Elder Panther Football - 2001
Playoffs
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Head Coach: Doug Ramsey (Career Record: 44-13)
Captains (l-r): Brian Lysaght, Ricky Brown, Brady Miller, Brett Bolger
Final GCL-S Standings
1. St.
Xavier 2.
ELDER 3. La
Salle 4.
Moeller
In the 2001 season opener, the Panthers treated the Sycamore Aviators in the fourth Skyline Chili Crosstown Showdown to a 45-14 drubbing. Quarterback Keith Bolger opened the scoring as he led the team on a 62-yard drive in three plays: a 44-yard pass to Bill Poland, followed by two quarterback keepers of 17 and 1 yard. In the first half, he threw for 240 yards, completing 13 of 16. At the break, the Panthers led 31-7, with additional scores coming on runs of 6 yards and 1 yard by sophomore running back Brad Glatthaar, a 32-yard pass to Andy Wellendorf, and a 33 yard field goal by junior Mike Riga. Glatthaar, heir-apparent to the graduated Kyle Koester, scored one more TD in the second half on a 1 yard run, carrying the ball a total of 16 times for 120 yards in his first varsity game. Junior Kevin Harnist completed the scoring for the Panthers with a 17-yard TD run. Harnist had a total of 17 carries for 86 yards. Riga's kicking was perfect, hitting six PATs along with the field goal. The team registered 498 yards of offense, evenly balanced between passing yardage (253) and rushing yardage (245). The defense was also superb, holding the Aves to 26 rushing yards and 218 passing yards for the night. Senior Andrew Ackerman recovered a fumble for the game's only turnover.
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Game 2 brought the Cleveland Glenville Tarblooders to The Pit for the first time. The Tarblooders were ranked #2 in the Cleveland area (behind St. Ignatius, the Panthers' foe in Game 5), so the team expected a tough battle. And it got one. The Panthers got on the board first, on a Mike Riga 33-yard field goal. But shortly thereafter, Glenville scored on a 15-yard pass play. The extra point was missed, however, and the Panthers trailed, 6-3. The Panther defense stiffened, and Keith Bolger drove the team to 17 points in the second quarter, including a 40-yard Riga field goal and two rushing TDs, one by Glatthaar of 7 yards and one by Bolger himself of 1 yard. Two Riga PATs made the score 20-6 at the half. The second half was dominated by both defenses, but Elder's Nick Ackerman put six points on the scoreboard by blocking a Glenville punt deep in their territory and recovering it in the end zone. Riga missed the PAT due to a bad snap and the score ended at 26-6. Other defensive stars for Elder were Brady Miller and Jake Witte, who recovered Glenville fumbles, and Chris Chambers and Mark Butscha, who intercepted passes by Glenville's Troy Smith.
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The Panthers continued their domination of Western Hills in Game 3, the seventy-third meeting between the neighborhood rivals. Elder won the game, 48-6, to extend their streak over the Mustangs to 11, and the series total to 54-17-2. After holding the Mustangs on their first series, Elder took two plays to score, the big play on a 54-yard TD pass from Keith Bolger to Andy Wellendorf. Mike Riga's kick was good, and the score stood at 7-0. West High quickly regrouped and scored to make it 7-6, but missed the extra point, and they were never to score again. The Panthers reeled off three more TDs by halftime, as Keith Bolger hit his brother Brett with a 12-yard TD pass, Tom Hornsby ran it in from the 2 following a long run which set up the score, and Bill Poland scored on a perfectly-placed Bolger pass of 21 yards to the corner of the end zone. Riga went 2-3 on the PATs, and the score was 27-6 at the half. Mother Nature then intervened, as lightning in the area delayed the game for about an hour. When it resumed, the Panthers picked up where they left off, scoring 21 unanswered points: Bradley Glatthaar scored on a 4-yard run, Cody King scored on a 45-yard interception return, and Kevin Lipps scored on a 56-yard run, and Mike Riga kicked 3 more PATs.
