Band of brothers: Renel, Wayne State playing for D-II national title

BY DAN STICKRADT

SENIOR EDITOR

dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com

FLORENCE, Alabama — When Josh Renel was a senior in high school, he and his teammates fell one game short of playing for a state championship.

An all-state all-purpose running back, Renel and Rochester Adams were upset in the Division 2 state semifinals by Detroit King in the state semifinals, shattering life-long dream of walking off Ford Field with a state championship.

Now as a senior in college, Renel and his Wayne State teammates are playing for another kind of championship — and on a much bigger scale. The Warriors are playing in the NCAA Division II National championship game Saturday morning, and will face seventh-ranked Pittsburg State at 11 a.m. ET from Braly Municipal Stadium in Florence, Ala.

BREAKTHROUGH: Rochester Adams grad Josh Renel is the second leading rusher for Wayne State, which is making its first-ever NCAA Division II national title game appearance. Courtesy Photo | Wayne State University Athletics.

“This is a dream come true, a one in a lifetime experience,” said Renel, a running back and return specialist for the Warriors and a key contributor for four years. “To come so close as a high school football player and now getting a chance here as a college senior … It’s unbelievable.”

Wayne State finished up 33^rd in the voting in the final regular season polls and squeaked into the postseason as an at-large team, finishing second in the GLIAC South Division behind Hillsdale College. The Warriors (12-3) have gone on the road four straight weeks and upset a top 25 program each week, including Minnesota-Duluth last week.

The Warriors are not the first GLIAC School to compete for a national title in the past decade, as Grand Valley State has played in more than one title.

This season, Renel is second on the team in rushing, collecting 1,385 yards on 280 carries with 14 touchdowns. He has 24 catches for 228 yards and one touchdown catch. The shifty Renel is even more dangerous as a punt and kick returner, as he has returned 21 kicks for 475 yards and 13 punts for 166 yards.

But Renel said that he is only as good as the sum of the Warriors’ parts and the reason why this team has made an unexpected run in their first postseason appearance.

“We have all come together and we have believed each week that we could win,” said Renel. “We have all been doing our parts. We have become like brothers and now we get a chance to play for national championship.

Josh Renel

“The support we have received has been incredible,” lamented Renel. “A lot of my former high school teammates have been calling, e-mailing me to wish us luck. They have been following us.”

The Warriors will be the underdog once again, as Pittsburg State is making its fifth all-time championship game appearance. So why not Wayne State?

“To be able to make it this far in our first (postseason appearance) says a lot about the type of guys on this team, the coaches and everyone involved,” added Renel. Why not us? Grand Valley won a couple of years ago and they’re from our conference. We believe we can do it.”

ON AIR: Fans can stay connected to the game in a variety of ways, including the radio broadcast on News Talk 1400 WDTK.  Sean Baligian, Joe Gough and Lisa Seymour will have the call live from Florence with the pre-game show beginning at 10:30 a.m. ET.  Fans out of radio range can listen to the broadcast online at www.wdtkam.com

The game will be broadcast on ESPN2 with a live webcast airing simultaneously on ESPN3.  Frequent updates will be provided to Warrior fans following on Twitter (@waynestwarriors).

ALSO ON RENEL (Sept.1, 2010): http://209.217.228.250/~northoak/pages/posts/shake-and-bake-renel-still-maneuvering-through-defenses-for-wayne-state-1875.php

FOR MORE FOOTBALL COVERAGE:  http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Football&x=12&y=12

 Have photos or video of this event that you wish to share? E-mail pertinent information to www.northoaklandsports.com Senior Editor Dan Stickradt at dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com or e-mail results@northoaklandsports.com.

(To report varsity results, e-mail results@northoaklandsports.com or dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com )

To submit information to www.northoaklandsports.com, e-mail dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com.  To advertise, e-mail advertising@northoaklandsports.com . Follow us on Twitter @LocalSportsFans and more than a dozen other social media networks.

Tags: Athlete of the Week, Campus Clips, College Football, featured, football, Josh Renel, Wayne State University Football

Category: BWW Athlete of the Week, Campus Clips, Colleges / Other