Football Plays Against Team with No Campus

 

By Kristen Griffith (Whetstone Staff Writer)

Sophomore Benjamin Robinson knew the football game between the Wesley Wolverines and the College of Faith Saints would be a chance to improve his stats.

“I remember they [announcers] kept saying ‘Robinson on the tackle,’” he said.

But he did not know College of Faith is not a real school, until after Wolverines shut out the Saints 62-0 on Nov. 1.

College of Faith has no campus. It consists only of online classes that, “Prepare Christians for leadership positions,” according to its website (www.thecollegeoffaith.org). Nor does College of Faith belong to a division or a conference.

But Head Football Coach and Athletic Director Michael Drass said he had no choice but to play them.

“Honestly, (it was) not a team we would want to play, but as an independent we had no one else to play,” he said.

Director of Sports Information Steven Kramer said the football team was not in a conference from 2011 to 2014.

This is not the first time Wesley played College of Faith. They had a scrimmage against them in 2013.

“Degree programs of study by College of Faith have been declared by the appropriate state authority exempt from the requirements for licensure under provisions of North Carolina General Statues Section (G.S.) 116-15(d) for exemption form licensure with respect to religious education,” the team’s website says.

Not only did Wesley play them last fall, but the College paid them to do it.

“That happens on the small college level,” Drass said. “Only when one team is coming to another and the home team is not returning the game to play at the other the next year.”

Drass said they paid College of Faith a “small travel stipend,” but would not say how much. He said the Wolverines raised the money themselves.

Robinson said he remembers Drass telling the team that College of Faith was the only team that wanted to play them on Nov. 1.

“My coach always tells us that teams that are in Division-II and Division-III do not want to play us and are afraid of us, but College of Faith stepped up and played us,” he said. “That’s why he respects them.”

Sophomore Kevin Johnson said he remembered Drass explaining the trouble he had finding another team to play.

“Coach Drass said he called every D-III school on this coast, from Florida to Maine, but every school turned us down except College of Faith,” Johnson said.

Robinson said he was skeptical that College of Faith was Wesley’s only option.

“There might have been other teams,” he said. “There are plenty of schools that we could play, but he said no teams in D-III wanted to play us and they were the only ones available.”

Johnson said he wondered why they played an online school.

“I did have my questions as to why we played an online school, but Coach Drass said he tried everyone,” he said.

Sophomore Drew Thomas said the reason they had an open spot for that game is because teams they planned on facing backed out.

“Ithaca [College] is a great example,” he said. “We were supposed to play them in the fall, and they took us off their schedule.”

Senior Kennard Squirrell said it was tough for teams to go against an elite group like the Wolverines.

“It’s hard because a lot of teams don’t want to play Wesley,” he said. “They don’t want to take a loss.”

Squirrell said even though it was an easy win, it was also beneficial.

“It was getting us ready for playoffs,” he said. “That’s how we looked at it.”

Drass said College of Faith plays competitive schools all the time.

“Teams can and will schedule them as long as the NCAA will recognize the game and count the stats in that contest,” he said. “If the NCAA did not count the stats, teams would not play them.”