September 25, 1999

'Berg game results comes down to 'who wants it the most today'

By Andy Cole
Sports Writer

Heidelberg head caoch Larry Shank can count on one hand the number of plays that kept The 'Berg out of the game against one of the best teams in the nation last week in a 35-0 loss to Ohio Northern. What remains to be done now is the conversion of the "almosts," the "might have beens" and the "should have beens" into wins for the program.

"Ohio Northern got a first down on a third-and-24 on a touchdown drive and on a third-and-19 on a touchdown drive," said Shank, whose team is 0-2 overall and 0-1 in the Ohio Athletic Conference going in to today's 1:30 p.m. showdown with Hiram College (0-2, 0-1) at Frost-Kalnow Stadium.

"(ONU) had three quarterback scrambles on busted plays play big roles for them last week. An experienced and disciplined defense doesn't allow that to happen, and our defense is getting there. We've played very good overall defensively in the first two games."

Hiram, in its last year in the OAC, comes to town trying to shake some unpleasant memories of its own after losses to Bluffton (47-26) and Mount Union (59-0). The Terriers are happy to have seen the last of the back-to-back-to-back national champs, as Mount Union has outscored Hiram 324-0 in the last seven games between the two.

"Their defense had a bad game against Bluffton, and everybody looks bad against Mount Union," Shank said. "They will try to spread us out all over the field. Their quarterback, Dwayne Pavkovich, likes to scramble and create his own plays. Their strengths are in their skill people."

Allthough they are young up front defensively, the Terriers have a pair of solid defensive backs in All-OAC safety Brian Rafferty and cornerback J.C. Commander, who is back after a year away due to an injury.

Junior receiver James Denegall had four catches last week for Heidelberg, and senior running back Jeff Brock looks to rebound after ONU keyed in on him, shutting him down to less than 50 yards. Saturday will also make the first college start at quarterback for Calvert graduate and Heidelberg sophomore Brian Frank, who was 5-9 for 45 in a back-up capacity last week.

"Our defense got a lot of three-and-outs last week, and Northern never really drove the ball on us," Shank said. "Offensively, we're struggling. Reid Geibel had one of his finest quarters in his career here at quarterback in the first quarter of the ONU game, but then they started to put a lot of pressure on our young offensive line and it really created some problems.

"We're suffering from youth and inexperience, especially on the offensive line after season-ending injuries to two starters. We've got one junior and four sophomores on that line, and that's part of the reason we've given up more sacks in the last two weeks than we did during all of the 1997 season. We need somebody on our offense to step up and take a leadership role."

Heidelberg linebacker Joe Conduah is second in the OAC with two interceptions, and Lyle Darroch also had a pick. Linebacker Andy Brown and defensive linemen Matt Simon and Chris Resendez recorded sacks against ONU.

While Shank wants to be patient and foster the young talent he has, he also realizes the importance of getting a win today.

"We're getting better every time we take a rep on the offensive line," Shank said. "We've got some good young talent, but (Hiram) is coming over here thinking they can beat us, so it's going to come down to who wants it the most today.

"All wins are important, but we need a win today to get some confidence for a team that badly needs it. Mental mistakes have been hurting us, and part of that is because our guys doubt themselves. It's very important that we remove some of that self-doubt by winning today."