Midview graduate Josiah Holt was named the Ohio Athletic Conference Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance in the Yellow Jackets’ 75-0 victory at Wilmington College on Saturday.

The Baldwin-Wallace sophomore is a wide receiver and kickoff return specialist for the Yellow Jackets.

Holt returned the second half kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown. It marked his second kick return for TD in his two years with the Yellow Jackets. This season, Holt tops the Yellow Jackets in both receiving and kick returns. He has a team-high 20 catches for 220 yards and two TD’s. He also has returned eight kickoffs for a 27.6-yard average.

The victory improved B-W’s record to 6-1 overall and 5-1 in the OAC.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

The Baldwin-Wallace College defense forced five turnovers (4 interceptions and one fumble) and running backs Willie Jackson (Citrus Springs, Fla./Crystal River) and Tyler Lohr (Kent/Roosevelt) rushed for 119 and 112 yards as the Yellow Jackets defeated Marietta College, 17-7, today in an Ohio Athletic Conference game in the Don Drumm Stadium.

With the victory, the Yellow Jackets improved to 3-1 overall and 2-1 in the OAC.

Both teams were held scoreless both were responsible for causing three turnovers in the opening period. The Yellow Jackets first forced a fumble by senior linebacker Matt Higginbotham (Hartville/Uniontown Lake) and senior linebacker John Harasyn (Mentor) fell on the loose ball. B-W tallied its second takeaway when junior cornerback Brandon Russo (Olmsted Falls) intercepted from Marietta quarterback Andrew Keller. The Pioneers were able to intercept Yellow Jacket junior quarterback Ryan O’Rourke (Avon) in the back of the end zone.

In the second quarter, B-W and Marietta each continued to be plagued by turnovers as both teams each threw an interception. Sophomore corner back Kevin Johnson (Maple Heights/St. Ignatius) recorded his first career interception for the Yellow Jackets. B-W got the lone points of the half when sophomore placekicker Chris Mohler (Kent/Roosevelt) connected on his first career field goal from 20-yards as time expired.

The Pioneers took their first lead of the game when wide receiver Tannon Roberts caught the nine yard touchdown pass off the hands of senior linebacker Brett Thompson (Shelby) from quarterback Kyle Shackle with the 3:01 left in the third quarter. Nathan Zarnoksi tacked on the extra point for the 7-3 advantage. The Marietta drive was aided by two 15-yard penalties (roughing the punter & pass interference) by the Yellow Jackets.

B-W regained the lead (10-7) when Lohr scored the go ahead touchdown on a nine yard run and Mohler add his first career extra point with 14:00 minutes remaining in the game. Lohr accounted for all 44 yards on the Yellow Jacket drive.

B-W extended its lead with 6:59 left as Harasyn gathered his second turnover of the game on an interception off the tipped pass from junior safety Tom Goebel (Parma/Padua Franciscan) and took it 48 yards to paydirt. Mohler tacked on the extra point to make the lead 17-7. Harasyn has accounted for all of the Yellow Jacket defensive touchdowns this season as he already returned a 68-yard fumble against Wooster in the season-opener.

In addition to the five turnovers, B-W tallied six sacks as senior defensive end Derron Hamilton (Euclid) accounted for three and half sacks. Hamilton has had seven sacks in the last two games.

courtesy of Baldwin-Wallace

Amherst’s Ryan Kish, a Baldwin-Wallace middle linebacker, was named to the second team of the Division III All-Ohio team.

Kish, who was a two-time All-OAC linebacker, including first-team honors this fall, ends his career ninth on the all-time tackle list with 270 career tackles. He was second on the team this season with 80 tackles, including 14 tackles for losses of 48 yards and 4.5 sacks. Kish also led the team with 35 solo tackles, forced two fumbles, recovered two others, intercepted one pass and had four other breakups.

Last year, Kish led the Yellow Jackets with 90 tackles. He was a four-year starter at outside (freshman and sophomore) and then middle linebacker (junior and senior).

The Yellow Jackets had an outstanding turnabout season and finished with a 7-3 record after compiling a 3-7 mark in 2009.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS — The Cuyahoga Gold Bowl is staying in John Carroll for another year.

