Merry Christmas

Our staff will finish up what we call our contact recruiting period on Wednesday then break for the Holidays until the Inter-term Session begins January 3^rd. We look forward to the down time and the batteries will need to be charged for an off-season that in the Division III level is long and demands that we multi-task a lot of different aspects of our work. No question, the January through June work both on and off the field by the players and coaches determines who celebrates success in the fall. While in Salem for Stagg Bowl events last weekend, I got to see firsthand what the National standard is at the Division III level. There is a select group who have separated themselves from the pack for sure. Right now we can COMMIT to prepare and chase after them on all fronts. The ODAC in 2011 will be competitive and balanced again. There will be a fine line between 1^st and 7^th in this league.

Thanks to the players, staff, and fans who allowed us to share success in 2010. Kudos to the players who are picking up post-season honors; they are well deserved. Your individual efforts made a team better and the honors keep our program in the spotlight. Over the past sixteen years BC has been a great gift in my life. As much as we enjoy the wins, it has been the people who have made this program special over the years. In this season of gifts, make sure you take some time to identify and thank the people in your seasons (in which ever form they come) who have added value for you. In the Christmas season we celebrate the fact that God picked us to send a life-changing gift. Celebrate all the gifts in your life. Merry Christmas.

MC

Tragic Thanksgiving Holiday for Football Family

I enjoyed a Thanksgiving with family and will finish my meetings with underclassmen on Monday and Tuesday and then I will join the rest of the staff in the recruiting process for 2011. We meet with all players and I use the surveys I give them, particularly the input from the Seniors, to evaluate the program and its’ people. Looking at this data we will try to develop a plan to improve BC football for the next group of players. It is easy to focus on what you do right, but attacking the spots where we fall short is harder, but it has the greatest impact on whether we improve. I still believe this Senior class turned us into a Playoff team that was not in the Playoffs and I will always be grateful for their efforts.

Over the Holiday, the BC family dealt with a tragic loss in the death of Julian Pierre who played for us in the to 2002-2005 era. Ju-Ju came from Immokalee, Florida and showed up as a 175 pound receiver and left here as a pretty good 225 pound TE. He was a champion every year he played, and really never left the Bridgewater area once he arrived. BC became his home and family in some sense, and after graduating in 2007, he stayed in the area to work. He was in the management program at Texas Roadhouse. If you have ever been to Immokalee, Florida you would know that in Ju-Ju’s family there is not a lot money. We have told his sister and mom that we will take the responsibility of getting the body back to Florida where they would like to have the funeral. One of the characteristics of a good program and teammates is that the people in it give back when they are needed or capable. The Pierre family needs our BC football family to help them. Beyond his smile which will never be forgotten, I remember at H-SD in 2005 when Jacob Lewis checked a 2-Protection in a (Ace) 2-TE set to throw a post to Brandon Copeland who was manned up on a HSD cornerback. We do not use that protection with that set, but Ju-Ju was smart enough to kick back out and take the Tailback’s block (who was not in the game) and block the wide rusher to the weak-side. The QB was protected, the play went for a TD and we won that game and the title that came with it. Thanks JU-JU, for that and a lot of other reasons I am donating. Always an Eagle. Coach Clark

Details of donation process will be posted on Bridgewater Football face book fan page.

Nice Way to Cap Off a Strong Year

Thanks to the fans who showed up Saturday at CUA. I think for the fifth straight time the visiting Eagles outnumbered the CUA fans on our DC trip. It is great to have a home-field advantage on the road. Although I feel we developed into a Playoff level team that is not in the Playoffs, I have asked the Senior group to not be defined by two close but brutal losses. Their story is the energy and guts it took to hold together after the 35-34 setback to W & L and the ability they showed to refocus and continue to play hard. It is true we are two plays away from being undefeated, but no BC player, coach, or fan should ever apologize for being 8-2 in 2010. These kids were winners (CASE CLOSED).

The two greatest moments of the game were not record setting completions by a QB or catches by a WR, but a catch in the last drive by Joel Gast and a seven yard run to end the game by Michael Ward (who is a LB). These two Seniors are team guys who only could be finishers at the Division III level. Their selflessness in the support roles they played on and off the field during their four years are now etched in a stat book that will last forever. The one catch or one run on a stat sheet represents much more for these two and our program. I am thankful to coach kids who play hard and assign value to football in their lives. These lessons learned transfer beyond the field and therein lies their real value.

