Butler No. 1 in 2009 NJCAA / JC Football.com Preseason Poll; Preseason All-Americans Also Announced

Grizzlies will go for unprecedented third consecutive NJCAA title in ‘09

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Butler Community College (Kan.) starts the 2009 season at No. 1 in the NJCAA / JC Football.com Preseason Top 25. The defending national champions have been the preseason favorite the last two seasons and are looking to win an unprecedented third straight national title.

Butler is followed in the preseason poll by defending Mississippi Association of Community & Junior Colleges champion Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, Ellsworth Community College (Iowa), three-time Western States Football League champs Snow College (Utah) and defending Southwest JC Football Conference champs Blinn College (Texas).

Head coach Troy Morrell (pictured right) is 96-11 (.897) in nine seasons with the Butler Grizzlies and has led the program to eight consecutive Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference (KJCCC) championships and three national titles in six years (2003, 2007, 2008).

High Caliber Players Return for 2009 Season
The 2009 NJCAA football season could shape up to be one of the best in recent memory as eight top All-Americans from ’08 return to highlight the ’09 preseason All-American teams.

Talented quarterbacks Randal Mackey (pictured left) of No. 6 East Mississippi Community College and Tirrell Rennie of No. 3 Ellsworth Community College highlight the ’09 preseason All-American offensive teams. Mackey led the nation with 281.8 passing yards per game and ranked second with 3,138 passing yards and a 60.3 completion percentage. He also threw for 24 touchdowns and was the MACJC Offensive Player of the Year last season. Rennie led the NJCAA with 3,469 yards of total offense as he racked up 1,011 yards rushing and 2,548 yards passing. He rushed for 16 touchdowns, which tied for first in the country, and threw for 20 touchdowns.  

Also returning for Ellsworth is talented wide receiver Quintin Robinson who led the country with 1,102 receiving yards and 10 touchdown receptions last season. His 88 receptions tied an NJCAA record as well.

Other returning offensive All-Americans include wide receiver Gage McKinnis of No. 13 Hutchinson Community College (Kan.), offensive lineman Jernorius McGill of No. 10 Eastern Arizona College and kicker Mike Kusnierz of No. 16 Rochester Community & Technical College (Minn.). McKinnis racked up over 1,000 yards in all-purpose yards and scored three touchdowns for the Blue Dragons. McGill helped EAC to 381.3 team rushing yards per game, which led the NJCAA, while Kusnierz was second in the nation among kickers with 95 points (32-25 PAT, 21 FG Made).

Two returning All-American’s from ’08 headline the ’09 preseason All-American defensive teams in linebacker Curtis Weatherspoon of No. 9 Dean College and defensive back Jakar Hamilton of No. 8 Georgia Military College. Weatherspoon collected 56 tackles, 13 tackles for loss and four sacks in ’08, while Hamilton, who recenlty committed to the University of Georgia, posted 51 tackles and four interceptions.

*Denotes returning All-American

2009 NJCAA Football Season Begins Aug. 27-29
The 2009 season kicks off Aug. 27-29 with several big games on the docket. Action begins Thursday, Aug. 27, as all 14 teams in Mississippi (MACJC) will begin play including a match-up between No. 2 Mississippi Gulf Coast and No. 19 Northwest Mississippi Community College.

The schedule on Friday, Aug. 28, is small but does include a double-header feature of Minnesota College Athletic Conference (MCAC) schools at St. Cloud State University. The No. 16 Rochester Community & Technical College Yellow Jackets will take on Northland Community & Technical College, followed by Central Lakes College vs. Fond du Lac Community & Tribal College in the second game. Three additional MCAC contests will take place on Saturday, Aug. 29, at St. Cloud State.

The annual challenge between the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference (KJCCC) and the Southwest JC Football Conference (SWJCFC) highlights gridiron action on Aug. 29. The main attraction will be No. 1 Butler at No. 5 Blinn. The Bucs defeated the Grizzlies last season in Wichita to kick off the 2008 season, which ended up being Butler’s only loss in 2008.

Another big game scheduled for Aug. 29 will take place in Iowa when No. 3 Ellsworth hosts No. 8 Georgia Military College in a very intriguing contest. Ellsworth is expected to have one of the top offenses in the country this season with the return of All-American quarterback Tirrell Rennie and All-American wide receiver Quintin Robinson. Georgia Military has been one of the top defensive programs in the NJCAA over the past five seasons and returns All-American defensive back Jakar Hamilton.

View the complete 2009 NJCAA Football Schedule (dates subject to change).

Two New NJCAA Bowl Games for 2009
NJCAA football teams will have a better opportunity to play in the post-season in 2009 than compared to 2008. The additions of the Salt City Bowl in Hutchinson, Kan., and the Citizens Bank Bowl in Pittsburgh, Kan., will increase the total number of post-season NJCAA football games in 2009 to nine. There were seven bowl games in 2008.

