GRINNELL, Iowa – After missing more than a season-and-a-half of competition, Grinnell College's football team is itching for a restart.
The Pioneers have that opportunity beginning Saturday when they take on Rockford University on the road. That contest constitutes the first competition for Grinnell in 705 days.
The primary goal of Coach
Brent Barnes and his staff during the layoff was building numbers, and they delivered. Grinnell enters the season with 57 players, which all indicators say is the largest roster in program history.
"We've had a really good camp and are starting to build a new culture with the team," said Barnes, who was hired in December 2019. "This is a very close-knit group … I'm very impressed how the returnees have embraced the newcomers to help us compete right away. That doesn't happen everywhere."
Barnes says
Grayson Woodhouse '24 is slated to get the start at quarterback Saturday, but has also seen good things from
Hayden Moses '25,
Avery Hootstein '24 and
Colt Inselman '25. "There has been great competition at quarterback, and I anticipate that continuing through the season," said Barnes.
Senior captain
Danny Carter '22, who rushed for 369 yards in three games during the 2019 season, is back to lead the running back corps. "After looking at him in 2019 film, he's picked up right where he left off," said Barnes, who noted
Daniel Quirk '25 and
Loyal Terry '23 are also going to see playing time in the backfield.
Dustin Saia '22 is a big-time returnee at receiver. "We're excited to have him back," said Barnes. "He's done a great job leading that group." Others Barnes is excited about in the receiver group are
Nick Rhinehart '25,
Clayton Burton '23,
Ricky Morri '23 and
Ben Cerrato '25.
Converted tight end
Nat Jordan '22 is leading the way in that department, along with
Garret Bean '24. "Nat is doing a great job at tight end, and Garrett is living up to what we expected," said Barnes.
The offensive line, which Barnes says has a nice blend of returnees and newcomers, includes the likes of
Will Edelson '23,
Miles Cornforth '25,
Landon Skinner '24,
Sean Haggerty '24,
Tyrell Taylor '24,
Prescott Miller '22,
Connor Carson '22 and
Matthew Ford '25.
Turning to the defense, the line will be anchored by
Luke Porter '23,
TJ Lawrence '25,
Tom Henehan '22,
Nick Pero '22,
Travis Chu '25 and
Hero Uchino '24.
Barnes likes what he sees from the linebacker group, which includes
Max Ehrlich '23,
Blady Cavazos '25 and
Adam Khater '23 as inside backers and
Tim Johnson '24,
Rene Urias Jr. '25 and
Josh Jones '25 at outside backer.
The coach said safeties of
Hugh Werner '25,
Charlie Henehan '24 and
Jelani McCray '22 have done a nice job, as has the cornerback tandem of
Luke Stefan '25 and
Chaz Del Mar '22.
Rhinehart and Morri are competing at both kicker and punter.
Not playing for more than a year-and-a-half, Barnes realizes there will be some early jitters. "The guys are excited to hit the field," he said. "There will be lots of anxiousness and nervousness, but after a couple of plays they'll settle down and play football.
"In terms of concerns, it's just that we haven't played for so long and it's hard to mimic game speed in practice," he said. "There's no magic bullet, though … you just have to get game experience and learn from that. Our main goal initially is to know ourselves and get better at what we do. In some ways, this is a new program, so we're treating it as such before using other teams as a benchmark."
