GRANVILLE, Ohio — Earlham football coach Gerry Keesling and Wittenberg counterpart Joe Fincham are faced with similar preseason dilemmas.

Both coaches come into the fall North Coast Athletic Conference season looking to replace two athletes who accounted for a major part of their offensive production. Because of graduation, Earhlam lost quarterback Justin Rummell, who finished second in the conference with his average of 270.6 passing yards per game.

Also because of graduation, Wittenberg lost running back Tristan Murray, who according to Fincham accounted for around 55 percent of the Tigers’ offense. Murray rushed for 1,517 yards, an average of 137.9 yards per game.

“You can’t replace a player like Tristan,” Fincham said of Murray, who was playing in the Arena Football League 2 before hurting his hamstring. “Not only was he a good player on the field, it also is going to be hard to replace his leadership.”

Murray was one of eight offensive letterwinners lost from last year’s Tiger team that finished 6-1 in league play, earning a spot in the Division III playoff.

Fincham said it might take at least three games to find the Tigers’ running back of the future. Wittenberg does return fullback Andy Vanover for his senior season. Also helping Wittenberg’s backfield will be the return of senior running back Derrick Braziel. He was the Tigers’ No. 2 rushing in 2005 before missing all of last season with an injury.

Rummell also played some time in the Arena Football League this season. Junior Randy Kerns, the Quakers’ back-up signal caller the last two seasons, is tabbed as Rummell’s replacement. Earlham also has three incoming freshmen quarterbacks.

“You can’t really replace a guy like Justin,” Keesling said. “For the last 13 years, we’ve only had three starting quarterbacks. And I kind of feel bad for Randy because everything that he does and accomplishes, he’s going to be evaluated next to Justin.”

Returning quarterbacks

With Dustin Huff back under center, Wabash will be one of seven conference teams featuring quarterbacks that have starting experience at the collegiate level.

Denison went through four quarterbacks last season, and this season return both Jordan Linck and Tom Simeone. Simeone, a 6-foot, 7-inch sophomore, completed 20-of-29 passes in last year’s loss to Wabash. Hiram returns Trevor Henderson for his junior season. Kenyon has Rafael Sanchez back under center for his senior year. One of 11 returning offensive starters, Greg Mangan is under center for his junior season at Oberlin. Senior Steve Hymes is back for Ohio Wesleyan. And Wittenberg returns Aaron Huffman for his sophomore season. Huffman was the NCAC Newcomer of the Year last season, posting 1,297 passing yards and 10 touchdowns.

Fincham comes into this season with high hopes for Huffman, but also understands he’ll just be a sophomore.

“Aaron was very successful last year, but I would be remise for forget that he’s just a sophomore,” Fincham said. “We can’t put everything on his shoulders.”

The teams that lost their starting quarterbacks all return offensive weapons. Allegheny has Jim Leib, who caught 48 passes for 600 yards and four touchdowns last season. Leib averaged 60 receiving yards per game last season. Earlham has back Manny Myers, who led the Quakers with 679 rushing yards last season. Also back are three starting wide receivers. Running back Dustin Sheppard is one of three offensive returning starters for Wooster. Sheppard rushed for 1,020 yards last season.

“Dustin was not even healthy last year,” Wooster coach Mike Schmitz said. “In my years of coaching, he’s probably the toughest player I’ve coached.”

New coach

Bob Wolfe will pace the Hiram sidelines in his first year at the Terriers’ helm. He’s the lone new coach in the conference. Wolfe spent last season as Hiram’s co-defensive coordinator and running backs coach. Before coming to Hiram, he led Tiffin to two NAIA playoff runs.

The Terriers finished last season 0-10.

“We know that we aren’t going to turn his program around overnight and we are facing a challenge,” Wolfe said. “But our goal is to be competitive and to just get better.”

mwilson@jrpress.com