Numbers, enthusiasm up as Thiel prepares for '99

1999 schedule Sept. 4 -- Capital University, 1:30 Sept. 11 -- at Oberlin, 1:30 Sept. 18 -- Kenyon College, 1:30 Sept. 25 -- at Thomas Moore, 1:30 Oct. 2 -- Grove City College, 2 Oct. 9 -- at Waynesburg, 1:30 Oct. 23 -- Bethany College, 2 Nov. 6 -- at Defiance, 1:30 Nov. 13 -- at Washington & Jefferson, 1:30.

Thiel head coach Dave Armstrong had to feel good when he looked at his roster following the first day of the Tomcat's football camp.

For the first time since be took control of the school's football program in 1996, he had almost an even number of upperclassmen and freshman. The initial roster for 1999 was made up of 63 freshmen and 57 returning upperclassman. Of those upperclassman 17 return as starters from the '98 squad -- seven on the offensive side of the ball, nine on the defense and one from the special teams.

"The bottom line is that you can't win without upperclassmen. I didn't want to believe it when I first arrived at Thiel, but it's true," said Armstrong. "This year's turnout shows that the program is heading in the right direction and now we need to add some wins."

Offensively, the Tomcats will look to Dante Harris to provide a lot of the scoring this season. Harris was the team's offensive MVP last season. Although be started the year as a quarterback, he moved to the slot back position midway through the season and quickly found success. Enough success, in fact, to be named All-Conference in the PAC. Thiel will try to get the ball into his hands as many times as possible this season.

Other players to watch will be Isaac Griffin and Adam Kent who will be sharing time at tailback. Griffin was the Tomcat's leading rusher last season with 384 yards and two touchdowns in nine games. A new face to the backfield will be Wayne Uzarski, a former defensive back who emerged as a fullback during the team's offseason trip to Germany. Uzarski's performance overseas earned him offensive MVP honors. He will challenge Ryan Yeager for playing time.

Armstrong is hoping that his fullback is not the only player to have emerged from the international competition. T.J. Wiley became the leading candidate to be the starting quarterback this season after solid play in Germany. Second-year transfer David Deutsch will challenge for the position all season, along with four freshmen.

The success of the offense will depend greatly on the ability of the offensive line to create running lanes and protect their quarterback. Veterans Ben Blasco, Dave Gonder and Ray Enricco, will push the blocking corps to be the foundation upon which the Tomcats can built.

Defensively, the Tomcats welcome the return of Clyde Morgan, who was injured prior to the beginning of the 1998 season. His addition to a defensive backfield of Ricardo Franklin and Dave Porter should make teams think twice about throwing the ball against Thiel.

"Clyde is one of the true leaders of this team," said Armstrong. "When he went down last season, a lot of our spirit went down with him. It's great to have him back."

Looking to stop the ground game will be Jon McCullough. McCullough returns to linebacker as the team's leading tackler last season with 60 total tackles. He will play behind a line that is anchored by Ryan Reed, a sophomore who missed a good deal of time due to injury his freshman year.

The Tomcats also expect big things from their special teams, namely Sam Poucki. As a freshman, Poucki was named to the All-PAC second team for punting and ranks among the top punters in Thiel history.