Moanalua Menehunes - A TCY Dynasty (The Failed Attempt)

[bbgunn]

After a while, I'm itching to get back in the dynasty-writing game.

Inspired by Izulde's Park High TCY Dynasty, among others, I'm going to attempt a dynasty tracking the collegiate careers (if any) of prospects from my alma mater, Moanalua High School.

First, a little information about my alma mater. Moanalua HS (enrollment roughly 2,000) is located in Honolulu, Hawaii, not too far away from Pearl Harbor and Aloha Stadium (hopefully inspiration for my prospects!). The school colors are royal blue and silver. The school nickname is the Menehunes, named after the mythical, short but muscular and extremely skilled native warriors that, thousands of years ago, allegedly inhabited the mountain valleys in the area of Honolulu where MoHS is located.

In real life, being historically terrible at football, I doubt that any Menehune has made an impact at a Division I-A school, so I'm interested to see where this goes.

This will be a TCY-only dynasty, as I do not own FOF (I know... the nerve!). After a player graduates or otherwise leaves college, see ya. I put the Sol-8 in Hawaii both to increase the number of prospects from MoHS, and to give them more options as to where they play their collegiate ball.

I'll try to include game-by-game stats for any players that make the big time, but if this drags on I'll likely fast-sim it.

Here are Moanalua's TCY ratings in the game I just generated:

Athletic Prep: 96
Academic Prep: 60

Wow, nice dice roll by TCY! I'll go ahead and accept that, although in real life those ratings are probably swapped.

Without further ado, let's start.

[bbgunn]

YEAR 1: 2004

MoHS Prospects
Ugh... doesn't look good. Here are the five prospects and their ratings.

RB Seth Baxter (20)
The #44 overall player in the state (#3 RB in Hawaii) is probably not good enough for D-I.
G Jerry Earl (22)
Same with Earl, who is the #1 G in Hawaii (which is not saying much this year, obviously). He is the #28 overall player in the state.
T Omar Huh (11)
Omar, the #97 player in HI, probably said “Huh?” when he saw that rating. No chance.
P Edgar Price (27)
The Price may be right for Edgar, the #2 P in Hawaii and #50 statewide overall, if he's lucky. Idolizes UH-Pearl City.
DT Shannon Heybach (32)
Probably the only bet here. Heybach (6-5, 293 lbs, GPA 3.43, Test Score 1151) is the #20 player in the state, and the #2 DT in Hawaii. Heybach, who has a pretty good attitude, favors a name school with high academics. He aspires to major in Social Work. He's great at defending the run, but is not a good pass rusher.

Week 2
Finally, a contact. Shannon Heybach is contacted by Eastern Michigan. EMU has average prestige but stinks in Heybach's preferred major of Social Work. So far this year at Moanalua, Heybach has played in 6 games, registering 33 tackles and 3.0 sacks.

Week 3
Shannon Heybach is offered a scholarship by EMU! Meanwhile, UTEP contacts him. The Miners are about equal to EMU in terms of prestige and academics. It's hard to figure out which school Heybach prefers, although with the University of Hawaii being in the Western Athletic Conference, Heybach might prefer UTEP (who, remember, is also in the WAC in TCY) to get some exposure at home.

[bbgunn]

Week 4
UTEP also becomes serious about Shannon Heybach. They offer him a scholarship. So does Louisiana-Monroe, who just contacted the kid this week. ULM is about the same as the other schools in terms of academics and prestige. Heybach must be a little disappointed that he is not getting offers from more academically-prestigious schools, but 3 scholarship offers are nice.

Week 7
Shannon Heybach takes the long trip to the Southeast to visit Louisiana-Monroe. ULM has one of the worst run defenses in D-I, so Heybach is probably thinking that he can get some serious playing time there sooner rather than later.

Week 8
Heybach is collecting some serious frequent flyer miles, as he visits Eastern Michigan and UTEP in Week 8. The favorite so far seems to be UTEP, with whom Heybach would have a chance to play at Hawaii.
HS stat update: 9 games, 53 tackles, 4.5 sacks, 0 interceptions.