The Panthers won their fourth game of the season, defeating the Indianapolis Manual Redskins, 41-6. After holding the Redskins on their first series, the Panthers scored on a 57-yard punt return by senior Brett Bolger, and proceeded to dominate the rest of the game. Senior Landon Arnold then scored on a 25-yard run, and QB Keith Bolger hit senior Andy Wellendorf with a school-record 89-yard touchdown pass. Senior RB Tom Hornsby scored on a 34-yard run, and sophomore Bradley Glatthaar ran 30 yards for a score before the Redskins were able to cross the goal line. At halftime, the score was 34-6. Hornsby scored again in the third quarter on an 11-yard run. Mike Riga kicked 5-of-6 PATs and the game ended, 41-6.
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Cleveland St. Ignatius has won 8 state football championships, and they visited The Pit for Game 5 as the #1-ranked team in the state and #15 in the nation. But the Panthers were not intimidated by the Wildcats, as they jumped to a 10-0 halftime lead and held on for a 23-7 victory. Major contributors for the offense were Mike Riga, who put the Panthers on the scoreboard in the first quarter with a 38-yard field goal, and Bill Poland, who scored the Panthers final two TDs, on passes of 26 and 29 yards from QB Keith Bolger. Tom Hornsby picked up the Panthers' first TD on an 8-yard run in the second quarter. But once again the Panthers' tough defense led the way, with interceptions by Andrew Ackerman and Ricky Brown, and an outstanding goalline stand in which the Wildcats were stopped at the 6-yard line when they got the ball on the Panthers' 25 following a bad snap on a punt attempt, and hit the goal post on a 23-yard field goal try which was also tipped by Ackerman. Elder accumulated 309 yards on offense and held St. Ignatius to 153 total yards, including only 41 on the ground.
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After four straight home games, the Panthers journeyed to Lancer Stadium to face La Salle in Game 6. After winning the opening coin toss, the Panthers elected to let their defense establish the tone of the game. The fired-up defense, led by Brady Miller and Ricky Brown, held the Lancers to 15 total yards for the game and gained their first shutout of the season, adding four points on two safeties. The offense was equally impressive, racking up 420 total yards of including 323 yards rushing. QB Keith Bolger carried the ball 10 times for 106 yards, but left the scoring up to running backs Bradley Glatthaar and Tom Hornsby, who scored two touchdowns each. Rob Boeing picked up a late score on a 35-yard pass from David Turner, and Mike Riga kicked five extra points. Final score: Elder 39, La Salle 0. The game marked the Panthers' 30th win over the Lancers in 40 games since 1962.
In Game 7, the Panthers faced a young Moeller Crusader team led by rookie Head Coach Bob Crable. The Crusaders were struggling at 2-4, and Elder, ranked #20 in the USA Today Super 25, showed Moeller no mercy. Quarterback Keith Bolger scored on the third play of the game, on a 44-yard run around the left end, and again later in the first quarter on a 7-yard run. Mike Riga's PATs put the Panthers up 14-0. Andy Wellendorf pulled down a 19-yard TD pass from Bolger, David Turner caught another from 31 yards out, and Jake Witte scored on a recovery of a Nick Ackerman-blocked punt in the end zone. A two-point conversion from Bolger to Turner followed a botched snap and the Panthers were up 43-0 at the half. Moeller's only bright spot was a 64-yard TD pass reception in the fourth quarter. The Panthers intercepted three passes (Mark Butscha, Kevin Lipps, and Nick Ackerman) and recovered three fumbles (Tony Carvitti, Jake Witte and Mike Witterstaetter) in addition to the blocked punt. [For the first time in the history of the rankings, three teams from the same city were among the USA Today Top 25. Colerain, at #8, and St. Xavier, at #22, joined the Panthers on the list.]
