Football to kick off spring 2021 season at Rose-Hulman this Saturday

DEFIANCE, Ohio – The Defiance College football program dates back to the early 1900s, but this academic year is believed to be the first time the Yellow Jackets will play its main season during the spring semester.

In its last game, Defiance closed out the 2019 season with a win over longtime rival Bluffton University. That was on Nov. 16, 2019 and much has happened since then.

With the coronavirus spreading all over the world, the Yellow Jackets' 2020 fall campaign was postponed and moved to this spring, which third-year DC head coach Manny Matsakis believes has been beneficial in his building of the program.

"For us, it's a positive because we were able to have a legitimate fall ball and a whole month of practice in pads and all that," Matsakis said. "We were able to develop guys a little bit more. It's strange to say that COVID was a good thing but for us, because we're so young, instead of having two-and-a-half weeks to get ready for your first game we had fall ball and then a solid month of practice before opening up."

With so many new players, including close to 50 freshmen, Matsakis is mainly looking for improvement from his young team this spring.

"The primary goal is just improve every week," Matsakis said. "We want to give it all we have and have high effort. We want to try to eliminate mental errors as the season goes along and the ultimate goal for us is closing the gap with the seven conference teams that we play."

Heading into the season, Matsakis believes the defense may be one of his squad's strengths.

"We've got a lot of guys returning on defense more than anyplace else," Matsakis said. "We've got a lot of untested guys on the offensive side. On defense, there's some guys returning that have had solid off-seasons. If you look at the unit itself, there's some solid speed, and I think defensively we made really good improvement in the back half of the 2019 season. I think our defense can play with good speed and keep games close."

Top returnees for Defiance include senior strong safety Steven Lucas (Warren, Mich./Center Line), sophomore defensive end Damon Thomas (San Diego, Calif./Mar Vista), senior wide receiver Terry Geiger (Columbus, Ohio/Columbus Crusaders) and junior defensive tackle Rigo Villa (Fort Myers, Fla./Lehigh), who all earned All-Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference recognition a season ago. Joining Lucas, Geiger and Villa on this year's HCAC Athletes to Watch list are senior defensive lineman Maurice Brewer (Cordova, Tenn./Drew Central-Ark.), sophomore inside linebacker Thomas Coltrain (Leslie, Mich./Leslie) and junior wide receiver Amin Shaheed (Fayetteville, Ga./Sandy Creek).

As far as newcomers, one that Matsakis pointed out is offensive guard Eric Moultrie Jr. (Snellville, Ga./South Gwinnett). He weighs 350 pounds and could make an immediate impact as an offensive lineman. 

Offense

The Yellow Jackets' offensive line is an improved group and returns junior tackle Dominic Fannin (Wakeman, Ohio/Western Reserve), a starter the past two campaigns. Other experienced players include sophomores Te'Von Carson-Payton (Loganville, Ga./Riverside Military Academy), a center, and Izaiah Robinson (Maumee, Ohio/Maumee), a guard. Two freshmen from Georgia, Moultrie Jr. and tackle Andre Almore (Mableton, Ga./Pebblebrook), are also in the starting lineup to begin the year.

"On the offensive line, the guy with the most starts is Dominic Fannin, our left tackle. This will be his third season starting," Matsakis said. "Te'Von Carson-Payton and Izaiah Robinson, a center and guard, are good and then there are a few other guys that will have the opportunity. Right now, our offensive line is coming along to be the best unit we've had in the three years I've been here. That's where you win; it's all about the offensive line."

Geiger, an Honorable Mention All-HCAC pick last season, headlines a deep group of wide receivers, along with Shaheed. Junior John Edwards (Wethersfield, Conn./Capital Preparatory Magnet School) and junior transfer Anthony Amison (Holland, Ohio/Toledo Rogers), out of Ohio Northern University, are also tabbed as starters to open the year.

"Terry Geiger and Amin Shaheed are two receivers that are leaders," Matsakis said. "Terry was basically our MVP (Most Valuable Player) in 2019 and another guy that's really come along is John Edwards. He's just a really good football player and he makes a lot of plays. Anthony Amison has also made great progress."

In the backfield, sophomore transfer Daylon Lange (Celina, Ohio/St. Henry), from Heidelberg University, and junior Cole Recker (Monument, Colo./Lewis Palmer) are both expected to get plenty of snaps at quarterback. Recker made a couple of starts as a sophomore. At superback, it is anticipated that freshman Tyshaun Freeman (Macon, Ga./Westside) and senior Devon Hewitt Jr. (Trenton, N.J./Lawrence) will get the majority of the carries with freshman Nazavious Williams (Hudson, Fla./Fivay) also getting playing time.

"At the quarterback position, I feel like we've got two that can play in this conference in Daylon Lange and Cole Recker," Matsakis said. "They are probably two of the most improved guys we have on the team. Right now they're neck-in-neck on reps.

