN Overall Record: 2-0 Home Record: 1-0 Road Record: 1-0 Division Record: 0-0 Against Central Division Teams: 2-0 Against Eastern Division Teams: 0-0 Scoring first: 2-0 Opponent scores first: 0-0 Scoring 21 points or more: 2-0 Scoring less than 20 points: 0-0 Allowing 21 points or more: 1-0 Allowing 20 points or less: 1-0 Leading at the half: 1-0 Tied at the half: 1-0 Trailing at the half: 0-0 Leading after 3 quarters: 1-0 Tied after 3 quarters: 1-0 Trailing after 3 quarters: 0-0 Giveaways/Takeaways: 9/5 (-4) THE OPPONENTS Battle Creek Central: 1-1 (0.500) Portage Northern: 0-2 (0.000) Coldwater: 0-2 (0.000) Mattawan: 2-0 (1.000) Battle Creek Harper Creek: 2-0 (1.000) Niles: 0-2 (0.000) Lakeshore: 1-1 (0.500) Benton Harbor: 2-0 (0.500) Jackson Lumen Christi: 2-0 (1.000) Opponents overall record: 10-8 (.555) 2006 St. Joseph Bears Football Harder, Smarter Page 2 of 15

3 THE BEARS ## Name Off. Pos Def. Pos. Height Weight Year 1 BRAD GUINANE WR DB 6'5" 208 Sr. 2 DREW MACHACEK RB LB 5'10" 165 Sr. 3 ROBERT SCHULER QB DB 5'7" 160 So. 5 JORDAN HOSBEIN WR DB 6'3" 190 Sr. 7 JOE WASSERMAN WR DB 5'10" 160 Jr. 9 ETHAN SCHWEIR QB DB 6'0" 180 Jr. 12 ALEX GRENKE QB DL 6'2" 200 Jr. 15 TIM RUMPF RB LB 6'0" 178 Sr. 16 DAVID TERRY WR DB 6'1" 170 Jr. 19 DUSTIN PHELAN RB LB 5'11" 175 Sr. 20 CODY FROEHLICH RB DB 5'7" 160 Sr. 21 CHRIS CLARK RB LB 5'10" 195 Sr. 22 ELLIOT HEINEY RB LB 6'0" 175 Sr. 23 CODY EVERTT WR DB 5'11" 170 Jr. 24 BURNELL GRANDERSON WR DB 6'2" 175 Jr. 30 GUY MILLER WR DB 5'10" 155 Jr. 31 ANTHONY GRANDBERRY RB DB 6'1" 170 Jr. 32 BRYAN AMMESON RB DL 5'7" 155 Sr. 33 BEN LUBBERS WR DB 6'0" 175 Jr. 34 JUSTIN PUCKETT RB LB 5'10" 180 Jr. 40 JOHN SCHWEIR RB LB 5'10" 205 So. 43 JAY NIMTZ WR DB 5'7" 150 So. 44 BEN BAUMGARTNER RB LB 5'11" 190 Jr. 50 RYAN ANGELO OL DL 5'10" 205 Sr. 51 TY VASTA OL DL 5'9" 190 Jr. 52 PAT SCHALK OL LB 5'9" 195 Jr. 53 RICK ESPINO OL DL 5'10" 185 Jr. 54 ANDREW STEFFEN OL DL 6'2" 225 Sr. 60 FABIAN KLEINSCHMIDT OL DL 5'11" 200 Jr. 61 MICHAEL CURTIS OL LB 6'0" 170 Jr. 62 MILES STEWART OL DL 5'10" 200 Sr. 64 CODY MILLER OL DL 5'11" 190 Jr. 66 MIKE MAVIS OL DL 5'10" 200 Jr. 67 ALEX HASTINGS OL DL 6'2" 262 Sr. 68 MATT MATTOX OL DL 6'2" 242 So. 70 ZACK BROCK OL DL 6'2" 235 Sr. 72 ANDREW ROSENTHAL OL DL 5'10" 235 Jr. 73 LUKE DARNTON OL DL 6'0" 210 Sr. 74 CJ PATER OL DL 6'3" 225 Sr. 75 BRYAN HENRIQUEZ OL DL 5'11" 175 Jr. 76 KALEB GEORGE OL DL 5'11" 225 Jr. 77 JAY PENDERGRASS OL DL 6'2" 275 Jr. 80 NICK BOVO WR DB 6'1" 175 Jr. 81 MAX BAUM TE DL 6'1" 195 Jr. 86 MATT JEWELL WR DL 6'2" 170 So. 87 BRETT VIRGIL TE DL 5'11" 225 Jr. 88 MARK LOCKWOOD WR DB 6'0" 195 Sr. 89 MIKE LAVANWAY WR DB 6'1" 175 Jr St. Joseph Bears Football Harder, Smarter Page 3 of 15

4 THE BEARS COACHING STAFF Year Coach Record 1913 Whitehead Berry Gardner No Teams Gordon Gabal Henry Howe Fred Harrsen Henry Howe ( ) Ronald Finch Harry Lee Jack Petowsky Jay Eldred Walt Gephart Dick Higgs Willis Koontz Ivan "Ike" Muhlenkamp John Van Wagoner Elliot Uzelac 2-0 ST. JOSEPH BEARS FOOTBALL COACHING HISTORY Head Coach: Elliot Uzelac (1 st Season) A college coaching veteran with more than 30 years of experience is the 16 th head coach in the schools 91 seasons of playing football. Mr. Uzelac began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Bowling Green, Navy, and Michigan before becoming the Head Coach at Western Michigan University from He was named Mid American Conference Coach of the Year in 1975 while with the Broncos. He also served as Head Coach at the US Naval Academy from Mr. Uzelac has also has held coaching positions at Indiana, Ohio State, Colorado, Kentucky, Minnesota, Maryland, Georgetown, and with the NFL s Cleveland Browns. He is a 1964 graduate of Western Michigan and he earned a master's degree in physical education from Bowling Green in He and his wife, Wendy, have two children, Lisa and Nick, one granddaughter, Jordan, and one grandson, Elliot. Assistant Coaches: Ike Muhlenkamp, Larry Jackson, Tony Bruno, Gandalf Church, Rick Smiedendorf Managers: Kevin Strine, Keith Strine, Drew Welham THE WAY TO PRONOUNCE THE BEARS Elliot Uzelac - YOU-zelack Ike Muhlencamp MULL-en-camp Rick Smiedendorf SMEE-den-dorf 1 Brad Guinane gin-ane 2 Drew Machacek - muh-hah-check 5 Jordan Hosbein hahz BINE 9 Ethan Schweir Shweer 19 Dustin Phelan Fay-lan 20 Cody Froehlich Fray-lick 22 Elliot Heiney High-Knee 32 Bryan Ammeson Am-eh-son 40 John Schweir - Shweer 66 Mike Mavis may-vis 80 Nick Bovo bow-voh THE GAME OPERATIONS PEOPLE Public Address Announcer: Dave Durr Spotter: Phil Cole Clock Operators: Fred Alten, Gary Etter, David Foster Message Board Operation: Dave Wolf THE BOOSTERS Presidents: Dr. Marc and Cathy Mavis 2006 St. Joseph Bears Football Harder, Smarter Page 4 of 15