Despite coming back from 24-7 deficit, Balwin-Wallace’s comeback attempt came up short, falling for the third-straight season to John Carroll, 31-28 in the annual Cuyahoga Gold Bowl game on a sunny Saturday afternoon at Don Shula Stadium.

Quarterback Ryan O’Rourke led the Yellow Jackets down the field in the last 4:38 for a 12-play, 66-yard drive that was capped off by a Kyrell Cook 1-yard TD run to cut the deficit to three with 1:04 left in the game.

However, the ensuing on-side kick attempt was recovered by John Carroll, who then ran out the clock for the season-finale win.

"It was a pretty exciting for us and our seniors, everybody is ecstatic," O’Brien said.

Baldwin-Wallace found itself down early, but fought back, as its slim playoff hopes would’ve been still alive with a win.

However, tailback DaQuan Grobsmith and quarterback Devin O’Brien had other ideas. Grobsmith rushed for three touchdowns and a career-high 189 yards on 20 carries, while O’Brien rushed for 120 yards on 19 carries.

John Carroll wasted no time, scoring on its first possession. A 47-yard reception by Frank Ross from O’Brien was the key play as Grobsmith capped it off with a 9-yard TD run to give John Carroll an early 7-0 lead.

Baldwin-Wallace answered back on a third-down-and-seven play. O’Rourke was chased out of the pocket and hounded by two defenders before throwing a jump pass to the sideline of the end zone to a jumping Aaron Hurd, who hauled it in before going out of bounds. After D.J. Debick picked off an O’Rourke pass on B-W’s next possession, Grobsmith was able to bully his way in from 4-yards out to score his second touchdown of the first quarter for a 14-7 lead.

Grobsmith added his third touchdown in the second quarter on a 8-yard TD run, pushing the lead to 21-7.

"This was huge for us," John Carroll head coach Regis Scafe said. "This was a good way to end the year and set the tone for next year. (B-W) is a good football team. This was no gimme victory. We had to earn this thing. Our kids played their hearts out and I’m really proud of them."

Despite a four-win improvement from last year, B-W head coach John Snell didn’t expect to lose.

"It was a very disappointing loss," Snell said. "I really thought we were in a position to finish the season at 8-2 and have a possible playoff opportunity depending on what else happened in the conference, but we didn’t get it done. We didn’t play well enough in the first half and didn’t take advantage of our opportunities and had too many penalties that cost us. You can’t do that against a team like John Carroll."

After a Brad Marchese 19-yard field goal to take a 24-7 lead, B-W used some trickery to try to cut the deficit before halftime. O’Rourke lateralled to Anthony Fairhurst, who then threw across the field, connecting on a 41-yard TD pass to Cook. That cut the deficit to 24-14 going into halftime.

A Kevin Johnson 62-yard kickoff return to open the second half set up another score to cut the deficit to three. O’Rouke scored on a 6-yard quarterback keeper to keep the Yellow Jackets in the game.

B-W’s defense did its job on the Blue Streaks’ first possession in the second half. On a fourth-and-four in B-W territory, O’Brien’s pass was knocked away and B-W took over on downs and halted a potential scoring drive.

"It’s awful (coming up short)," said O’Rourke, an Avon graduate and 2008 Lorain County Golden Helmet Award winner. "8-2 sounded really good and now we’re 7-3 and it’s obviously not what we wanted, but there were some key mistakes in the game by me.

"We had a great turn around. Nobody expected us to do anything good this year, but we had four more wins than they had last year. We wish we could’ve send the seniors out a better way, but it was a good season."

However, B-W was unable to capitalize and on the following John Carroll possession, Frank Ross scored on a 5-yard TD run that capped off a 9-play, 74 yard drive, to make it 31-21.

B-W used some more trickery, this time with Danny Reineck taking a handoff, then threw downfield to Aaron Manders, who out jumped his defender and pulled in the 42-yard catch. The big play didn’t pay dividends as kicker Kevin Pollock missed to the left on a 30-yard field goal attempt on a fourth-and-20.

"Overall, it’s been an awfully good year," Snell said. "Our kids have done a great job, our seniors have done a great job, considering the season that we had last year. They’ve done a great job getting us back on track. The hope and plan is we can build from here and keep getting better. I’m proud of our kids for having this kind of season."

J.J. Laseak and Ryan Kish led the Yellow Jackets defense. Laseak had 11 tackles, while Kish had 10.

