Kohawks in it for the long haul in 2011

CEDAR RAPIDS - It's 14 hours by bus. This ain't the Iowa Hawkeyes you know.

No charter flights, no flights, period. You hit the highway to get to your road football games in Division III.

Even if that game is in Abilene, Texas.

“I actually love overnight trips,” quarterback Brad Boyle said Monday at Coe College's Media Day. “It is going to be a haul. But we're leaving Thursday morning, so that won't be as bad.”

The haul Boyle is referring to is Coe's season opener Saturday, Sept. 3 at Hardin-Simmons. It's a premier matchup between teams ranked preseason in the top 20 nationally.

Nothing like finding out right away what kind of club you've got. Nothing like making a two-day trip to get there.

Coe is busing about seven hours the first day, then knocking off the rest. They'll drive straight through back to Iowa after a 1 p.m. game.

You kind of hope bus legs won't affect them the second week, Sept. 10 at Olivet Nazarene. That's a mere four-hour drive, by the way.

“We are really looking forward to (Texas),” Coe Coach Steve Staker said, without a hint of sarcasm. “The trip down there will be really fun, I think. Win or lose, it's going to be a long trip home. But if we win that game, it'll shorten it up quite a bit.”

This team should win its share of games this fall, as 16 starters return from a 2010 club that went 9-2 and made it to the NCAA playoffs. The Kohawks have been NCAA at-large participants the last two years.

The goal this season is not to have to sweat it out when the postseason field is announced. That would require winning the Iowa Conference.

“Right now, the guys are thinking that they've made the playoffs the last two years, but a conference championship has escaped them,” Staker said. “The hardware is what they'd also like, too. If they get the hardware, they know they get that automatic (playoff) bid. We've got to take it one game at a time, that old cliche. I can't get fired up about a (potential) conference championship until we win the next game, so to speak.”

Boyle returns for the coup de grace to a prolific career that has seen him named IIAC Most Valuable Player two years in a row. Last season, the senior from New Sharon threw for 24 touchdowns and ran for 19 more, accounting for 3,204 yards of total offense.

He is a preseason first-team All-American by Lindy's and D3football.com.

“For me, it's working on my leadership skills,” Boyle said. “I'm trying to lead the younger guys, which is a big goal for me. Hopefully I can take off in that role.”

Coe's defense features a pair of preseason All-American ends in Frank Weymiller (a former Waukon prep) and Tyler Hemry (a former North Fayette prep). Weymiller missed all of 2010 with a back injury but has proclaimed himself healthy going into this season.

“This summer, I wasn't real sure how (his back) was going to be,” Weymiller said. “But all summer, I've been doing rehab. The first week of practice, it's felt great.

“That has really helped my (peace) of mind.”