As Game 8 with St. Xavier approached, it became clear that it would be a battle to the wire, and it was. Both teams were undefeated: Elder at 7-0, St. Xavier at 6-0. Each team had beaten a formidable opponent: Elder topped #1-ranked St. Ignatius, St. Xavier beat nationally-ranked Bethlehem (Pa.) Catholic. Their average points scored and points allowed were virtually identical. And their defenses were known to be strong factors in their success. In a packed stadium at St. Xavier, 8000 fans watched a back-and-forth battle which saw each team hold the lead and then give it up. Elder scored first, following an extended drive topped by a Tom Hornsby 3-yard TD run. Mike Riga's kick put the Panthers up, 7-0. The Bombers responded in the second quarter with a 31-yard TD pass, but missed the PAT. Soon after, the Panthers were trapped deep in their own territory and Hornsby was tacked in the end zone for a safety to give the Bombers an 8-7 halftime lead. In the third quarter, Elder scored on a 13-yard pass from Keith Bolger to Andy Wellendorf, but the two-point conversion attempt failed, making the score Elder 13, St. Xavier 8. The teams battled to gain a decisive advantage throughout the fourth quarter, and Elder seemed to be marching toward a score, but a fumble surrendered the ball and a subsequent 97-yard run by Enye Willingham slammed the door on the Panthers. The two-point conversion put the Bombers up to stay, 16-13. The loss was the Panthers' fifth in a row to the Bombers, and Coach Ramsey's fifth loss in five tries to Bomber coach Steve Rasso.
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For the second time this season, the Panthers hosted the #1-ranked team in the state, as the Warren Harding Raiders visited The Pit for Game 9. The Panthers seemed flat after the St. Xavier loss, and the Raiders jumped to a 14-3 halftime lead, with the only bright spot for the Panthers a 36-yard Mike Riga field goal. But the Panthers came out for the second half a new, inspired team and, sparked by Ricky Brown's interception early in the third quarter, Elder marched to their first TD of the night, a 5-yard pass from Keith Bolger to Landon Arnold. Riga's kick brought the score to 14-10. The fired-up Panther defense then caused a Raider fumble, which Mark Butscha pounced on, and the Panthers picked up the go-ahead score following a six-play, 64-yard drive capped off with Bradley Glatthaar's 3-yard TD run. The fourth quarter was all Elder, as the defense kept Harding in their own end of the field, and the Panthers scored an insurance TD on Tom Hornsby's 1-yard dash with six minutes left in the game.
The Panthers found themselves behind early in Game 10, against the Oak Hills Highlanders at the Scots' home field. Elder entered the game ranked third in the state, behind Colerain and St. Xavier, but the Highlanders were not intimidated as they marched the length of the field to a touchdown on their first possession. The Panthers responded late in the first quarter on a Bradley Glatthaar 1-yard run, and the game was tied 7-7. Elder took the lead on another Glatthaar TD run, this one from 5 yards out, but the PAT attempt was blocked, and the score at the half was 13-7, Elder. Oak Hills came out for the second half inspired, and briefly took the lead 14-13, but Elder put together two TD drives, capped off by a 34-yard TD pass from Keith Bolger to Bill Poland, and another Glatthaar TD run (10 yards). Following the Poland score the two-point conversion attempt failed, and Mike Riga missed the PAT after the Glatthaar TD, bringing the score to 25-14, Elder. But the third quarter scoring was not over. Oak Hills scored again and completed the two-point conversion, to close to within three points, but on the ensuing kickoff Ricky Brown returned the ball 84 yards for a touchdown. Another failed kick made the score 31-22 at the end of the third quarter. An insurance score by Glatthaar (his fourth TD of the game) made the score 37-22, and Chris Abrams' 2-point conversion run completed the scoring to make the final tally, 39-22.
