District College Football Preview for November 14th

By: Bruce Markey
Wednesday, November 11, 2015 | 5:44 PM

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Week 11 of the district college football slate features the PSAC State Title Game and 5 rivalry games in the PAC.

Here are previews of ALL THE GAMES:

PSAC STATE TITLE GAME

Slippery Rock (9-1) at West Chester (7-3)   Noon
A win would cement the Rock into the D-II playoffs, SRU enters this week in 4th place in the Super Region 1 rankings. The Rock is ranked #9 in both the AFCA and D2football.com polls.

The Rock has won 6 straight games since a loss to Seton Hill.Last week’s win over Clarion gave the Rock it’s 3rd straight trip to the title game, the Rock is the defending champions. SRU has won the West Division 15 times.

SRU leads the PSAC in both scoring offense at 47 points per game and defense at 18 allowed per contest.

Senior RB Shamar Greene(West Mifflin) became the 5th best rusher in SRU history with 3,193 yards.  Greeneis 4th in the PSAc at 984 rushing yards with 10 td’s.

RB Julian Durden(Montour) is 8th in the conference at 782 rushing yards. He has 17 td’s on the year.

Senior WR Jaimire Dutrieulle(Woodland Hills) returned a punt 91 yards for a score and added a 48 yard td catch. He was named the PSAC West Division Special Teams Athlete of the Week.

QB Dante Nania(Hempfield) has thrown 19 td passes and has 10 interceptions.
Sophomore DB Titus Howard(Clairton) made 6 tackles and had a Pick 6 last week, he was named PSAC West Division Defensive Athlete of the Week.

West Chester has won 3 straight games including a East Division title win over East Stroudsburg last week. It’s the first title game appearance since 2008. The Golden Rams last won the PSAC in 1971.

The Golden Rams average 36 points per game, 5th best in the PSAC. The defense is 4th best at 23 points allowed per game. West Chester leads the PSAc in time of possession at 32:36 per game.

RB Brandon Monk was named PSAC East Division Offensive Athlete of the Week with 170 yards and 2 touchdowns in the division win. The senior saved his best for the win, his first 100 yard game of the year.

Sophomore Jarel Elder was also named PSAC East Division Special Teams Athlete of the Week. Elder leads the Golden Rams with 551 yards rushing.

QB Pat Moriarty has thrown for 2,491 yards this year with 26 td’s and 12 interceptions. WR Tim Brown has 33 catches, 5 for scores.

Seton Hill (3-7) at Bloomsburg (6-4)   Noon
Senior QB Dan Pietrangelo was named PSAC West Division Offensive Athlete of the Week, throwing for 399 yards and 3 td’s in a win over Edinboro. He also ran for a score.

Senior QB Tim Kelly needs 90 passing yards to become the Huskies all-time leader. Bloomsburg beat Lock Haven 31-28 in double overtime last week.

Gannon (6-4 at East Stroudsburg (5-5)   Noon
The Golden Knights have lost 2 straight coming in. RB Brock Jones became the 6th RB in school history to run for 1 thousand yards in a season and the second to do it twice. Jones has 15 td’a.

Junior TB Robert Healy has ran for over 100 yards 10 times in his career, rushing for 174 last week. Head coach Denny Douds finishes his 42nd season at ESU. Douds’ 255 wins is the most in the PSAC. He needs one win to move into second place all=time in D-II history. QB Matt Soltes leads the PSAC with 3,465 passing yards and td passes with 36.

Cheyney (0-10) at IUP (7-2)   1pm
Cheyney has lost 42 straight games and has not won since the opening game of the 2012 season.

The Crimson Hawks have won 2 straight. IUP needs a win to likely receive an NCAA bid, the Crimson Hawks are 6th in this week’s Super Region 1 poll, the top 6 advance.

Chris Temple is 4th in the PSAC with 16 td’s, despite missing a game.

California (7-3) at Lock Haven (2-8)   1pm
The Vulcans have won 3 straight games. Cal is ranked 8th in the Super Region 1 rankings, the top 6 advance. The Vulcans need a convincing win and some help to get in to the D-II playoffs. 

WR Kowan Scott needs 9 receiving yards to become Cal’s all-time leader. RB John Franklin has ran for at least 1 td in all 10 games this year, the sophomore has 15 td’s. .

The Bald Eagles have dropped 2 straight. QB Caleb Walton has thrown for 21 td’s this season, the most in school history.

Mercyhurst (5-5) at Shippensburg (7-3)   1pm
RB Brandon Brown Dukes has ran for only 652 yards and 4 td’s. TE John Matarazzo(New Castle) has 5 td catches. FJ Williams leads the team with 50 receptions and 8 touchdowns.

The Red Raiders are led by Andrew Smith with 12 touchdowns. Shippensburg is averaging 41 points per game. Ryan Zapoticky has thrown for 24 td’s.

Clarion (7-3) at Kutztown (6-4)    1pm
The Golden Eagles have lost 3 straight since a 7-0 start and a #25 ranking. QB Connor Simmons has 3,257 yards passing this year, a single season school record. Simmons needs 1 td pass to break the singke season record of 32. WR Matt Lehman(Burrell) has 14 td catches, a school record. RB Delrece Williams(Steel Valley) needs 100 yards to become the 5th Clarion runner to reach 1 thousand yards in a season.

The Golden Bears have won 3 straight. Terry Williams has 12 td’s.

Junior captain Zack Delp had 10 tackles and 1.5 sacks in last week’s win over Shippensburg. The linebacker was named PSAC East Division Defensive Athlete of the Week.

Edinboro (0-10) at Millersville (1-9)   4pm
True freshman Jack Wallman is expected to make the start at Qb for the Fighting Scots. Wallman threw for 283 yards and 2 td’s in his first NCAA game.