5 THE CARDINALS ## Name Off. Pos Def. Pos. Height Weight Year 5 WILLIAM MOTTA TE DB 5'11" -- JR. 8 MARK PIERSON RB DB 5'9" -- SR. 10 ERIK WITTBRODT RB DB 5'9" -- SO. 12 SCOTT FRASIER QB DB 5'9" -- JR. 21 JARON UETRECHT RB DB 5'10" -- SR. 22 AARON PIOTROWSKI RB DB 5'8" -- SR. 23 CORY HERENDEEN RB DB 5'9" -- SR. 32 COREY POST QB DB 6'0" -- SR. 33 JOSHUA BECKHUSEN FB LB 5'10" -- SO. 42 CURTIS WARNER RB DB 6'0" -- JR. 44 CLIFFORD BOWERS FB LB 5'10" -- JR. 45 CHRISTOPHER CANCINO RB DL 5'10" -- SR. 53 JEREMIAH JACKS OL DL 6'0" -- SR. 54 MIKE LaFOUNTAIN OL DL 5'10" -- SR. 55 JOSHUA WASHBURN OL DL 5'10" -- SR. 56 JACOB BILDNER OL DL 5'9" -- JR. 57 KENDRICK DUNN OL DL 5'11" -- SR. 61 JOSHUA POLEY OL DL 6'0" -- SR. 62 NATHAN JOHNSON OL DL 6'3" -- SR. 65 DANIEL SMITH OL DL 5'9" -- JR. 66 JESSE SILER OL LB 5'10" -- SR. 68 NATHAN WOOD OL DL 5'0" -- JR. 70 CHARLES BEERMAN C DL 6'1" -- JR. 72 JORDAN WOODWARD OL DL 5'10" -- JR. 74 CHARLES YAGER OL DL 6'0" -- JR. 75 TRENTON COLE OL DL 5'10" -- JR. 77 CHRISTOPHER JORDAN OL DL 6'0" -- SR. 81 JACOB COLE TE DB 6'0" -- SR. 83 BRIAN BOBILYA TE DE 6'2" -- JR. 86 RANDY KRUGER TE DL 6'0" -- SR. 87 ZACHARY STEMPIEN TE LB 6'0" -- SR. 88 ROBERT HUGHES TE DB 6'3" -- SR. HEAD COACH: ASSISTANTS: MARK DEMEESTER (1 st Season) MIKE McCONNELL, WES DOVE, FRED HOBART, JOEL STITTMATER, ADAM SUPERNOSKI 2006 St. Joseph Bears Football Harder, Smarter Page 5 of 15

6 THE ONES TO WATCH 1 Brad Guinane (Junior, WR) - The Bears tall wide receiver snagged the go ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter against Portage Northern and ran it out from 44 yards out. He is also the starting center on the Bears district championship basketball team from a season ago. 9 Ethan Schweir (Junior, QB) The 3 rd year varsity player has thrown for 3 touchdowns in his first two games back after missing the entire 2005 season with a broken foot. Not only did he kick the game winning field goal against Battle Creek Central in week one, he also rushed for two of his own and threw for another in the Bears win over the Bearcats. He also found Junior WR Brad Guinane down the sideline for the Bears winning score against Northern. 22 Elliot Heiney (Senior, RB) After rushing for close to 1,000 yards in an injury shortened season last year, Heiney rushed for 117 yards on 23 carries against BCC, and another 116 and a touchdown against Portage Northern last week. 24 Burnell Granderson (Junior, KR) The speedy junior got the Bears started quickly last week when he returned the opening kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown in the Bears win over Portage Northern. He became the first St. Joe player to return a kickoff for a touchdown since September 5 th, 2003 when Sean Baptist did it against Portage Central, ironically both came at McCamley Field in Portage. THE SEASON SO FAR 8/25 St. Joseph 24, Battle Creek Central 21 Dickinson Stadium, St. Joseph Junior Ethan Schweir booted the game winning field goal with :05 seconds remaining to break a tie to give the Bears the win over Battle Creek Central in the debut of new St. Joe coach Elliot Uzelac. St. Joe would get on the board in the first quarter on a 70 yard run by Ethan Schweir. Battle Creek Central would tie it in the second quarter on a 14 yard run by Larry Caper, and then take the lead on a 40 yard fumble return by Rashad White, the extra point was missed and the Bears trailed The Bears would take the lead with :02 seconds remaining in the half as Schweir would connect on a 27 yard