Last season, the Panthers visited Lebanon for their first round playoff game, and treated the Warriors to a 42-12 pasting. This year, the Warriors traveled to The Pit, but the results were nearly identical, with the Panthers coming out on top, 38-13. As has been their trademark through much of the season, the Panthers started out slowly, leading 6-0 after the 1st quarter, on a 9-yard TD run by QB Keith Bolger. But following 15 unanswered points in the 2nd quarter, the Panthers were up 21-0 at the half. The scoring in the second stanza was provided by Dave Turner (on a 9-yard TD reception from Bolger), Bradley Glatthaar (on a 3-yard run), Mike Riga (one PAT), and Bill Poland (a two-point conversion pass from Bolger). Lebanon tried to get back in the game in the second half, scoring early in the third quarter, but the Panthers responded with a Mike Riga 23-yard field goal and Bill Poland's 35-yard TD reception (followed by another Riga PAT). Bradley Glatthaar's 4-yard TD run and Riga's PAT in the fourth quarter finished the Panthers' scoring; a late TD by the Warriors made the final score, 38-13. The Panthers outgained the Warriors 477-215 in total yards; Keith Bolger was 10-for-13 passing for 265 yards. The team rushed for 212 yards, with Bolger leading the way with 70 yards on 14 carries; Glatthaar was close behind with 61 yards on 9 carries. Poland caught four passes for 101 yards.
In the other first round games, St. Xavier defeated Clayton Northmont, 41-6, Colerain topped Hamilton, 30-7, and Princeton upset Anderson, 56-20. After intense negotiations between the OHSAA, the Bengals, and Hamilton County, the regional semi-final games between St. Xavier and Princeton, and Elder and Colerain, were scheduled as a doubleheader at Paul Brown Stadium on Saturday, November 10.
In the second game of the doubleheader, following St. Xavier's 6-0 win over Princeton, the Panthers faced and defeated their third #1-ranked team of the season. Both St. Ignatius and Warren Harding were ranked #1 in Ohio when they visited the Pit, and both were soundly trounced by the Panthers. This time the battleground was "neutral" Paul Brown Stadium, and the opponent was the #1-ranked Colerain Cardinals. But the Portable Pit was in force, as 14,000 Elder fans more than doubled the fans of any other school, and the team responded, winning their third consecutive trip to the regional final. Elder scored on its first possession, on a masterful drive led by QB Keith Bolger, who scored the TD on a 3-yard run. The Cards responded with a quick score, temporarily mystifying the Panther defense with its famous triple option. But they quickly regrouped, and held the Cardinals to one more score in the first half, while the offense went on a rampage. A 50-yard run by Bradley Glatthaar, a 1-yard run by Tom Hornsby, and a 47-yard run by Keith Bolger, followed by successful PATs by Mike Riga, put Elder up 28-14 at halftime. Early in the fourth quarter Colerain scored to make it 28-21, but a subsequent field goal attempt hit the goal post, and Elder put the game out of reach at 35-21 on a 5-yard pass from Bolger to Landon Arnold. Keith Bolger rushed 22 times for 161 yards and completed 6 of 14 passes for 68 yards. A new record for Ohio state playoff attendance was set as 47,743 watched the two contests.
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On Novmber 17, the Panthers returned to the Regional Final game for the third consecutive year, against the St. Xavier Bombers, who handed them their only defeat of the season back in Week 8, by a score of 16-13. Unfortunately, three interceptions by Keith Bolger and a tough Bomber defense stopped several Panther scoring drives, and a bad snap foiled a field goal attempt, leading to the Panthers' 24-21 defeat. A sold-out Nippert Stadium crowd of 35,000 watched as the Panthers gave the Bombers a 24-7 lead early in the third quarter, with Elder scoring on a 38-yard pass from Keith Bolger to Brett Bolger. But the Panthers went down fighting, scoring twice late in the game, once on a 5-yard Keith Bolger run, and later on a Keith-to-brother Brett TD pass of 15 yards. The Panthers moved the ball well, gaining 118 yards on the ground and 212 yards through the air (Bolger hit on 17 of 30 passes). [St. Xavier defeated Dublin Coffman, 35-14, in the state semi-finals, and faced Cleveland St. Ignatius in the state championship game. St. Ignatius had defeated Massillon Washington, 49-20, to earn their chance at their ninth state football championship. St. Xavier had reached the finals twice before, in 1992 and 1998, but had yet to win a state title in football. St. Xavier had defeated St. Ignatius during the regular season, 42-41, but the Wildcats gained revenge by dominating the Bombers, 37-6, to gain their ninth state championship.]