MClark

One More Chapter to Write

Week 10 always brings special challenges to coaches and players. Particularly coming off an emotional victory at RMC last week, it will be real important that everyone in the program stays hungry. There is one more important chapter to write about this team. I told the team in our Monday meeting that what we do at CUA on Saturday will either add to, or detract from the final evaluation of this group.

I want to thank the fans who hung with us and gave us such a large following at R-MC last Saturday. Leaving the field at the half, I know our kids got a charge from your energy as we passed the stands and I hope you can offer the team the same support this week. I cannot recall coaching a team where the defensive group was accountable for 16 points in my 31 years. Overcoming defensive scores is difficult for an opponent to do, but I give a lot of credit to R-MC to sticking with their plan of running the ball and playing defensive football. It gave them a chance to win in the fourth quarter. Those scores and the quick strikes to Beiler really taxed our defense in terms of possession time, and it is not often that your defense plays 95 plays in a “winning” effort.

Still, working hard here and being successful on Saturday is determined by choices and the efforts the players and coaches make Tuesday through Friday to a large degree. Our kids understand that, as we chase win number 8.

The Clark girls are planning a Tailgate by the tennis courts with the Alumni Group so come out in force. If my daughters are involved expect to have fun and be primed before you take your seat.

Go Eagles.

Post Emory & Henry Update

It was satisfying that our Senior group could make that run up to the victory bell in Memorial Hall on Saturday. It took a lot of character to shake the W & L loss off and not live in a “could have been world.” I will appreciate the kids who finish and the people who support them along the way. At 6-2, we are exactly where we were a year ago, only we will be facing a better R-MC team on the road who has had the extra week to prepare for us. The open date for them has allowed their new quarterback to get comfortable, and I have always felt they have been one of the more physical teams in our league as of late. All the pressure is on them though, because a loss would be fatal to their post-season hopes.

We will meet with the kids on Monday and try to take the same approach we did two years ago when we went and played Catholic who at 8-1 only needed to beat BC to advance, but tightened up and could not finish off the Eagles. We have enough talent to beat anyone on our schedule, and with nothing to lose, can play loose and with a clear spirit. People with ability and nothing to lose can be a dangerous crowd to compete against. We have not done our best collective work yet as a total team in 2010. Will need to do it to Saturday in Ashland to beat a RMC team with so much on the line.

On a second note our JV team won again on Sunday night at Shenandoah 33-8. It was one of the more impressive JV performances of the year. Great to see the young kids playing hard and well.

~Coach Clark

The Fighter Still Remains

As I shared with the team last night, we chose to be involved with a great game, but it has the ability on occasion to "Saw you in half ". It did that to us on Saturday. As I mentioned in my post game I regretted my end of game decision making and at minimum should have taken a timeout when we faced 3rd and 11 at the 22. Although we had one of our best players running his best route it was into double coverage and a tight shot for the QB. Those games are difficult when a pretty big group in the locker could improve one play and turn it into a BC win. Although the kicker takes the most heat, it seldom is just about the kick. I thought our offensive plan of grinding the ball trying to limit their offense chances worked for the most part. It was a game where I felt the last possession would win it. Our defensive group, despite playing very hard, did not quite have the discipline in assignment football that a fast paced option offense demands. Give credit to W & L they are operating at a level where a defense gets no margin for error in assignment or pursuit angles. The turnovers we asked the defense for were there, but we were only able to turn one of them into points. I guess if you were in the stands watching and not caring who won, you saw a great game

It is going to take some real character on our team now to recover and face an always tough Emory and Henry team. It is Senior Day and for that group which has invested so much into this operation, we owe them and they owe each other a chance to meet on their final Jopson Field appearance at the Bell post game.

I even quoted Simon and Garfunkel to them today from the “Boxer” who “Carried a reminder of every glove that laid him down or cut him till he cried out in his anger and his pain I am leaving I am leaving……...But the fighter still remained.” We need the fighter still to remain in all of us here at BC football. We're going to ask the kids to prepare and compete every day. We need to do the things winners do regardless of the outcome. There is still time for us to do our best work in 2010.