pass play to Elliot Heiney, following Brett Virgil s PAT, the Bears lead was at the half. St. Joe would extend the lead on a 4 yard run by Schweir in the 3 rd quarter making it Battle Creek Central tied it once again in the 4 th quarter as Larry Caper ran it in from 9 yards out and also added the 2 point conversion to tie the game at 21. Setting up Schweir s game winner with :05 seconds left. 8/31 St. Joseph 21, Portage Northern 20 McCamley Field, Portage Junior Burnell Granderson (#24) returned the game s opening kickoff 85 yards to give the Bears a 7-0 lead. The Huskies didn t take long to respond as Northern drove down into the red zone turning it over, only to have the Bears return the favor on the Bears first play from scrimmage. Northern would take it in to the end zone on a Trevor Nutt pass to Neal Anderson for the tying score. Northern would go ahead 14-7 later in the first quarter on a 7 yard run by Tom Poulter. St. Joe would tie the game in the final minute of the first half on a 5 yard run by Elliot Heiney on a 4 th and 1 to go. The defense for both teams pitched the shutout in the third quarter. St. Joe would take the lead with just over 5 minutes to play as Ethan Schweir found Junior WR Brad Guinane down the sideline and the Bears would take the lead on the 44 yard touchdown pass. Portage Northern would get a touchdown with 1:52 left in the contest on a Tyler Peebles 7 yard TD run, but Northern place-kicker Justin Rhodes missed the point after touchdown, keeping the Bears out in front. Northern would try the onside kick but the ball did not travel the required 10 yards before recovering the ball, and the Bears would get possession and knock all but 4 seconds off the clock before turning the ball over the Northern on downs. The Huskies Hail Mary pass was intercepted by Granderson and the Bears came away with the win. THE FRESHMAN 8/24 St. Joe BC Central 0 St. Joe 21, Port. Northern 6 9/7 St. Joseph Coldwater 6 9/14 at Mattawan 9/21 Battle Creek Harper Creek 9/28 Niles 10/5 Lakeshore 10/12 Benton Harbor 10/21 at Jackson Lumen Christi THE JUNIOR VARSITY 8/24 St. Joe BC Central 20 St. Joe 40, Port. Northern 14 9/7 St. Joseph Coldwater 20 9/14 at Mattawan 9/21 Battle Creek Harper Creek 9/28 Niles 10/5 Lakeshore 10/12 Benton Harbor 10/21 at Jackson Lumen Christi THE 2007 SCHEDULE 8/24/07 at Battle Creek Harper Creek 8/31/07 at Marshall 9/7/07 Portage Northern 9/14/07 Battle Creek Central 9/21/07 at Niles 9/28/07 Lakeshore 10/5/07 Benton Harbor 10/12/07 at Mattawan 10/19/07 Kalamazoo Central 2006 St. Joseph Bears Football Harder, Smarter Page 6 of 15

7 THE HOME OF THE BEARS Completed: 2003 (4th season) Seating Capacity: 5,300 (3,500 home stands- 1,800 visitor stands) Surface: Natural Grass Record at Dickinson Stadium: 5-10 First game: September 12, 2003 St. Joe 34, Kalamazoo Central 13 Press Box Phone: The old Dickinson Stadium In the mid 1940's the St. Joseph School system acquired the title to a 40 acre parcel of land known as the Dickinson Estate. The area is where the current high school now stands. Around that same time the citizens of St. Joseph recognized the need for a new athletic and recreation area. The St. Joe football team played their games at Wells field (where Jefferson elementary currently sits). There was no parking for the fans, except on the neighboring streets, and the wooden grandstands were in danger of collapse. It was then that the St. Joe residents got the ball rolling for a new facility. After receiving numerous recommendations by various experts, the planning committee, commissioned architect Robert V. Knox to develop the sketches and conceptual drawings of the stadium. The Board of Education would take these plans to the various service clubs around St. Joseph to rally the community involvement in the project, Every group that were presented the plans went on record as supporting it. The voters overwhelmingly passed the $170,000 bond proposal on July 25, 1949 for the new stadium and track. A little over a year later, on September 22, 1950, the original Dickinson Stadium opened. Dickinson Stadium held