"Tyshaun Freeman is a big, physical back, and like having another guard in the backfield. We have an older guy, Devon Hewitt, playing some superback for us, who we feel will be able to help from a leadership standpoint."    

Defense

Along the defensive line, DC returns two All-HCAC performers from a year ago in Thomas (second team) and Villa (honorable mention). Brewer and junior defensive tackle Quantrez Pittman (Detroit, Mich./Livonia Churchill) are other veterans who will help anchor the defensive front.

"Up front, we've got some older guys coming back in Rigo Villa, Maurice Brewer and Quantrez Pittman," Defiance assistant coach Matt Wehrhahn said. "They're all juniors and seniors, so we have some guys up front to lead us with their experience and everything, which is really good. Damon Thomas is also coming back and was really great for us off the edge as a pass rusher last year, and will definitely bring more of that this year."

Headlining the linebacking corps is Coltrain, who saw a lot of action last season as a freshman. Other projected starters are junior inside linebacker Justin Caballero (Riverview, Fla./East Bay), who recently moved from the offensive side of the ball, and freshman outside linebacker Reggie Pace (Columbus, Ohio/Gahanna Lincoln).

"At the second level, we've got Thomas Coltrain coming back as a linebacker," Wehrhahn said. "He's a really smart kid and guides everybody where they need to be on the play, lining them up and getting them ready to go. Justin Caballero is starting to step up and really show he can contribute as a junior and there are a lot of young guys there, too, that are really stepping up."

Lucas, a Second Team All-HCAC honoree in 2019, is the leader of the secondary. Joining Lucas as probable starters at cornerback are Ja'qway Janvier (Miami Gardens, Fla./Mater Academy Charter), a sophomore, and Derrell Walker (Upper Marlboro, Md./Dr. Henry A. Wise Jr.), a junior transfer from Delaware Valley University. Senior transfer Malique Lawson (Washington, D.C./Potomac-Md.), from Hartnell College in California, is slated to begin the season as the starting free safety.

"In the secondary, we have Steven Lucas, a senior all-conference guy. We're excited to have him because he directs traffic back there and gets everybody lined up," Wehrhahn said. "Ja'qway Janvier, on the outside, shows a lot of leadership ability and keeps everybody on the right track. We also have some young guys and transfers that are going to benefit from having a guy like Steven Lucas there to help put them where they need to be."

Overall, the defense showed much improvement as the 2019 season progressed and it should keep getting better.

"Everything's coming together, as a unit, pretty well and they're playing as one, and that's what we want," Wehrhahn said of the Yellow Jackets' defense. 

Special Teams

A couple of freshmen are projected to handle DC's kicking and punting duties this spring in Kevyn Matos (Fairfield, Conn./Warde) and Mathew Bolanos (Lake Elsinore, Calif./Temescal Canyon), respectively. Long snappers Noah Pistory (New Bavaria, Ohio/Holgate), a sophomore, and Colton Hines (Ansonia, Ohio/Mississinawa Valley), a junior, are back with sophomore quarterback Seth Pearson (Fort Wayne, Ind./Northrup) being the primary holder. Geiger, Williams and junior wide receiver Machari Bighams (Homerville, Ga./Clinch County) were named as the most dependable to return punts by Matsakis while those expected to handle kickoff returns are sophomore wide receiver Gabriel Melvin (Jacksonville, Fla./Atlantic Coast) and Edwards.

"I think Noah Pistory is as good of a long snapper as there is in this conference. He's a top player for us," Matsakis said. "Bolanos has a very live leg and Matos will be doing our placekicking. As punt returners, the guys we feel most comfortable about are Terry Geiger, who has the most experience back there, Nazavious Williams, who's explosive enough to do it, and Machari Bighams, who's probably one of our better pure athletes. When it comes to kickoff return guys, we'll put Gabe Melvin back there and take a look at him, and then John Edwards." 

Schedule/HCAC

This spring, Defiance has eight games scheduled, which are all against other HCAC members. After opening at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology this Saturday, the Yellow Jackets will play their three home contests over the next four weeks before finishing the regular season with two on the road.

In the HCAC preseason coaches poll, Hanover College was picked to claim the conference championship with Rose-Hulman ranked second and Mount St. Joseph University third. DC came in at No. 8 in the poll.

"From my perspective right now, Hanover is the team to beat. In the last two years, they have not lost a game in this conference," Matsakis said. "Rose-Hulman is a team that we haven't beaten since 2011. So, we start off with two of the top teams in the league. The other team that I think is good is Mount St. Joseph. I think the teams in the league are well coached."

Defiance has gone 1-9 overall each of the past two seasons and will look to improve that record this spring.

"We'll just try to stay in our game and not give them cheap points, which is what we've done the last couple of years," Matsakis said. "So, if we can just let our defense play and not give games away, then I feel we've made progress in the right direction."