Week 9
We have a commitment! Shannon Heybach has accepted a scholarship offer from the... Eastern Michigan Eagles! What a shocker. I thought he would have gone to UTEP. I guess he prefers Ypsilanti to El Paso. Anyway, congratulations to Mr. Heybach. Make Moanalua proud.

[bbgunn]

Minor Bowl Tier Week
In a stunner, South Carolina contacts our guard Jerry Earl (6-6, 297 lbs, GPA 2.98, Test Score 1197) and offers him a scholarship on the spot! Of course, Earl takes it. Come on, it's an SEC school! Earl idolized UH-Pearl City as a kid, and in lieu of that preferred a close school with high academics. South Carolina meets none of those criteria, but I guess a scholarship is a scholarship.

A quick look at South Carolina's roster reveals that the Gamecocks are embarrasingly woeful at guard, save for one somewhat SEC-caliber redshirt junior, the Gamecocks' only scholarship guard. Earl was rated by a scout who's lousy at offensive linemen, so Earl might be better than we think.

Anyway, that makes two Menehunes with scholarships at the D-I level! We're moving on up! (And very much to the east side... of the nation.)

END OF SEASON REPORT
South Carolina
The Gamecocks had a bad year, finishing 3-8 overall, 1-7 in the SEC. They were dead last in the SEC East. Only Arkansas (1-10, 0-8) was worse in the entire SEC.

Eastern Michigan
The Eagles were bad as well, finishing 2-9 overall, 2-6 in the MAC. They were next-to-last in the 7-team MAC West division.

That wraps it up for Year 1 of the dynasty. Stay tuned for more.

[bbgunn]

YEAR 2: 2005

PRE-SEASON REPORT
South Carolina
NATIONAL RANKING: #52
CONFERENCE PREDICTION: 4th in the SEC East. Georgia (ranked #3 nationally pre-season) is predicted to win the SEC East.
2005 SCHEDULE:
Wk2 – Ball State
Wk3 - @ Northern Illinois
Wk5 – LSU
Wk6 - @ Mississippi State
Wk7 - @ Tennessee
Wk8 – Florida
Wk9 – Mississippi
Wk10 – @ Vanderbilt
Wk12 - Georgia
Wk13 - @ Kentucky
Wk14 - Clemson

G Jerry Earl (Fr)
Jerry comes in at 0/33, and looking at how much South Carolina's guards have improved over the offseason, it's a wonder the Gamecocks wasted a scholarship on poor Jerry. They have another freshman guard who's at 6/100! It's no surprise that Jerry is terribly unhappy at Columbia. This guy probably won't see any playing time until his junior year, and that'll probably be mop-up duty or something.

Since Jerry will be redshirting this year, I won't post any details about South Carolina's games, just the scores.

Eastern Michigan
NATIONAL RANKING: #97
CONFERENCE PREDICTION: 6th in the MAC West (7 teams in the division). Toledo, Eastern Michigan's rival, is predicted to be #1 in the MAC West (#48 nationally).
2005 SCHEDULE:
Wk2 - @ North Texas
Wk4 – Northwestern
Wk5 – Buffalo
Wk6 - @ UH-Ewa Beach
Wk7 - @ Central Michigan
Wk8 – Kent State
Wk9 – Ball State
Wk10 – Northern Illinois
Wk11 - @ Western Michigan
Wk12 - @ Bowling Green
Wk13 - @ Toledo

DT Shannon Heybach (Fr)
Shannon will also redshirt this year, but he has already nearly maxed out his potential at 21/22. One of the top two DTs at Eastern Michigan is in his last year of eligibility, and Shannon's only competition for that spot at this point is a walk-on junior with nearly the same potential but drastically lower current rating. Heybach may very well start next year.

I'll only post the scores for the Eagles' games this year as well.

Moanalua HS Prospects
The good news is that the school has 12 prospects this year. The bad news is that only two of them have a rating over 20. I'll only focus on those two for now, but if for some reason the others get offers, I'll bring them into the fold.

