The Division III college football season is off and running. Ithaca College has started out strong with a 3-1 record, while a trip up Route 13 sees nationally-ranked SUNY Cortland begin proceedings at 4-0. About 100 miles west of Ithaca, Alfred State College is putting together something promising, and one local player has been part of their early-season success.
Dryden’s Ceon Miles III is a senior defensive end who has helped the Pioneers win their first three games of the season. It’s the first time in program history that they’ve started off 3-0. Miles is a veteran presence on the team as a senior, and he believes this year’s group stands out in two ways.
“In the four years I’ve been here, this is the closest team it’s been from getting to know each other,” Miles said. “We’re holding each other accountable. I make sure the freshmen, underclassmen, and even the seniors know that from start to finish, we all have a standard that we have to follow.”
The Pioneers were dominant on both sides of the ball through their non-conference slate. They averaged an astonishing 57 points per game on offense while limiting opponents to just 11 points per game. Despite those impressive numbers on defense, Miles knows that his unit has room to grow.
“For a while we haven’t been able to communicate with each other,” Miles said. “Now that we are communicating, we all know our assignment, where we’re supposed to be. It’s just cleaning up the little things. In our defensive room, we think we can be a lot better, and I know we can. Communication, helping each other know where we’re supposed to be doing our individual jobs, that’s what’s keeping this good defense that we have right now.”
While Miles does not have a “C” on his jersey, he has embraced his role of being a true leader on the Pioneers. That was also the case when he suited up for the Lions, though he found there have been some differences leading a much larger team.
“My senior year at Dryden, the team was so small and half the team were seniors,” Miles said. “Yeah I was a leader, but half the guys already knew what we were doing, so I didn’t really have to bring them along as compared to college. Since they’re all from different areas, I’m still getting to learn all these guys, all their habits, what they like, what they don’t like, what works, what doesn’t.”
Miles’ senior season was his magnum opus for the Lions. He recorded 15.5 sacks, good for the third most in the entire state. But he was initially not thinking of going to college at all, let alone playing football. Instead of entering the workforce, he remembered he had Drew Gallary’s number, who was Alfred State’s defensive coordinator at the time. It’s safe to say Miles has no regrets after he connected with him.
“I sent him a text and I was just like, ‘Hey, I know it’s a little late in the process, but if there’s any chance I could still try to play football for you guys, I would like to,’” Miles said. “He goes, ‘Send me your film.’ From there I did all the technical stuff, signing up, enrolling and all that. If I hadn’t reached out, I probably wouldn’t be here. But at the same time, I didn’t think I was going to be here, so this is all just a blessing to have.”
Miles’ younger brothers have followed in his footsteps when it comes to continuing their football careers in college. Jay (the Lions’ all-time leading rusher) is a freshman at SUNY Cortland, while Melo is also a freshman at Alfred University. The fact that they’re all in the same conference means that Ceon will get the opportunity to play against his brothers. It will undoubtedly be a full-circle moment.
“It’s awesome,” Miles said. “I couldn’t be more proud of those two. They’re probably the two best players I ever played with in my life… We’re always having banter back and forth. They’re both like me. They’re both competitive. We all talk trash to each other.”
While the Pioneers will take things one game at a time like virtually every football team, the big goal they have in mind is to win the Empire 8. They’ll have to unseat SUNY Cortland, who have been top of the conference for five straight years. Although they had a tough loss to Utica to begin Empire 8 play, Miles still has full confidence that they can achieve something truly special this fall.
“[It’s] just continuing to play our style of football: fast, physical, disciplined, not making mistakes, allowing ourselves to put ourselves in a better position each game, not letting them get us off our game, and getting them off of their game,” Miles said.
