Since the start of the 2004 season, the Crusaders have played 51 games. That’s the equivalent of five regular seasons - plus one game - in the span of four years.
Fifth-ranked UMHB (11-1) will stretch that number to 52 when it takes on sixth-ranked Wesley (11-1) at 11 a.m. Saturday in a national quarterfinal game in Dover, Del.
So just how beneficial are all of those extra weeks of practice?
“It’s a huge advantage,” Crusaders coach Pete Fredenburg said Monday during his weekly press conference. “It’s phenomenal.
“The rule says that everybody in Division III can workout through the playoffs. But I know if we weren’t in the playoffs and I went to our guys and said, ‘Hey, we’re going to go workout,’ they would just laugh at me.”
And the extra weeks of playoff preparation are a boon to more than just the members of the shortened, 52-man postseason roster.
“Our young guys get to compete against each other and work on their fundamentals while the varsity is in meetings,” Fredenburg explained. “It’s like another spring training for us. It helps our young guys grow and develop and make our program stronger.
“Guys that want to play college football obviously want to go to a place where they can be successful, and our success continually feeds itself. That’s been a real blessing for us.”
There is, however, one small downside. Competing in the postseason can present problems with securing the aforementioned guys who want to play college football before somebody snatches them up.
For example, while Fredenburg and his staff are boarding an airplane bound for Delaware on Friday, other American Southwest Conference coaches will be making plans to watch this weekend’s slate of high school playoff games.
“It’s difficult to balance the playoffs and recruiting,” Fredenburg said. “When we get to play at home, we try to go see players or at least get on the phone with coaches.
“In 2004, we really wanted this tight end out of Kerrville. But Texas Lutheran had already built such a great relationship with him that by the time we got in, we didn’t have a chance.”
Since their first long postseason run in ’04, which didn’t end until the national title game, the Crusaders have tweaked their recruiting process.
“We spend a lot of time in May, trying to isolate and get an idea of the guys we want to recruit,” Fredenburg said. “Then we try to stay in touch with them either through phone calls with the coaches or by letters and e-mails.”
Mix of old and new
With the playoff field whittled to eight teams, there are the usual suspects and some new faces left in the chase for the national championship.
UMHB is in the quarterfinals for the third time in four years. Wesley and No. 2 Wisconsin-Whitewater are making their third consecutive appearance, and No. 7 St. John Fisher (N.Y.) is making its second straight.
No. 14 Wabash (Ind.) is in the quarterfinals for the first time since 2002, No. 3 Central (Iowa) for the first time since 2000, and No. 10 Bethel (Minn.) for the first time ever.
And then there is top-ranked Mount Union (Ohio), which will play a quarterfinal game for the 16th consecutive year.
Here they go again and again
UMHB and Wesley are no strangers to each other. The Crusaders and Wolverines are meeting in the postseason for the third straight year.
Wesley won a second-round tilt 46-36 in Belton in 2005, and the Wolverines won last year’s quarterfinal clash 34-20 in Dover.
In comparing the participation chart from last year’s game with this year’s playoff rosters, UMHB has 24 players back who played in last season’s matchup. Wesley has 25.
Ticket information
Fans can purchase tickets Saturday at the gates of Miller Stadium. Ticket prices are $10 for adults and $5 for students.
The game will kick off at noon Eastern time in Dover, which is 11 a.m. Central time.
