For immediate release: August 22, 2003
For more information, contact Creg Jantz at 216-368-6517 or creg.jantz@case.edu

CLEVELAND—The season hasn't even started and Case Western Reserve University senior Eli Grant (Brooklyn - NY) has recorded a hat trick. Even weirder, he's not a soccer player—he is the Spartans starting quarterback.

Grant was recently named a first team preseason All-American by D3football.com, a highly visited web site for NCAA Division III football. It was Grant's third All-American honor this preseason, as he was also named a first teamer by Lindy's National College Football Preseason Magazine and a second teamer by Don Hansen's Football Gazette.

Eli Grant

"It shows you what hard work can do for someone who has a great mind," said Case Head Coach Joe Perella. "His biggest asset is his mind and he worked hard on the physical part of it and it just came into play."

Grant, a 2000 graduate of Stuyvesant High School in New York City, was named a NCAA Division III third team All-American by several voting outlets (Football Gazette, D3football.com, and honorable mention by Hewlett Packard) in 2002 as he finished his junior season third in the nation for passing efficiency (170.8) and third in total offense (319.2 yards per game).

"I think it (preseason awards) adds more pressure to us as coaches then to him," said Perella. "I think he just roles on. That's part of what makes him a great quarterback. I would be shocked if he didn't have a better year than he had last year."

Grant rewrote the UAA record book in nearly every passing category last year. In his best performances, Grant completed 36 of 52 passes for 492 yards against Washington University and threw five touchdown passes against the University of Chicago. Grant completed 220 out of 345 passes for 3265 yards and 33 touchdowns, breaking school records as well.

The Case offense as a whole finished second in the nation last year in total offense (507.8 yards per game), first in passing offense (357.7 yards per game) and 19th in scoring (36.9 points per game).

The awards don't stop there. American Football Monthly, a national magazine for football coaches, elevated Case Head Coach Joe Perella amongst the NCAA Division III coaching ranks in this month's issue. Perella, about to kick off his third season in University Circle, was named to the publications "HOT LIST."

Joe Perella

With the help of some of the top sports writers and football experts in the nation, the publication compiled a list of coaches that it believes are the future of high school, college and professional football. For a complete list and profiles log on to http://www.AmericanFootballMonthly.com.

"It was shocking to me at my age thinking of being a hot coach," said Perella. "But it is an honor and a tribute to the people who work with me. When you coach football you can't do it by yourself, you have to have good assistants and I think I have great assistants."

Out of only eight Division III coaches listed (82 total), Perella, along with Otterbein College's Joe Loth, were the only from Ohio. A nice coincidence, considering Case and Otterbein face each other in both team's season opener.

"Now I know why they want to play us so bad," Perella said jokingly. "He (Loth) has done a good job and the game will be a test for us."

The Spartans, who recorded their first winning season in over a decade last year at 6-4 and opened-up camp last week, kick off their season September 6 at home versus Otterbein College at 1 p.m.

–Case–

 

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