"We just got down early," Kish said. "Once we adjusted, we were fine, but we dug ourselves a hole. We left everything out there and it was a lot of fun. I wish we would’ve came out on top, but we still went 7-3 after going 3-7 last year. It was a really fun year."

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Transferring isn’t always easy.

For former Lorain County Golden Helmet Award winner Ryan O’Rourke, he made it look just that.

After playing in six games as a true freshman at Slippery Rock (Division II) last season, he transferred to Baldwin-Wallace (D-III) and has excelled beyond expectations through nine games this year.

On the season, the Yellow Jackets boast a 7-2 record, after going 3-7 last season. O’Rourke, an Avon graduate, has started all nine games and completed 102 of 187 passes for 1,352 yards, including 15 touchdowns. His quarterback efficiency is 132.12.

"I knew I had to prove myself, coming down from D-II to D-III," O’Rourke said. "I had a lot of preparation coming into the season. I just let that do the talking. We’ve had a good season so far, but we’ve let two slip away."

Despite playing six games, including two starts last year at Slippery Rock, O’Rourke says he feels more comfortable at B-W.

"Obviously, the offenses are different," said O’Rourke, who completed 23 of 51 passes for 324 yards, including two TDs at Slippery Rock. "It’s a lot more fun and suitable here for me. Nothing against Slippery Rock or anything, but I love my teammates here and I can’t wait to keep playing with these guys two more years."

The Yellow Jackets have only two losses this season. Beside a 41-21 loss to Ohio Northern four weeks ago, B-W’s only other loss came against the nation’s second-ranked team in Division III Mount Union, 41-13 last Saturday. B-W gave it all it could against the Purple Raiders, even being tied 13-13 after one quarter and being down just 20-13 at halftime, but Mount Union scored 28 unanswered points to put the game and Ohio Athletic Conference title away.

"We knew we had a good chance and felt we could compete against them," O’Rourke said. "The intensity was there in the first half, but we let it slip in the second. They had some long drives and we had some turnovers. That’s not a good mix."

O’Rourke completed 12 of 22 passes for 166 yards with a TD but was picked off three times.

"They chose to tighten up a little and send more pressure," O’Rourke said. "I knew I was going to take some shots, but I just had to stand in there and deliver some throws.

"It’s frustrating because we were in it really until early in the fourth quarter. We’re a young offense. We let some mistakes get the better of us. We can’t let that happen."

O’Rourke is pleased with his first season at B-W and looks forward to playing two more years.

Earlier this season, O’Rourke was chosen the Ohio Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week as he shined in his very first game with B-W. He completed 9 of 13 passes for 154 yards and threw three touchdowns in a 38-14 win over Wooster. He threw TD passes of 40-, 59-, and 19-yards.

He then topped that performance on Oct. 23 against Wilmington College when he threw four touchdown passes in a 38-0 win over the Quakers. He completed 19 of 26 passes for 259 yards, including the four scores.

O’Rourke broke almost every passing record at Avon and set Lorain County records for touchdowns in a season and a career, until this year when Elyria Catholic’s Danny Reaser broke it. His senior season, he threw for 2,374 yards and 33 touchdowns and led Avon to a 12-1 season, which included two playoff wins before losing its only game to Sunbury Big Walnut in the D-III regional final. He also received the Lorain County Golden Helmet Award, All-Ohio First Team and All-District Offensive Player of the Year, among other accolades.

Baldwin-Wallace will improve last year’s win total by five games if they defeat John Carroll at Don Shula Stadium on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

BEREA — It was the classic tale of two halves.

In an intense battle for an Ohio Athletic Conference title, it was a strong second-half by Mount Union that surged the Purple Raiders past Baldwin-Wallace, winning their 100th consecutive road game in a 41-13 defeat over the Yellow Jackets at George Finnie Stadium in Berea.

With the win, Mount Union earned at least a share of its 19th-straight conference title (22nd overall). The win also gets the Purple Raiders an automatic bid into the NCAA Division III playoffs.

Before the game, the teams couldn’t contain their excitement and had to be separated after a pre-game scuffle took place. The intensity carried on and the first quarter brought plenty of action as both teams scored two touchdowns each and the game was knotted up at 13.

