BC Picked First In ODAC Football (DN-R)

The Daily News-Record - By Matthew Stoss

SALEM – Bridgewater College’s Michael Clark didn’t have a prepared speech for his live Internet debut at the Old Dominion Athletic Conference’s preseason football gathering Tuesday, but he did have one advantage over his fellow coaches.

He was the only one wearing a tie.

It wasn’t a bad fashion choice, considering that the Eagles once again were in the spotlight during Media Day festivities at the Salem Civic Center – and not just because the event was carried live to fans via a link on the ODAC’s Web page.

The league’s coaches picked Bridgewater, the ODAC’s dominant football school since 2001, to regain the conference championship after a lapse in 2006. The Eagles edged out defending champion Washington & Lee, 45-42, in the preseason poll, and collected five first-place votes to the Generals’ two.

Clark, not surprisingly, downplayed the poll.

"[Rankings] mean a lot more to people on the outside than to the people in-house," Clark said.

Nationally, BC is ranked 17th by Street & Smith’s, but the Eagles did not make the Top 25 in the more prestigious D3football.com poll.

W&L is the only other ODAC team ranked, checking in at No. 25 in Street & Smith’s.

Clark, meanwhile, reminded reporters that Bridgewater can’t claim conference supremacy until it atones for last season’s two costly losses.

"Until October, I have to live with the fact that there are at least two people in this room better than me," the 13th-year coach said.

He was referring to Emory & Henry and Guilford. Both beat Bridgewater last year, handing the Eagles their only two losses of an 8-2 campaign and ending their run of five straight ODAC titles. Worse, the losses kept BC out of the Division III playoffs for the first time in sixth years.

Bridgewater did get a consolation prize of sorts. It handed Washington & Lee (7-4) its only league loss. W&L finished 5-1 in the conference to snag the ODAC’s automatic playoff berth, while the Eagles went 4-2 in the league.

"The tolerance for error in this conference is non-existent," W&L coach Frank Miriello said.

The rest of the preseason picks had Guilford (6-4, 3-3) third, followed by Emory & Henry (6-4, 4-2), Hampden-Sydney (4-6, 4-2), Catholic (3-7, 1-5) and Randolph-Macon (2-8, 0-6).

A primary reason for Bridgewater’s favored preseason status is experience: The Eagles return 29 seniors, by far the highest of any ODAC team. W&L has the next most with 16. Guilford has the fewest with eight.

"I get more scared every second when I hear these guys report on what they’ve got coming back," Miriello said.

For BC that includes senior quarterback Jeff Highfill – a second-year starter – who is part of an ODAC bulging with returning signal callers.

"It’s a league of quarterbacks," Miriello said. "It was a few years ago and it is again this year."

Miriello returns ODAC Rookie of the Year R.J. Varner, who passed for 1,101 yards and completed 61 percent of his passes in eight games. He threw eight touchdown passes and eight interceptions.

Guilford brings back Josh Vogelbach, who led the league in passing last season. The junior threw for 3,394 yards and completed 57.3 percent of his passes with 32 touchdowns, but he was picked off 26 times.

The only team not returning a quarterback is Emory & Henry, which graduated Todd Woods.

"That makes for exciting football," Clark said of the surplus of experienced QBs.

But Vogelback will be throwing to all new hands. The Quakers lost their top two receivers in ODAC Offensive Player of the Year Chris Barnette and Micah Rushing. They combined for 1,597 yards and 17 touchdowns.

Highfill had the best completion rate in the league at 59.9, while throwing for 1,723 yards, 14 touchdowns and six interceptions.

The Eagles also return the ODAC’s fourth-leading rusher in Phillip Carter and a trio of 2006 first-team all-conference selections: cornerback Earl Chaptman, safety Desmond Jalloh and offensive lineman Keaton Culver.

Overall, the Eagles return nine All-ODAC selections, including Carter and leading receiver Brandon Copeland. Both were second-team choices. Highfill received honorable mention.

Despite his program’s tradition and experience, Clark picked another team No. 1 in the ODAC.

"I didn’t vote for Bridgewater because Washington & Lee is the champion until someone takes that away from them," he said.

Clark Gets Potential Star At Linebacker (DN-R)

The Daily News-Record - by Brent Johnson

BRIDGEWATER — Two years ago, Bridgewater College football coach Michael Clark didn’t think he could convince Stanley Barbour to play for the Eagles.

The kid just had too much talent for a Division III program.

But after a postgraduate season at Fork Union Military Academy in 2005, Barbour’s football career stalled. The former Waynesboro High School star left school and ended up working at Home Depot.

Football, however, was always on his mind.

"There was still that ‘what if?"’ the 19-year-old Barbour said Tuesday. "I was still under 20. I had years ahead of me. You never know."

So, he contacted the one school that never stopped calling him: BC.

"They never got quiet on me," Barbour said.

And now, he’s paying them back. Barbour, a 6-foot-3, 230-pound linebacker, said Tuesday that he has committed to play for the Eagles, beginning this fall.

Although Barbour has been out of football for a year and a half, Clark calls him one of the highlights of this season’s recruiting class.

Clark said he will likely play Barbour at outside linebacker, but he could easily move him to defensive end — the position Barbour played at Waynesboro. Clark wouldn’t say whether Barbour would start.

John Shuman, the postgraduate football coach at Fork Union, said Barbour could be "the next Bridgewater All-American."

"He’s one of the best players I’ve ever been around," Shuman said via phone. "He’s an impact player. He makes a lot of plays.

"We’re glad he’s at BC. We’re sad he didn’t get a good bite out of Fork Union, either from a I-A or I-AA school. But we’re glad he’s persevered."

It just took BC a while to land him.

Barbour played defensive end and tight end for Waynesboro, earning All-Valley District honors his senior season. He also was all-district in track, running the 110-meter high hurdles and 200-meter dash and throwing the shot put and discus.

After high school, Barbour attended Fork Union to focus on improving his academics. The school moved him to outside linebacker and started him most games, Barbour said.

Shuman said Barbour had the ability to play for a Division I school, but Fork Union was slow to send out Barbour’s highlight reel and he didn’t begin drawing interest until the season ended that winter. By that point, Shuman said, a lot of players had committed right out of high school and many colleges had already filled their spots.

"Somebody in-state should have [picked him up]," Shuman said.

Barbour said smaller schools like Charleston and Emory & Henry showed interest, as did Temple, long a Division I-A doormat.

Temple, Barbour said, wanted him to come to the school for the spring of 2006 and try out for the team. The Owls said they would then offer him a scholarship if they liked saw, Barbour said.

"But when I looked at that, it didn’t really sound good to me," Barbour said by phone from his home in Waynesboro. "… It was like being led in blind."

So, Barbour took some time off and got a job cutting meat at Kroger in Waynesboro. He then landed a job at the Waynesboro Home Depot, where he’s still a cashier.

Barbour said Temple stayed in contact from time to time over the next year, but Bridgewater offensive line coach Stephon Healey called often to check up on him.

Then, in February, Barbour called Clark. Still, he didn’t commit until July because Barbour said he still hadn’t made up his mind about whether returning to football is what he really wanted.

Now, Barbour has to readjust to life as a football player — though he said he’s confident he can.

"I’ve stayed in shape," Barbour said. "I haven’t gotten sloppy. I won’t allow that. …

"But we’ll have to wait until camp to see. That’s when I’ll really prove it."

At least BC finally got him.

"It’s the old analogy: Division III football isn’t a sprint; it’s a marathon," Clark said. "And it’s been a long race."