Wesley College begins its 11th straight appearance in the NCAA Division III football playoffs Saturday.
The 9-1 Wolverines, ranked as high as 11th nationally, welcome unranked Framingham State to Dover for a first round tournament contest.
Wesley enters the post-season with one of the nation’s top offenses. The Wolverines lead Division III in total offense with 603 yards per game, and are seventh in scoring, averaging 49.0 points.
Senior quarterback Joe Callahan runs that high-powered attack and head coach Mike Drass says his team will rely on Callahan’s skills and experience now more than ever.
“I draw back on seeing what he’s done in other playoff games, and the experiences he’s had as a quarterback running this offense. Last week against William Patterson we saw some things he did that other small college quarterbacks just don’t do," said Drass. "One of the things we believe is that if he’s on the field we’re going to be in a position that we can move the ball against anybody."
Callahan threw for 7 touchdowns in just one half of action in last week’s 63-0 win over William Patterson in Wesley's regular season finale. He leads Division III quarterbacks in yards passing with 3,809 and TDs with 43.
And Wesley may need Callahan at his best in this playoff opener with Framingham. The 9-1 Rams average 39 points per game behind its senior quarterback Matt Silva and fellow senior, wide-out Marcus Grant. Drass calls that combination formidable.
“The quarterback’s completing almost 70 percent of his passes and has thrown 39 touchdowns, which is second only to Joe Callahan in the country this year," said Drass. "And they have a couple of receivers, particularly one in Grant, who aside from being a vertical threat is just a big kid that has great hands. He’s got 70 catches and is a ‘go-to’ guy.”
Framingham comes into Saturday’s noon kick-off looking for its first ever NCAA playoff win. This is it third tournament appearance in four years.
Wesley is looking to advance past the first round for an 11th straight year.