it's last event on October 19, In the 51 year history of the stadium it was the home to thousands of events, including football games, track meets, soccer games, band competitions, and commencement ceremonies. The new Dickinson Stadium The idea for a new stadium came about when a commission was charged with reviewing and making recommendations on the future of the facilities of the St. Joseph Public School system for the next years. After a review of the old stadium it was determined that to bring the stadium's aging and deteriorating steel support and infrastructure up to code would be a very expensive project. The commission visited newly constructed high schools around the Midwest and made recommendations for the St. Joe schools, including a new football stadium. In March of 2001 a plan for a bond proposal was presented to the St. Joe taxpayers, which not only included the new stadium, but also a new athletic fieldhouse and other various projects at the high school, and a new auxiliary gym, offices, library and orchestra room at Upton Middle School. The bond issue passed on September 25, 2001, less than a month later, the last game at the old Dickinson Stadium would be played and demolition would begin. While construction continued during the 2002 football season the varsity team played their "Home" games at Lakeshore's Al Stockman Stadium, Benton Harbor's Filstrup Field and at Bridgman High School. Upton Middle School was the home site for the JV and Freshmen teams. The new stadium still has one feature from the old stadium, and that is the electronic scoreboard/message center that was installed prior to the 1998 season. The scoreboard was dismantled and moved from it's previous location to where it currently stands. The stadium now also has an 8 lane running track, the old stadium had 7 and only 6 were useable. The first games were played on Thursday, September 4th, by the Freshman and JV teams who gave the stadium it's first shakedown before the Grand Opening a week later. The official dedication was prior to the game between St. Joseph and Kalamazoo Central which St. Joe won Less than a year after the opening, the new Dickinson Stadium had the honor of hosting country music and TV star Reba McIntyre for a performance benefiting Harbor Habitat for Humanity, The concert was part of Reba's 2004 tour which was sponsored by Whirlpool Corporation. The concert was held in front of a crowd of over 6,500 on July 20, The Upton Middle School programs normally play their home games at Koontz Field at Upton Middle School, but the 8 th grade teams will play their final home games of the season at Dickinson Stadium which will become their new home field as Freshmen St. Joseph Bears Football Harder, Smarter Page 7 of 15

8 THE BIG 16 UPDATE -Marshall 74, Kalamazoo Loy Norrix Things started out well for Kalamazoo Loy Norrix as Sid Brown returned the opening kickoff 89 yards to give the Knights the early 6-0 lead. After that it was all Marshall as the Redhawks scored 60 unanswered points in the victory. -Lakeshore 35, Sturgis Griffin Gibson scored two rushing touchdowns and Joe Welch recorded two touchdown receptions as Lakeshore beat Sturgis on the road last Friday. Dustin Cox threw for 165 yards and two TD s in the loss. Both teams are now Benton Harbor 38, Kalamazoo Central 35 (@BH) -- Benton Harbor is 2-0, repeating the same start of a year ago. The Tigers were victorious against Kalamazoo Central last Thursday at Filstrup Field in a marathon contest which took nearly 3 hours to complete. -Mattawan 38, Coldwater 7 (@MAT) -- Mattawan s special teams were very special last week, as the Wildcats twice returned fumbled kickoffs by Coldwater for touchdowns and also returned a punt for a touchdown in building a 38-0 half time lead in their 38-7 win over the 0-2 Cardinals. -Battle Creek Harper Creek 28, Niles 22 (@NIL) Nate Smith threw for 3 touchdown passes, two to Rocky Weaver and another to Wayne Blair as the Beavers made it two straight victories over West Division teams with the win at Niles. Ben Brandstatter had two touchdowns for the Vikings who