We've got 14 DL's on the roster this season:
#50 Gino Durley, Jr - Senior from Detroit, MI
#71 Chip Holtschlag - Senior from Quincy, IL
#99 Eddy Holtschlag - Junior from Quincy, IL
#98 Gavin Ricketts - Junior from Davie, FL
#92 Kris Harley - Junior from Indianapolis, IN
#90 Jean-Marc Charles - Junior from Davie, FL
#97 Hollis Henry - R-Freshman from Wheaton, IL
#95 Mick Nelson - R-Freshman from Vadnais Heights, MN
#93 Jordan Veloz - R-Freshman from Oak Creek, WI
#51 Colin Olson - R-Freshman from Mt. Prospect, IL
#53 Macae Skaggs - Freshman from Farmington, IL
#69 Khalen Saunders - Freshman from St. Louis, MO
#94 Grant Kasal - Freshman from Westmont, IL
For the players who played at Western last year, here's their stats:
Gino Durley, Jr. - 12 games played (8 started), 52 total tackles (28 solo), 8 tackles for loss including 4 sacks, 1 fumble recovery
Chip Holtschlag - 11 games played (11 started), 42 total tackles (22 solo), 6 tackles for loss including 2 sacks
Eddy Holtschlag - 12 games played (1 started), 20 total tackles (11 solo), 4 tackles for loss including 2 sacks
Gavin Ricketts - 12 games played (1 started), 17 total tackles (7 solo), 3.5 tackles for loss including 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble
Jean-Marc Charles - 4 games played, 4 total tackles (2 solo), 1.5 tackles for loss including being credited for 1/2 of a sack
All the other players are either new to the program this year or were being redshirted last year.
Kris Harley - Transferred to Western after playing at Virginia Tech for 3 years (one was redshirt year). Will have 2 years of eligibility. Played in 10 games as a R-Freshman, getting 6 tackles and an interception (also, check out his photo below, #92...dude just looks so freakin' happy to be here...I love it.)
A couple of other interesting things: both Jean-Marc Charles and Gavin Ricketts are from Davie, FL (suburb in the Ft. Lauderdale area) although they did not attend the same high school. Charles went to Hollywood Hills HS in Hollywood, FL and Ricketts went to Western High School in Davie. The two schools are about 12 miles apart. It looks like they're not in the same conference, although they probably play each other fairly regularly in non-conference games (like they did last Friday).
Freshman Grant Kasal, in high school, lettered in football, baseball, volleyball, and lacrosse.
Freshman Macae Skaggs earned All-Conference honors as a punter his senior year at Farmington.
Also, this will be the 6th year in a row that the Leathernecks have had a Holtschlag on the team. Oldest brother Jimmy was a member of the team from '09 through '13. Middle brother, Chip, is a Senior, and youngest brother, Eddy, is a Junior.
I'd imagine we'd see much of the same as last year with regards to the DL stats, with Durley, the Holtschlag brothers, and Ricketts picking up the majority of front-line tackles. I'd also expect that a transfer from a BCS-level FBS school who was good enough to see playing time (Harley) will be able to have some significant contributions as well.
Scott Lawson - Board Admin
