2011 Kids Camp!

On Tuesday afternoon, over 45 local kids came to Rosenbloom Field to get a football experience provided by some of the Pioneer rookies!  Below are some of the pictures from the event, all were taken by assistant coach Tim Hollibaugh!

Coach Marquis Bradley '11 talks about a drill

Daniel Ryerson '15, Rich Renteria '15, and Eddie Guen-Murray '15 lead the charges

All of the 2011 Kids Campers!

Perhaps the most important lesson taught yesterday... "Stay off the Honor G!"

Sam Offenberg '14 and Trent Baker

Marquis Bradley & Tazon de Estrellas (Aztec Bowl)

Grinnell Pioneer senior Marquis Bradley played in the "Aztec Bowl" or Tazon de Estrellas in December as a part of the DIII All-Star team that competed against CONADEIP All-Star team from Mexico.

Here is the highlight video from the game.  Marquis can been seen wearing #21 in the white jersey and is one of the two guys carrying the American flag as they take the field!

Marquis Bradley In The Wichita Eagle!

Marquis Bradley '11 and his mother, Jodee Bradley

MWC All-Conference performer, Marquis Bradley '11, played in the Tazon de Estrellas, also known as the former Aztec Bowl as a member of the American All-Stars.  The Stars and Stripes team made up of 44 Division III players beat the CONADEIP All-Stars on Saturday December 18th, by a score of 48-7.  It was a great way to cap Marquis' career and his home town newspaper, The Wichita Eagle, spotlighted Bradley the week of the game.

Wichitan Marquis Bradley is a whale of a football player who dreams of playing in the NFL, a guy who works harder than almost anyone to make that dream come true, a defensive player of the year at Division III Grinnell College in Iowa, a hard- hitting linebacker with the nickname "Marquis the Beast."

But his story is more than football.

It's hopeful and uplifting. It involves a dynamic mother and male role models who couldn't resist Bradley's illuminating smile or his mother's strong work ethic and gave both the support they needed.

Check out the whole story here.

Coach Pedersen is 2010 MWC Coach of the Year! Pioneers Garner 7 All-MWC Honors!

The Grinnell College football team had an amazing run in the 2010 season, and that success has been reflected in the All-MWC selections.

Head Coach Jeff Pedersen ’02 (top, left) has been named MWC Coach of the Year, and linebacker Marquis Bradley ’11 (top, second from left), wide receiver Robert Seer ’12 (top, second from right) and returner Logan Granera ’13 (top, right) have been named to the All-MWC first team in voting by the league’s coaches.

Granera was also a second-team pick - at the wide receiver position - and was joined on that team by linebacker Ryan Fletcher ’11 (bottom, left), safety Marc Heronemus ’11 (bottom, second from left) and running back TJ Schaid ’13 (bottom, second from right). Offensive tackle Jake McVeigh ’11 (bottom, right) was an honorable mention pick for a team that won as many games in 2010 as the three previous Grinnell squads combined.

Under Pedersen’s guidance, the Pioneers achieved success not seen at Grinnell in quite a few years. Among them were beating Monmouth College for the first time since 2000, winning four of their first five games for Grinnell’s best start since 1999 and finishing at 6-4 for the team’s best record since 2004.

See the entire Grinnell release here.  See the entire 2010 All-MWC team here.

2010 Season Recap

 The 2010 Grinnell Pioneers finished the season with a record of 6-4, which is the school's best record since 2004.  After 5 consecutive seasons of 3 wins or less, the 2010 version of the Pioneers broke out in a big way.  They won 4 of their 5 home games and despite having the smallest roster size in the conference, went on the road and defeated the two-time defending conference champions Monmouth Scots in Week 2.

Under first-year head coach Jeff Pedersen, the 2010 Pioneers were an attacking, fast, and intelligent team that bought into the three tenors of Coach Pedersen's Pioneering Spirit:  VISION, COURAGE, AND CONVICTION.

