Flying Dutchmen Pre-Season Favorite in the MIAA
The Flying Dutchmen, already winners of four MIAA championships this decade, are the pre-season favorite again in 2008. In one of the more bizarre ballots in the 38-year history of the pre-season poll of coaches and media, coach Dean Kreps' Dutchmen topped the poll despite receiving only two of the 15 first place votes that were cast. And none of the league's other head coaches put Hope at the top of their ballot!

Making presentations at the annual MIAA Press Day at Alma College on Thursday, one head coach after another talked of parity. The voting testified to that as teams ran the gamut in the ranking. In the final tally, Hope ended with a cumulative 27 points, followed by Adrian with 33, Olivet 34, Alma 56, Trine (formerly Tri-State) 64, Albion 67 and Kalamazoo 100. Adrian topped the schools with seven first place votes while Olivet treceived six compared to Hope's two.

"You don't win games through the polls; it's done of the field," said coach Kreps who has guided the Flying Dutchmen to six league championships in his 13 years at the helm. A year ago Hope and Olivet were co-champions. The Flying Dutchmen was 6-4 overall.

The Flying Dutchmen, with a pre-season roster of nearly 160 players, begin practice on Tuesday, Aug. 12. The season-opening home Community Day game against Illinois Wesleyan will be Saturday, Sept. 6.

Coach Dean Kreps and his staff face one of the biggest rebuilding challenges in recent seasons as the Flying Dutchmen embark on an ambitious football journey.

The Flying Dutchmen graduated 24 seniors from their MIAA co-championship team. Many were in the starting lineup. The result is that the 2008 pre-season depth chart lists just two offensive and five defensive returning starters.

On top of that, Hope also has arguably one of the toughest pre-league schedules in Division III. Hope’s four non-league opponents posted an impressive 31-11 cumulative record last fall.

The pre-season roster of 180 players includes 26 returning letterwinners, 10 on offense and 16 on defense. The roster includes 65 freshmen or players new to the team along with 64 sophomores, 35 juniors and 16 seniors.

Marking the 99th season of Hope football, the Flying Dutchmen will be bidding for a third consecutive MIAA championship. The 2007 team posted an overall 6-4 record, marking the 12th straight season that the Flying Dutchmen ended .500 or above, a school-record.

The offense will center around senior quarterback Jake Manning of Schoolcraft, Mich. (Schoolcraft HS). A two-year starter, Manning already ranks third all-time in passing yardage and sixth in total offense. Last season he threw 22 touchdown passes while completing 58% of his attempts covering nearly 2,500 yards.

The 2007 Flying Dutchmen averaged 34 points and 422 yards of total offense per game. Manning’s challenge is the fact that the team’s six leading receivers last fall have graduated. They accounted for all but 64 of the team 2,576 receiving yards and 22 of the 23 receiving touchdowns. Also gone are the team’s two leading tailbacks who together gained nearly 1,500 yards and scored 19 of the team’s 22 rushing touchdowns.

Two-time All-MIAA tackle Erik Ladomersky a senior from Grandville, Mich. (Grandville HS) is another returning standout. Ladomersky and Manning will be team co-captains.

The defensive secondary experienced with four returning starters – sophomore corner Chris Jackson of Keego Harbor, Mich. (Pontiac HS), sophomore safety Kevin VanDokkumburg of Holland, Mich. (Holland HS), senior safety Andy Johansen of Holland, Mich. (West Ottawa HS), and senior safety Kevin Mill of Romeo, Mich. (Romeo HS). Also returning in the defensive starting lineup is junior linebacker Chris Batterbee of Gladwin, Mich. (Gladwin HS).

The cupboard is not necessarily empty, however, as many of the Hope players on the two-deep chart last fall were underclassmen.

The 2008 schedule has three new non-league opponents. The Flying Dutchmen will be playing UW-Eau Claire for the first time and will be renewing rivalries with Illinois Wesleyan and Carthage. UW-Eau Claire advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III playoffs last fall. Hope’s three other non-league foes (Wheaton, Illinois Wesleyan and Carthage) are all members of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW). Hope last played Carthage in 1985 and Illinois Wesleyan in 1999.

The MIAA schedule has a new look with the departure of Wisconsin Lutheran and the newly named Trine University, formerly Tri-State.

The 99th year of Hope football will begin with the traditional home Community Day game on Saturday, Sept. 6 against Illinois Wesleyan. The Flying Dutchmen will also play a home night game, hosting Wheaton under the lights of Holland Municipal Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 27. The 11-week/10-game season includes a bye on Saturday, Oct. 18.

The Flying Dutchmen successfully defended their MIAA football crown albeit a co-championship with Olivet. Coach Dean Kreps' Flying Dutchmen finished at 6-1 in conference play. The MIAA's automatic berth in the NCAA Division III playoffs went to Olivet, however, because the Comets defeated Hope in their head-to-head game, 28-25. The MIAA championship was the sixth in 11 years and the 21st in school history.

The team finished 6-4 overall marking the 12th straight season that the team ended .500 or above, a school-record. The squad had one of its largest group of seniors (24) in recent history.

Among season highlights was the 400th victory in Hope football history. It came in the traditional “Wooden Shoes” game against longtime rival Kalamazoo, 57-7. The Flying Dutchmen set a school record for consecutive MIAA victories (14) when they beat Tri-State, 45-35. Playing in weather that exceeded 100 degrees on the field, the Flying Dutchmen were equally as hot with their play in defeating Alma 60-34, a Hope Homecoming game scoring mark. And for the first time in a quarter of a century, the Flying Dutchmen defeated Albion on the Britons' home turf spoiling the Britons’ Homecoming, 42-35, in the highest scoring game in the 81-year history of the rivalry.

The Flying Dutchmen placed 13 players on the all-MIAA teams. In addition, two players were named recipients of the league's special awards. Senior wide receiver Doug Van Eerden was the co-recipient of the league's outstanding offensive player award and senior fullback George Klupchak was the co-recipient of the Pete Schmidt Scholar-Athlete Award.

Players receiving All-MIAA first team recognition were senior offensive tackle Jake Droppers, junior offensive tackle Erik Ladomersky, senior tight end Kevin VandenBosch, senior wide receiver Doug Van Eerden, senior tailback David Booko, senior defensive end Matt Rugenstein, senior linebacker Drew Weigel, senior defensive back Troy Blasius, and senior kicker Chris Bowen. All-MIAA second team honors were presented to senior offensive guard Ben Smith, sophomore tailback Brent Jones, junior quarterback Jake Manning and senior defensive tackle Colin Balas.

Seniors Doug VanEerden (wide receiver) and Kevin Vandenbosch (tight end) were named to the D3football.com North All-Region team. The All-Region team was comprised of Division III players from colleges in Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin.

David Booko became Hope's alltime leading scorer. The last carry of his collegiate career resulted in his 48th touchdown. The previous record was 47 touchdowns by Brandon Graham from 1994-97. Booko also became the first Hope player to lead the team in rushing for four consecutive years, finishing his career with 3,635 yards. Senior kicker Chris Bowen established single season records for points by a kicker (63) and extra points kicked (39).

Junior quarterback Jake Manning guided a Hope offense that ranked among the NCAA Division III leaders in several statistical categories -- #29 out of 231 in total offense (421.7 ypg), #32 in scoring (33.9 ppg), #38 in passing offense (257.6 ypg), and 42nd in team passing efficiency (137.59 on a 100.0 scale). Manning himself was 28th in passing efficiency (143.3), 28th in pass yards per game (245.9 ypg) and 41st in total offense (244.0 ypg).