X Days until 2017 Leatherneck Football

[ST_Lawson]

Yesterday was #63, who is...
Chris Zobrist (as far as I know, no relation to Ben)

http://goleathernecks.com/roster.aspx?r ... h=football

Chris is a sophomore Offensive Lineman from Troy, IL and is a LEJA major.

Guys in the past who have worn #63:
Bob DeVries...........................1953-56
Dick Leatherwood...................1958-59
Eugene Hauser......................1962-64
Bob Nardelli............................1969-70
Steven Kandal........................1972-74
Jay O’Brien.............................1975-77
Tim Barbian................................. 1978
Bob Schachner.......................1979-80
Paul Zink................................1984-85
Mike Morrison.........................1986-87
John Curtis.............................1988-89
Matt Martin.................................. 1990
Jim Weissinger............................ 1992
Steve Stefanski........................... 1994
Justin Thies............................1996-98
Brett Rocchietti.......................2001-05
Cameron Koehne.................. 2008, 10
Ryan Ricketts.........................2012-15

Bob Nardelli isn't listed anywhere in the WIU record books, but is very well known in the business world for being the CEO of Home Depot and then Chrysler: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Nardelli

Tim Barbian was discussed in the post for #65.

Paul Zink was a second-team all-conference O-Lineman in 1984.

Justin Thies received a conference O-Lineman of the Week award in September of 2000.

[ST_Lawson]

And today's is #62, Brody Carls
http://goleathernecks.com/roster.aspx?r ... h=football



Brody is a Junior Offensive Lineman from Pana, IL. He has not, as of yet, seen any game action, however he is one of two Leathernecks who have answered the call to "Be the Match" and donate bone marrow to help a man suffering from Leukemia. Brody is a LEJA major.

Other players who have worn #62 in the past include:
Joe Beja.................................1949-52
Bob Pittenger............................... 1966
Bill Maynard............................1969-70
James Cozzi................................ 1972
Michael Jackson.....................1975-77
Ed Kern..................................1987-90
Greg Jenkins............................... 1998
Josh Richardson.......................... 1999
Chad Walker...........................2002-06
Jordan Valle............................ 2008-11

Joe Beja was inducted into the Leatherneck HOF in 1994. A three-sport athlete at WIU; football, basketball, and baseball. Joe was a four-year letterwinner in football and held the school scoring record for 25 years. Following graduation, he worked as a high school teacher, coach, principal, and superintendent. He was an honoree of the WIU District Alumni Award in 1984-85 and was the recipient of the WIU Arnold Salisbury Educational Leadership Award in 1985.

Josh Richardson received a President's Academic Excellence Award (MVFC Academic award) in 1999.

Chad Walker was a Second-Team All-Conference O-Lineman in 2005 and 2006 and received an O-Lineman of the Week Award once each of those years.

Jordan Valle received a President's Academic Excellence Award in 2010 and was an Academic All-Conference Honorable Mention in 2011.

[ST_Lawson]

I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm going to be on vacation with my family for a few days and might not be able to get these posted for a little while. I should be back to town on the 4th and will try to get caught up on them on the 4th and 5th. So, if you don't see any/many posts from me elsewhere, that's what the deal is.

[huskie]

Thanks for all you do Mr. Lawson.

[ST_Lawson]

Thanks for all you do Mr. Lawson.

[ST_Lawson]

Oh hey...just got back from some fireworks (we're going to miss the ones in Macomb this year...for some reason they decided to do it on the 3rd this year...always been the 4th before) near where we're staying on vacation. I've got time, so here's #61...
Nick O'Boyle, Redshirt Freshman Long Snapper from Greenfield, WI

Nick is a business major.

Other players who've worn #61 in the past include:
Jim Adams.............................1959-62
Ray Downs ............................1961-63
Mike Hattery ............................... 1966
Bill Kennon ............................1969-70
John Gardner.........................1975-77
Bill Jensen .............................1978-82
Keith Blue ..............................1983-87
Gabriel Magalei .......................... 1993
Mark Spencer ........................1998-99
Drew Sweeney ......................2005-07
Eddie Atkinson............................ 2013

Mike Hattery earned an NAIA First-Team All-American award in 1967.

Keith Blue was a First-Team All-Conference O-Lineman in 1986 and 1987. He also received an AP Honorable Mention in 1986 and FB Gazette First Team, AP Second Team, and Sports Network Second Team awards in 1987.

Drew Sweeney was a Second-Team All-Conference O-Lineman in 2007.

[ST_Lawson]

It's nearly midnight (or maybe past midnight depending on when I actually hit post on this one), might as well post tomorrow's now too...