~MCLARK

Thanks for the Support

I really want to thank the fans, and the students in particular, for the all of the energy and enthusiasm they brought to Jopson Field on Saturday. After watching the tape on Sunday I want you to know that our kids matched that with their effort on the field. Defensively, to hold an explosive offense like H-SD to only 250 yards and deny them big plays for 60 minutes was an outstanding performance. To hold five straight opponents to less than 100 yards rushing is an outstanding feat. This last week we added sound coverage to the equation. H-SD's longest plays from scrimmage had to be screens. The short drives of 40, 35, and 12 yards they got off of turnovers and the opening kick return were the difference makers. The gun snap which went over Hagan’s head at the start of the third quarter and showed that a football can take bad bounces was a back breaker. Sometimes the ball bounces funny when you try to pick it up, unfortunately.

Although a QB always gets both more credit and blame than he deserves, with the exception of the 3rd quarter interception where he tried to force a ball into Tyler, Hagan actually played well on one leg after a brutal below the knee roughing the passer shot he took in the first series of the game. (It was the type where in the NFL you would be reading about the player being fined today). Like always there was a ball he would have liked to have thrown again, but that is always the case. We were short-handed on offense due to injury in back-field and the line, but on tape we saw young linemen getting better and the energy that Darrin McKenzie plays with is fun to watch. The heat of the day really drained the kids by game’s end. I had asked them to leave everything on the field in terms of effort and by game’s end that was the case. Although our wide-receivers are followed closely when they catch and run, a coach is really glad to see how hard they play off of the ball when it is not about them. Follow Tyler, Keenan or Julius sometime on a running play.

Give H-SD credit, I believe they are a top 20 team who found a way to win. They have won 16 straight regular season games, have beaten 2 play-off teams in their non-conference schedule, but they have a lot of work ahead of them in ODAC. I told the kid’s on Sunday night they showed they could be a top 20 team too…IF

1. They attack every remaining game with a play-off mentality.
2. Have the discipline to attack personal and team weaknesses rather than ride strengths.
3. Run the table in the ODAC starting with Guilford regardless of their record.

Our margin for error is zero. Thanks for giving us a big-time atmosphere on Saturday. Sorry to disappoint with the bottom line, but give us another chance when we return to Jopson Field in two weeks.

Coach Clark

Update on Leigh Bradley

After meeting with Leigh Bradley he has decided to take a Medical Redshirt for the 2010 season. The best decision was to wait and have him come back in 2011 with a full season of participation. He has the ability to be an impact player at this level. This choice will allow him to heal fully before participating and he was involved in a change of majors a couple of years ago and he is scheduled to graduate in December of 2011 so it matched his academic track also.

We will miss him now, but he and Ryan Richmond are great additions to the recruiting class of next season.

MC

Showdown in Salem on Thursday

I wanted to set the story straight on how the Thursday night game this season came about. Lebanon Valley College in PA was scheduled to replace Lycoming in our week five slot on the schedule. Last March, they backed out on the signed two-year contract. It is a scramble to find games on short notice unless you are willing to fly to Texas or Wisconsin. Southern VA had an open date that week, but because of a national conference in the Church of Latter Day Saints on Saturday they needed to play a game on a weeknight. We were looking for a one year fill-in game and I offered to contact the people in Salem to see if they would provide the venue for us to play. The Salem group is a first class operation and although we agreed to manage the game and take on the costs, we felt we were dealing with a great host and facility in Salem.

We have partnered with Feeding America Southwest VA and plan on donating any profits from the game to them as they bring their September “Go Orange” campaign to a close this month. September is hunger awareness month and orange is the color of hunger. We are working with contacts in the Roanoke Valley to generate some publicity for the event and hopefully our friends, fans, and families will take the trek on Thursday to Salem Stadium. Although the ultimate goal is to play there in December, I hope a Thursday night game will give our kids the charge they need to try to go out and play a complete game in the pre-season finale.

Formidable foes await us in ODAC action, and although we are grateful to be 3-0, playing a complete game has eluded us so far. We will need to be able to do that reach our long term goals. Southern VA has beaten Ferrum and has played several fully funded scholarship Division II schools who have beaten them, so they will be used to playing kids who are bigger and faster than we are. It is a test we need.

