Last season the Albion College football team finished with a 6-5 record and won the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association conference and made it to the playoffs.
This year the Britons look to improve on the success they achieved last season. Returning starters Brian Spencer, East Lansing senior, Zach Brewer, Adrian Junior and Clinton Orr, Buchanan senior are expected to carry a lot of weight on offense.
Spencer and Brewer were first and third on the depth chart in receiving yards and touchdowns. Spencer led the Brits with 748 receiving yards and six touchdowns while Brewer had 538 yards and three touchdowns.
“When you come off of a successful year you obviously want to repeat and improve on that success,” said Spencer. “Ultimately our goal is to make it back to the playoffs and make a run but we try to focus on each game individually and finish each week 1-0.”
Albion kicked the season off with a decisive victory over Defiance College, winning 55-0. The next week Albion faced off against highly touted Wheaton College and was considered the underdog. The Britons defended their home field and upset the Thunder in what proved to be a barnburner, scoring the go ahead touchdown with less than two minutes remaining.
Prior to the game, the Britons – both coaches and players – helped to motivate each other for the game against Wheaton that would act as a measuring stick early in the season.
“Going into the game, our coaches fired us up and really got us going.” said Brewer. “They were ranked 10th before that game and our motto for the week was ‘lets show them what we’re about.’”
Clinton Orr, who holds a number of rushing records for Albion College, did not waste any time getting into the swing of things this season.
Thus far, Orr has amassed 451 yards on the ground and 10 rushing touchdowns to go along with 56 receiving yards (third on the team). If Orr can keep this pace going, he has a legitimate chance at being an All-American.
“Clinton is very shifty; he’s just so hard to tackle,” said Spencer. “He’s a really special player and an asset to our team.”
To go along with their key returning starters, The Britons are fielding a really strong recruiting class. Due to an injury to Spencer Krauss, Tipton senior, Dominic Bona, Pinckney first year has had to step into the role of starting quarterback. Bona threw for 160 yards and a touchdown in his first start for the Brits.
“We had a really good recruiting class,” said Brian Spencer. “We have a lot of players that have to step up especially since one of our keys players has fallen due to injury.”
The 2012 recruiting class has stepped up on all sides of the field and are getting acclimated to collegiate football.
“The seniors and upper classman have been really good about getting us used to playing here at Albion,” said Paul Pung, Portland first year. “The coaches have been really helpful too; they are making the transition pretty easy.”
With three nonconference wins under their belts, look for the Britons to come out blazing this weekend with their first MIAA game against Trine.
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