NEWTON, Mass. – The Mount Ida College football team has been picked as the preseason favorites to win the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC) for the second consecutive year, according to the conference preseason poll released Tuesday afternoon. The Mustangs received 55 points and two of the eight first-place votes.
Mount Ida finished a point ahead of second-place Norwich University, though the Cadets actually received three first-place votes, as did Gallaudet University, who was picked to finish third with 52 points. Castleton State received 45 points to finish in fourth place, followed by SUNY Maritime, Becker, Husson, and Anna Maria.
However, this year's group of Mustangs, led by Head Coach Michael Landers, doesn't remember anything about last year, where they set a program record for wins with an 8-3 record, won their first ECFC title, and made the school's first trip to the NCAA tournament.
Try to talk to this year's team about that experience and you'll get the same response: "What championship?"
Landers is entering his sixth season at the helm and over the last four years he has taken the Mustangs to new heights with conference, regional and national postseason berths. But he above all has no interest in talking about the past.
"We're a different group this year, and we're trying to figure out how to compete and be a high effort team and find our ninth round."
Landers is even more vague when discussing the "Ninth Round," the moniker he has chosen for this year's squad, only to say that it illustrates giving everything you have in the spirit of competition.
"We give great effort and we fight for each other on the field. You play your position in support of your teammates. You take care of what's in front of you every single day. Take care of your job and your task - no task is too big, no task is too small," says Landers.
Refusing to look to how they will finish at the end of the season or even to highlight any games except for their first, a Friday night showdown under the lights at UMass Dartmouth on September 6th, Landers stressed the mentality that his players know by heart: "Go 1-0 every week."
When it comes down to the X's and O's, Landers and the Mustangs do expect to pick up where they left off offensively last season and again have strong balanced attack on both the ground and in the air.
"We're a team that puts an emphasis on running the football. We expect our running backs will get significant carries per game and we expect to establish a ground game against each of our opponents," said Landers.
Sophomore Melquan Pinkney (Springfield, Mass.) will take on a significant role at tailback for the Mustangs after playing in all eleven games last season. Pinkney gained almost 500 yards toting the rock on the ground and took it in for four scores in the 2012 campaign.
The team won't be one dimensional, however, and according to Landers, the quarterback position is still wide open as the Mustangs go through preseason camp. Competition is brewing between returning sophomore Alton Smith (Windsor, Conn.), looking to get his first start, and freshmen Miles Smiley (Tumwater, Wash.) and Bobby Chavous (Portsmouth, R.I.).
Whoever wins the starting job will have some veteran targets to throw to, and guys that are capable of making big plays, starting with senior wide receiver Jordan Hyman (Middletown, Conn.), a preseason USA Football News (FBN) All America Second Team selection.
Hyman led the team with 50 receptions a year ago and scored 12 touchdowns en route to being named ECFC First Team All-Conference. He averaged 87.5 yards per game and his 12 scores is the second most in a season in Mount Ida football history.
Joining Hyman at the receiver position is senior Xavier Snipe (Brockton, Mass.), who returns to the team after being held out with an injury last season, and sophomore Chandler MCCoy (Norcross, Ga.), who is looking to build off a rookie season that saw him catch five balls in seven games played.
"McCoy is a high effort guy who can get in and out of breaks, has good hands and can spring runs and get down the field," said Landers. "He also puts a lot of attention to detail in his blocking assignments."
Freshman wide-out Matt Greenman (Portsmouth, R.I.) has had a nice camp and is also going to compete for time, hoping to catch passes from Chavous, his high school quarterback.
The tandem of seniors Kenny Jean (Dorchester, Mass.) and Mike Babich (Franklin Square, N.Y.) give the Mustangs experience at the tight end position, where Landers expects players to be heavily involved in the pass game, in addition to their blocking responsibilities up front.
"Babich is a leader and is heavily reliable for us. He's like having a tight ends coach out there," said Landers. "He studies his playbook, knows his assignment and has the ability to make big plays and win one on one matchups."
Babich, a member of the USA FBN Preseason All America Fourth Team, grabbed six passes last year, three of them for touchdowns, while Jean, a converted wide receiver that gives Mount Ida height and the ability to stretch the field, caught two scores last season.
Another position that was a strength for the Mustangs last year was the offensive line, which opened up holes for a team that averaged 170 rushing yards per game. While there will be many new faces on the line, the two cornerstones will be senior Frank Civitello (North Haven, Conn.) and junior Andrew Miller (Allentwon, Pa.).
Freshman John LaGue (Riverhead, N.Y.), a transfer with Division 1 experience, will come in at the left tackle position to lead a team of talented newcomers on an offensive line that is going to be critical to dictating the team's success.
On the defensive side of the ball, leadership and depth are the two things that Coach Landers likes about his squad. That leadership begins on the defensive line with senior Jon Proto (North Haven, Conn.), who coach called "the best tackle I've had the opportunity to coach." Landers added of the 2012 ECFC Second Team All-Conference player, "Proto started as a freshman and was one of the stronger linemen, and now as a senior he's a force and someone we rely on to stop the run." Proto joined Hyman on the Second Team of the USA FBN preseason All America lists.
Also clogging the middle will be juniors Anthony "Tank" Sanders (Meriden, Conn.) and Derek Bent (Billerica, Mass.). Tank had 23 tackles last year and a fumble recovery from the nose tackle position, while Proto made 15 tackles and also forced and recovered a fumble, picked off a pass and was in on a blocked kick.
On the ends, the Mustangs will bring speed and talent that has already formed a healthy competition in preseason camp. Dominique Spaulding (West Hartford, Conn.), Chris Toyloy (Yonkers, N.Y.) and Nick Carr (Warwick, R.I.) are all returning sophomores who will play at the defensive end slot, with Spaulding coming off a freshman campaign that saw him rack up 38 tackles, recover two fumbles and intercept one pass while breaking up four.
The linebacker corps will look to team captain and senior Ned Cassidy (Brockton, Mass.) and will also include returning starters Carlous Julien (Fort Pierce, Fla.) and Kayln Smithson (Vilseck, Germany), who led the team with 51 tackles and three interceptions last year while earning a spot on the ECFC Honorable Mention team.
DeAndre Lawrence, a transfer from Springfield College, one of the Mustang's 2013 opponents, will also help to round out the deep group of linebackers.
Defensive backs may be the strongest ball-stopping unit heading into the 2013 campaign. Mount Ida welcomes back ECFC First Team All-Conference Jovan Wilkins (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.), who, with three interceptions last year set the Mustang's career record. Wilkins has nine picks and is in just his junior season in Newton, where he has been converted from corner to safety, and where he also helps as a kick and punt returner.
Seniors Frank Greene (Hamden, Conn.) and Jesse Blakely (East Providence, R.I.) will also bring experience to the safety position, while competition is still brewing at the cornerback spot, where senior Calvin Claiborne (Dorchester, Mass.) and freshman D'Andre Smith (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) will compete with Ryan Flemming (Seale, Al.) and Jared Lucas (Yonkers, N.Y.).
"Guys are going to move up and down the ladder," said Landers of the competition at different positions. "We're going to put the best 11 players on the field and the guys that give great effort and know their jobs and make plays are going to play."
After their trip to Dartmouth, the Mustangs will open their home schedule on September 14th against Plymouth State. A trip to Castleton, the site of their ECFC championship-clinching victory last season, is slated for October 12th.