MC

Tough Ferrum Team Coming to Town

We will get an angry Ferrum team in here this weekend. They were the polar opposite on tape in their Southern VA game upset than the team we watched the week before versus Emory & Henry. I know Coach Davis is an old school guy who will not take that performance lightly and we have prepped our kids for the intensity they will bring to the field on Saturday. We need to be an improved football team for sure and this game has as much to do about us as it does Ferrum. We beat the flu in the Open week, and will have to beat an athletic team on Saturday. We will look forward to a good parent’s day crowd and with the dedication of the Bowman Alumni Plaza it should be a great BC Saturday. Hope to see you there. MC

2K10 is Just Around the Corner

The entire coaching staff will return to work on August 2nd and our preparations for 2K10 will find an accelerated gear. We anticipate around 150 athletes reporting to summer camp this August. This will be our biggest group since 2005. That was our last Playoff Year so I hope it is a formula that will work for us again. It is not about the numbers, but rather the players who are in the group that will determine our success. Despite the numbers there are some big openings that will have to be filled for us to be successful in the fall. An improved returner or newcomer who is physically and mentally ready for the college game will have some great windows of opportunity. Things have to happen quick in camp, the first impression an athlete makes is important in this setting. There has been a core group of kids who have stayed local, and in Division III you have to hope the work of those kids away from campus has matched that of the athletes who are around campus on a daily basis.

The ODAC press day this year has been replaced by a conference call the morning of Friday August 6th. This will be a good format and will open up the ODAC coaches and a selected player to a lot of media markets who would or could not travel to Salem to discuss Conference football. BC is scheduled first out of the block at 9:00 am. On that day we will have a more detailed pre-season prospectus to deliver and discuss. I was asked to Speak at the Shenandoah Valley Sports Club for their initial program of the season on Thursday, August 12th. Details will follow on the event and if you are local we would love to have you join us that evening.

Congrats to Ben Taylor who helped us the past two years coaching our Inside LBs. He was hired as a teacher and coach at Skyline High School in Front Royal, Virginia. Andrew Keller their principal is a BC guy and they got a good one in Ben.


~Coach Clark


*(Click here to send questions or comments about the BC football program to Coach Clark.)

Summer Update

Hot weather in Bridgewater and as long as the river does not run dry, (we need rain really bad) the football fields that Kevin Moore sprigged with Patriot Bermuda love this weather and will come in thick and lush by August.

We've been working on all the behind the scene details that goes into getting the football program running smoothly in August. That keeps us busy during the day, but still with evenings and weekends free, summertime allows a football coach to as my wife says, “Work normal hours.”

I met with Dr. Stone today and thanked him for bringing me on to share a great ride with him over the last 15 years. Thursday is his last day, and he followed my Dad’s advice to leave places better than you found them and early enough that people are sorry to see you go. He has done both, congrats. We look forward to the new leadership and direction of George Cornelius and will work hard to do our part and try to make this program an asset to Bridgewater College.

In the summer months, Division III athletes face the biggest challenge in that the majority of our group has to do their preparation on their own. Quality college athletic performance demands a year-round approach in this age at any level, and we have to count on a lot of individuals to make this choice daily at the Division III level. Unlike Division I, where athletes are made to stay around and work, to our group, success has to be a personal choice.

The constructions projects are running strong on campus, and I was glad to get staff things settled a couple of weeks ago. I think the players, fans, and department people will enjoy the new additions that will join our BC staff. They are three guys who are making sacrifices to be a part of this and look forward to “Chasing Championships” with them.

Graduation Wrap-Up

It was a big day last Sunday to see 18 of our kids march at graduation. I noticed also there were 13 kids who we had recruited for football, but did not finish out with us received degrees too. It is a testament that BC can be a great place for kids without sports even if they choose to go in another direction. Spring grades have been posted and although we will have some kids who will have work to do over the summer, the team’s academic effort will give us a good chance to keep key kids on the field. Thirty kids had GPAs in spring above 3.0.

There is a lot of individual work that will need to be done over the next 12 weeks for us to be a team to challenge for the ODAC championship. The seniors have a pretty good sense of urgency about them, and their off field efforts have set a pretty good standard to follow. Coach Healey did Strength and Conditioning clinic last weekend for a group of High School coaches and they were impressed with the video he had of Bieler, Burris, and Tate. The numbers of these “Non-Scholarship” athletes surpassed those of the kids of the Division I coach who shared the stage with him. To make it to the National level you need about 10 kids in Division III who we use the term “play-up.” Kudos to these kids and over the summer they need to pull teammates up with them.

