400 And Still Counting

This marks the 400th story on the blog since I began it in Sept. of 2008. I was not sure what to write about, but I spoke with Coach Dave Harper recently, and I thought I would pass on some of our conversation.
Harper seemed pleased with the way the off season is going. He and his staff are out working hard on the recruiting end of things, and he indicated that the players are working hard in the weight room. He also was quite happy with the campus visits from potential recruits. While there is still a long way to go, the impression I got from Coach Harper on the off season was quite positive. Unfortunately, Southwest Virginia is not always the greatest for cell phone reception, and while we did talk for a nice amount of time, our conversation was cut short.
Ferrum will be entering the 2013 season as one of three defending co-champions this season, but there will also be a new team in the conference. Huntingdon (AL) will throw their hat into the USA South ring this season as the conference's 9th football member.  Huntingdon brings a solid reputation as a winner to the conference, and will certainly improve the overall conference.
Spending a good portion of last season ranked in the d3football.com top 25, the Hawks
finished their season 6-3, and ultimately outside of the top 25, but look for them to contend for the top conference spot this year.
We have a long way to go til kickoff, but I am starting to get the itch. Ready for the Blackhats to take the field.
Ferrum will again have Tim Reynolds at quarterback, but his supporting cast has changed drastically. Wide Receivers Jackson and West are gone, as is Tyler Brubaker.
On the defensive side, Ferrum losses 7 players that were regulars on the field.
With all of these changes, it will be an interesting upcoming season. That being said, you can still count on the Panthers to be a force in the conference.

Lastly, the schedule is out for the 2013 season. Interestingly enough, the Panthers will still play 10 games, and will play 3 non conference games. That means that someone gets skipped. This year Ferrum and Methodist will not face each other. Other interesting things are that Ferrum will for the second year in a row, host LaGrange. Ferrum will play newcomer Huntingdon in their conference opener, as they travel to Alabama. This will be the Panthers 3rd road game of their first four. Ferrum does not play Southern Virginia University this year, and brings Bridgewater back to the schedule. Ferrum closes the regular season at home against Christopher Newport. The Open Date is on Oct.12th. Click the link below for the full schedule.

2013 Football Schedule