fall to 0-2 on the season -Battle Creek Central 48, Battle Creek Lakeview 18 (@BCC) Myles McNichols returned the opening kickoff back 86 yards for the Bearcats. Brandon Reynolds, Larry Caper, and James Williams also had rushing touchdowns for BCC. Jake Labrecque had two touchdowns for the Spartans. Both teams are now 1-1 on the season -Jackson Lumen Christi 35, Portage Central 14 (@JLC) Evan Hagen and Mark Lathers had 3 rd quarter touchdowns to break a tie as Lumen Christi defeated Portage Central on Friday night. Lumen Christ is now 2-0, Portage Central falls to 0-2. THE CONFERENCE STANDINGS BIG 16 WEST DIVISION BIG 16 CENTRAL DIVISION BIG 16 EAST DIVISION Team Rec Div. Pts 1 St. Joseph Benton Harbor Lumen Christi Lakeshore Niles Team Rec Div. Pts 1 Mattawan Kal. Central BC Central Port. Central Port. Northern Loy Norrix Teams earn 1 point in the standings for a non-division win, 2 points for a win in the division. THEY COULD GO ALL THE WAY Four opening kickoffs were returned for touchdowns last week. Loy Norrix s Sid Brown had the longest at 89 yards. Battle Creek Central s Myles McNichols had an 86 yard return, while St. Joe s Burnell Granderson returned the opening kickoff 87 yards against Portage Northern last week. Mattawan also got a touchdown on the opening kickoff against Coldwater, but the Wildcats Andy Schroeder recovered a fumble by Coldwater and returned it for the score. Team Rec Div. Pts 1 Harper Creek Marshall BC Lakeview Sturgis Coldwater THE GAMES TONIGHT -Coldwater at St. Joseph -Battle Creek Harper Creek at Portage Central -Mattawan at Benton Harbor -Niles at Sturgis -Portage Northern at Lakeshore -Battle Creek Lakeview at Kalamazoo Loy Norrix -Jackson Lumen Christi at Kalamazoo Central -Marshall at Battle Creek Central 2006 St. Joseph Bears Football Harder, Smarter Page 8 of 15

9 COLDWATER AND ST. JOSEPH PRESS CLIPPINGS Uzelac's Bears edge Northern Friday, September 1, 2006 Kalamazoo Gazette Despite its comedy of errors, the St. Joseph football team still had the last laugh against Portage Northern on Thursday night at McCamley Field. The Bears committed five turnovers, but a late touchdown pass by junior quarterback Ethan Schweir and the extra-point kick by Brett Virgil enabled St. Joseph to escape with a nondivisional Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference victory over the Huskies. The triumph made it a happy homecoming for former Western Michigan University football coach Elliot Uzelac, who is in his first season as head coach at St. Joseph and has two wins in as many weeks. Uzelac, 65, who coached the Broncos from , was relieved to leave Portage with a victory. ``I really believe that we came into this game not mentally into it like we were last week,'' said Uzelac, whose team defeated Battle Creek Central in its season opener. ``We're not good enough to do that. We have to play all-out, every week, with our bodies and our minds. ``We can't turn over the ball like that. It's ludicrous and we won't win if we do that again. We were lucky.'' It took the Bears 13 seconds to put the first points on the scoreboard, as junior speedster Burnell Granderson sprinted virtually untouched for an 87-yard touchdown on the opening kickoff. A St. Joseph interception thwarted the Huskies' opening drive, but Northern responded when junior Neal Anderson recovered a Schweir fumble at the Bears' 24-yard line. It took the Huskies just five plays to knot the score at 7-7 when senior quarterback Trevor Nutt connected with Anderson on an 11-yard scoring pass and Justin Rhodes tacked on the conversion kick. ``After having the opening kickoff returned this week, I'm really proud of the fact that they came back fighting, punched in a score of their own and made it a football game,'' Northern coach Pete Schermerhorn said. Northern forged ahead on a 7-yard touchdown run by junior Thomas Poulter with 2:45 remaining in the opening quarter, but the Bears tied the score with 28 seconds left in the first half on a 4-yard scoring run by Eliott Heiney. Following a scoreless third quarter, both teams found the end zone during the final