Junior class moves into role as leaders for next season

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As the Central Michigan football team says goodbye to 15 seniors, it has 20 juniors sliding into leadership roles as seniors next season.

Senior defensive captain Mike Petrucci said he is confident in the class that will take over in his class’ absence.

“The juniors need to take control right away and guys can’t be scared to lead,” he said. “I think we’ve got a lot of young guys that stepped up this year and are going to continue to step up next year.”

Both offensive captains, wide receiver Cody Wilson and quarterback Ryan Radcliff return for their fourth year of eligibility.

Radcliff threw for 2,134 yards and 17 touchdowns in the second half of the 2011 season, settling into his role as starting quarterback. He will come into his senior season second all-time at CMU in passing yards, completions, passing touchdowns and total offense.

He will be protected by four then seniors on the offensive line and Jerry Harris will be back as a key target.

Following Friday’s loss to Toledo, Radcliff was asked about his wide receiver core moving into the 2012 season.

“It was good to get those young guys the time that they had this year and while a lot of it was out of necessity, they stepped up,” he said. “They got experience under their belts and that’s only going to benefit us.”

All four of the quarterback’s top wide outs return for the Chippewas, recording a combined 1,915 receiving yards.

Defensively, CMU has six senior linemen, including Steve Winston and Joe Kinville, who both started in all 12 games this season. Darryll Stinson, Nate Williams and Caesar Rodriguez will also be in their fourth year.

The line will have juniors Jahleel Addae and Loreno White in the secondary. Addae led the defense in 2011 with 107 tackles and four interceptions while White added 41 tackles.

David Harman returns for his fourth season as kicker after finishing the 2011 season 13-of-16 on field goals and perfect on PATs.

“I really like the junior class and I think it’s a solid class of leaders and good players,” said head coach Dan Enos. “When you inject these young guys and bring in another recruiting class, I really like our football team.”