Football picked to finish eighth in spring 2021 HCAC preseason poll

CARMEL, Ind. – Heading into its upcoming season, the Defiance College football team is picked to finish eighth among the eight Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference squads, according to the 2021 HCAC Football Preseason Poll. The poll was comprised in a vote of the conference's head coaches and released by the HCAC office on Monday morning.

Defiance, under third-year head coach Manny Matsakis, finished with 11 points in the poll, five behind Anderson University. Hanover College received 62 points to claim the top spot and is followed by Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (54), Mount St. Joseph University (50), Franklin College (40), Bluffton University (30) and Manchester University (25).

The Yellow Jackets also had six players named to the 2021 HCAC Athletes to Watch list in senior defensive lineman Maurice Brewer (Cordova, Tenn./Drew Central-Ark.), senior defensive back Steven Lucas (Warren, Mich./Center Line), junior defensive lineman Rigo Villa (Fort Myers, Fla./Lehigh), sophomore linebacker Thomas Coltrain (Leslie, Mich./Leslie), senior wide receiver Terry Geiger (Columbus, Ohio/Columbus Crusaders) and junior wide receiver Amin Shaheed (Fayetteville, Ga./Sandy Creek).

Last season, DC ended 1-9 overall, including 1-6 in the HCAC. Defiance concluded the campaign on a high note, however, by defeating conference rival Bluffton in the season finale.  

The Yellow Jackets' 2021 spring schedule consists of seven HCAC contests. DC is slated to open the year at Rose-Hulman this Saturday with kickoff set for 2 p.m. in Terre Haute, Indiana.