16 Aug 2017 HENDRIX: Warriors continue growth of young program
Conference: Southern Athletic
Coach: Buck Buchanan
’16 Record: 7-3
2016 marked the culmination of Hendrix College’s first class since returning to football in 2013. This fall will begin a new chapter for the Warriors as they return only one starter on offense and five on defense.
“That was a really special group of young men,” Coach Buck Buchanan said. “It was a lot of fun to coach those guys over the past four years, but it was most rewarding to see them walk across the stage. They ultimately left the program with paper in their hand, a letter on their chest, a ring on their finger and a spirit in their heart. It was also really special because that was the first group of young men I had the opportunity to be a head coach for, and I can only hope that I can have just as good of a group in my last year.
“Our first three years was almost a living movie script. This past year we obviously fell a little short at the end of the season, however, life will be like that for our guys as well, and I think it was a good lesson that things won’t happen just because we want them to or because they have before. We have to continually work at being the best we can be. However, statistically we played the best we have played on both sides of the ball. We just had the ball bounce the wrong way a couple plays, and we don’t play with a round ball so those bounces are not always predictable.”
Sophomore Miles Thompson takes over at quarterback for the Warriors. As a backup last fall, Thompson tossed for 698 yards and six touchdowns. Senior Mason Millsap looks to lead the Warrior rushing game. Senior Nate Hodapp is back after leading Hendrix in receiving yards and touchdowns (1,016 and 10). Senior Ben Luedtke hauled in six touchdown passes as a junior. The Warriors will field an all-new offensive line: Xavion Gardner, Sam Struebing, Parker Hall, Keith Taylor and Steffan Bonilla.
“Our offense was No. 1 in all NCAA last year with 600 yards per game,” Buchanan said. “That also set the NCAA Division III record for total offense in a season, which bested the previous record holder, Wesley, by 8 yards per game. We will continue to push the envelope and play aggressive on offense. We have some really good younger players that we expect to plug into the system and continue to get the ball to our skill players in space and allow them to make plays. We are not playing with the mindset to be a certain number of yards per game, but we are focusing on being as efficient as possible by converting on critical downs, continuing drives, not turning the ball over and being efficient in the red zone."
The Warriors won’t be quite as fresh-faced on the defensive side. Senior safety Michael Kramer returns after leading the Warriors with 74 tackles last fall. Sophomore Chad McGonigal is back at corner after pulling in five interceptions for the Warriors as a freshman. Chad’s brother, Corey McGonigal, also plays in the secondary at safety. Senior Jake Brantley returns at linebacker. The two-time all-league ‘backer had 3.5 sacks and 9.5 tackles for a loss last season. Junior Chandler Marquardt is back for his third season in the Warrior secondary.
“Defensively we are still going stay with our pressure oriented philosophy, and our goal is to be able to play as fast as possible so that we are in position to make plays and have fun doing it,” Buchanan said. “We have moved some key pieces around to get more speed at certain positions, and our second- and third-level players should be the best we have had since starting back. Our effectiveness and production will be tied to how fast we can be consistently productive on our defensive line. We will still expect to create pressure, win critical situations and create turnovers.”
