Yellow Jacket Athletics

A pair of road tussles will test the mettle of the Defiance College men and women this week.
Action tips off Wednesday at Rose-Hulman for both DC squads before the Jackets battle Anderson in another doubleheader on Saturday.
It appeared the DC men were rolling heading into the holidays as they were enjoying a 5-game winning tear. Since then, things have been disappointing after they went 1-2 during a 3-game homestand. A setback to Rockford during the opening night of the P&G Tournament started the week before DC let a 16-point lead slip away against Transylvania on Saturday ended the week on a sour note.
The challenge facing the fun-n-gun Jackets at R-H is the Engineers leisurely pace. Will the Jackets be able to speed up the Engineers and start a new winning streak?
The same challenge faces the Lady Jackets with the Lady Engineers also featuring a snails-pace style. The schedule’s been rugged for the Lady Jackets with already a pair of losses to league-leader Transy. DC’s youthful ladies are much in need of a conference victory after dropping three straight league contests earning a tough road win in Terre Haute would be a much needed lift.

Usually a 26-point triumph is something to get excited about … Tuesday wasn’t the case for the DC men in an 81-55 victory against Kalamazoo College. Silly turnovers and a plethora of missed layups allowed the visiting Hornets to stay in the game most of the night before DC pulled away down the stretch.
The Jackets will need better performances than the one Tuesday if they want to defend their HCAC title.
With all that said, DC has a chance to head into the holiday break riding a 5-game winning streak if they can knock off Ohio Wesleyan Thursday night on the road. Earning a win at OWU will be a tough order with the Battling Bishops coming off a trip to the Sweet 16 last season.

Maybe it’s about time I give a trio of DC rookies their due. It’s always nice to talk about veterans and glamour giants like Anthony Pettaway, Nick Sales, Anthony Jackson Heath Armstrong and Mike Floyd, but those guys can take a seat next to Coach Brum on the bench for a little as we talk about Anthony Brown, and the Tietje Towers, Kyle and Kevin.

After slow starts, the terrific trio is nearing the double-digit mark for a scoring average and seem to be finding the college game to their liking. Kyle has stepped in nicely to fill the shoes of Mr. Jackson as he waits for his injured ankle to heal up. The future is indeed bright for DC hoops with the program in the hands of these three newcomers.

Kyle Tietje

Possibly never before has a player had more of an effect on his team’s performance without putting the pumpkin in the bucket than DC’s Mike Floyd. The floor maestro has 28 assists and a measly 3 turnovers in his last two games while only scoring three points. Floyd is running the DC offense like a well oiled machine and earned the HCAC’s Player of the Week for his performance on Saturday.

No need to yell Coach Brum, Mr. Floyd has things under control

The Karl H. Weaner Center will be the place to be for fans of Defiance College hoops on Saturday with the DC men and women taking the court.

An early-season showdown with conference powerhouse Manchester will have first place in the HCAC up for grabs when the Lady Jackets host the Lady Spartans. Outside of two losses to national power Hope College, the Lady Jackets are 4-1 overall while also earning a tough road victory over Hanover on Saturday. Playing Manchester this early in the conference season should tell the Lady Jackets where they’re at when it comes to challenging for a league championship.

While the DC women look to join the HCAC championship fray, the DC men are trying to defend their league championship from a year ago as they head into this season wit

h a big target on their back.

While l like to talk about the veterans on the squad like Nick Sales, Anthony Pettaway, Mike Floyd and Heath Armstrong, it’s probably time I start giving a talented rookie class some pub.

Without the services of senior leader Anthony Jackson, who’s out

with a severely sprained ankle and will be out

for a bit longer, rookies Anthony Brown and the Tietje twins of Kevin and Kyle have stepped in nicely.

A long trip to southern Indiana is in store for the Yellow Jackets this Saturday with Hanover College awaiting the arrival of Robert Taylor and his Jackets.

After a 21-13 triumph over Anderson University a week ago, DC will be gunning to win back-to-back games for the first time this season.

A potent running attack has got the DC offense rolling the last two weeks with senior Lewis Caralla and rookie Drew Kuesel shredding the Rose-Hulman and Anderson defenses.

If the Thunder and Lightning approach can continue, perhaps the Jackets can end the year with four straight Ws.

Let the title defense begin! First-year DC men’s coach Kyle Brumett and his Jackets get their season started tonight with their first practice of the season slated for midnight. The Jackets are coming off their first outright league title since the 90’s and bring back 3 of their five starters, including HCAC MVP Anthony Pettaway along with senior wing Anthony Jackson and junior point guard Mike Floyd. A talented group that came off the bench during the 2007-08 season also returns.

Ayersville grad Anthony Jackson (12)

DC women’s coach Dic Doumanian and his Lady Jackets have already started preparing for the 2008-09 hoops season. DC brings back seven players that contributed a year ago and will also get a lift with sophomore Jenna Deskins and senior Katie McNamara back on the court this winter after both missed the entire 2007-08 season due to injuries. The lid-lifter for DC is a month from Saturday at Olivet College.

The HCAC opener for Defiance College couldn’t have come against a more powerful offense than Franklin’s and standout signal-caller Chadd Rupp. Rupp toasted the DC defense a year ago with 437 yards passing and half a dozen TDs in the Grizzlies’ league-championship clinching victory over the Jackets. The DC defense never dirtied Rupp’s uniform last season and barely laid a finger on him. The Jackets have to hope Rupp takes some of the Coressel Stadium turf back with him on his pants and jersey to South-Central Indiana or it’s going to be another long afternoon.

Keith Snyder (24) picked off 3 passes against Franklin last season.

My favorite morning show Mike and Mike in the Morning which airs on ESPN2 and on ESPN radio each morning from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. talked at length about the Defiance College and Trine University matchup this week. Golic and Greeny found it crazy that last week’s USC and Ohio State game was being billed as the Collision at the Coliseum. So Greeny decided that they would pick a college football game around the nation each week and name it. This week the game that they chose was Trine at DC for listeners to email a jazzed up name for. The winner was ‘Clash of Mother Nature’s Wrath’ with DC being the Yellow Jackets and Trine being the Thunder. Lets just say I was a tad disappointed when my colleague Chuck Martinez-Brandon’s suggestion wasn’t chosen and not even mentioned during the broadcast. The Chuckster, always being his witty self, quickly responded when I asked for his insights into what the matchup should be called and he came up with ‘The Black Swamp Slobberknocker’ since this area was once known as the Black Swamp. Come on Mike and Mike that was a brilliant response.