Midview’s Josiah Holt returned the opening kickoff 45 yards, but a B-W penalty backed the ball back to the 20-yard line. After three-straight runs by Tim Miker, quarterback Ryan O’Rourke went to the air, throwing a 50-yard touchdown bomb to Kevin Johnson to take an early 7-0 lead. That was the largest deficit Mount Union has had all season.

"We felt good about ourselves scoring in the first try," B-W head coach John Snell said. "We’re not in it for moral victories. We wanted to come away with a win. We did a lot of good things. The game seemed closer than what the score indicates, but we wanted to win."

Mount Union wasted no time as Cecil Shorts returned the ensuing kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown to knot the score quickly at 7.

"That was the biggest play of the game right there," Mount Union head coach Larry Kehres said. "(Shorts) is an irreplaceable player. When he’s playing, the game changes for the defense. He’s a huge factor."

Shorts was making a return after missing four weeks with an ankle injury.

"Four weeks not playing was killing me inside," said Shorts, who led Mount Union with three touchdowns. "I just wanted to get back out there and contribute in some type of way for the team."

O’Rourke was intercepted on the next possession by Jordan and although Mount Union had a nice drive going, a Jeremy Murray 18-yard run went for naught as he fumbled at the 2-yard line. B-W’s Brandon Russo recovered the fumble to halt the drive.

Mount Union’s defense then stopped the Yellow Jackets to a three-and-out before Seaman delivered a jump ball to Miller, who caught the touchdown in the back of the end zone. B-W blocked the extra-point attempt by Elyria's Tyler Almeida as Mount Union led, 13-7.

After a 49-yard kickoff return by Kevin Johnson, O’Rourke orchestrated a 6-play 50-yard drive that was capped off by a Miker 1-yard TD run. Kicker Brad Pollock’s PAT went wide left and that tied the score at 13 at the 1:18 mark of the first quarter. The TD was Miker’s seventh of the season.

After a B-W defensive stop late in the second quarter, Mount Union caught a break when Ryan Dugan fumbled a punt near the 10-yard line. Quarterback Neal Seaman made the Yellow Jackets pay on the first play, throwing a 12-yard TD pass to Kyle Miller for a 20-13 lead.

The momentum carried forward as Mount Union mounted a 6-play, 71-yard drive to open up the second half, capped off by Shorts’ third touchdown of the game. Seaman delivered a 16-yard TD pass to the back of the end zone and Shorts hauled it in. After an Almeida extra-point, Mount Union grabbed a 27-13 lead.

B-W had a chance to cut the two-touchdown deficit to seven late in the third quarter, but on fourth-down-and-inches, O’Rourke pitched to Miker, who attempted to throw in the end zone to Aaron Manders, but two Purple Raider defenders were there to break it up.

Mount Union’s defense held the Yellow Jackets scoreless for the last three quarters and recorded six sacks and three interceptions. Lambert Budzinski picked up sacks on back-to-back plays. Charles Dieuseul also added three sacks.

"We wanted to keep that bend, but don’t break mentality," Budzinski said. "We knew it was going to be a tight game. The score doesn’t reflect how physical and how hard hitting the game really was. In the second half, we didn’t make a lot of changes. We just stuck to our game plan and went with what we knew and what we expected them to do and it really payed off."

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Amherst's Ryan Kish has eclipsed more than 200 tackles in his college career at Baldwin-Wallace.

Kish is just one of 15 Yellow Jackets to surpass that total. He currently has 247 career tackles.

Kish had seven tackles in Saturday's 38-0 win over Wilmington.

Baldwin-Wallace will travel to Muskingum this Saturday before hosting Mount Union on Nov. 6.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Avon’s Ryan O’Rourke threw four touchdown passes, leading Baldwin-Wallace to an Ohio Athletic Conference shutout over Wilmington College on Tressel Field at The George Finnie Stadium.

O’Rourke completed 19 of 26 passes for 259 yards and the four TDs, and the Yellow Jacket offense outgained the Quakers, 433-145.

B-W opened the scoring at 4:40 mark of the first quarter when O’Rourke threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Tiffin Columbian’s Aaron Hurd to cap a 6-play, 54-yard drive.

B-W increased its lead to 14-0 when O’Rourke threw a 28-yard TD pass to Devin Woods (Naples, Fla./ Golden Gate) on a ball that deflected off of a Wilmington players hands.