DT Kennedy Prior (23)
(5-11, 254 lbs, GPA 3.49, Test Score 1161)
#56 player in Hawaii. Probably does not have much of a chance. In four HS games so far, Kennedy has 10 tackles and a sack.
G Max Tracy (37)
(6-8, 313 lbs, GPA 3.51, Test Score 1062)
In terms of size, Max is a beast. The #5 overall player in Hawaii, he is the best prospect so far in this dynasty, although he was rated by a scout lousy with offensive linemen. Tracy highly values a school with high academic standards, and one that is in Hawaii or on the West Coast would be icing on the cake. Max excels at pass protection. He is looking forward to majoring in Marketing in college.

Week 1
Max Tracy is contacted by Buffalo. Those schools in the East are certainly spending a lot of recruiting money on Hawaii. Anyway, Buffalo is below average in Marketing.

Week 2
South Carolina
The Gamecocks win at home 55-0 over Ball State.

Eastern Michigan
North Texas beats the visiting Eagles 24-21.

Recruiting
Tracy is offered a scholarship by Buffalo... and by UH-Ewa Beach, who contacted Max this week. Just on the west side of the island of Oahu, UHEB is betting that Tracy will choose distance over academics (UHEB is only rated Fair in Marketing).

Week 3
South Carolina
The visiting Gamecocks, ranked #35 before the game, routs Northern Illinois 41-3. They are now 2-0 and ranked #30.

Recruiting
Max Tracy drives down Interstate H-1 with his dad to visit UH-Ewa Beach. Meanwhile, Arkansas State contacts him and offers a scholarship. Arkansas State (rated Very Good in Marketing) is by far the best academic school to contact Max so far.

[bbgunn]

Week 4
Eastern Michigan
Hosts Eastern Michigan pull off the upset, beat #40 Northwestern 37-14. Eastern Michigan is now 1-1 heading into MAC play.

Recruiting
Two more scholarships come in for Max Tracy from two UH-system schools: UH-Mililani Town and UH-Waipahu, in central and western Oahu, respectively. That brings the total of scholarship offers to five. It's no trouble for Max to visit those schools, and he does so right away. UH-Waipahu, rated Excellent in Marketing, must be the favorite for Max now. I would be surprised if he doesn't end up there.

Week 5
South Carolina
The Gamecocks come in to Week 5 ranked #29, and they edge out a big upset over visitors #7 LSU 33-30. They go to 3-0 and on Sunday are ranked #23.

Eastern Michigan
The Eagles go to 2-1 with an easy win over visiting Buffalo 34-10.

Recruiting
Yet another Hawaii school throws its hat into the ring for Max Tracy: UH-Maui. But even they do not compare academically with favorites UH-Waipahu. One advantage that Maui has, though, is that they have a Moanalua graduate on the roster, and an O-lineman at that.

Week 6
South Carolina
Hosts Mississippi State edge out the #23 Gamecocks 27-26, dropping SC to 3-1. The Gamecocks are now ranked #36.

Eastern Michigan
The Eagles travel to Hawaii and beat UH-Ewa Beach 31-27 to move to 3-1. Redshirted DT Shannon Heybach has to be heartbroken that he did not have a chance to play in front of friends and family.

Recruiting
Max Tracy is now visiting all the UH schools. Meanwhile, the All-Hawaii selections come out, and Tracy is honored at offensive guard! Congratulations.

Week 7
South Carolina
#36 South Carolina goes to #8 Tennessee and gets blown out 59-3. That makes two straight losses for the Gamecocks. They drop to #45 in the coaches poll.

Eastern Michigan
The Eagles go to Central Michigan and open up a can of ass-whuppin' 52-7 for their fourth straight victory.

A quick rundown of the Top 10 in the BCS:

#1 Miami (FL) 6-0
#2 Tennessee 5-0
#3 Michigan 6-0
#4 Oregon 6-0
#5 Texas 5-0
#6 Florida St. 5-0
#7 Oklahoma 5-0
#8 Colorado 5-0
#9 Nebraska 6-0
#10 California 6-0

Recruiting
Buffalo withdraws its scholarship offer to Max Tracy. Meanwhile, Max flies to Arkansas to visit Arkansas State. Forums on the Internet still believe he is going to stay home and play for UH-Waipahu.

