Younger Brother Day

The Sun Chronicle has a story featuring younger brothers of Dartmouth tailback Nick Schwieger. Sophomore tailback Zack Schwieger figures to be a key player for Bishop Feehan High School in Saturday's Massachusetts Division 3 championship game at Gillette Stadium. Ted Schwieger, a senior tailback, will miss the game with an ankle injury. From the story:

Football is meaningful in the Schwieger household. Older brother Nick excelled at Feehan and continues to shine as a running back at Dartmouth College, and younger brother Zack has become an important cog in the current Shamrocks' offensive attack, averaging 7.5 yards a carry in Feehan's Thanksgiving victory over Sandwich.

"Football's always been a big tradition in our family, and Zack's really stepped it up since I went down," said Ted. "He's stepped it up and did what he needed to do to win some games."

Dartmouth co-captain Timmy McManus gets a mention in a story and video about St. Thomas Academy's appearance in the Prep Bowl at the Metrodome in Minnesota. McManus' younger brother Ryan was a junior quarterback slash halfback slash wide receiver slash punter for St. Thomas this fall. (Sound familiar?) The story is headlined, "Football Is A Family Affair At St. Thomas Academy," and the video features interviews with the boys' mom and dad. Find the story here. For the video, click here.

Still on the subject of younger brothers, All-Ivy (and Academic All-Ivy) wide receiver Tanner Scott's younger brother Connor, also a wide receiver, is headed to Penn next fall. The younger Scott captained the Deerfield Academy team this fall. (story)

And finally, one more younger brother. While former quarterback Josh Cohen is finishing up his studies at Dartmouth, Jake Cohen has gotten his college basketball career off to a rousing start. The 6-foot-10 Cohen is Davidson College's leading scorer (13.7 ppg) and rebounder (5.0) through seven games. Cohen had 20 points last night as the Wildcats opened conference play with a win over The Citadel.

Dartmouth is in good company in contacting premier Chicago-area offensive lineman Victor Nelson. From a Q&A with him in the Sun Times:

What are your college aspirations?
I’d love to play college football. I hope USC gives me a call. I’ve been a big USC fan all my life. Illinois has offered. I’ve got a lot of interest from Wisconsin, LSU, Iowa, Northwestern, Dartmouth and Arizona.

Holy Cross quarterback Dominic Randolph has won the Harry Agganis Award, symbolizing the outstanding senior football player in New England.

The decision by Hofstra to join fellow CAA member Northeastern in dropping football has the Providence Journal wondering about bringing back an altered version of an old friend. From the story:

... (T)he re-birth of the Yankee Conference makes sense. The conference could consist of the original charter members URI, UMass, UNH and Maine, plus Albany, Stony Brook and Fordham.

The ProJo also offers information on what will happen in next year in the CAA, which lost two schools in its North Division:

The CAA will play an eight-game league schedule without divisions in 2010, commissioner Tom Yeager said Thursday afternoon. Except for the addition of ODU and Georgia State, the future beyond that is uncertain. One possibility is to move Villanova and Delaware to the North Division for the 2012 season.

With the passing of two football programs in the CAA North, several newspapers considered the future of football in their back yards. Regarding the New Hampshire program, the Portsmouth Herald asked UNH Athletic Director Marty Scarano if the Wildcat program was in danger. His answer:

“Unequivocally, no. If anything we’re going in the opposite direction. We are fervent about trying to get these facilities figured out. And that’s not just me; that comes from our president (Mark Huddleston).”

From a Bangor Daily News story on the Maine program:

“Football is an important part of the University of Maine athletic program,” (UMaine director of athletics Blake) James said. “I’m excited about the young men that we have coming back to represent us on the field next year and look forward to competing for a championship in the CAA.”

And this from the Springfield Republican on the Massachusetts program, which has had severe funding concerns in the past, quoting UMass Athletic Director John McCutcheon:

"There is nothing in my hands that says (dropping football) is on the table with us. We remain committed to a top program, and the good thing about belonging to the CAA is that there are enough teams to protect us.''

Chuck Burton at Lehigh Football Nation expresses his concerns in a post headlined: Northeast Football: Endangered Species.

And finally, UNH will play at Villanova Saturday in a battle of the Wildcats with a visit to the NCAA semifinals at stake. Allen Lessels has a preview in the Manchester Union Leader.