BEREA, OHIO --  The 2011-12 Baldwin-Wallace College football team hopes to compete for both an Ohio Athletic Conference title and a berth in the 2011 NCAA Division III National Playoffs. 

Leading the way for the Yellow Jackets will be the return of 42 lettermen and 17 fulltime starters, including 10 on offense and seven on defense. And, despite losing both its punter and placekicker to graduation, B-W returns two of the most explosive kick return specialists in Division III in sophomore speedsters Kevin Johnson  and Josiah Holt. Each returned a kickoff for a touchdown as freshmen.

Head Coach John Snell enters his 10th season at the helm of his alma mater and has compiled a career record of 56-36 with a .609 winning percentage.

"Our goals never change at B-W," said Snell. "Each year we set out to win championships.  Our first goal is to win the prestigious Ohio Athletic Conference title.  Our feeling is that if we can win the OAC title, we have what it takes to also win the NCAA Division III national title.  History bears out that fact.

"Last season, we had a solid season and made some excellent improvement on both sides of the football and on special teams," continued Snell, speaking of last fall's 7-3 overall record, including a 6-3 mark in the OAC.  "This season, we return a number of key student-athletes who have the talent and ability to take us to the next level of success. We are motivated and feel like we have the right team and staff in place to return B-W football to where it belongs -- at the top of the OAC and Division III." 

Offensively, the Yellow Jackets will be led by quarterbacks Ryan O'Rourke and Andrew Dziak, running back Tim Miker, tight end Aaron Hurd and a host of wideouts who all are experienced.  In addition, a solid corp of offensive linemen who all contributed to last season's success are back and again ready to contribute.

In the backfield, O'Rourke will return as the starting QB and Dziak offers an experienced backup who offers opponents an explosive problem.  Snell and his staff felt so strong about the duo, a few freshmen from last year's junior varsity team and the incoming recruits that they have moved last year's No.3 QB Josh Masters to an H-back/ TE spot where he can help the team even more in 2011.

O'Rourke returns after completing 119-of-213 passes for 1,513 yards and 16 touchdowns while tossing 10 interceptions. He also carried the ball 40 times for 154 yards and scored three TD. Dziak completed 2-of-4 aerials for 21 yards and a TD and ran the ball 37 times for 169 yards and two scores.

"We feel that we have a solid returning starter in Ryan O'Rourke and Andrew Dziak offers us another explosive weapon," said Snell. "Once we build the depth, we'll feel pretty comfortable at the QB position."

Miker ran for a team-high 595 yards in 129 attempts and seven TD and will be the feature back with the graduation of Kyrell Crook and John McGraw. Miker also caught six passes for 75 yards. One of the big keys for the Yellow Jackets in preseason camp will be finding the number-two and No.3 RBs so Miker gets a break now-and-then. The top two contenders returning this fall are juniors Kevin Ringer and Tyler Lohr. A year ago, Ringer carried the ball five times for 18 yards and Lohr five times for 17 yards.

"Tim is a very hard runner," said Snell. "Depending upon what happens in camp, Tim will be the main guy or sharing the load. He has demonstrated that he's a talented Division III runner."

Hurd, who earned All-OAC accolades last season, tops the returning receivers after catching 24 passes for 283 yards and three TD a year ago.  He is one of 10 returning receivers who caught passes from O'Rourke or Dziak in 2010, and that doesn't even count Masters or backup TE Danny Reineck.

Look for juniors Troy Van Meter with 17 catches and two TD and Aaron Manders with 16 grabs and two TD, Holt with 16 catches and seniors Brett Jensen with 12 grabs and two TD and Dan Turner with seven grans and a TD to all be key targets. In addition, Holt ranked sixth in Division III in kickoff returns by averaging 29.6 yards in 16 attempts..

In addition, senior Anthony Fairhurst (one TD), junior Pat LaGuardia, sophomore Devin Woods (one TD), Reineck and Masters will battle that group for the opportunity to start.

Then we have to talk about Kevin Johnson.  His role this season could feature him running the ball, catching the ball, playing the "lockdown" cornerback spot and definitely returning kickoffs. A year ago, he caught two passes, both for touchdowns, ran the ball once, averaged 28.7 yards with a TD in 20 kick returns, made 15 tackles and broke up four passes on defense and blocked a kick.  Not bad for a freshman!

"Our receiving corps is deep and talented," noted Snell. "We return an All-OAC player in tight end Aaron Hurd and we have about 10 guys who all gained experience last year.  This is one of our deepest spots." 

The offensive line returns four starters, including senior center Jimmy Basar, senior tackle Travis Barnhill, senior guard Rudy Ackerman and sophomore guard Jason Cook. In addition, junior tackle Clay Wolf and sophomores Doug Fernandez and Alex Lovasz each gained experience a year ago.

