D-III football players have long wait ahead of them

Dom Eisaman is waiting for a chance to play quarterback in college, but he is beginning to wonder if that day will ever come.

“It definitely feels like I haven’t been on the field in an eternity,” said Eisaman, a Greensburg Central Catholic grad who has two seasons of eligibility left at Washington & Jefferson.

He was gearing up for his redshirt junior season in the Presidents Athletic Conference when the NCAA Division III league pulled the plug on fall sports and decided to move football and other “high and medium contact” sports to the spring as a covid-19 precaution.

That decision came on the heels of the PAC’s initial decree to proceed with fall sports with teams playing only conference games.

The on-again, off-again nature of the last few weeks has PAC teams feeling like they’re swimming upstream.

The jarring schedule changes, as measured as they may be, have tested the patience of everyone involved, but Eisaman said the key is to stay focused and patient — something he knows plenty about.

Eisaman had to sit out last season after he transferred to Saint Vincent. So, more down time was the last thing he wanted when he made a U-turn and moved back to W&J.

“After hearing about the cancellation of this fall season it was upsetting, especially because I sat out,” Eisaman said. “I was looking forward to getting back on the field with my W&J teammates after working extremely hard the past year and a half to get my body in great shape.

“We were looking forward to competing for another PAC championship and to make a deep playoff run.”

The 6-foot-4, 210-pound Eisaman passed for 2,200 yards and 23 touchdowns across 12 games for the Presidents’ junior varsity team. He has appeared in one varsity game so far.

Another PAC team, Saint Vincent, had plans to make a run at W&J this fall under second-year coach Aaron Smetanka, an alum and former star quarterback.

Smetanka is counting his blessings, one of them being there are plans to play in the spring.

“We understand the decision that the (PAC) has made to keep our student-athletes safe and healthy during these uncertain times,” he said. “It has been a mentally tough situation since the middle of March not knowing from week to week what the future will hold for us. But, we have kept our faith in God and have stayed positive. We are happy and are looking forward to working together as a team in the fall with the season being postponed.”

Derry’s Justin Flack was set to start his sophomore season as a running back at Waynesburg. He said despite the uncertainty surrounding the PAC, he has not changed his preparation and is eyeing better things in the spring.

“It’s been a strange offseason to say the least,” Flack said. “But I’m still in the weight room getting better every day. My dad had gone out and purchased some weightlifting equipment, and so I’ve been able to keep on my lifting routine because of that.

“I’ve played 13 straight seasons of football so it’s going to be a little weird not playing this fall, but I do think the PAC made a great decision on postponing the season to the spring semester. I think it’s a decision that has the health and safety in mind of everyone that’s involved in football, and with the rising cases over the past month I think it’s the right choice.”

Flack led the Yellow Jackets in rushing yards last season as a freshman with 778 and four touchdowns.

“In the long run,” he said, “it’s going to be safer for everyone involved.”

Another local product, Nate Leopold out of Franklin Regional, was primed for a big junior season at John Carroll, another Division III program.

But the Ohio Athletic Conference, which houses John Carroll, also opted to postpone football and fall sports to the spring.

“It’s tough knowing we’ve put in all this work since January and not having that reward in August,” said Leopold, a second-team All-OAC defensive back last season. “But we’ve been positive on this whole thing. Ever since spring ball was cancelled, our motto was finding the positive in the negative. Covid is outside of our control so we focus on controlling the controllables. Find the positives in the situation. So when we get back to campus and practice we are going to work as hard as possible, we are going to attack the classroom, and really going to improve both our bodies and mind as much as possible and be ready whenever we have a chance to play.”

Leopold had 53 tackles, two interceptions, 10 passed defensed and a fumble recovery as a sophomore. He has played in 21 games in two seasons.

To stay sharp physically, Leopold said he has been sticking to the school’s running and lifting workout regimen.

He’s had a helper — his younger brother, Nick.

Another former two-sport standout at Franklin Regional, Nick Leopold wants to walk on as a wide receiver at Duquesne, where he initially had planned to pursue academics only.

“It’s been good to still be getting football work in while also doing lifting and conditioning,” Nate Leopold said.

The time away from one another, Smetanka said, is time that should not be wasted.

“We know it has been a difficult and unprecedented situation, but we will use this semester to become stronger as a team and be prepared to compete again,” Smetanka said.