Tuesday, July 25, 2017

This And That

Colby College's 2017 football roster confirms quarterback Harry Kraft is transferring from Dartmouth to the DIII Maine school that plays in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC), sometimes referred to as the Little Ivies.

The 5-foot-8, 175-pound Kraft, who shared time on the Dartmouth junior varsity, is listed as a junior on the Mules' roster. Find his Dartmouth bio HERE and his Colby page HERE.

Colby finished 3-5 last year.

Green Alert Take: Kraft worked as hard at improving his athleticism and skills as anyone in the first dozen years of BGA. But with 2016 starter Jack Heneghan returning, Illinois transfer Jimmy Fitzgerald joining the team in the fall, Jake Pallotta and improving Jared Gerbino among those a year behind him, getting on the varsity field didn't seem likely. That said, I thought given the tremendous respect his teammates and coaches had for him that he might have been elected a Dartmouth captain as a senior. While he will be missed on the practice field and locker room rest assured those who know him wish him nothing but good luck at Colby.
Kraft is the second Dartmouth reserve quarterback to transfer to the NESCAC in recent years. Jonathan DiBiaso transferred to Tufts after the 2014 season.
A little time spent on the Colby web page revealed that the NESCAC approved an interesting football scheduling change during the spring. From a Colby release. (Italics are mine):
Colby College will play all the New England Small College Athletic Conference football opponents after round-robin scheduling was approved by the conference presidents for the 2017 season.
While the league has 10 teams playing football, only eight games were played each season and each team was allowed a scrimmage. The scrimmage, played a week before the regular season began, will no longer take place and nine games will now be played.
Green Alert Take: A league that played fewer games than others trading a preseason scrimmage game for a regular-season game. Ivy League, are you paying attention?
The Pioneer Football League released its coaches poll yesterday and Dartmouth Game One opponent Stetson was projected to finish far down the standings:

1. San Diego (9 first-place votes), 99
2. Dayton (2), 92
3. Marist, 69
4. Drake, 67
5. (tie) Campbell, 62
5. (tie) Jacksonville, 62
7. Butler, 49
8. Morehead State, 42
9. Stetson, 29
10. Valparaiso, 24
11. Davidson, 10
Dartmouth isn't afraid to mix it up with the big boys in the recruiting wars. From Lancaster (Pa.) Online:
Will Levis is a QB from Connecticut who came into this summer with mid-major offers from the likes of Dartmouth and Rhode Island and Western Michigan.
Then he went to Iowa's camp, and got an offer. Went to North Carolina's camp, got an offer. Went to Florida State's camp, and got an offer from the probable leader for Fields.
Levis went to Penn State's Lasch Bash July 14-15, ran a 4.65 40 at 6-4, 222, got an offer and committed.
He's probably a better prospect that, oh, say, Trace McSorley was four years ago.
Among those who helped the Chicago Bears' college scouting director along the way is one Buddy Teevens. From the Chicago Sun Times:
(Hi)s playing career at nearby Tulane was derailed by a knee injury that resulted in six surgeries.
Former Tulane coach Buddy Teevens honored his scholarship to (Mark) Sadowski, an engineering major, and asked him to coach. It became the launching point of Sadowski’s career trajectory.
‘‘He just came from a very humble, hard-working family situation,’’ said Teevens, who now coaches at Dartmouth. ‘‘That’s who he was, just a grinder. And that’s a term of great affection and great respect in the football profession.’’