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Printer-Friendly ModeSept. 1 opener against Ashland shows growing trend
Cardinals to face an increasing amount of former assistants, players coaching for other teams
August 24, 2007 —
Winning football games ultimately comes down to execution on the field, but it doesn't hurt to have some tricks up the sleeve during key moments. Cardinals coach Randy Awrey might as well be sleeveless against the GLIAC this season.
SVSU hosts Ashland on Sept. 1, the second year in a row that the Cards and Eagles will square off in the season opener. Last year, the Cards came back to win 27-16 in Ashland. This year, there is a new wrinkle: former star quarterback Matt LaFleur will be coordinating the Eagles offense and trying to defeat a defense he practiced against for four years at SVSU.
LaFleur comes to the Eagles after spending a year at Northern Michigan, where he coached quarterbacks and wide receivers and also aided in running the Wildcats' passing attack. That passing game ranked first in the conference, averaging 246 yards per game with 21 touchdowns and just seven interceptions.
The Eagles' offense, which returns 11 starters, figures to be potent with LaFleur at the helm. To make matters worse for Awrey, he does not have much to gameplan against. Without any game film, Awrey is spending his time away from practice examining what LaFleur did at Northern Michigan and what the Eagles did a year ago that was successful against the Cards' defense. He won't know until the game starts, though, what exactly LaFleur will run, making this season opener tougher than most.
Ashland coach Lee Owens has yet to decide which quarterback he will start against the Cardinals: senior John Ferguson or sophomore Billy Cundiff. Both have Division I experience, and saw extensive time at Ashland last season.
The talent at quarterback is just another advantage for LaFleur, who faces a defense of which he knows all of the secrets.
"This conference is turning into a bit of nightmare for us here at Saginaw Valley, because you have so many kids coaching at other places," Awrey says. "That's good, but after a while, you have no secrets. I don't even have to bother, because they all have our playbooks. It's a little more difficult to surprise people now."
Following his duel with his first star quarterback at SVSU, Awrey and the Cardinals will travel to Gannon on Sept. 8 to face coach Jim Kiernan, who was Awrey's offensive coordinator and assistant head coach for seven years. Two other former Cardinals, lineman Shaun Curtiss and wide receiver Mike Crawford, will be coaching against Awrey as well.
The list doesn't stop there, either. Awrey will coach against his former special teams and outside linebackers coach, Tom Wender, when the Cardinals travel to Northern Michigan on Sept. 22. Awrey will also be coaching against his former players in the biggest GLIAC game of the year, Nov. 3 against Grand Valley, when Nick Postma and Dan Fodrocy will come into Wickes Stadium as opponents for the first time.
Kickoff against Ashland is scheduled for noon.