NDC Football Pegged As Top Squad In Preseason Poll.

Pete Valerian

Aug 17, 20224 min read

The Notre Dame College Falcons were pegged as the top team in the Mountain East Conference as voted on by the league coaches. NDC is coming off a fourth straight conference championship last season. They defeated Slippery Rock in the opening round of the playoffs, the third consecutive season that NDC has won at least one playoff game after an 11-2 season (9-1 MEC.)

NDC Head Coach Garrett Mack talked about that a little bit:

"There has been a lot of great tradition here by going into the playoffs, making playoff runs and winning the conference four straight years, "Mack explained. That is a huge testament to what we have done in the past."

Mack continued:

"Over the course of the spring and summer our guys have worked very, very hard trying to master their craft. So far in camp, you see a lot of new guys stepping up and filling the void of guys who graduated over time... our guys have that edge about them right now, that last year was last year and even though everything didn't go the way we wanted them to go. What can we do this offseason and training camp this season to take it to the next level. That's the big message we have right now."

NDC received 119 votes and 10 first place votes in the poll. The Falcons return nine All-MEC players from a season ago. Quarterback Chris Brimm who has thrown for over 9,000 yards in his Falcons career, Nick Beans and Adam Riegler on the offensive line as Jimmy Burchett, Brandon Nicholson and Mike Kyle have departed.

The running backs room sees the return of Idris Lawrence and Tyris Dickerson. The receivers returning are Jeremy Hamilton and Davis Patterson. Top receiver Devainaire Conliffe has moved on after leading the team with over 1,000 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns last year.

On the defensive side of the ball the Falcons return six players to a unit that led the country in takeaways (36,) and interceptions (21.) Nathan Moore leads the returning group with 257 career tackles, Jack Kosko also returns with his 125 tackles and 19.5 career sacks. Antonio Holloway II led the team with six interceptions and was an All-American as a sophomore last season. Tavon Hooks also returns. He has 109 tackles and 24 pass breakups in his career. MEC Defensive Player Of The Year Guam Lee has departed with Noah Harris-Lyles and Dylan Spaeth also having departed.

Punter Dominic Buttazoni returns as he pinned the opposition inside the 20 yard line 18 times and had a total of 1,828 yards. Cameron Shirkey will take over the kicking duties after being the kickoff specialist last season after Tanner Harding departed. Frostburg State received the other two first place votes and was voted second in the poll. They were followed by Charleston, UNC Pembroke is fourth, West Virginia State sits fifth, Fairmont State is in the sixth spot, Concord is picked seventh in the conference, Wheeling is eighth, Glenville State is pegged ninth, while West Liberty, Alderson Broaddus, and West Virginia Wesleyan round out the poll.

Riegler gave his thoughts coming into the season:

"It''s a great feeling being picked at the top, "Riegler mentioned. "It's what gets me up during those tough days knowing that those teams want what we have. I came back for three reasons:

First was simply unfinished business, we've been so close to a national title appearance since i've started playing at NDC . That's the goal I want to do everything I can possible to make it happen but it takes one week at a time. The second reason to stay at NDC is having a chance to have the most wins by a class in school history and the most consecutive starts by a player in any division of NCAA. That would be a pretty special moment. Finally I knew how special this team could be and there was no way I wouldn't be on the field with my brothers!!"

Mack gave the final thoughts:

"We bring back a lot of guys who have played a lot of football. They are tremendous leaders, not only on the field as elite players, but as elite people. They are vocal, they lead by example, they cultivate underclassmen on how to do the right thing."

NDC opens the regular season on September 1st when they travel to Ashland to take on the Eagles. The Thursday night kickoff is slated for 6 PM.

MEC preseason poll (first place votes in parenthesis:)