ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, September 20, 1996 TAG: 9609200033
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DANIEL UTHMAN STAFF WRITER
ABOUT THE ONLY THING the two Division III football programs have in common these days is difficulty finding opponents.
Rowan College's football team would be better off playing closer to home this weekend. Ferrum College's football team couldn't find many better opponents. But the Panthers certainly could find a more fitting one than the Profs, two-time participants in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl.
Instead, the powerful, state-school Profs will visit private Ferrum at 1:30 p.m. Saturday for the schools' third meeting. It's an inconvenient trip for a game that's a marriage of convenience. The two football teams weren't made for each other, but they do need each other.
Rowan, in Glassboro, N.J., could save time and money by playing schools just over the border in Pennsylvania, but can't find any takers. Ferrum could find many more suitable opponents in the state of Virginia, particularly in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference.
The Panthers play two ODAC-member schools in 1996, Emory & Henry and Guilford.
Rowan and Ferrum have just nine games on their schedules this season - only four at home. Ferrum expects to play 10 in 1997, but athletic director Dr. T. Michael Kinder said, ``It has to be the right 10,'' meaning no more trips to Cortland (N.Y.) State. Rowan may be down to eight games.
``Ferrum's like we are,'' said K.C. Keeler, the Profs' coach. ``They'll play anybody.''
Ferrum has to because it's not in a conference. Rowan competes in the New Jersey Athletic Conference, but that accounts for only five games a year. Where the rest come from is anybody's guess.
The Profs created some of their problems. With a large budget and an influx of NCAA Division I players and junior college transfers in the early 1990s, Rowan tapped into a talent pipeline that still flows today.
``Division III has really changed,'' said Dave Davis, Ferrum's coach. ``The last four years it has become a dumping ground for really good athletes who aren't eligible elsewhere or athletes who aren't happy at their Division I schools.''
Davis estimated those athletes are heading to 10 percent of the nation's Division III schools. Ferrum is not in that 10 percent.
Yet, the Panthers were one of the first schools to land a Division I transfer when Chris Warren, now a Pro Bowl running back for the NFL's Seattle Seahawks, arrived at Ferrum in 1987. Since then, the school has modified its philosophy of sports, taking the emphasis off wins and losses and putting it on grades and graduation. No time is set aside exclusively for student activities. Many classes loaded with football players meet during practice time.
Rowan and many other programs, including Wesley (Del.), Methodist (N.C.) and Bridgewater, have gone in the opposite direction, spending more money. Last year that philosophy allowed Keeler to go to California to find one defensive end.
More and more admissions offices are looking at large football programs to increase enrollment. Coaches are not just recruiting for the teams, they're recruiting for the schools.
``It's up to each school what they want to do,'' Davis said. ``A lot of schools are going in other directions because enrollments are down.''
Davis said that when the Panthers landed Warren and had more than their traditional success, other schools didn't want to play them.
Rowan is in the same situation now. The Profs have 19 new transfers on this year's roster. To fill a void at linebacker, they brought in three junior college players and a transfer from Nebraska (yes, that Nebraska), Ramone Worthy. They also have a cornerback from Penn State, a tight end from Rutgers, a defensive tackle from Alcorn State and an offensive lineman from Marshall. Only Worthy is a starter.
In addition, Rowan's quarterback, Greg Lister, spent time as a student at Maryland and Pitt. Ferrum assistant Paul Castonia actually coached Lister at Maryland - in 1990.
The Profs were ranked in the top six in every preseason national poll. They have been to Salem to play in two of the past three Stagg Bowls and wouldn't surprise anyone if they returned in December. Yet for all their dressing up, they have no place to go.
One loss can cost many teams a spot in the Division III playoffs, even if it is to a team the caliber of the Profs.
``When we got good, people dropped us,'' Keeler said.
``I called a school in another region this morning,'' Keeler said Tuesday. ``It has a similar size and population, we're actually a stronger school academically, and they won't touch us. They told me, `And you might as well not call anyone in our region, because they won't play you, either.'''
Ferrum's scheduling woes aren't that dire, and Davis said the Panthers' travel situation actually is much-improved. Ferrum was close to beginning a series with Salisbury (Md.) State this season and likely will do so in 1997. The Panthers also have spoken with representatives of VMI about a game in the near future.
There still seems to be hesitation among some Division III schools, particularly in the South Region, to play the Panthers, however. Whether it is because of their past junior college status or something else, no one will say.
Greensboro (N.C.) College, which shares Dixie Intercollegiate Athletic Conference membership with Ferrum in other sports, recently decided to start a football program. It immediately was mentioned as a potential ODAC member, not Ferrum or Methodist, another Dixie member. Greensboro, seemingly a natural rival for the Panthers, has not contacted Ferrum about scheduling any games. Few schools do.
``I'd love to play more schools in our region,'' Davis said. (Five of Ferrum's 1996 opponents have full membership in the Division III South Region.) ``They're not calling me, though.''
Until the Panthers get into a conference, scheduling is likely to be an annual chore. ``Maybe if we keep losing games,'' Kinder said only half-jokingly, ``it'll make it a lot easier.''
LENGTH: Long : 111 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 1. File/1993. Coach K.C. Keeler hopes to lead his Rowanby CNBProfs to Salem's Stagg Bowl for the third time in four years. 2.
Ferrum College. Ferrum coach Dave Davis says, ``Division III has
really changed,'' but teams still won't play his Panthers.