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An
interview by Jeff Mayfield
Former Railer leads Illinois College
into playoff contention
Part 2
 [OCT.
27, 2000]
I
have heard it said that you couldn’t learn anything from being
involved in a losing program. That if you play for a team that loses
every game you are probably just wasting your time. John Allison
couldn’t disagree more with that kind of thinking. Playing for a
Railer program that showed little success for all the efforts
expended did not seem to faze Allison all that much. In fact, he
says it made him appreciate the game of football all the more. The
perseverance, the patience and the discipline made him a better
player. And this season he has helped lead the Illinois College
Blueboys to a 6-1 record at posting time. That might not give you
visions of a national championship, but it is on pace to become the
greatest record in IC history. John and I recently met in my office,
while he was on fall break, to discuss the amazing season that he
has helped put together.
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[click here for Part 1
of interview]
Q.
Did any of your teammates play in the Central State 8 conference?
A.
It’s amazing how many members of my team are guys that I played
against in high school. Ryan Van Aiken is an offensive tackle that
went to Jacksonville. Kenny Rogers, who is also from Jacksonville,
recently transferred here from the U of I. Derek Leonard is our
quarterback, and he is from Sacred Heart-Griffin. Bobby Brents is
this outstanding new defensive tackle from Lanphier, and he is a
tank! There’s not much you can do to stop him; he’s just
unbelievable. Our center came to us from Southeast, and his name is
Troy Dalby. I’m playing with some of the best all-around talent
that I have ever played with in my life. With all of these D-1
talents that have transferred in, it’s made us better, and it’s
been a lot of fun.
Q.
What is your role? What position do you play?
A.
I play left guard. I started at left guard last year even at my
size. The funny thing about it is that I’m probably 60 pounds
lighter than the next smallest guy on the line. That allows us to
run different screen passes on my side, because I can get out
quicker than a lot of guys. I work well with the left tackle, and we
almost think the same things at the same time. Our right side is
new, but they’re picking up right where we left off last year.
Q.
What are your strengths as an offensive lineman?
A.
Quickness and knowing the game. I study the game a lot. I’ve
watched so much game film that I know, if I’m getting 2-1
techniques inside by the tackles right over the center, I know they’re
going to run some kind of a stunt. I know defenses well enough that
I know what kind of pressure is going to come out of different
looks. I try to know what they’re going to do before we snap the
ball.
Q.
What about weaknesses?
A.
Weight, size/strength. My toughest games come when they put a
300-pound guy against me, and it’s hard to just move him out of
the hole. You try to get motion on him and turn him to one side.
That is hard, and it has been my biggest problem. It usually comes
in run blocking; pass blocking I don’t have too much trouble with.
Run blocking to my side is where I have the most difficulty. Luckily
in our offense we have a lot of combo blocks with the center and the
tackle, and if they can get enough momentum going, rockin’ ’em
back, I can usually take ’em and go after the linebacker.
[to
top of second column in this section]
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Q.
Reflecting back on your days at Lincoln, what did those experiences
teach you?
A.
I loved playing in Lincoln! I know we weren’t that successful, but
I always had a lot of fun playing. I think that the losses taught me
quite a bit. We won our first game this year, and every win just
seems so great to me, while other guys act like they’ve done it a
hundred times before. I think playing in Lincoln taught me to play
hard all the time! That’s one thing I hope that a coach never has
to say to me — you lack intensity or that you didn’t play as
hard as you could. The wins are also a lot sweeter to me. My time in
Lincoln helped me a lot.
Q.
Tell us about one of your current IC coaches.
A.
Our offensive coordinator is Jim Good. He’s brought in an
excellent offense. He can run anything out of it. He’s great at
analyzing film and recognizing other teams’ weaknesses. His
awesome offense has been a big key for us. He’s changed the
attitude of the football players on our team. He allows no swearing,
and he’s always checking up on our grades. He really cracks down
on all the little things that in the long run helps our team win. He
does a great job.
Q.
Are you and IC on the verge of something special this year?
A.
The last time we had a team off to this good of a start was in 1989,
when the record was 6-3. The best team in the school’s history
went something like 8-1 or 8-2. We could finish good enough to get
into the IC Hall of Fame.
This
just in…
The
LDN has learned that the Blueboys defeated Lake Forest by scoring a
touchdown and a two-point conversion in the last minute of play.
Illinois College pulled the game out of the fire 40-39 in a
spectacular continuation of their dream season. That makes IC’s
record a sparkling 6-1 heading into this weekend’s action.
Why
not go on out and support John and the Blueboys Saturday after you
spend some time at the Harvest of Talents fest at Lincoln Christian
Church? Illinois College will host Ripon at 1:30 in Jacksonville. On
behalf of the LDN, good luck, John, and nice going so far. Always
remember that wherever you go, you wave the Lincoln banner for all
of us!