Week 8
South Carolina
The #45 Gamecocks lose big at home against #11 Florida 49-20. South Carolina is now 3-3 (1-3 SEC) after starting 3-0. They fall out of the coaches rankings.

Eastern Michigan
The #48 Eagles (oops... missed that ranking last time) finally loses, this time to visiting #44 Kent State 38-17. Eastern Michigan is now 4-2 and they also fall out of the rankings.

[bbgunn]

Week 9
South Carolina
Hosts South Carolina lose to Mississippi 31-28. This is their fourth straight loss. They are now mathematically eliminated from the SEC East title at 1-4 in the conference, 3-4 overall.

Eastern Michigan
Hosts Eastern Michigan knock off Ball State 31-28, which is enough to get the Eagles back into the rankings at #49. They are now 5-2. At 3-1 in the MAC, they are tied for 2nd in the West with Northern Illinois (who comes up on the schedule in Week 10) and they are behind Bowling Green (6-2, 5-0 MAC).

Week 10
South Carolina
The Gamecocks finally break their losing streak as they defeat hosts Vanderbilt 28-13. South Carolina is now 4-4.

Eastern Michigan
In a big matchup seen on TV5, the Eagles didn't show up ready to play. They lost to visiting Northern Illinois 45-26. At 5-3 overall, 3-2 in the MAC, EMU is now in a tie for 3rd place with rivals Toledo. They also fall out of the rankings.

Recruiting
We have a commitment! G Max Tracy has decided to join UH-Waipahu Rangers! No surprise here... Waipahu was by far the best academic school to offer Max a scholarship. The fact that it is only 14 miles away from downtown Honolulu is a plus, too.

The way things are looking, Tracy may be the only new Menehune addition to D-I football next year. Good luck, Max!

NOTE: The only Sol-8 school in this dynasty that exists in real life is UH-Hilo. Therefore, any names or colors for the other schools are completely made up.

Week 11
Eastern Michigan
The Eagles lose their second-straight game on TV5. They get spanked by hosts Western Michigan 47-17. It's probably safe to say that any bowl chances are down the drain.

Week 12
South Carolina
The Gamecocks' bowl chances are very slim now after they lost their fifth game, this time to visiting #13 Georgia 35-16.

Eastern Michigan
The Eagles lose again, this time on the road to #28 Bowling Green 21-10. At 3-4 in the MAC, and 5-5 overall, EMU has dropped all the way to 5th place in the West.

Week 13
South Carolina
The Gamecocks are now officially ineligible for bowls after losing on the road to Kentucky 42-28. The Gamecocks are 4-6 heading into the final game against rivals Clemson. They finish 2-6 in the SEC.

Eastern Michigan
Eastern Michigan loses yet again to complete a late-season collapse. They lose on the road to rivals Toledo 45-22. They finish at 5-6, and 3-5 in the MAC.

Week 14
South Carolina
Despite hosting the game, the Gamecocks didn't even show up today. They were killed by a mediocre Clemson team 41-0. The Gamecocks finish 4-7.

Conference Championship Week
SEC: #10 LSU (10-2) 41, #15 Georgia (8-4) 15.
MAC: #29 Bowling Green (9-3) 34, Ohio (5-7) 27.

END OF SEASON REPORT
The good news is that both of our Menehune players' teams improved, especially EMU improving from 2-9 to 5-6. The bad news is that both teams have a long way to go before making a bowl game. Hopefully our players can help them get the job done next year.

Meanwhile, G Max Tracy's future team, UH-Waipahu, finished with a winning record at 6-5, a one-game improvement from the year before. They finished tied for 2nd in the Sol-8 at 5-2.

The national championship was won by Michigan 16-14 over Florida St.

That's it for Year 2 of the dynasty. Stay tuned.

[bbgunn]

Unfortunately, the game files became messed up somehow. I'll try to reattempt this dynasty sometime in the future.