B-W’s lead grew to 24-0 before halftime when O’Rourke threw his third TD pass of the game, this one a 23-yarder to junior Dan Turner (Youngstown/Ursuline).

O’Rourke tossed his career-high fourth TD pass to Westerville North’s Troy Van Meter, who caught a career-high nine passes for 113 yards.

North Ridgeville’s John McGraw led the running game with 59 yards in 11 attempts.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Baldwin-Wallace lost to Ohio Athletic Conference rival and 13th-ranked Ohio Northern University, 41-21 at Dial-Roberson Stadium in Ada. The loss snapped a five-game Yellow Jacket win streak.

With its win, Ohio Northern is now 5-1 overall and 4-1 in the OAC. The Yellow Jackets are now 5-1 overall and 4-1 in the OAC.

Down 7-0, Avon’s Ryan O’Rourke threw a 56-yard touchdown pass to St. Ignatius’ Kevin Johnson to tie the game at 7.

Down 14-7, O’Rourke scored on a 7-yard TD run, capping a 13-play, 60-yard drive.
Ohio Northern then scored 21-straight points to close out the half with a 35-14 lead.
In the third quarter, North Ridgeville’s John McGraw scored on a 1-yard TD run, capping a 12 play 93-yard drive, making the score 35-21.

O’Rourke completed 12 of 23 passes for 182 yards and a touchdown. McGraw rushed for 44 yards and one TD. Midview’s Josiah Holt caught four passes for 33 yards.

On defense, Amherst’s Ryan Kish led the Yellow Jackets with nine tackles and two tackles for loss.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Midview’s Josiah Holt returned one of two kickoffs and Avon’s Ryan O’Rourke threw for a touchdown as Baldwin-Wallace pulled out a one-point victory over Ohio Athletic Conference rival Otterbein University, 35-34 Saturday on Tressel Field at The George Finnie Stadium.

With the Yellow Jackets trailing 34-28, B-W went on an 8-play, 59-yard game-winning drive that was capped when Parma’s Tim Miker scored on a 23-yard run to tie the score at 34-34. Then, following an Otterbein timeout, Brecksville’s Brad Pollock kicked the game-winning point for the win.

With its victory, B-W is now 5-0 overall and 4-0 in the OAC. The 5-0 start is B-W’s first since 2004.

The Yellow Jackets opened the scoring in the first quarter, taking a 7-0 lead when O’Rourke threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Edison’s Josh Oswald.

Holt returned a kickoff 90 yards for the third kick return for a touchdown of the game. That gave the Yellow Jackets a 21-20 lead.

The Yellow Jackets were led offensively by Miker with 70 rushing yards in 10 attempts, including the game-tying TD, North Ridgeville’s John McGraw with 53 yards in 12 attempts and O’Rourke who completed 9 of 18 passes for 103 yards and a TD.

The defense was led by Amherst’s Ryan Kish, the reigning OAC Defensive Player of the Week, with nine tackles, three tackles for loss and one quarterback sack.

The Yellow Jackets are back in action next Saturday, Oct. 16 when they travel to Ada, Ohio to play 16th-ranked Ohio Northern University at Dials-Roberson Stadium at 1:30 p.m.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Amherst’s Ryan Kish was named the Ohio Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week after his outstanding game last Saturday in a 39-9 win over Marietta.

Kish had a game-high 12 tackles, including 2.5 quarterback sacks for minus 14 yards and three total tackles for minus 16 yards. Kish also forced a Pioneer quarterback to hurry a pass that was intercepted and returned for a touchdown.

This season, Kish tops B-W in tackles with 35, QB sacks with 3.5 and tackles for loss with 5.5. He also returned a fumble 23 yards for a touchdown in B-W’s 35-20 win versus Heidelberg University on Sept. 18.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Avon’s Ryan O’Rourke completed 20 of 29 passes for 223 yards and a touchdown, while also running for another as Baldwin-Wallace remained unbeaten at 4-0 overall with a 39-9 victory on Saturday over Marietta on Tressel Field at The George Finnie Stadium in Berea.

The Yellow Jackets remained in first place in the Ohio Athletic Conference with a 3-0 league mark.

O’Rourke put the Yellow Jackets up 16-3 with a one-yard quarterback sneak then helped extend the lead to 26-9 when he threw a 25-yard TD pass to North Ridgeville’s John McGraw.

