By Clyde Hughes
D3sports.com

Well, it only took the second week of the season before 2006 started kicking out surprises and showing us how wrong our preseason predictions were -- at least mine for sure.

Keith Snyder had 61 tackles and four interceptions as a freshman for Defiance. Defiance athletics photo

There was some significant upheaval in the Midwest, starting with the favorites of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, the one a bragged about in my column a week ago. Nationally ranked Augustana and North Central both bit the dust on Saturday. Augustana lost to Baldwin-Wallace and North Central took it on the chin from Concordia (Wis.). So went both teams’ Top 25 positions in the process.

On the flip side, the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference made out like bandits. Franklin defeated then-No. 22 Wabash, giving the conference one of its biggest wins in recent years. The conference didn’t have a win against any ranked teams a year ago.

That brings us to Defiance, of the HCAC, which was thumped by Otterbein in Week 1. The YellowJackets rolled into Adrian against a team that was receiving points in the D3football.com Top 25 poll, and looking to garner some respect for the MIAA. The Bulldogs have a top-ranked defense, led by All-American linebacker Taz Wallace and this past Saturday, disappointed little in its defensive effort.

You would think Adrian held the mental edge, cleaning Defiance’s clock 37-0 last year. To boot, Adrian opened its brand new football stadium, a state-of-the-art facility that drew a standing-room-only crowd and alumni from near and far. It was the Bulldogs first game on campus in nearly 40 years.

OK, with that kind of build up, you know by now, things didn’t exactly work out according to predictions, right. I wish I could tell you I attended this game in Southeast Michigan because I was smart enough to smell this 10-0 Defiance upset coming from a mile away. I would be telling a whopper of a fish story.

But by halftime, everyone knew this wasn’t same YellowJacket team the was humbled by the Bulldogs last year, or even the team that turned the ball over five times against Otterbein a week ago.

“Especially after last week when we really struggled on offense, this says a lot about our kids,” said Robert Taylor, celebrating one of the biggest wins of his four-year coaching stint at Defiance. “We still have a long way to go and things we’ve got to work on. I think this was pretty exciting. We knew it was going to be a fun atmosphere and we just wanted come out here and enjoy the moment.”

As good as Adrian’s defense was, Defiance looked every bit as good on that side the ball, limiting Adrian to 25 yards rushing while picking off Adrian quarterback Andy Denryter four times. None of the four interceptions was bigger than the one linebacker Tyler Haines picked off in the third quarter with Adrian knocking at the door to either tie the game or take the lead.

Adrian had recovered a Defiance fumble on the YellowJackets’ 35 on Defiance’s first drive of the third quarter. The Bulldogs moved to the 6 yard line and looked poised to take the lead when Haines grabbed an errant Denryter pass.

“I was dropping into pass coverage and we had a blitz on,” Haines said. “I was just in a lucky spot and got the pick.”

Defensive back Keith Snyder, who intercepted two passes, scooped up an Adrian fumble at the Bulldogs 35, which set up the game’s only touchdown, a 27-yard run by Jason Gendron with 8:10 left in the game. Snyder, who won HCAC defensive player of the week honors, said polls don’t matter much to Defiance, but a belief they can accomplish what they set out to do.

“In all honesty, we don’t care what other people think,” Snyder said. “We just believe in ourselves. I think this gives us a huge amount of momentum, ability and belief. We believe in our defense can carry us along until our offense start to get it going just like we did last year.”

But doesn’t this take away the element of surprise for Defiance. Haines admitted that it does, but it may not really matter.

“Adrian is probably the best team we’ll face all year, and the rest of the conference will know we’re a team to beat,” Haines said. “Last year, we surprised a lot of people. Beating Adrian, they know we’re a pretty good team and we’re won’t surprise anybody this year.”

Taylor said his defense is allowing his offense to come into its own and at its own pace, hopefully in time for conference play.

“When you have a defense that’s as good as ours, and they just run around and cause havoc like a wrecking crew, you can be relaxed,” Taylor said. “You don’t have the push the envelope on offense and you can play smart.”

In an effort for full disclosure, Adrian All-American returner and wide receiver D.J. Howard left the game early in the first quarter to a knee injury and did not return. Adrian coach Jim Lyall said losing Howard was big, but didn’t want to blame the loss of his absence.

“Defiance was determined, made the most of their opportunities and played very well,” Lyall said. “Any time you lose a player of the caliber of D.J. Howard, it’s going hurt, but we play this game as a team and other people have to step up. Defiance’s defense was outstanding.”

New quarterback, big win 

It was good week for the HCAC. Franklin sophomore quarterback Chad Rupp, earned HCAC offensive player of the week honors, completing 20 of 24 passes for 238 yards and four touchdowns in a 45-38 overtime win over nationally ranked Wabash. Rupp, subbing for a second week for starter Ty Fritz, took most of the reps in the win. Danny Sears had five kickoff returns for 163 yards in receiving conference special team honors as well as Franklin. Two long kickoff returns set up scores for the Grizzlies.

Concordia’s win victory for IBC

The Illini-Badger Conference doesn’t receive much publicity nationally, but Concordia (Wis.) struck one for the little guy in its overtime win over then nationally-ranked North Central Saturday. Concordia, one of the favorites to win the conference, wasn’t expected to beat North Central, but the Cardinals had to battle back from a 17-point halftime deficit just to get the game into overtime. Running back Aaron Gillespie rushed for 174 yards and 33 carries to lead Concordia to victory.

Players of the Week

In the CCIW, Carthage’s Brennan O’Boyle led his team to 21-14 win over Lakeland, completing 18 of 26 passes for 195 yards and rushing for another 50 on 14 carries. Andy Studebaker, a defensive end from Wheaton, recorded two sacks in a 29-7 win against Albion.

Midwest Conference: Dante Daniels rushed for 205 yards and four touchdowns as Monmouth whipped Lawrence 49-6. Daniels has now rushed over 100 yards in Monmouth’s first two games. Ripon’s defensive end Jotham Darrin intercepted a third-quarter pass and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown in Ripon’s 35-27 win against Lake Forest.