Wanted: Centennial Conference Titles

When quarterback John Harrison ’12 hit Ryan Murray ’10 with a touchdown strike

to cap off F&M’s 29-24 come-from-behind victory over the Wilkes Colonels, it netted the Dips their first ECAC bowl victory since John Troxell arrived as head coach in 2006.

It was also the first successful step in what Troxell and the rest of the Diplomats football team hope is a series of many that lead to F&M becoming a Division III football power.

As the season rapidly approaches, the Dips are wrapping up their preseason practice schedule and putting the finishing touches on both sides of the ball.

According to Troxell, the team has improved greatly in the nine months since their ECAC bowl victory thanks mainly to the hard and consistent work that his players put in during the offseason workouts leading up to the start of the preseason.

“The kids worked extremely hard,” Troxell said. “They came back bigger, faster, stronger. I think our kids are real excited, I think they have high expectations of themselves and I think that the big thing is they’re coming off a year where they have some confidence going in and feel like they can compete with anybody.”

Despite the departures of players like wide receiver George Eager ’10 and running back Ryan Murray ’10, the Dips will still have plenty of firepower left in the tank, with players like Harrison, wideout Jay Ridinger ’11 and running back John Kaschak ’11 all ready to improve on already solid careers.

Defensively, despite some turnover in the secondary where F&M saw the departure of three of its four starters (including cornerback Barry Lovett ’10, who recently had a camp tryout with the New York Giants) the Dips will rely on a strong and fast front seven led by co-captain Mark Surma ’11 and standout middle linebacker Sam Massaro ’13.

While the talent on both sides of the ball is very strong, Troxell said that one of the biggest strengths of this team is the unselfishness that is present amongst the team’s leaders and star players.

“I think so far, there has been great team chemistry,” Troxell said. “There’s no pulling at the fabric of the team. I say that because, if we’re going to be successful, we’re going to do it as a team, it’s not going to be one guy getting it done.”

That strong leadership will be necessary for a team that welcomes another large first-year class to its sidelines this fall. Throughout his tenure as head coach, Troxell has made it a point to try to push the team size to a point where the team could have reliable depth at all positions on the field.

While he still feels that he needs one more solid recruiting class to fully complete this goal, Troxell believes his 76-man team provides F&M with much more depth than the team has had in recent seasons.

“After another recruiting effort, we should be up to about where we want to be, which is between eighty and eighty-five guys,” Troxell said. “If we had those extra eight guys, that would probably add that depth to those extra couple positions that would make us feel a little bit better.”

Troxell went on to say that, while his team may be a bit smaller than some of the other collegiate teams, it is a roster that is filled with players who care.

“Although it’s only 76 guys, we have 76 guys who care,” Troxell said. “I’d say all the time that I would rather have 76 instead of 100 and half of the hundred not want to be there and not want to do it the right way.”

Troxell’s approach to rebuilding the Diplomat football program and returning the team to its former glory has slowly paid dividends, as the team seemingly makes new strides every single season.

During the offseason, the Dips took another step in the right direction following their bowl victory, as Sporting News magazine have the Dips ranked 25 in the nation and the D3Football.com Top 25 poll also saw F&M gain some recognition despite the fact that the Dips haven’t been able to crack the list there yet.

Regardless, the votes from both The Sporting News and D3Football.com indicate that F&M is on an upward path that is causing the football minds around the country to take notice.

While the preseason polls are always nice, Troxell said that it is where the team stands at the end of the season that really counts, but also mentioned that it is an honor that most of the country is beginning to hold Diplomat football in a higher regard.

“Obviously, it’s a tremendous honor for our kids just to be mentioned with some of the teams that are some of the best in the country,” Troxell said. “We want to get to a point where we are consistently in the Top 25. I don’t think it’s necessarily something we want to focus on … at the end of the year, that’s when it counts. But I think it’s nice that teams are saying ‘Franklin & Marshall, they’re doing it right.’”

What is particularly impressive is that the coaches and scouts who put together these polls on a weekly basis are ranking the Dips higher than most of their Centennial Conference rivals.

With the addition of the Susquehanna Crusaders to the CC football lineup, the Centennial sports four postseason teams from last season, which doesn’t include Dickinson, a team that would have played in ECAC bowl had they been a member of the ECAC last season.

The Centennial Conference last season featured a four-team race for the title down to the very end between F&M, Johns Hopkins, Dickinson, and Ursinus, and it was only because F&M lost to Hopkins and Dickinson lost to Ursinus that the top half of the CC standings at the end of the season weren’t totally reversed.

It is this intense competition that makes Troxell believe that the Dips are competing in one of the better conferences in the nation.

“I think it’s a great conference,” Troxell said. “I think depth-wise, top to bottom, it’s gotta be a pretty good conference. I don’t know many that are going to have as many quality teams.”

With such impressive competition week in and week out, the Dips will be forced to show up and play at the top of their game every week if they hope to build upon last season’s 9-2 record.

F&M opens their 2010 season at home on Saturday, Sept. 4 at 1 p.m. against Washington & Lee, a team F&M narrowly beat last season.

Their opener against W&L marks the beginning of a season Troxell hopes will spark a new run of success for the Diplomats, built upon the strides past teams have made.

According to Troxell, the team’s long-term goals lie in the consistent success he hopes to bring to the F&M program, something he believes is attainable and would put the college squarely in the middle of the football world.

“If we can get to the point where every kid leaves here at some point with a championship ring, saying they won a Centennial championship, I think that would be a home run,” he added.