Two members of the team went on to play Division I football at the college level: Ricky Brown (Boston College) and David Turner (Brown University).
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OHIO
ALL-STATE ALL-STARS
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First Team |
Brian Lysaght, Andrew Ackerman |
Second Team |
Josh Huber |
Special
Mention
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Jim
Macke, Ricky Brown
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Bradley
Glatthaar, Brett Bolger, Andy Wellendorf, Tom Hornsby, Digger
Bujnoch, Joe Ramundo
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Brady
Miller, Nick Ackerman, Andrew Ackerman, Rick Brown, Zach King,
Jim Macke, Josh Huber,
Jake Witte
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Mark
Butscha and Mike Broxterman
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Co-Player of the Year |
Keith Bolger |
Best Defensive Back |
Nick Ackerman |
Kicker of the Year |
Mike Riga |
Best Linebacker |
Brady Miller |
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Best
Defensive Back
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Ricky
Brown, Nick Ackerman
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Best
Linebacker
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Brady
Miller
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Best
Receiver
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Bill
Poland
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Most
Improved Player
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Mark
Butscha
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Mr.
Panther
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Bobby
Asman
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Mr.
Z. I. P.
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Brady
Miller
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First Downs Yards Gained Points Scored Yards Passing Yards Rushing Opp. First Downs Opp. Yards Gained Opp. Points Scored Opp. Yards Gained Opp. Receptions Opp. Yards Gained Opp. Carries Interceptions Fumble Recoveries
Final Regular Season Individual Leaders (10 Games)
Team Playoff Statistics (3 Games)
First Downs Yards Gained Points Scored Yards Passing Yards Rushing Opp. First Downs Opp. Yards Gained Opp. Points Scored Opp. Yards Gained Opp. Receptions Opp. Yards Gained Opp. Carries Interceptions Fumble Recoveries
Team Roster
(Individual stats are available by clicking on underlined players' names.)
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Tom Anevski |
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Bobby Asman |
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Nick Baird |
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Mike Barone |
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Jon Bauer |
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Marty Bauer |
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Nathan Berning |
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Dan Bloemker |
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Nick Brandhorst |
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Kyle Brunsman |
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Digger Bujnoch |
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Dan Byrne |
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Tony Carvitti |
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Pat Christman |
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Eric Corcoran |
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Conrad Cross |
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Brian Crowley |
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Ryan Dattilo |
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Nick Daut |
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Mike Eagan |
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Eric Hamberg |
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Frank Hilvers |
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Ryan Jacamine |
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Cody King |
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Sam Kinzeler |
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Dan Kloepfer |
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Tony Louderback |
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Brandon Lubbers |
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Tony Luca |
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Brian Lysaght |
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Ryan Maness |
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Dan McDonald |
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Mike McKenna |
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Bryan McKiddy |
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Keith Meyer |
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Jake Paff |
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Aaron Peppers |
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Joe Ramundo |
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Alex Robinson |
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Chris Rothwell |
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Matt Schaefer |
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Dan Scherrer |
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Nick Schwandner |
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Scott Spitznagel |
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Brian Stall |
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Mike Sulken |
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Kurt Thomas |
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Casey Trame |
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Todd Turner |
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Kevin Vater |
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Joe Volker |
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Mike Witterstaetter |
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Branden Wittwer |
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John Wolff |
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