quarter. Schweir's 44-yard completion to junior Bradley Guinane on third down enabled St. Joseph to maintain possession, and the duo hooked up again three plays later on a 25-yard scoring play down the sideline. Nutt triggered a drive for Northern on the Huskies' ensuing possession that spanned 61 yards, with Tyler Peebles running the final seven yards with 1:52 remaining. Rhodes' point-after try sailed wide left, however. The Huskies got the ball back with four seconds remaining, but Granderson intercepted Nutt's desperation toss. ``It hurts, because they put a lot more into it this week,'' Schermerhorn said. ``I thought our kids really came out to play and it hurts to lose this one, but in the long haul we learned something about ourselves and hopefully we keep getting better.'' The Huskies limited St. Joseph to just 60 net rushing yards, although Heiney gained 95 yards on 27 carries. Northern received a game-high 98 rushing yards on 16 carries from Peebles and amassed 257 yards overall St. Joseph Bears Football Harder, Smarter Page 9 of 15

10 Special teams lead Mattawan to rout Friday, September 1, 2006 By Del Newell Kalamazoo Gazette MATTAWAN -- Mattawan's special teams were something special Thursday night. Junior Andy Schroeder was in the right place at the right time, twice scooping up fumbles and returning them for touchdowns, and Mattawan's standout for all seasons, Brady Webster, returned a punt 74 yards for a touchdown as Mattawan scored an impressive 38-7 win over Coldwater. Coach Doug Paran's Wildcats are off to a 2-0 start and have outscored opponents, Mattawan took only eight seconds to jump out to a 7-0 lead against Coldwater (0-2) as the Cardinals fumbled the opening kickoff and Schroeder took it back 15 yards. Tyler Payne, who was a perfect 5-of-5 kicking extra points, booted a 34-yard field goal as Mattawan built its lead to 10-0 with 4:46 left in the opening quarter. Coldwater's problems were just beginning, however, as Webster found an opening on a punt return and raced down the sideline 74 yards. Webster, who ended up with 74 yards in only six carries, added a 1-yard TD run and Andy Yang scored from 4 yards out to make it 38-0 by halftime. In between, Schroeder turned in a rerun performance by grabbing a fumbled kickoff and this time going 18 yards for a score. ``My teammates got down and caused the fumbles and I just picked them up,'' Schroeder said. ``I'm a backup running back and I didn't think I'd get to touch the ball because I heard that Coldwater was pretty good and that the first string would play most of the game.'' ``In my 27 years of coaching I don't remember having a touchdown off a kickoff like that, much less doing it twice,'' Paran said. ``And then that punt return for a touchdown, I know that's never happened. ``I told the players at halftime, `Boy, you guys on the special teams came to play and that was the difference.' They kind of challenged our offense and defense to follow their lead.'' ``Our special teams really stepped up and our defense stopped them pretty well,'' said Webster, who's a three-year varsity starter in football and will be in basketball and baseball before his senior year is history. ``We really play as a team and this year I'm trying to take more of a leadership role, ``On the punt return, I thought I was going to have to reach back and stiff-arm (the last pursuer), but I looked back and no one was there.'' Paran said, ``(Webster) has 4.8 speed. He's not 4.6. He's not 4.5. He'd make a great fullback in a Wing-T offense because he's real patient. He lets his blockers set up and finds the seams.'' Although he didn't score, senior quarterback Zach Laupp put on another solid performance, completing 7 of 10 passes for 74 yards, plus he averaged 40 yards in two punts. Ian McCaffrey and Travis Schuster also recovered fumbles for a Wildcat defense that held Coldwater to 45 yards rushing and 53 total in the first half. Mitch Vorick, Nick Lower, Nick Ballard, Justin Thomas, Logan Lamorandier, Nick Wallace and Jordan Hall were also part of Mattawan's shutdown unit. A running clock was in effect for all of the third quarter and three minutes into the fourth before Coldwater scored on Aaron Pioetrowski's 9-yard run St. Joseph Bears Football Harder, Smarter Page 10 of 15