[Jeff
Mayfield]
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An
interview by Jeff Mayfield
Former Railer leads Illinois College
into playoff contention
Part 1
[OCT.
26, 2000]
I
have heard it said that you couldn’t learn anything from being
involved in a losing program. That if you play for a team that loses
every game you are probably just wasting your time. John Allison
couldn’t disagree more with that kind of thinking. Playing for a
Railer program that showed little success for all the efforts
expended did not seem to faze Allison all that much. In fact, he
says it made him appreciate the game of football all the more. The
perseverance, the patience and the discipline made him a better
player. And this season he has helped lead the Illinois College
Blueboys to a 6-1 record at posting time. That might not give you
visions of a national championship, but it is on pace to become the
greatest record in IC history. John and I recently met in my office,
while he was on fall break, to discuss the amazing season that he
has helped put together.
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Q.
John, it sounds like you guys are having a pretty exciting year, so
far.
A.
Yah, it’s a first for me. It’s been really great, though. I’ve
never actually been on a team that was in playoff contention. We’re
battling St. Norbert College for first place in the conference. It
could all come down to the final game of the season.
[#60 John Allison opens the
hole for #26 Mark Dockterman.]
Q.
Last winter you told me that you would have a decent team this year,
but you’re a lot better than just decent. How have you guys put
together such a good season?
A.
Last year our offense put up over 2,000 yards passing, and we had a
running back, Patrick Bowman, that put up another 1,000 yards
rushing. Our offense hasn’t changed all that much. We’re still
putting up a lot of points on the scoreboard. The defense is where
we’ve really turned it around. We’ve got a new defensive tackle
by the name of Bobby Brents. He is making about 15 tackles a game.
We’ve also got a new middle linebacker. That’s been the big
difference for us. Our pass coverage has improved, and we get good
pressure from our defensive line.
[#60 John Allison stands with #76 Jared McCammon, #17
Patrick Bowman and #93 Tim Wagenbach.]
Q.
So, you attribute most of your success to a rejuvenated defense?
A.
Yes. It seems like every time that we need a really big stop, we get
one! They are definitely a ‘bend but don’t break’ defense.
Even though they are young, when we need a stop, they usually come
up with one.
[John Allison lines up in his slot as left guard.]
Q.
Tell us how the season has transpired so far.
A.
Our summer program was not quite as up-tempo as it probably should
have been. We played Blackburn College in our first game. We won
44-7, but I did not feel like we played all that well. Our next game
was our first conference game against Lawrence. We did not play well
offensively at all in that game. I attribute that mostly to the way
we practiced. We did not hit all that much in practice that week,
and it showed during the game. The third game of the season is where
it all started to come together for us. We took a 7-24 deficit into
the locker room at halftime. When we came back for the second half,
we went into our two-minute offense for the rest of the game. We
made an amazing comeback and went on to win 43-34. That was one of
the most exciting comebacks that I have ever been a part of! It just
seemed like every time we got the ball that we would score. It was
absolutely incredible!
[to
top of second column in this section]
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The
next week was the tough one. Monmouth has struggled a little this
year. However, whenever we play them, no matter how good we are
playing, they always seem to bring their A game against us every
single time! And this year’s contest was no exception. It was a
really tough loss for us. They’re kind of our conference rival.
Since we’re kind of a young club, it was a wake-up call for us. It
made us realize that we’re not unbeatable. And that’s when we
got our biggest win of the year. That next week we played the team
that usually finishes first or second in the conference: Grinnell.
We beat them 34-31 at our place, which made us 4-1. The very next
week we beat Beloit at home by a touchdown.
[John Allison displays his pass-blocking skills as he
protects quarterback Derek Leonard.]
Q.
Who’s left on the schedule, and what will you have to do to make
the playoffs?
A.
We will play Ripon at home, and they’re usually a pretty tough
team. They consistently put up over 500 yards of offense. They are
one of the three teams that everybody worries about, along with
Grinnell and St. Norbert. They are very beatable, because we can put
up that much offense against them as well. It could be a shootout. I
think our defense has improved a little bit, so that will help a
lot. Our last two games are on the road. We play Carroll, and then
we’ll travel to Green Bay for probably the most important game of
the year, versus St. Norbert. The winner of that game will advance
to the NCAA Division 3 playoffs. That game will be in the middle of
November, so it could be a cold one. It should really be exciting.
St. Norbert is currently ranked No. 24 in the country. Last year we
played them about as tough as anybody in our conference. Hopefully
this year we will be able to beat them and advance. It looks like we
would then play Millikin in the first round of the postseason.
(To
be continued)
[Jeff
Mayfield]
[click
here for Part 2]
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