#60 is Redshirt Freshman Offensive Lineman Kyle Sanft


Kyle is a LEJA major from Bartlett, IL. He is also, in case you'd forgotten, one of the few recruits who stuck with us when our previous coaching staff bolted for the barren wasteland of the north

Other players who have worn #60 in the past include:
Dean Johnson .......................1947-49
Dick Chamberlain ..................1958-59
Rusty Jones................................ 1966
Ronald Comm............................. 1969
Paul White .............................1970-71
Dan Daly................................1972-74
Richard Cass.........................1975-78
Randy Foss ...........................1982-84
John Binkowski......................1986-90
Joe Belcher............................1991-92
Danny Magalei............................ 1993
Derrick Davis .............................. 1994
Dwayne Waltower....................... 1995
Steve Sowers ........................2002-03
Chad Groenhagen.................2005-08
Daniel Speight ............................ 2009
Ben Meyers ................................ 2015

Dick Chamberlain was inducted into the Leatherneck HOF as part of the undefeated 1959 football team.

Rusty Jones was one of our better scoring TE's in Leatherneck history. He's currently ranked 8th on the career TDs list with 13 (and did it with way fewer receptions than anyone else in the top 10). For TE's, he has tied for the 4th (6 TDs) and 5th (5 TDs) best seasons at scoring TDs, has the 3rd and 4th best seasons for yards per reception for TE's, and is currently ranked #1 out of all Leatherneck TE's with 13 career TDs. He is also #7 for career receptions and #5 for career yards.

John Binkowski received an All-Conference Honorable Mention in 1989 and First-Team in 1990.

Joe Belcher was a Second-Team All-Conference D-Lineman in 1992.

Danny Magalei was a Second-Team All-Conference D-Lineman in 1993.

Steve Sowers was a Macomb native TE who received the President's Academic Excellence Award (conference award) in 2006.

Chad Groenhagen was an Academic All-Conference Honorable Mention D-Lineman in 2007.

[WIU11DC]

Hey everyone, I have booked my flight to South Carolina for our game against CCU in September. Can anyone tell me how to get tickets through the alumni association or the athletic department so we can sit in the WIU section? Also, I have been chatting with a few of the guys on their message board and they were saying their first couple home openers sell out so I want to make sure I can lock down tickets just in case.

[ST_Lawson]

Hey everyone, I have booked my flight to South Carolina for our game against CCU in September. Can anyone tell me how to get tickets through the alumni association or the athletic department so we can sit in the WIU section? Also, I have been chatting with a few of the guys on their message board and they were saying their first couple home openers sell out so I want to make sure I can lock down tickets just in case.

You should be able to buy them through the alumni association later on...most likely once game time is set. Here's the calendar event for the pregame social and game: http://wiu.edu/wiucalendar/index.sphp?c ... endars[]=2
But if you keep an eye on the Alumni site they'll most likely post something on there once tickets are available.

[ST_Lawson]

As expected, I'm a few behind due to being on vacation. I'll do #59 (7/3) and #58 (7/4) tonight, then get caught up with #57 (7/5) and #56 (7/6) tomorrow. Also, you can probably expect my regularly scheduled Defensive Backs review later on in the afternoon tomorrow.

So, anyway...here we are with Monday's #59...
Sophomore Linebacker Tom Rehfeld

Tom is from Chicago, IL and saw action in all 11 games last season as a redshirt freshman, mostly on special teams.

Other #59's in Leatherneck History include:
Leonard Pudge.......................1948-49
Bob Tone................................1949-51
Bob Martin..............................1954-57
Glenn Anderson......................1956-57
Dick Snowden........................1957-59
Rodney Bixby.............................. 1969
Steve Tressmer......................1970-71
Joe Byrne...............................1973-75
Mike Atterberry.......................1979-80
Jim Wohrley............................1981-84
Robert Fernandez..................1987-89
Jason Bell...............................1994-96
Luke Wickman........................2005-06
Max Dancer............................2009-10
Sam Kachanuk....................... 2011-14

Joe Byrne is one of the top tacklers in Leatherneck History. His game against Mankato State in 1975 is still the single best performance in assisted tackles in a game in WIU history with 22. He still holds the record for most assisted tackles in a season as well with 121 (30 ahead of the #2 player) in 1975. Also in 1975, he set the then-record for total tackles in a season with 183...a record that stood for 25 years until Ed Hartwell broke it in 2000. His career mark of 225 assisted tackles is #1 in the record books, and his 348 total tackles puts him currently at #7 in the top 10 list for that statistic (although he will likely move down to #8 at some point this year if Brett Taylor is able to get even half as many tackles as he did last season).

Jim Wohrley was an All-Conference First Team and AP Honorable Mention Linebacker in 1984. He was the team's tackle leader that season, racking up 140 total tackles in his Senior year.