11 2006 St. Joseph Bears Football Harder, Smarter Page 11 of 15

12 2006 St. Joseph Bears Football Harder, Smarter Page 12 of 15

13 EXPERIENCE COUNTS Old-school approach takes over St. Joseph football By AL AREND H-PSports Writer They may be old school but deep down they re still young at heart. Elliot Uzelac and Ike Muhlenkamp first met in the early 1970s at a University of Michigan football camp. Uzelac was offensive line coach for the Wolverines, and Muhlenkamp was a young varsity football coach at St. Joseph High School. Little did they know their paths would cross 35 years later, and they would be coaching together as a pair of 65-year-olds in an attempt to revitalize the Bears once-proud high school football program. Truth of the matter is we love kids and have a great time coaching them, said Uzelac, who served seven years as Western Michigan University s head coach ( ) and three years as head coach of the Naval Academy ( ). Kids keep you young and the challenge is here to rebuild the program. I m having a ball. Retirement is way overrated. My feet are feeling better now after not teaching, said Muhlenkamp, who turns 66 on Friday, when the Bears open the season at home against Battle Creek Central. Obviously, Elliot and his enthusiasm kind of turns you on. I ve known Ike for a long time, and when the job opened up I told my wife I need one guy to make this successful, and that was Ike. When I knew I had it (the job) and decided to take it, I called him that day, recalled Uzelac. Uzelac said he asked Muhlenkamp if he wanted to get back in to it, and Ike said yes. Ike has been phenomenal for me, Uzelac said. Working with him will make me a better person and coach. I mean that sincerely. I depend on Ike a lot, because he s been through it here. I value Ike s knowledge and I want him to tell me things, and he does. And we adjust accordingly, Uzelac added. He knows these kids and this environment. Uzelac was a head high school coach only once before, from at St. John s Military Academy in Washington, D.C. The job at St. John s prepared me for the high school level again, admitted Uzelac, whose coaching stints were all at the collegiate level, with the exception of one year (1992) as assistant coach of the Cleveland Browns. I went through a lot of these things. My first year at St. John s was much tougher than my experience here. Muhlenkamp coached St. Joseph for 34 years ( ), compiling a mark at the school including a Class BB state runner-up finish in He said when he heard Uzelac was getting the job, I told my wife We have to talk. I ve got to know the answer before he calls. Muhlenkamp said. She said go ahead. This is good. I feel good. He gets all the problems now. I don t get them, Muhlenkamp laughed. He s brought a lot of enthusiasm and new techniques. People in our league are going to have to be concerned with that, no doubt about it. Because we re running a lot of college situations they haven t seen before. I think we ve scaled down to what we re going to do on offense and defense based on our talent, Uzelac said. When we went to two-a-days this August we started moving personnel around. We gave them everything... reps, reps, reps. If I don t try something how do I know if they can do them or not? It s obvious the coaching change has affected the players, too. It s their knowledge base. Those two (Uzelac and Muhlenkamp) know so much it s just incredible, said Elliott Heiney, returning tailback from last year s 0-9 squad. They critique us on every single thing we do wrong. It s a different attitude around here. They ve won so much before, they keep telling us to keep focused and don t get down on yourself. Burnell Granderson, a free safety and running back, added: They just get us going real good. They make us do a lot of things we didn t do last year. They push us hard. Zach Brock, an offensive lineman, noted: They pay a lot more attention to