Wesleyan football tabbed #18 in Lindy’s Preseason Top-25

Rocky Mount, NC - The North Carolina Wesleyan football team, under the direction of first-year head coach Mark Henninger, continues to garner national attention among Division III programs.  After a record-breaking 2007 season that saw the Bishops earn their first USA South Championship and NCAA playoff berth, the publishers of Lindy's 2008 College Football Preview ranked Wesleyan 18th in their preseason top-25 poll. The recognition is well-deserved for the 5th-year program, which finished with a #22 AFCA and #19 D3Football.com national ranking after last season’s 9-3 showing.

In 2007, Wesleyan set program records for total wins (9), conference wins (7), consecutive wins (9), and conference finish (1st).  The Blue & Gold also became the first team in USA South history to go undefeated in league play, and the first #8 seed to knock off a #1 seed in the NCAA playoffs with a 35-34 overtime win at Washington & Jefferson. Henninger returns 13 starters from that squad, including the program’s first All-American in LeeRon Boykin.

A major key to Wesleyan’s success in 2008 will be replacing the leadership lost from graduating the program’s first senior class. Henninger will also have to replace two-time USA South Offensive Player of the Year Cedric Townsend at the quarterback position. Having been with the program since its inception, however, Henninger is well-equipped to handle these transitions as the Bishops move into the next phase of their development.

The 18th-ranked Bishops will kick off the 2008 season at home on September 6th when Hampden-Sydney College comes to Rocky Mount.

Due to field conditions at the Rocky Mount Athletic Complex caused by last season’s drought, Wesleyan will play its 2008 home games at Northern Nash High School.