The Centre College defense should find its strength in the trenches this season, at least early on.
Centre coach Andy Frye is going to need his linemen to step up early to try to fill some holes in a defense which allowed 22 points and 335 yards per game last year to help the Colonels go 9-2, win the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference and advance to the second round of the NCAA¿Division III playoffs.
“I feel pretty good at the defensive tackle position. We’re going to be better than we were last year,”¿Frye said.
Sophomore Paul Megilligan, a 5-11, 233 pounder out of Boyle County High School, had a solid freshman season with 42 tackles, two sacks, four tackles for loss and one pass breakup.
Fellow sophomores Tami Aderoba had 21 tackles, two sacks, two tackles for loss and two forced fumbles last season, and Colin Ciochetty had seven tackles.
“Those are three good ball players, and we have some younger guys that can step up as well,”¿Frye said. “At tackle, we’re as good in Division III as most people.
“Right now, our biggest concern is who are going to be our defensive ends. We’ve got competition at the defensive end position, where we have to develop some guys. (Graduates) Cooper (McGuire) and Javod (Sewell) were pretty good.”
Frye said senior Grant Poston, Devon Freeman will compete for a starting spot at one end.
Junior Alex Hay, who was injured last year, also returns, and Frye also likes the potential of sophomore Rue Hockensmith. But Poston, Freeman and Hockensmith combined for just 16 total tackles last year.
“He needs to be on the field, but right now I’m not sure where he’ll be on the field,”¿Frye said of Hockensmith.
The Colonels lost all-SCAC linebacker Kent Ferguson to graduation, and return only senior Michael Bozarth, who had 50 tackles, 3 1/2 tackles for loss and two forced fumbles.
But Frye said he “feels good at the linebacker position.”
“We lost Ferguson, but we’ve got good competition at the (middle) linebacker spot. It’s just a matter of how long it takes us to mature,”¿Frye said.
Centre was hit hardest by graduation in the secondary, which had three of the top four tacklers on the team.
“We’ve got kids in the secondary that could develop,”¿Frye said. “We graduated three of four starters in the secondary last year, but we’ve got four or five guys back in the secondary that can be competitive and can be pretty good.”
Senior Thomas Kent, who was second on the team in tackles with 72 to go with 6 1/2 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and an interception, returns.
But other than Kent’s position, everything is up for grabs.
“Right now we’ve got competition at safeties with Sean Richardson and Ben Leahy, and that is some good competition,”¿Frye said. “At the corners, Casey Vatter returns. He didn’t play a whole lot, but he had a great spring and will solidify one corner.
“And we’ve got good corner competition with three or four players at the other position. They all are pretty good, and good competition comes out of that.”
Despite the lack of experience in the defensive secondary, Frye said when the Colonels went through spring drills, he was pleasantly surprised.
“We saw in the spring we really didn’t drop-off as much as we thought,” he said. “And we’re hoping those guys continue to get better.”
Centre coach Andy Frye is going to need his linemen to step up early to try to fill some holes in a defense which allowed 22 points and 335 yards per game last year to help the Colonels go 9-2, win the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference and advance to the second round of the NCAA¿Division III playoffs.
“I feel pretty good at the defensive tackle position. We’re going to be better than we were last year,”¿Frye said.
Sophomore Paul Megilligan, a 5-11, 233 pounder out of Boyle County High School, had a solid freshman season with 42 tackles, two sacks, four tackles for loss and one pass breakup.
Fellow sophomores Tami Aderoba had 21 tackles, two sacks, two tackles for loss and two forced fumbles last season, and Colin Ciochetty had seven tackles.
“Those are three good ball players, and we have some younger guys that can step up as well,”¿Frye said. “At tackle, we’re as good in Division III as most people.
“Right now, our biggest concern is who are going to be our defensive ends. We’ve got competition at the defensive end position, where we have to develop some guys. (Graduates) Cooper (McGuire) and Javod (Sewell) were pretty good.”
Frye said senior Grant Poston, Devon Freeman will compete for a starting spot at one end.
Junior Alex Hay, who was injured last year, also returns, and Frye also likes the potential of sophomore Rue Hockensmith. But Poston, Freeman and Hockensmith combined for just 16 total tackles last year.
“He needs to be on the field, but right now I’m not sure where he’ll be on the field,”¿Frye said of Hockensmith.
The Colonels lost all-SCAC linebacker Kent Ferguson to graduation, and return only senior Michael Bozarth, who had 50 tackles, 3 1/2 tackles for loss and two forced fumbles.
But Frye said he “feels good at the linebacker position.”
“We lost Ferguson, but we’ve got good competition at the (middle) linebacker spot. It’s just a matter of how long it takes us to mature,”¿Frye said.
Centre was hit hardest by graduation in the secondary, which had three of the top four tacklers on the team.
“We’ve got kids in the secondary that could develop,”¿Frye said. “We graduated three of four starters in the secondary last year, but we’ve got four or five guys back in the secondary that can be competitive and can be pretty good.”
Senior Thomas Kent, who was second on the team in tackles with 72 to go with 6 1/2 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and an interception, returns.
But other than Kent’s position, everything is up for grabs.
“Right now we’ve got competition at safeties with Sean Richardson and Ben Leahy, and that is some good competition,”¿Frye said. “At the corners, Casey Vatter returns. He didn’t play a whole lot, but he had a great spring and will solidify one corner.
“And we’ve got good corner competition with three or four players at the other position. They all are pretty good, and good competition comes out of that.”
Despite the lack of experience in the defensive secondary, Frye said when the Colonels went through spring drills, he was pleasantly surprised.
“We saw in the spring we really didn’t drop-off as much as we thought,” he said. “And we’re hoping those guys continue to get better.”
