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Tuesday, November 9, 2010

ESU Football Game Notes at Edinboro (Saturday, 12 p.m.)

TV COVERAGE: Coverage will be provided by PA SPORTSfever TV with Jon Schaeffer (play-by-play) and Gorden Blain (color commentary). The game will air locally on Blue Ridge digital channel 113 - time TBA.

RADIO COVERAGE: Live on WVPO 840 AM and redzonemedia.com. Chuck Seese, the 2009 PSAC Heaslip Media Award recipient, is in his 22nd season as the voice of the Warriors, with Bob Brittain in his 10th year providing the color commentary. Pre-game begins at 11:30 a.m.

THE MATCH-UP: East Stroudsburg University finishes the 2010 season at Edinboro in a rematch of last year’s first round game in the NCAA Division II Playoffs. The Fighting Scots posted a 31-16 win at Eiler-Martin Stadium to break a four-game losing streak in the series. Neither school is in line for an NCAA Playoff bid this year, but there is still a lot on the line as both senior classes look to close their careers with a victory.

WARRIORS SENIORS: A total of 14 Warriors will be playing their final game today as part of a class that helped ESU to a 20-13 record over the past three seasons - 9-2 in 2008, 8-4 during last year’s NCAA Playoff campaign, and 3-7 this season. ESU returns 15 starters from last year’s game vs. Edinboro, including 6 seniors. The Warriors’ seniors by class are:

6th-year (redshirt) Seniors: TE Matt Brown
5th-year (redshirt) Seniors: OLB Matt Freed, WR Jeff Giglio, FB Brent Jones, WR Ed Kiser, QB Matt Marshall
4th-year Seniors: CB David Castillo, DE Alex Figueroa, OLB Mark Kalo, P Greg Knauss, DE Richard Peter,
LB Kevin Schafer
4th-year (redshirt) Juniors: DL J.D. Howell, LB Dennis Lynch

THE HEAD COACHES: Denny Douds (Slippery Rock ‘63) holds the PSAC record for career wins with a 229-153-3 record in his 37th season as head football coach at ESU. His 385 games as head coach are 82 more than the second-most in PSAC history. Including 68 games as an assistant coach under Charlie Reese (1966-73), he has coached in 453 of the 753 games in program history.

Douds is in his 45th season at ESU overall and is one of five active coaches in Division II, and one of just 18 coaches in all of college football, with at least 200 career victories. He has led the Warriors to nine PSAC titles and four NCAA Playoff appearances. For more on Coach Douds, please see page 12 of the game notes.

Scott Browning (Ohio State ‘81) is in his fifth year as head coach at Edinboro and has a 37-19 record, including a 24-10 mark the last three years. He made his first appearance as head coach in the NCAA Playoffs last season and was a part of Edinboro’s seven previous playoff squads as a 20-year assistant coach.

THE SERIES: Denny Douds has been a part of all 15 games against Edinboro in program history in a series that the Warriors lead, 10-5. He is 8-5 vs. the Fighting Scots as head coach and was an assistant for victories in 1967 and 1968. The Warriors edged the Edinboro 24-22 for the PSAC title in 1982; more recently, they met each season from 2000-06 and twice in 2004, including a 36-32 win in the NCAA Playoffs when Jimmy Terwilliger found Ben Culver for a 17-yard TD on fourth-and-10 with 22 seconds left. ESU had won the last four meetings before last year’s loss in the NCAA Playoffs won 12-0 in its last trip to Edinboro in 2006.

TOUGH LUCK WARRIORS: ESU’s 2010 season, which opened with rankings in the AFCA (No. 25) and D2football.com (No. 16) preseason polls, has included four losses by a touchdown or less. The Warriors’ strength of schedule through the first seven games was the 10th-toughest in Division II (out of 136 schools), and their six straight losses from Sept. 11 through Oct. 16 matched the third-longest streak in school history.

The Warriors’ three wins have featured a combined margin of victory of 180-24 - Pace (57-0), Millersville (65-14) and Cheyney (58-14). In their seven losses, they have been outscored 215-146 (30.7-20.9).

