The Observer, November 30, 2007
Volume XL, Issue 12
Football playoffs: Little Giants upend Spartans
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The Spartans' thrilling, undefeated season ended on Saturday.
Seniors Tom Brew, Angelo Mirando, John Tiemeier, Mike Tuertscher, Brendan Jones, Brandon Jeffries, and Tommy Zagorski played their final game as Spartans after falling to the Little Giants of Wabash College, 38-23. They gathered for a team photo on the field as Wabash sang their fight song and celebrated their entrance into Division III's Elite Eight.
That image did little to sour the Spartan's memories of a season in which they won eleven straight games, captured the UAA title ,and went to the second round of the playoffs. "It was an unbelievable year," said Brew. "It was a season I'll never forget."
The Little Giants immediately made it clear that they were the best team the Spartans had faced this season. They scored on their first two possessions, and then scored again with 1:53 left in the half to take a 21-0 lead. "Going down by three touchdowns in the first half definitely took us out of our game plan," said Case's head coach Greg Debeljak.
Wabash, a team that usually favors deep passes, showed a strong running game. Sophomore running back Evan Sobecki averaged 5.1 yards per carry and ran for 56 of his 114 yards on the game's first drive.
But the real key to the Little Giant's offensive success was an efficient passing game that picked apart the Spartans defense for short gain after short gain. "We'll take what they give us," said quarterback Matt Hudson. "They weren't giving up the deep balls."
Hudson, a 6'4", 226-pound sophomore, replaced senior starting quarterback Dustin Huff, who suffered a severe ankle injury during the first game of the Little Giants' season. Hudson threw for 308 yards and five touchdowns against Case.
Wabash didn't win the game on offense alone. Their defense, led by linebacker Adrian Pynenberg, was lights out, holding the Spartans to only one drive of over four downs in the first half. "[Wabash] had a very good plan of attack against us on both sides of the ball," said Debeljak.
Throughout the game, the Spartans found themselves in unmanageable third-down situations and converted only twice in 15 chances. In order to score, Case would have to rely on the big play.
They got one on fourth down with 1:15 left in the half. Quarterback Dan Whalen connected with wide receiver Jeff Mayer for a 45-yard touchdown pass. Mayer could have walked into the end zone; there wasn't a defender within 20 yards of the wideout. At the half, the Spartans were within striking distance, down 14 points.
During the intermission, Case made adjustments. Defensively, the Spartans committed more personnel to stopping the run. On offense, they almost completely abandoned the running game after having no success with it in the first half. The Spartans netted a total of -29 yards rushing. The Little Giants' defense had size and speed; there were few holes for the running backs to exploit. The pocket was also collapsing quickly around Whalen. He was sacked five times.
"The o-line fights every play for me. I'll never say anything bad about them. We gave ourselves a shot," said Whalen.
After blanking Wabash in the third quarter, the Spartans, a team that's found ways to win all year, got going offensively and made the game interesting. With 12:13 left in the fourth quarter, Whalen ran three yards for a touchdown, capping a nine play, 72-yard drive.
With 4:33 left in the game, Whalen threw a 17-yard strike to Ryan Kolesar to bring the score to 31-23. That play was set up by some fourth-down heroics.
Needing 25 yards for a first down, the receivers went out deep, but the pocket broke down quickly. Whalen scrambled around the backfield, dodging five Little Giant defenders, then hurled a 44-yard strike to Shaun Nicely. "My mind was saying, 'don't go down, don't go down,"' said Whalen.
But it only took the Little Giants two plays to dispell any notions of further playoff magic from the Spartans. Hudson completed a pass to Bart Banach, who jetted past Case's defense for a crushing 68-yard score. It couldn't have helped that the defense was on the field for a full 40 minutes.
With their season over, Debeljak, Whalen and company will turn their attention to recruiting in preparation for the '08 campaign. Meanwhile, the Case campus finally knows what a playoff football team looks like.