On the other end of the spectrum it will be the ability of the group in the rising sophomore class to mature and add a sense of urgency to their summer preparation that will be important to our success. We are razor thin on the defensive side of the ball everywhere but at LB. In the offensive line we will need about 5 young linemen to grow up quickly over the summer. You can have great skill kids, but if you lose control of the line of scrimmage that speed does not show as often.

At this stage now we have to buy into the process. The product will then take care of itself. Recruiting numbers are good, but there is a big difference between team members and players. Team members are easy to find, finding or developing players however determines success.

~Coach Clark

*(Click here to send questions or comments about the BC football program to Coach Clark.)

Spring Ball in Full Swing

We have moved into the last week of our non-traditional season and with the ODAC track season complete we will operate at close to full strength over the next four practices. We are proud of the four football players who captured individual championships on our track team last weekend. Damien Ward (High Jump), Leigh Bradley (Triple Jump), Julius Delbridge (200 meters) and Tyler Beiler (100 meters). I reminded our young kids that three of those four are kids who have really bought into the explosive training our strength and conditioning people push, and it is a great example of buying into a process and letting the product take care of itself.

I was able to see our baseball team celebrate a team championship last Sunday too, and I was reminded how fun those can be. I miss them and we will do the pushing of the process so we hopefully will get another generation of players the chance to experience them.

On a down note, Rudy Jackson underwent re-constructive knee surgery about two weeks ago and his status will be uncertain for the 2010 season. He is a good student who is on track to easily graduate in 2011 and at the Division III level potential Red-shirt issues involve some big and sometimes tough choices for athletes and their families.

I will be taking part in one of the live chats tonight with Asst. SID Tim Leister, go to http://www.bridgewatereagles.com/livechat3 if you want to follow at 6:30 pm or ask any questions.

Go Eagles,
Coach Clark

*(Click here to send questions or comments about the BC football program to Coach Clark.)

Spring Testing in the Books

We have just completed our spring testing and it is a high enough priority in our evaluation that we give up non-traditional practice days to do it. Top lifts were posted on our Facebook page and, in general, team strength is higher in the skill positions than it was a year ago, but behind in both lines of scrimmage. The maturity of the positions is shown by this data, and no question the forced maturity we talked about in the lines will have to take place throughout the spring and in the summer months.

There are only about 25% of kids testing at award level and our play-off teams of the past averaged about 40%. Self scouting is important and that is what this allows us to do. There is a lot of work to be done, and if you are a young linemen out there on either side of the ball, add strength and we will look at you in the fall.

~Coach Clark
*(Click here to send questions or comments about the BC football program to Coach Clark.)

Happy Easter

Have a blessed Easter weekend. I'm going to watch the "Wahoo’s" practice on Friday and will pick up a tip or two to help the Eagles I hope.

I posted a spot on former player Brain Stanfield who is finishing up his MBA and is currently a Captain in the US Army stationed at Fort Bragg N.C. I remember when Brian was activated as a reservist after 9-11 while a student athlete here at Bridgewater. He missed those early play-off runs serving, but we still sent him one of the first Championship rings.

If you hang around a place long enough and one of the paybacks is you get to see former players doing well as adults in life. I'll never be a millionaire coach at this level and you hustle to be a “thousandaire,” but some things are priceless and make it all worthwhile. Go Eagles.

~Coach Clark

*(Click here to send questions or comments about the BC football program to Coach Clark.)

Biology Lesson from Jeremy Guinn

This week, I attended a lecture in our Biology Department by former Captain and All Conference player Jeremy Guinn. Jeremy was here for win #1 at Western Maryland in 1996 and is now a PHD and Professor at Sitting Bull College in North Dakota.

It was a fascinating talk, and it is always a thrill as a longtime coach to see your former players, who are now a lot smarter than you, being successful.

In Jeremy, you had a real student athlete who has become a poster for BC in terms of showing what an educated person should look like. It provided me with a great perspective too, and someday I might take him on up on that offer to go big game hunting with him out west.

Spring has arrived and we are still pushing recruiting very hard. BC's rising senior class seems to have a sense of urgency about them, and they need to transfer it down to the larger freshmen group.

~MClark

Getting Ready for Spring Practice; Coach Healey Update

The kids are back from vacation and it will be up to them to make an extra push as they prepare for our Non-traditional season. We will begin on April 6th , the Tuesday after Easter. We will devote three days that week to strength and conditioning testing for evaluation and awards. At the Division III level we have to count these as practice days to make them mandatory, but it has that much value to us. We plan on putting some of the events on video to showcase the top performances of the best kids.

