NDC, JCU, Case get preseason ranking

The good news for the college football teams at Notre Dame College, John Carroll and Case Western Reserve in 2020 is they return a stable of players at the skilled positions.

That’s always a good thing when preseason polls begin to be released, and Street & Smith’s popular college football preseason magazine is the first.

In Division II, the Falcons checked in on the magazine’s top 25 preseason poll at No. 12. Defending national champion West Florida is preseason No. 1 in D-II.

In D-III, Case and JCU were neck and neck at preseason Nos. 21 and 22. Mount Union is No. 5, and North Central, the team that eliminated the Purple Raiders from the D-III playoffs and won the national championship, is the preseason No. 1.

NDC lost key players — including all-purpose player and VASJ grad Marvelle Ross (who signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars) — off last season’s 12-2 team that advanced to the NCAA quarterfinal round, but still returns two-year starting quarterback Chris Brimm and others.

That includes two preseason All-America players. The headliner is running back Jaleel McLaughlin, who will be a junior in 2020. In two seasons, he already has 4,737 rushing yards and 48 touchdowns, and has averaged 169.2 rushing yards in 28 career games for the Falcons. A year ago, he was the runner-up for the Harlon Hill Award for the nation’s top

player in D-II.

Joining McLaughlin as a preseason All-America pick is offensive lineman Jimmy Burchett, who’s 6-foot-4, 310 pounds.

Also of note on the preseason All-America team is Findlay’s Christopher Jefferson of Benedictine. The Euclid native had a monster season as a freshman a year ago. He was in on 62 tackles and led the nation with nine interceptions. He was a D-II All-America pick a year ago and was the Super Region 1 Defensive Player of the Year.

Case (9-2) made the DIII playoffs a year ago, and JCU (9-1) was denied an atlarge spot. The teams return key players on offense.

The Spartans’ passing attack should be elite with quarterback Drew Sexton, who threw for 2,966 yards and 26 touchdowns in 2019. A lot of that production

went to wide receiver Colt Morgan, who is coming off a season of 89 catches, 1,186 yards and 15 touchdowns. He’s also a first-team All-America pick by Street & Smith.

The Blue Streaks return their offensive backfield of QB Jake Floriea of Mentor and running back Michael Canganelli of Mayfield. Floriea threw for 1,765 yards and had 17 touchdowns a year ago, while Canganelli had more than 1,300 allpurpose yards and scored 12 touchdowns.

One of Mount Union’s top players this season will be senior running back Josh Peruccelli of Perry. Last season, he rushed for 1,335 yards and scored 19 touchdowns. He can become just the second running back in school history to be a fourtime 1,000-yard rusher, joining Nate Kmic, the NCAA’s all-time leading rusher.