There were numerous individual standout seasons, as the Pioneers had two receivers finish in the top 5 in the MWC in both receptions per game and receiving yards per game (Logan Granera '12 and Robert Seer '12).  Seer also finished 2nd in the conference in scoring with 14 TDs.  Granera led the MWC in All-Purpose yardage, racking up 900 return yards and 1 TD.

Defensively, the Pioneers were led by 3 seniors.  Linebackers Marquis Bradley '10 and Ryan Fletcher '10 were all over the field, both finishing in the top 6 of the MWC in tackles.  Bradley had 103 total, 3 sacks, and 3 INTs.  Fletcher had 87 tackles, 10.5 of which were TFL.  Marc Heronemus '10 led the Pioneers' secondary with 59 tackles and 10 passes defended, which was good for 5th in the MWC.

Coach Pedersen and company are already excited for the 2011 season and bringing in the next batch of Pioneers to help continue the winning at Grinnell College!

Marquis Bradley '11 Chosen to Play in Stars & Stripes All-Star Game!

Grinnell College’s Marquis Bradley ’11 has been chosen by a panel of NCAA Division III coaches to represent Team Stars & Stripes in the second annual Tázon de Estrellas (Bowl of the Stars).

The D-III All-Star team’s contest against the CONADEIP All-Stars from Mexico is slated for Dec. 18 at Tec de Monterrey Stadium in Toluca, Mexico.

Bradley, a 5-foot-11, 202-pound linebacker from Wichita, Kan. (Independence HS), has earned his share of honors this season. He was named to the D3football.com Team of the Week once and was also tabbed a Midwest Conference Defensive Performer of the Week.

Through eight games, Bradley has team-highs of 82 tackles, three interceptions and two fumble recoveries. He also has two sacks, eight tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries for the Pioneers, who sit at 5-3 and are tied for 2nd place in the MWC.

Bradley and Granera Named MWC Players of the Week

Grinnell College players have claimed two of the three Midwest Conference Football Players of the Week honors.

Marquis Bradley ’11 (left), a 5-11, 218-pound linebacker from Wichita, Kan., was named Defensive Player of the Week and Logan Granera ’13 (right), a 5-11, 180-pound wide receiver/kicker/kick returner from Keokuk, Iowa, was tabbed Special Teams Player of the Week.

Bradley and Granera both had dominating performances in the Pioneers’ 31-17 come-from-behind win over Lawrence University Saturday.

Bradley had a coming up with a game-high 13 tackles to go along with a momentum-shifting interception and fumble recovery. He now has 75 tackles on the season.

Granera put his versatility on display against Lawrence. Not only did he boot a 42-yard field goal in the closing seconds of the first half, he also returned two kickoffs for 74 yards including a 50-yard return, punted three times and kicked off six times for a 53.3-yard average. He also had an 18-yard touchdown catch for the final score of the game while finishing with six catches for 69 yards overall.

It was the second time this year that Granera was named Player of the Week, having earned the honor as the Offensive Performer of the Week back on September 20 for his performance against Ripon.

The efforts of Bradley and Granera helped Grinnell rally from a 17-0 deficit against Lawrence with 31 unanswered points as the Pioneers improved to 5-2, their best start since 1998.

Marquis Bradley Named to D3Football.com's Team of the Week!

With Saturday’s impressive defensive performance against Lake Forest College, Grinnell College’s Marquis Bradley ’11 has earned national attention.

Bradley, a 5-foot-11, 202-pound linebacker from Wichita, Kan. (Independence HS), was named to the D3football.com national Team of the Week. He recorded a team-high 11 tackles, including two sacks, and an interception in Grinnell’s 41-20 victory over the Foresters.

For the season, Bradley leads the Pioneers, and is second in the MWC, with 45 tackles (11.2 per game), he also has two sacks, 4.5 TFL, 1 INT, 2 PBU, 3 passes defended, 1 forced fumble, and 1 fumble recovery.

Saturday's victory pushed Grinnell to 3-1 on the season, the Pioneers’ best start since the 2000 season.

See the entire D3Football.com Team of the Week here.