"Any success our offense has this season will have to start up front," said Snell. "We have a solid group of veterans that we need to stay healthy and help work our younger guys into the mix. Any successful offense needs to have stability on the O-Line."

Defensively, B-W returns seven starters as well as a number of others who either have started or saw plenty of playing time the past two seasons.  The key will be replacing some outstanding seniors who graduated, including 2010 OAC Paul Hoernemann Defensive Lineman of the Year Keith Darbut.

"We return quite a few young men who played on our defense a year ago," said Snell. "They key will be replacing three starters on the line.  Having both Max and Sonny back should be a bit of a stabalizing factor."

The defense will be led by its outstanding secondary which is headed by a pair of All-OAC standouts in 2-time All-OAC safety Ryan Dugan and senior cornerback Matt Bowen.  The duo anchor a veteran secondary that includes Johnson, junior CB Brandon Russo, senior safety Corey Hildreth, senior "nickel" back Nick Scarcella and junior safety Tom Goebel, who had a pair of pickoffs in 2010, and sophomore Kory Gillissie.

Hildreth led the secondary with 55 tackles, including 34 solo stops, and had 2.5 tackles for loss, a QB sack, two interceptions and a fumble recovery. Bowen was second with 50 tackles, intercepted two passes and returned both for TD in back-to-back games and had a team-high 15 pass breakups. Dugan, who missed one full game and parts of two others with an injury, had 39 stops, led the team with three interceptions and was second with 11 breakups. Russo rounded out the starters with 35 tackles and seven breakups.

"We have some solid veterans returning to the secondary," said Snell. "Obviously Ryan Dugan, Matt Bowen and Corey Hildreth are among the better one's in the OAC and they will be our leaders, "but we also have some other guys, like Brandon Russo, Kevin Johnson and more, who return who have seen action, are experienced and will be a big asset to our defense."

The line will be led by a pair of returning starters in Hazelwood at end and senior tackle Max Wagner at tackle. Also look for junior "rushing end" Derron Hamilton, senior tackle Lucas Ferron, senior end Matt Lewis and freshman tackle Addison Carbone to add strength, speed and depth up front.

Hazelwood had 27 tackles, six tackles for loss, including a sack, intercepted a pass and had a team-leading three forced fumbles. Wagner, who missed eight games due to an injury and began the season as a starter, had seven stops in 2010 after making 19 stops as a sophomore. Hamilton, who played mostly in passing situations, had 34 tackles, including 5.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks and six forced QB hurries. Ferron, Lewis and Carbone all saw some playing time and contributed a combined 23 stops. All three should be more of a factor this season.

For decades, B-W has been known for its outstanding linebackers. It graduated one of its all-time best in Ryan Kish but returns at least two otherts in seniors Brett Thompson and J.J. Leseak.  The duo return as starters and will joined as candidates for the open position by seniors Brian Ellis, Matt Higgenbotham and John Haraysyn, junior Ben Penman and sophomore Isiah Kimmie as well as a few others.

A year ago, Leseak led the team in tackles with 81, was tied for third with 11.5 tackles for loss, had two sacks, forced one fumble and recovered another. Thompson was third with 60 stops, eight tackles for loss, three sacks, five pass breakups and six hurries.

"In J.J. and Brett, we return two very solid linebackers," said Snell. "Both are simply good players who have the talent and ability to be among the best in our conference. And, we return some other guys who are quite talented, and that should help us with depth and strength at that position."

Ellis is coming back after missing last season with an injury.  He played in nine games in 2009 and had seven tackles.  Higgenbotham saw action in 10 games last season and had 24 tackles.  Harasyn saw action in all 10 games, made 31 tackles, had a sack, an interception and two pass breakups.  Both Penman and Kimmie saw the majority of playing time on special teams and displayed solid ability when on defense. 

On special teams, Snell can rely on either Johnson or Holt to possess the talent and ability to scare his opponents on kickoffs. In addition, look for Gillissie, LaGuardia and Lohr to be among a hopst of talented speedsters to have a shot at returning opponent punts.

"Boy, they both can just flat out fly," said Snell with a really big smile on his face. "Each of them showed last season that they have the ability to score every time they touch the ball."

The final spot for the coaching staff to figure out is the kicking game.  B-W graduated its kicker and punter and return kickoff specialist Dave Cantu.

"We enter camp in August with no one assured of a starting position," said Snell.  "We have some talented upperclassmen who have shown that they have the talent and ability to get the first shot.  We are bringing in another very talented recruiting class that will push each of our upperclassmen to perform to the best of their ability.  It should be a lot of fun as we prepare for The College of Wooster on Thursday night, September 1st."

FOR MORE B-W Sports Information, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail at kruple@bw.edu. or Assistant SID Jeff Miller by phone at 440-826-2780 and email at jefmille@bw.edu Fans can access the latest B-W athletics information at www.bw.edu/athletics and we invite you to join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bwyellowjackets and Twitter athttp://twitter.com/bwathletics.