Midview’s Josiah Holt tied for the team lead with six catches. Amherst’s Ryan Kish was the leader defensively with 12 tackles, including 2.5 quarterback sacks and 3.5 tackles for lost yardage.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Avon’s Ryan O’Rourke combined with junior running back Parma’s Tim Miker for 198 yards rushing as Baldwin-Wallace defeated Ohio Athletic Conference rival Heidelberg University, 35-20 Saturday at Mayer Field in Tiffin, improving to a perfect 3-0 this season.

O’Rourke ran for a career-high 119 yards in 10 attempts and completed 3 of 12 passes for 40 yards and a TD. Miker ran for 87 yards in 24 attempts with two TD.

Overall, B-W ran for 285 yards in 57 attempts compared to 114 for Heidelberg in 35 carries.

B-W had a 14-0 lead with 49 seconds left in the opening quarter when its defense created a turnover. On a first-and-10 play, Heidelberg quarterback Andrew Miller was dropped for a nine-yard loss by Elyria’s Sonny Hazelwood, fumbled the ball at the 25 yard line, and Amherst’s Ryan Kish picked up the loose ball and ran 23 yards for a touchdown.

B-W extended its lead to 21-0 right before halftime as O’Rourke threw a 33-yard TD pass to Aaron Manders. The TD was O’Rourke’s fourth of the season.

On defense, Hazelwood led the Yellow Jackets with six tackles, including 1.5 for loss and a caused fumble.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Avon’s Ryan O’Rourke and Parma Senior’s Tim Miker each ran for more than 100 yards as Baldwin-Wallace defeated Ohio Athletic Conference rival Heidelberg University, 35-20 at Mayer Field in Tiffin on Saturday.

The win improves the Yellow Jackets to a perfect 3-0.

O’Rourke ran for a career-high 119 yards in 10 attempts and completed 3 of 12 passes for 40 yards and a touchdown. Miker ran for 101 yards in 24 attempts with two TDs. Overall, B-W ran for 285 yards in 57 attempts compared to 114 for Heidelberg in 35 carries.

On a 1st-and-10 play, Heidelberg senior quarterback Andrew Miller was dropped for nine-yard loss by Elyria’s Sonny Hazelwood, fumbled the ball at the 25 yard line, and Amherst’s Ryan Kish picked up the loose ball and ran 23 yards for a TD.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Avon’s Ryan O’Rourke was named this week’s Ohio Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week for his efforts in last Thursday’s 38-14 season-opening victory against The College of Wooster at The George Finnie Stadium in Berea.

O’Rourke, who transferred to B-W from NCAA Division III Slippery Rock University last winter, completed 9 of 13 passes for 154 yards and three touchdowns in his first game as a Yellow Jacket. He threw TD passes of 40 yards to Keith Darbut on the first play of the game and 59 and 19 yards to Brett Jensen, who is also from Avon. O’Rourke and Jensen were both teammates at Avon and at Slippery Rock before both transferred to B-W last winter.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

North Ridgeville’s John McGraw helped get the Yellow Jackets off to a good start, gaining 65 yards on 13 carries in Baldwin-Wallace’s 38-14 win over Wooster on Thursday.

McGraw, who missed virtually the 2008 season with injury after a solid freshman season in 2007 in which he rushed for 211 yards. After having work done on his meniscus on the first day of camp last year, he returned in Week 2 and got a few carries, but the next week in practice, he tore his ACL and needed another surgery.

"I actually had knee surgery my sophomore year in high school too," McGraw said. "I said if it happened again, I was done (with football). But the second time having been through it before, I knew what I had to do to get back. It was hard. A lot of hard work to get back and I had people supporting me through it."

McGraw bounced back after surgery to lead the Yellow Jackets with nine rushing touchdowns in 2009 and piled up 486 yards on the ground. He also caught 14 passes.

"I don’t mind it (playing in the slot back)," McGraw said. "I’m getting used to it, but it took some time because I’ve always been a running back. Last year, I was sent in motion, running sweeps and catching bubble passes.

"It was like a glorified running back but teams started to key on that. So in spring ball, I started practicing running wide receiver routes, just to confuse the defense and give them another look. I’m excited to see where I’ll be this season."

swalker@MorningJournal.com