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| Drew Campanale has been efficient at quarterback for Randolph-Macon this season and is no stranger to higher-level opponents. Randolph-Macon athletics photo by Frank Strauss |
By Joe Sager
D3sports.com
When Randolph-Macon has the ball, you’re not getting it back – for a while, anyway.
Usually, opponents only regain possession after the Yellow Jackets put points on the scoreboard. They feature a highly effective – and efficient – offense. It’s fueled the program to its first-ever 10-0 regular season.
“It means a lot to finish 10-0,” Randolph-Macon senior receiver David Wallis said. “It’s an amazing feeling that my senior class is the first one to accomplish it. We work really hard. We put a lot of time and effort in during the preseason and throughout the year. Just being 10-0 and seeing it pay off creates a lot of momentum. Hopefully, we can keep it going.”
Randolph-Macon leads the nation third down conversions (63.2) per game and passing efficiency (201.01) and is second in time of possession (34:45) and penalties (4.2) per outing. The offense averages 44.4 points per game as well.
“I have been here 19 years and this is, by far, the most balance we’ve had,” Randolph-Macon coach Pedro Arruza said. “We’ve always been able to run the ball and gotten solid quarterback play. We’ve had really good offensive linemen, running backs and tight ends. Now, we have a lot of great receivers like David Wallis, Joey Hunt, JoJo Marinella, Zach Bowman and others. We have really good players and they’ve executed at a high level. When you have good players, it makes things pretty easy for the coaching staff.
“In terms of the way we design our offense, it’s really team-based. How can we put our team and our defense in the best possible position for success? We try to take our egos out of it and do what is best for the team. Sometimes, that means grinding it out. Against Hampden-Sydney, that’s approach we took. Other games, we’ve been more aggressive.”
Junior quarterback Drew Campanale guides the offense. A transfer from Division II Franklin Pierce, Campanale has settled in nicely for the Yellow Jackets. His 79.2 completion percentage and 216.57 passing efficiency lead the nation.
“It’s been a pleasure to be taken in by this team, for sure. Playing with such great teammates and a great coaching staff that has put us in a great position to be successful every week is great,” he said. “It all starts with the offensive line. We have the weapons on the offensive side, but the offensive line is what holds us together.”
Randolph-Macon attacks through the air or on the ground. The team averages 267.1 rushing and 227.9 passing yards per game.
“Our run game has been great,” Campanale said. “When your run game is doing well, your passing game will open up throughout the game.”
Campanale has seen his completion percentage soar. He connected on 59.5 percent of his passes last year.
“The opportunities have been great here,” he said. “The offensive line holding up and doing their job and the wide receivers are doing everything they can to get open. It’s a collective thing. I love it here. The education is great. The school has been really good to me. This team is my family now.”
The Yellow Jackets were thrilled to see Campanale seize the job, especially after junior Brecht Heuchan, who split time last year, was sidelined with an injury. Senior quarterback Andrew Ihle has played in all 10 games, too, but has mainly been a running threat.
“Drew has been unbelievable. Our quarterback room has been tremendous,” Arruza said. “Brecht has been battling through injury, but he’s been extremely helpful for the other quarterbacks and helping them learn the offense. Andrew comes in as a wildcat, of sorts. It’s a very selfless group.
“It’s the position I coach, so I get to work with them every day. Drew came in extremely humble and competitive. When I recruited him in the summer, I told him that, if he came here, he’d have to earn everything. He had no problem with that. He came in and battled the other quarterbacks and earned everything. I think the kids really respect him.”
Campanale had no problem fitting in with the group, which went 9-1 last year and had high expectations this fall.
“We welcomed him and he bought right in and comes in and works hard. It shows on game day,” Wallis said.
With its offense clicking at such a high rate, the confidence is soaring for Randolph-Macon, which won the Old Dominion Athletic Conference title and earned a playoff berth for the first time since 2018.
“The time of possession is a key factor to our wins. We have a great front five and great running backs. We can eat that clock. The running backs allow us to open the field for our passing game,” Wallis said. “When we get to third down, I am pretty confident. Drew has the No. 1 passing rating in the country. If we have to pass it, we know we’ll get the first down.
“I think that is demoralizing to defenses because they want to get off the field. If we can keep converting those third downs, it slowly breaks down the defense.”
The Yellow Jackets have been building momentum. They’ve won 16 games in a row and 24 of their last 25 outings.
“Our kids have done a great job this year. Last year, we were 9-1. We lost by one point to Washington & Lee, which was tough. At that point, when we lost that game, we lost control of our destiny. We needed them to lose two games and for us to win out to get the automatic bid. We knew getting in as an at-large team would be a real challenge,” Arruza said. “It was really tough to have to play with that hanging over your head and having had no control over your year. The kids were very determined to get into the tournament this year. I told them that the only guarantee is if we win all of our games. I am really proud of our kids for doing that. I think we have a really good culture here and that’s a credit to the kids we’ve been able to recruit here. I can’t imagine coaching better kids.”
The No. 16 Yellow Jackets earned a reward, too. They were awarded a home playoff game against No. 17 Cortland (9-1).
“It’s amazing. It’s good to stay home and play somewhere familiar. Hopefully, playing on our home field can give us an advantage,” Wallis said. “We’re not really worried about our opponent. We don’t play for the hatred of the opponent; we are playing for the love of each other. As long as we do what we have to do and the defense does what it has to do and we score some points, we should be fine.”