ESU’s near-misses:
• Sept. 11 (L 23-17 vs. IUP) - led 10-0 in 1st quarter (outscored 23-0 until last 30 seconds)
• Sept. 18 (L 45-20 at Cal) - trailed 21-20 at halftime (outscored 24-0 in second half)
• Sept. 25 (L 35-31 vs. WCU) - rallied from 35-16 4th-quarter deficit, final drive ended at 7 with 1:00 left
• Oct. 2 (L 26-13 at Bloom) - trailed 10-6 after 1st possession of 3rd quarter (Bloom scored 16 straight points)
• Oct. 9 (L 38-31 vs. Kutztown) - trailed 38-10 in 4th quarter, scored 21 straight points to close margin
• Oct. 16 (L 28-17 at C.W. Post) - trailed 22-17, had ball inside 50 with less than 3:00 left (Int. return for TD)
• Nov. 6 (L 20-17 vs. Ship) - Ship drove 80 yards in final 2:03, GW 15-yd TD pass on 4th-and-7 with 0:24 left

CAREER MILESTONES
R-Sr. OLB Matt Freed
3rd in tackles (385) - passed Dan Murray (358) with 11 tackles at Millersville
3rd player with 100+ tackles in 3 straight seasons (106 - 12 vs. Shippensburg)

R-Sr. QB Matt Marshall
3rd in total offense (6,978) - passed Jeremy Palm vs. Shippensburg
5th in passing yards (6,350) - 41 yds behind Jeremy Palm, 311 behind Bret Comp
4th in TD passes (59) - 3 TDs behind Jeremy Palm for 3rd
4th in completions (463) - 22 behind Bret Comp for 3rd
2,460 passing yards - 40 to become 3rd ESU QB with two 2,500-yard seasons
2,736 total offense - 264 to become 2nd ESU QB with two 3,000-yard seasons

R-Sr. WR Jeff Giglio
1,887 receiving yards - 113 to become 10th ESU player with 2,000 yards
18 receiving TDs - 2 to become 7th ESU player with 20 receiving TDs

R-Sr. WR Ed Kiser
2,000 receiving yards - 9th ESU player, hit mark with 546 yards over past 5 weeks
48 catches this year - 2 to become 1st ESU player with 50 since 2006 (Evan Prall)

OFFENSIVE SNAPSHOT
• ESU is 2nd in PSAC in passing (262.5 ypg), 5th in total offense (393.2 ypg) and scoring (32.6 ppg)
• Averaged 61.5 points vs. Millersville, Cheyney - just missed first consecutive 60-point games in ESU history

• R-Sr. QB Matt Marshall is 2nd in PSAC in passing (246.0) and 3rd in total offense (273.6)
• 2nd in ESU history in career QB rating (146.8) and completion percentage (60.3)
• 13 players have caught at last 6 passes this season and 9 players have a TD reception
• R-Sr. WR Ed Kiser has 3 straight 100-yard games (6-148, 2 TD vs. Mville; 4-133, TD vs. Chey; 4-133 vs. Ship)
• R-Sr. WR Jeff Giglio (116) and R-Sr. WR Ed Kiser (115) have both hit 100-catch mark this season
• So. TB Kendrick Williams has 90+ yards in 3 straight games (55 carries, 339 yards, 8 TDs)
• Offensive line has 4 returning starters and has combined for 102 starts, led by R-Jr. C Dan Caffrey (33)

DEFENSIVE SNAPSHOT
• 8 players have started all 10 games this season - 5 are in at least their 4th year in the program
• R-Sr. OLB Matt Freed is 2nd in PSAC in tackles (106, t-12th in DII) and 1st in solo tackles (59, 7th in DII)
• Two-time All-American has 10+ tackles in 23 of 33 career starts (364 tackles as starter - 11.0 per game)
• Jr. FS Herschel Thornton has 76 tackles (46 solo) and 3 Ints.
• Sr. CB David Castillo is 2nd PSAC in passes defensed (3 Int., 11 PBU) and has 9 career Ints., 34 PBU

SPECIAL TEAMS SNAPSHOT
• Fr. K Taylor Groff can set ESU record with 16th field goal (15-20, has made a FG in all 10 games this year)
• 11 touchbacks on 60 kickoffs (18.3 percent) - rest of PSAC: 36 on 741 (4.9 percent)
• Sr. P Greg Knauss is 5th in PSAC in punting (37.2 avg., 9 inside 20, 5 fair catches, 3 touchbacks)

ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA: R-Sr. OLB Matt Freed, a returning 1st team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America, was named to the Academic All-District 1st team for the third straight year on November 4. Freed, a History major, is the 5th Academic All-American in ESU football history and can become the Warriors’ first 2-time Academic All-America selection. He was also named as a national semifinalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy earlier this season and was one of 12 semifinalists from the Division II ranks.