The Pioneers beat Monmouth!

After opening the 2010 seasons with a win over Macalester, the Pioneers got another big win this past weekend!  We played two-time defending conference champion Monmouth and beat them 17-15 at their place.  We hadn’t beaten them since 2000, and they had won 21 straight conference games!

We took the opening kickoff and put together a 15 play touchdown drive that used up 6:40 of the first quarter.  Our next score came in the second quarter on a one-yard run by Nick Hinojosa.  The run capped a 5 play, 70 yard drive.  The big play of the drive was 41 yard pass from Mike Bogard to Robert Seer.  The score gave us a 14-0 lead, which we took into halftime.

Coming out of the half, our defense forced a three and out, and the offense launched a 13 play drive that used up another 6:32 of game time.  Unfortunately we were only able to get a field goal out of the drive, but that would prove to be enough.

The defense came up huge the entire game.  On Monmouth’s first drive of the game we stopped them twice for short gains on running plays.  On third down Coach Martinez called the perfect blitz and senior Ryan Fletcher was able to get the big hit on their quarterback.  He ended up coming out of the game after that play, and he never returned.  Monmouth’s offense took a while to adjust to a new quarterback, and our defense kept bringing the pressure all game.

Marquis Bradley and Ryan Fletcher

Monmouth eventually closed the gap to 17-15 late in the fourth quarter, and had the ball with a chance to win the game.  The defense came up clutch again however, when Marquis Bradley forced a fumble with under five minutes, and on the next drive they stopped  Monmouth on fourth down with less than one minute remaining.

This was a great victory for our program and for our players.  All the hard work of the past few years has begun to pay off, but nobody is satisfied with our 2-0 start.  We know that we have the potential to win every game left on our schedule, but we have the potential to lose them all as well.  There are no guarantees for this team, so we’ll just keep working hard and try to make our own breaks!

Pioneer Awards Announced

This past Sunday night, the 2009 Grinnell Pioneer football team gathered together for one final time at the team banquet. Along with great food and some bad jokes, the 2009 Pioneer football awards were announced.

Dick Ullrich '33 Award (Most Valuable Offensive or Defensive Back): Marquis Bradley '11.

Abe Rosenbloom '34 Award (Most Valuable Offensive or Defensive Lineman): Mike Tricoli '10

Special Teams Most Valuable Player: Ryan Boehm '10

Steve Kriegel Award (for dedication, desire, and determination): Chad Christoff '10

Troy Barboza Award (Most Inspirational Rookie): Cody Weber '13

Offensive Rookie of the Year: Mike McCabe '13

Defensive Rookie of the Year: Kevin Hwang '13

Congratulations to all the honorees and to the entire 2009 Pioneer team. It was a memorable year and we continue to work towards making 2010 even better!

Bradley & Boehm Named All-MWC

Junior linebacker Marquis Bradley (Wichita, KS/Independent) and senior defensive back and return specialist Ryan Boehm (Iowa City, IA/City High) were both named to the All-Midwest Conference Second Team on Wednesday. The Pioneers also had three players recognized as All-MWC Honorable Mention: Sophomore receiver Robert Seer (Saukville, WI/Port Washington), sophomore offensive lineman Chris Jarmon (Boulder, CO/Boulder) and junior safety Marc Heronemus (Topeka, KS/Topeka).

Congrats to all five players! The honor is certainly well received in each case!

To read the Grinnell release please go here.

Marquis Bradley Named MWC Player of the Week!

For the second time this fall, a Pioneer defender has earned the recognition of Midwest Conference Player of the Week. Marquis Bradley's efforts in the 27-12 victory over Knox College were crucial to the team's success. Bradley totaled 16 tackles, 4.5 of which were for a loss. But his two biggest plays were in the first two minutes of play. Bradley forced a fumble and then recovered it for a TD on Knox's first play from scrimmage before causing another fumble on the ensuing kickoff that the Pioneer offense punched in for a quick 14-0 advantage.

See the MWC release here.

Big Hit!