detail. Everything is broken down. We watch film of every practice, a lot of fundamental stuff, and applying the mental aspects of the game. That first game (home against Battle Creek Central) is our most important game of the season, added Uzelac, who acknowledged the program needs a victory, the sooner the better. I want to see those home stands filled on August 25th, Muhlenkamp said. It s important that the community supports these kids in order to turn this thing around. Other assistant coaches on the varsity besides Muhlenkamp include Gandolf Church, Larry Jackson and Tony Bruno, a longtime assistant under Muhlenkamp. Tony Balbo is head junior varsity coach and is being assisted by Eric Robinson. Coaching the freshmen are Todd Rose, Bob Baumgartner and Matt Culver St. Joseph Bears Football Harder, Smarter Page 13 of 15

14 Bears hope to establish upward momentum St. Joseph s football program has nowhere to go but up. Following last fall s 0-9 season, new coach Elliot Uzelac has spent the summer getting his Bears physically ready to win some games. I know we re stronger and well-conditioned, Uzelac said. Now we need a little luck. Injuries have played a big role in the recent demise of this program. Uzelac, former head coach at Western Michigan and the Naval Academy, will run a multiple offense. On defense, expect the Bears to line up in a 4-3. Offensively, Uzelac said: We ve given them the whole package, and I think they ve done a good job picking up on it. They have to know it all, because we ll use different packages on different opponents. Now it s just reps (repetition), reps, reps in practice, and getting our spacing down. Defensively, Uzelac said it appears his team s biggest problem...is we re not as physical tackling people as I would like. But we re improving, trying to correct old mistakes. Numbers are up as 47 are listed on the varsity roster. Combined with the junior varsity and freshman teams, around 130 are out for the sport. Five years ago, the Bears didn t have enough players to field a freshman team. Now we just need some wins, Uzelac said. Junior Ethan Schweir (6 foot, 180 pounds) will finally get his chance to quarterback the Bears. He was injured the first day of practice last fall and missed the entire season after starting at safety as a freshman. Three years ago, he led Upton Middle School s eighth-grade team to an undefeated season. Returning at tailback is senior Elliott Heiney (6-0, 175), who nearly rushed for 1,000 yards last season. That s pretty remarkable, considering he played for an 0 9 team, Uzelac noted. Ben Baumgartner (5-11, 190) will start at fullback, and can expect to share some of the running load. Fullbacks keep defenses honest, Uzelac said. The offense will feature two to three wideouts, including Brad Guinane (6-5, 208), California transfer Jay Nimtz, Jordan Hosbein, Lake Michigan Catholic transfer Nick Bovo, Matt Jewell and Cody Everett. Hosbein and Everett are seniors. On the the offensive line are tight end Mark Lockwood, a 6-3, 200-pound senior. A pair of seniors will be at the tackles in Zack Brock (6-2, 235) and Alex Hastings (6-2, 252). The guards will be either junior Andy Steffen (6-2, 225), sophomore Matt Mattox (6-2, 242) or senior Myles Stewart (5-10, 205). C.J. Pater, a 6-2, 225-pound senior will be the center. Three players are expected to play both ways, as Lockwood and Brock will be defensive ends and Hastings, a defensive tackle. Junior Mike Mavis and senior Brian Ammeson are battling for nose guard. Battling for the three linebacker spots are Tim Rumpf, Johnny Schweir, Coloma transfer Ryan Angelo, Justin Puckett and Baumgartner. On the corners will be senior Drew Machacek and junior Anthony Grandberry. Junior Burnell Granderson is at free safety with sophomore Robbie Schuler at strong safety. Nimtz can also play either corner-back or free safety. Brett Virgil is expected to handle the place-kicking and punting. Guinane can also punt, and Bovo is a place-kicker St. Joseph Bears Football Harder, Smarter Page 14 of 15

15 2006 St. Joseph Bears Football Harder, Smarter Page 15 of 15