2009 NJCAA Football Bowl Games

North Star Bowl - Rochester, Minn.
November 21, 2009

Graphic Edge Bowl - Cedar Falls, Iowa (two games)
November 22, 2009

ZIONS BANK Top of the Mountain Bowl - Salt Lake City, Utah
December 5, 2009

C.H.A.M.P.S. Heart of Texas Bowl - Copperas Cove, Texas
December 5, 2009

Valley of the Sun Bowl - Maricopa County, Ariz.
December 5, 2009

Salt City Bowl - Hutchinson, Kan.
December 5, 2009

Citizens Bank Bowl - Pittsburg, Kan.
December 6, 2009

Mississippi Bowl - Biloxi, Miss.
December 6, 2009

Three New NJCAA Football Programs Begin Play in ‘09
The NJCAA is pleased to announce that three new programs will begin play this 2009 season in ASA (N.Y.), Dakota College-Bottineau (N.D.) and Iowa Western Community College. A total of 69 NJCAA football programs will participate in 2009.

ASA is located in Brooklyn, N.Y., and will be led by Dennis Orlando who previously coached at Valley Forge Military Academy. The ASA Avengers will play as an independent this season as they petition for inclusion in the Northeast Football Conference.



Dakota College – Bottineau (formerly known as MSU-Bottineau) is located in Bottineau, N.D., and will be led by Darwin Routledge. The program is being revived since the school dropped football back in the late ‘50s. The Lumberjacks played a ‘club’ season in ’08 and will play the 2009 season as an NJCAA independent.



Iowa Western Community College is located in Council Bluffs, Iowa, which is just a mere five miles from the heavily football recruiting area of Omaha, Neb. Former North Iowa Area Community College head coach Scott Strohmeier will lead the Reivers football program who will participate in the Midwest Football Conference.


2009 NJCAA / JC Football.com Preseason Top 25 Teams at a Glance

#1 Butler Community College, Kan. (2008 record: 11-1)
2008 Highlights: Won third national championship in six years and captured Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference title for eighth consecutive season. Defeated Snow in NJCAA title game at Top of the Mountain Bowl.
Returning Starters: 1 Offense / 4 Defense
Top returners: OL DeShawn Smith, PK Logan Ortiz and LB Forlando Johnson

#2 Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College (2008 record: 10-2)
2008 Highlights: Won Mississippi Assn. of Community & Junior Colleges (MACJC) title for second straight season and defeated Georgia Military College in first-ever Mississippi Bowl.
Returning Starters: 6 Offense / 6 Defense
Top returners: QB Greg Jenkins and DE Wayne Dorsey 

#3 Ellsworth Community College, Iowa (2008 record: 8-3)
2008 Highlights: Won the first game of the Graphic Edge Bowl and was runner up in the Midwest Football Conference (MFC) East Division.
Returning Starters:  7 Offense / 7 Defense
Top returners: QB Tirrell Rennie, WR Quinten Robinson and LB LJ Gamblin 

#4 Snow College, Utah (2008 record: 11-1)
2008 Highlights: Finished 11-1 for the third consecutive season. Captured the Western States Football League title for third straight season and lost in NJCAA title game at the Top of the Mountain Bowl to Butler.
Returning Starters: 3 Offense / 4 Defense
Top returners: RB Tyson Church, OL Devin Tavana and DL Star Lotulelei 

#5 Blinn College, Texas (2008 record: 9-3)
2008 Highlights: Won the Southwest JC Football Conference title and fell to Ft. Scott CC (Kan.) in Heart of Texas Bowl. Blinn was the only team to defeat national champion Butler in 2008.
Returning Starters: 5 Offense / 4 Defense
Top returners: WR Dexter Ransom, RB Mike Hayes and DL Jonathan Mathis

#6 East Mississippi Community College (2008 record: 8-2)
2008 Highlights: Won the MACJC North Division for first time in school history.
Returning Starters: 7 Offense / 7 Defenses
Top returners: QB Randall Mackey, OL Quartney Cox, DE Claude Davis and LB Alvin Ellis

#7 Navarro College, Texas (2008 record: 10-1)
2008 Highlights: Held No. 1 ranking for seven weeks, fell to Blinn in SWJCFC title game.
Returning Starters: 5 Offense / 7 Defense
Top returners: QB Milton Howell, OL David Grant and DE Brandon Joiner 

#8 Georgia Military College (2008 record: 9-2)
2008 Highlights: Fell to Miss. Gulf Coast in first-ever Mississippi Bowl.
Returning Starters: 5 Offense / 1 Defense
Top returners: RB Tobias Palmer and DB Jakar Hamilton