Millersville defeated Cheyney last week. QB JJ Paige has thrown for 12 touchdowns this year. Kevin Wiggins leads with 43 catches.

Bethany (4-5) at Saint Vincent (4-5)   1pm
It’s the Green Game. Bethany leads 6-2. Saint Vincent won last year’s game 41-35.

Both teams are 3-4 in the PAC.

The Bison got a PAC record setting performance from Jalen Holmes(New Castle) two weeks ago. Holmes ran for 343 yards and scored 4 touchdowns in a win over Thiel. Holmes is 2nd in the PAC at 1,269 rushing yards, he has 14 td’s. WR Eric Blinn(Western Beaver) has 83 catches for 1,008 yards, both lead the PAC. The senior has 13 touchdowns.

QB Tyler Donahue leads the Bearcats with 725 rushing yards, he has thrown for 728 yards and 8 td’s. Damon Black and Shavonta Craft(Jeannette) are tied with 7 touchdowns each. Devin Anderson leads the defense with 4 interceptions.

Geneva (2-7) at Westminster (7-2)   1pm
It’s known simply as the Game, one of the longest rivalries around. The Titans lead 65-44-8 and have won the last 2 games.

Geneva is 1-6 in PAC play, losing 5 straight. QB Javid Ellis has ran for 7 touchdowns. QB Aaron Channing has thrown for 1,404 yards and 11 td’s. Nick Cook has 41 catches.

The Titans are 6-1 in conference and assured of their first winning record in 13 years. A win will match the best season for Westminster since 2000 at 8-2. Westminster is also riding a 6 game winning streak. 

Westminster is the most penalized team in the PAC at 91 yards per game.

The Titans boast a thousand yard rusher in Domonique McKinley(Greensburg Salem) at 1,033 yards.

The defense is led by Todd Jeter(Gateway) with 5interceptions. Gator Phillips has 3 and Wayne Seamans(Union) with 2.

Grove City (0-9) at Thiel (1-8)   1pm
The battle for the Mercer County Cup. Grove City leads 62-34=5, however Thiel claimed the cup in 2014.

Both teams are 0-7 in the PAC.

Grove City coach Chris Smith is stepping down after this game. The Wolverines are the least penalized team in the PAC at 36 yards per game. However, Grove City is minus 18 in turnovers this year, worst in the PAC. Brandon Berringer leads the PAC with 108 tackles.

The Tomcats will also be looking for a head coach as Kurt Reisor announced he was stepping down after this game.

Thiel has allowed 50 points per game this season. QB Ryan Radke has ran for 8 scores and thrown for 7.

Case Western Reserve (7-2) at Carnegie Mellon (6-3)   1:30pm
Another meeting for the Academic Bowl. CMU leads the series 26-18 but will look to reverse a trend as Case Western has won 8 straight meetings.

It also features the two most opportunistic teams in the PAC. CMU is plus 13 while Case Western is plus 10 in turnovers this year.

The Spartans are 6-1 in the PAC, coming off a loss to conference champion Thomas More last week. Case Western is ranked 18th in the D3football.com Top 25.

QB Rob Cuda is 2nd in the PAC at 2,299 passing yards, he leads the conference with 26 td passes. The sophomore has ran for 648 yards and 6 scores.

Sophomore kicker Ben Carniol was named PAC Special Teams Player of the Week with 4 field goals and 4 extra points in last week’s loss to Thomas More.

Case Western leads the PAC in time of possession at 33:57 per game.

CMU is 5-2 in the PAC. RB Sam Benger leads D-III in rushing at 1,660 yards, he has 18 td’s. QB Andrew Hearon has thrown for 1,614 yards and 19 touchdowns.

Brian Khoury leads the PAC with 13.5 sacks. Drew Fitzmorris also is on top of the conference with 6 interceptions.

Waynesburg (3-6) at W&J (7-2)   1:30pm
The Backyard Brawl has been a one-sided affair. W&J leads 38-4.

The Yellow Jackets are 2-5 in PAC play. Freshman QB Jake Dougherty has thrown for 1,620 yards and 16 td’s this year. RB Jerry Lowman needs 109 rushing yards to hit 1 thousand for the year. 

W&J is 5-2 in the PAC. Junior QB Pete Coughlin(USC) was named PAC Offensive Player of the Week after throwing 363 yards and 4 touchdowns in last week’s win over Thiel. Coughlin has thrown for 300 yards 10 times in his career. Coughlin leads the PAC with 2,653 passing yards.

Coughlin has a talented trio of receivers as Daniel Lis(Char Houston) leads with 56 catches, Jesse Zubik(Avonworth) has 47 and Eric Scott(Imani Christian) pulled in 40 balls.

RB Ryan Ruffing(Thomas Jefferson) has ran for 1,080 yards this season. The senior leads the PAC with 21 touchdowns.

Robert Morris (3-6) at Saint Francis (5-3)   Noon
Saint Francis leads the NEC at 30 points per game. The Red Flash are 32-33 with 19 touchdowns in the red zone, also leads the conference and in time of possession at 32:40.sAINT fRANCIS IS 3-1 IN THE nec, ONE HALF GAME BACK OF LEADER dUQUESNE, WHO HAS A BYE.

The Red Flash have a 1-2 running punch. Khairi Dickson has 724  yards, Marcus Bagley with 476. QB Zach Drayer has 11 td passes. Terell Smith has 44 catches and Daniel Adams grabbed 20 passes.

Delondo Boyd is tied for second in the NEC with 3 interceptions.

Robert Morris is 1-3 in the NEC.

Cole Blake leads RMU with 527 rushing yards. Matthew Barr has 5 td passes and 11 interceptions. Kyle Buss leads the Colonials with 43 catches.

Sophomore Junior Richards as 3 interceptions to lead RMU.