Six Division II-III Maryland Colleges In Different Top 25 Fall Sports
Sometimes we only focus on the FB
S rankings or just Division I Men’s/Women’s Soccer, but as I looked into all colleges in the state of Maryland, I found something that grabbed my attention. We have SIX schools that are currently ranked with their fall sports program in the Top 25. Here they all are:
Bowie State Bullgogs (Division II Football – Central)
After a 41-10 thrashing of Chowan University, Bowie State (6-0; 3-0 Central Conference) jumped five spots in the latest AFCA Coaches Division II Poll from #19 to #14.
This is a high-powered offense indeed. The Bulldogs have racked up 3,544 offense yards (574 yards per game). QB Amir Hill has been super-efficient, going 130 for 185 with 1983 yards and 24 TDs. He has only thrown two INTs in their first six games. With a running game that has produced 19 TDs of it’s own, RB Robert Chesson leads the Bulldogs with 639 yards and 9 TDs.
Another thing in the Bulldogs favor is it’s turnover ratio (+8). They put their undefeated record on the line this Saturday when they travel to Virginia State (2:00 PM).
Johns Hopkins Blue Jays (Division III – Centennial – Football – M Soccer – W Soccer – W Volleyball)
Here is a dominant school in all of it’s fall sports.
First, their football progam, Ranked #22 (5-1; 4-1) in the latest Division III poll. They defeated Franklin & Marshall last Saturday, 45-7, to win the school’s 24th consecutive game in the month of October. When they lost at Ursinus back on September 30, 21-17, it was the school’s first regular season loss in nearly five years (11/3/2012 14-12 loss at Franklin & Marshall).
With all the dominance that the Blue Jays have had during the regular season, I’m sure they would trade in a few of those regular season wins for a Division III Championship. Let’s hope this is their year.
Both their men’s and women’s soccer teams are in the Top 25 (Men are #25/Women are #11). In 13 games, GK Bryan See has faced 35 shots on goal. He has only allowed THREE of those to escape past him in to the net. Achim Younker leads the team with 12 goals. The men are currently 11-1-1 overall (4-0-1 Centennial Conference).
On the women’s side, they have been just as dominant on both offense and defense too. Tandem GK Bess Kitzmiller has started nine games with 24 saves and only allowing seven goals. Teammate Robyn Lipschultz has started four games, has not allowed a single goal, while saving seven shots. The women have a 10-2-1 overall record (5-0-0 Centennial Conference).
To follow up the dominance of Johns Hopkins sports programs is the women’s volleyball team. Currently ranked #18 in Division III, the Lady Blue Jays lost two of its first three games. Since then, they have won 15 consecutive matches. In that streak, they have only dropped ONE set (25-22 2nd set at Washington College back on September 27th). There are only seven regular season matches left in the season, five of them in the Centennial Conference.
Stevenson Mustangs (Division III Women’s Volleyball – Centennial)
The Lady Mustangs on our a run of their own, winning 10 consecutive matches, the last being a 3-0 blanking of Juniata. With the victory, Stevenson finds itself 22-1 overall (5-0 Centennial Conference).
Head coach Dave Trumbo has a 301-81 (.788) record with the Lady Mustangs. He has also recorded at least 20 victories in all but one season. He has taken them to six consecutive NCAA Division III Tournaments. He also ranks in the top 10 of current active Division III coaches.
Something tells me, come tournament time, we may have two state-wide Division III women’s teams in the tournament (with Johns Hopkins being the other).