#9 Dean College, Mass. (2008 record: 10-1)
2008 Highlights: Won Northeast Football Conference (NFC) title for second straight season.
Returning Starters: 7 Offense / 5 Defense
Top returners: QB Stanley Jennings and LB Curtis Weatherspoon

#10 Eastern Arizona College (2008 record: 8-3)
2008 Highlights: Led NJCAA in team rushing (381.3 yds per game) for third straight season.
Returning Starters: 7 Offense / 5 Defense
Top returners: OL Jernorius McGill and DB Prince Ryan

#11 Pearl River Community College, Miss. (2008 record: 8-3)
2008 Highlights: Advanced to MACJC Playoffs for seventh time in eight seasons.
Returning Starters: N/A
Top returners: QB Emil Jones and DL Charles Deas

#12 Trinity Valley Community College, Texas (2008 record: 6-4)
2008: Started season with four straight wins, advanced to SWJCFC playoffs.
Returning Starters: 9 Offense / 4 Defense
Top returners: RB Chad Winbush, WR Darnell Williams, LB Dan Jackson and P Cody Lenz

#13 Hutchinson Community College, Kan. (2008 record: 7-4)
2008 Highlights: Fell to Butler in Region 6 (KJCCC) Championship Game. 
Returning Starters: 6 Offense / 1 Defense
Top returners: WR/KR Gage McKinnis, OL Mike Powell and LB Adam Davis

#14 Jones County Junior College, Miss. (2008 record: 7-2)
2008 Highlights: Only losses were to Miss. Gulf Coast and Pearl River.
Returning Starters: 5 Offense / 3 Defense
Top returners: WR Anthony Jackson and DB Chris Lofton

#15 Fort Scott Community College, Kan. (2008 record: 9-2)
2008 Highlights: Advanced to third consecutive bowl game and won first bowl game in 37 years with win over Blinn in Heart of Texas Bowl.
Returning Starters: 4 Offense / 2 Defense
Top returners: RB Jasmine Hopkins and LB Lavonte David

#16 Rochester Community & Technical College, Minn.  (2008 record: 8-2)
2008 Highlights: Defeated Lackawanna College (Pa.) in first-ever North Star Bowl.
Returning Starters: 5 Offense / 4 Defense
Top returners: PK Mike Kusnierz, OL Tyler Stehr and DB Fred Ominde

#17 Lackawanna College, Pa. (2008 record: 7-3)
2008 Highlights: Finished second in NFC and fell to Rochester in North Star Bowl.
Returning Starters: 4 Offense / 5 Defense
Top returners: Kakeem Lasitter OL/C and DB Herschel Thornton

#18 Glendale Community College, Ariz.  (2008 record: 8-2)
2008 Highlights: Finished ’08 season ranked seventh; begins ’09 with new head coach.
Returning Starters: 3 Offense / 3 Defense
Top returners: OL Broc Gullett and DB Jake Long

#19 Northwest Mississippi Community College (2008 record: 6-4)
2008 Highlights: Finished second in MACJC North Division.
Returning Starters: 8 Offense / 6 Defense
Top returners: QB Casey Weston and LB Timothy Kirk

#20 Iowa Central Community College (2008 record: 8-3)
2008 Highlights: Won MFC West Division and defeated Dean in feature game of Graphic Edge Bowl.
Returning Starters: 5 Offense / 5 Defense
Top returners: WR DeMarco Paine and DB Jace Hawley

#21 Mesabi Range Community & Technical College, Minn. (2008 record: 6-5)
2008 Highlights: Defeated Vermilion in Minnesota College Athletic Conference title game.
Returning Starters: 3 Offense / 5 Defense
Top returners: WR Dekeldric Felton and LB Dwayne Jackson

#22 Garden City Community College, Kan. (2008 record: 6-4)
2008 Highlights: Finished fourth in the KJCCC standings last year.
Returning Starters: 4 Offense / 5 Defense
Top returners: RB Chase Bieberle, DL Terry Vaughn and DB Dontrell Johnson

#23 College of DuPage, Ill. (2008 record: 6-6)
2008 Highlights: MFC East Division runner-up; advanced to Graphic Edge Bowl.
Returning Starters: 2 Offense / 5 Defense
Top returners: OL Jackie Hoffman, RB Mike McNulty and DB Trulon Henry

#24 Arizona Western College (2008 record: 5-5)
2008 Highlights: Finished fifth in final WSFL standings.
Returning Starters: 8 Offense / 7 Defense
Top returners: OL Jason Weaver and DL Ben Swarts

#25 Harper College, Ill. (2008 record: 11-1)
2008 Highlights: Won Non-Scholarship Championship; begins ’09 with new head coach.
Returning Starters: 3 Offense / 3 Defense
Top returners: WR Dello Davis and LB Blair Lane