At the beginning of every year, the Centennial Conference sends out the first of its
weekly football releases. In the first issue, the Centennial Conference named some players to
watch for this season. Mentioned were Muhlenberg’s Terrence Dandridge, Ursinus’ Bryan Ellis,
and Franklin & Marshall’s John Kaschak. Not mentioned was the new star running back of the
McDaniel College Football team, “Super” Joe Rollins.
Rollins, also known as JRoll, is this year’s star running back for the Green Terror. A
sophomore out of Temple Hills, Maryland, Rollins is a Computer Graphics major, who looks
like he can break nearly every rushing record here at McDaniel.
For those who don’t know, McDaniel has had a storied history of great runnings. The
most notable being Bill Shepard ’35 who went on to play in the NFL, and Eric Frees ’92, who
went on to set most Division 3 rushing records in his time.
Rollins may not know the history of the program, but that does not mean he won’t be
included. He is smashing records whenever he touches the ball, whether it was the Moravian
game where he tied a 40 year-long school record for most yards in a game (311) or being nine
carries shy from being second all time in conference history for highest average yards per carry
(6.8 yards in 91 attempts, needed 100 to qualify).
Rollins had this to say about the Conference underrating his performance: “I think
originally I was underrated because of my size, but once I had a couple of good games, now I
think more teams are paying attentions to my running ability…I actually did not pay attention to
anything [my stats or records] last year except making sure I knew the play book and making
sure I had the plays down.”
Interesting enough, going into Families Weekend’s Gettysburg game, Rollins had 97
attempts but this year has put up 7.0 yards per attempt. Super Joe is on pace to run for around
1,500 yards and if he keeps that up for his career, he will break the conference record of 5,281
yards, held by none other than McDaniel’s Eric Frees.
Rollins, however, does not see himself as a once in a generation player. “I guess people
think more highly of me then I do myself… I never imagined me breaking a school record or
being a college hall of fame.” Despite Rollin’s reserved attitude, the road to success appears
within an arm’s grasp as he will most likely become McDaniel’s best running back in history and
ultimately one of the best in Centennial and NCAA Division 3 history.
Thanks Michael.