An update on Coach Healey. His O-Visa was approved and he will meet in London at the American Embassy on March 22nd and after that interview he should be free to return to BC at the end of March. Good timing, and this secures his broad based contribution for BC in this off season and the season to come.

~Coach Clark

*(Click here to send questions or comments about the BC football program to Coach Clark.)

Speaking at Ted Barker's House

I'll be speaking at an alumni event on Thursday night in Winchester, Va. at the home of Ted Barker. Feel free to join us, contact Alumni Office at campus web-site for details. Dr. Stone is going too, has been a nice event in the past. Quiet on campus with break, Got about three days to study last years film cut-ups. Can target spring improvement through this study. Go Eagles!

- MC

Stephon Healey Update

I wanted to update people on the Stephon Healey situation to clear up things on the status to someone who is of great value to our program. Bridgewater College is in the process of sponsoring Coach Healey in the procedure necessary to go gain his Green Card status. There has been a snafu or two in a complicated process and Coach Healey returned to London while the procedure plays out. It is our best hope that his O-Visa gets approved and that will allow him to return the end of March. If this visa is not approved we will then have to go the conventional route which should allow Stephon to return to BC this summer. Not only with football, but in track, strength training, and academics he gives the school a broad-based contribution of which a lot of us are doing double time to make up for in his absence. I have told him the job is here for him and is not a question of if, but when in regards to his return. Not perfect timing, but we will make do and benefit from the surge we get when his energy and contribution returns.

~ Coach Clark

*(Click here to send questions or comments about the BC football program to Coach Clark.)

We've Entered the 21st Century!

We are up and running on both Facebook and Twitter now and those and this blog will stay connected in the months to come. Recruiting still is our primary focus in house, but next week’s spring break will give the staff time for in house football study.

In the off season that is often tough to do at the Division III level with the recruiting calendar we go by and the collateral duty we pick up.

Kudos to Taylor Marie Trobaugh and Ray Decker who have helped me set this up. Once spring ball starts in April will try to keep updates that allow fans to follow our progress. A lot of work to do, but in house development is the biggest key to 2k10 success.

~ Coach Clark

*(Click here to send questions or comments about the BC football program to Coach Clark.)

Recruiting Updates

Recruiting still takes the bulk of staff attention at least until Spring Break which begins after class on March 5th. We have had kids visiting campus throughout the past two months and the snow has made the weekends difficult for prospects to get their travel in this past month. Financial Aid is being sent out now, and that will always be a key in the decision making process of most of the kids we are able to get on campus. I do not think that most people realize that the Division III recruiting calendar is most intense in the December to April window. Although some decisions are made late in the cycle (Mid-April/ May) most kids have made choices by the end of March. The difficult thing about Division III is that when a choice is made, and a student athlete puts in a deposit (which by NCAA standards is considered an intent to enroll) there is nothing that stops the competition from continuing to recruit a student athlete. Some coaches (I include ours in this group) will wish a student athlete good luck and move on, while others will push to change a student’s mind. It is a process where the kids themselves really are the only ones who can shut it down.

We have had BC Football FaceBook and Twitter on the table the last several months and anticipate being able to launch it soon. I hope it will serve as great communication tool for the fans, friends, and potential prospects of Bridgewater College Football. No question these are the tools this generation uses to communicate and I think we will have a concise and exciting message to send out. Coach Clark

Coach Clark On Recent Passing of Former Player

It is with great regret that I have to alert the Bridgewater Football family that Desmond Jalloh passed away Sunday morning in Northern Virginia. Dez was a passionate football player for us in his time here at BC. Those of us that knew him, know that on Saturday as a teammate he would lay it on the line for the Eagles. He was a complex man, but I know he had a Faith component that insures him a peace in the next life that his competitive nature sometime denied him here. We enjoyed seeing him at Shenandoah and Homecoming this year and I think we can all be a good teammate of his again by keeping his Mom and sisters and his close friend Brittany in our prayers. Death and youth is a bad combination, but sometimes we have to deal with it in life. I remember winning a game at Emory and Henry on the road in 2007 and Ferrum in overtime in 2006 that we would not have won without his effort. Thanks Dez, and God’s Peace to you!

- Coach Clark