The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Impressive seasons continue for NDC, JCU
Notre Dame College is celebrating its Mountain East Conference championship in Division II, and John Carroll is in a good spot in the first Division III regional rankings.
The celebration was “surreal” according to Mike Jacobs, but the third-year Notre Dame College football coach wants more from his team.
It will get that opportunity in the last two games of the regular season, as there’s plenty more for the taking with the 9-0 Falcons looking to close out a perfect season.
On Oct. 27, the 10-yearold NDC program celebrated its first conference championship with a comefrom-behind 17-10 win over visiting Charleston. Freshman phenom running back Jaleel McLaughlin clinched the Mountain East Conference championship with a 10-yard touchdown run in the final seconds.
“I just got in my mode, and just knew what I had to do got get in the end zone,” McLaughlin said.
McLaughlin has been in that mode for most of the season. On Oct. 27, he rushed 185 years on 36 carries and the game-winning TD. For the season, he has 1,612 yards (second in all of college football) on 222 carries (7.3-yard average) and 15 total touchdowns. None was bigger than his most recent TD.
“It was a great feeling because we just won the conference (with that touchdown),” he said.
It’s now a two-game season for the Falcons, who go on the road for their final two regular-season games. On Nov. 3, they take on Virginia-Wise, and then close out the season with a nonconference tilt at Seton Hill (Pa.) on Nov. 10.
“It’s a little surreal to me still to think in just three short years we’ve been able to accomplish what we have,” said Jacobs, who’s 26-5 in three years as NDC coach.
If Jacobs’ team finishes 11-0, it likely will hold onto its No. 1 spot in the NCAA’s Division II regional rankings. For the second straight week, NDC is on the top line in Super Region One. The NCAA D-II playoffs consists of 28 teams, and no automatic bids. The No. 1 teams in each of the four regions at the end of the regular season earn first-round byes in the tournament.
The regional rankings are the tool the D-II selection committee uses to determine its playoff field, so the goal is simple for NDC, and that’s to win out.
Its last two opponents are a combined 4-13, so the Falcons will be favorites in each contest despite being the visitors. That doesn’t matter much to Jacobs.
“The goal is 1-0 each week, but we want a chance at the playoffs,” the NDC coach said. “With no automatic bids in D-II, that’s a good thing because it keeps the carrot dangling in front of us. We can’t come out and not play well. We have a sevenhour trip down to Virginia, so we have go down there and play well.”