EVERYBODY’S ALL-AMERICAN: R-Sr. OLB Matt Freed will close his All-American career on Saturday afternoon. Freed has earned multiple All-America honors from the Associated Press and Daktronics (sports information directors) entering his final year at ESU.

• Daktronics Division II All-America 1st team - 2008 and 2009
• AP Little All-America (DII, DIII, NAIA) 3rd team - 2008 and 2009
• Daktronics Super Region 1 Defensive Player of the Year - 2009
• Daktronics 1st team All-Region - 2008 and 2009
• ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America 1st team - 2009
• ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District 1st team - 2008, 2009, 2010
• PSAC “Top 10” Award - 2009

2010: 106 tackles, 13.0 TFL, 6.5 sacks, 1 Int., 2 FF, 1 FR
• 2nd in PSAC and t-12th in DII in tackles/game (10.6)
• 1st in PSAC and 7th in DII in solo tackles/game (5.9)
• t-5th in PSAC in TFL and t-8th in sacks
• 5th career PSAC East Defensive Player of the Week award vs. Millersville

Career: 385 tackles, 44.0 TFL, 21.5 sacks, 5 Int., 4 FF, 3 FR
• Averaging 11.0 tackles per game in 33 career starts
• 3rd ESU player with 100+ tackles in 3 straight seasons
(Kevin Nagle [1998-00] and Jeff Johnson [4 straight, 1975-78])
• 10+ tackles in 23 of 33 career starts; 13+ tackles in 8 games

• 385 total tackles are 14th in DII record book since 2000
• 220 solo tackles - needs 4 solo stops to move into 10th in DII since 2000
• also ranks in top 25 in total (9.2) and solo (5.2) tackles per game

ESU Career Tackles
1. Jeff Johnson (1975-78) - 520
2. Kevin Nagle (1997-00) - 477
3. Matt Freed (2007-10) - 385
4. Dan Murray (1984-87) - 358
5. Mike Reichenbach (1980-83) – 335

THE MARSHALL PLAN: R-Sr. QB Matt Marshall will make his 25th career start at Edinboro, including his 24th straight. The Warriors are 13-11 in his 24 starts, which featured last year’s 8-4 record and NCAA Playoff berth. Marshall won his first two career starts in 2008. In last year’s NCAA Playoff game vs. Edinboro, Marshall was 15-for-26 for 301 yards and 2 TDs and ran 17 times for 59 yards for 360 yards of total offense. That number is the 5th-best of his career at ESU.

Marshall can become the 2nd ESU QB and 4th QB in PSAC history with two seasons with 3,000 yards of total offense. He can also become the 25th PSAC QB with 7,000 career yards of total offense, and the 3rd ESU QB with two seasons with 2,500 passing yards. A number of other individual milestones are also in reach.

MARSHALL’S 2010 SEASON
• 2nd in PSAC in completions (206), 2nd in passing (246.0), 3rd in total offense (273.6), t-3rd in TD passes (24)
• 27th in DII in total offense and 28th in passing yards per game
• 2nd QB in school history with two games of 30+ completions in season and career (Damian Poalucci, 1996)

WILLIAMS’ SCHOOL RECORDS: So. TB Kendrick Williams has 70+ rushing yards in four straight games, tied a school record with 4 rushing TDs at Millersville and set another record with 7 rushing TDs over two weeks after running for 3 TDs vs. Cheyney. Last week vs. Shippensburg, he finished the Warriors’ opening drive with a 14-yard TD run.

Over the past 4 weeks - 70 carries, 409 yards (5.8 per carry), 9 TDs
• 15 carries, 70 yards, TD at C.W. Post (first rushing TD of the season)
• 18 carries, 127 yards, 4 TDs at Millersville (first career 100-yard game)
• 16 carries, 93 yards, 3 TDs vs. Cheyney
• 21 carries, 119 yards, TD vs. Shippensburg; 2 catches for 14 yards

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