Friday, September 01, 2000
Stadium, QB fuel Thomas More
Saints try to build off 7-3 in '99
By Michael Perry
The Cincinnati Enquirer
When preseason football practices started at Thomas More College, about 100 new faces were on the field. That was the result not only of hard offseason recruiting work by the coaching staff but also of the momentum from the end of last season.
Thomas More, playing in a new stadium, won its final five games and finished 7-3 — one year after suffering through the worst season in school history at 3-7. Coach Dean Paul, now in his second year, oversaw a turnaround that was among the top six in Division III nationally.
“We beat every team that we had better players than, and we beat probably a couple teams we didn't have better players than,” Paul said. “We think we're certainly ahead of schedule.”
The only losses in 1999 were to Hanover College, Alma College and Division II Kentucky Wesleyan, which were a combined 27-4.
Paul expects 75 newcomers to stick. His task is to mesh them with 35 returnees.
“That really is a challenge,” he said. “We're still trying to get a lot of our new guys to understand practice habits and all the things that we expect. We're not there yet. Hopefully we grow up in a hurry. But we definitely have some talent.”
One luxury is having a veteran quarterback. Jesse Lowry, a junior from Tampa, Fla., threw for 1,540 yards and 17 touchdowns and rushed for 143 yards and one TD last season.
Lowry is exactly what Paul likes in a quarterback: He's athletic and can pass and run. That allows Thomas More to run options, roll out Lowry and have him throw on the run, as well as drop back to pass.
“He can escape,” Paul said. “If you blitz, then you better get there, because if he scrambles, then you're gonna pay.”
The other veteran skilled position player is senior tailback Will Castleberry from Springfield, Ohio. He rushed for 713 yards and seven touchdowns in 1999 and also had 275 yards and three TDs receiving. Castleberry has 2,810 career yards, ranking second on the TMC all-time list; Ryan Reynolds (1991-94) is first with 3,666.
The top receivers are senior Nick Yordy and sophomore Joe Sacco, neither of whom was a prime target a year ago.
“If you look at the offense, we're still very inexperienced up front,” Paul said. “We have some big guys and we have some talent, but we're very thin there. If the big fellas can get it going as far as protecting and getting the blocking going, I think we can have a pretty explosive offense.”
One of the big attractions for recruits was Thomas More's new stadium and the atmosphere it created. Paul said on average, TMC drew close to 2,500 fans — more than 1,000 beyond capacity. Fans would sit on the hill in the end zone. Cannons shot off when TMC scored.
“The pageantry was there,” Paul said.
As an independent with no conference affiliation, Paul said Thomas More needs to win nine or 10 games to get into the Division III playoffs.
“We think it's realistic, it's just a matter of when,” Paul said. “Is it this year? Is it in the future?”
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