District College Football Preview for Saturday, September 19th

By: Bruce Markey
Wednesday, September 16, 2015 | 8:03 PM

The weather should be great for week 3 of the district college football slate. It’s the fibal week of crossover play in the PSAC, while some good games take place in the PAC.

Here are previews of ALL the games:

Duquesne(2-0) at Dayton(1-0)   1pm
The Dukes look to go 3-0 for the first time since 2002. Duquesne defeated Bucknell 26-7 last week. QB Dillon Buechel(Montour) threw three touchdown passes. Freshman RB PJ Fulmore(Cardinal Wurhl North Catholic) has led the Dukes in rushing in both games.

The Flyers were off last week after defeating Robert Morris 27-24 in week one action. Danny Leach had two interceptions, one a 93 yard Pick 6 in the win. 

Duquesne leads the series 7-5.

Notre Dame(Ohio)(1-1) at Robert Morris(0-2)   3pm
The Division II Falcons come off a 42-0 home win over Virginia-Wise last week.

The Colonials took YSU to overtime before falling 21-14 last week. Rameses Owens ran for 162 yards and both scores. He leads the team with 224 yards rushing. QB Matthew Barr has struggled, going 16 of 45 in the first two games.

Saint Francis(1-1) at Youngstown State(1-1)   4pm
The Red Flash come off a 35-20 loss at Towson. Zach Drayer threw two second half touchdown passes and Lorenzo James has a 99 yard kickoff return. The Red Flash were held to just 29 yards rushing.

Youngstown State will play their third Keystone State opponent. The Penguins battled Pitt brfore falling 45-38 at Heinz Field in the opener. YSU is ranked 16th in the FCS rankings. Jody Webb leads the team in rushing.

Seton Hill(1-1) at West Chester(0-2)   1pm
DB Ricardo Housin was named PSAC Defensive Athlete of the Week. The junior picked off two passes and made six tackles in a 27-10 win over Lock Haven. RB Brandon Stout has 130 rushing yards in the win.

West Chester started the season in the D-II top 25 but has dropped both games this season.

Shippensburg(2-0) at California(1-1)   1pm
The Red Raiders are the only Eastern Division team at 2-0 after the win over Edinboro.

Senior QB James Harris completed passes to eight different receivers but threw three interceptions in last week’s loss to Bloomsburg.

Lock Haven(0-2) at IUP(0-1)    1pm
The Bald Eagles fell to Seton Hill last week.

RB Chris Temple ran for 195 yards but it was not enough. The defense allowed 13 points in the fourth and Kutztown escaped with a 34-33 win. QB Lenny Williams(Sto-Rox) accounted for two scores in his NCAA debut.

Cheyney(0-2) at Clarion(2-0)   1pm
The Wolves come off a 44-6 loss to Gannon last week.

The Golden Eagles play their first Saturday game of the year after two Thursday night affairs. Clarion had to hold off two Millersville comebacks for the 27-21 win. The Golden Eagles defense has forced nine turnovers in the first two games.

Edinboro(0-2) at East Stroudsberg(0-2)   1pm
WR Darren Massey caught 12 passes for 195 yards in a 20-13 loss to Shippensburg last week. The junior has 25 catches on the year.

The Warriors fell 34-9 to #20 Slippery Rock last week.

Gannon(2-0) at Kutztown(1-1)   1pm
Rb Brock Jones ran for 143 yards in a 44-6 win over Cheyney. It’s the 10th time Jones has gone over 100 yards in his career. Senior QB Liam Nadler has gone 229 pass attempts without an interception, a streak of seven games.

Junior WR Kellen Williams was named PSAC Eastern Division Offensive Athlete of the Week for his great performance in a 34-33 comeback win over IUP. Williams made ten catches for 219 yards and two touchdowns.

Mercyhurst(2-0) at Bloomsberg(1-1)   2pm
QB Brendan Boylan was named PSAC Western Division Offensive Athlete of the Week. The senior threw for 331 yards and three scores and ran for the game winner in a 37-35 decision over West Chester. RB Brandon Brown-Dukes ran for a score, his 31st rushing touchdown, placing him second on the Lakers all-time list.

DT Joe Wetty was named PSAC Defensive Athlete of the Week. The junior made six tackles, including three sacjs in the 20-13 victory over Cal. That win ended a three game losing streak. TB Lawrence Elliot ran for 166 yards last week, a career high.

Millersville(0-2) at Slippery Rock(2-0)  6pm
QB JJ Paige came on in relief last week and nearly led Millersville to a comeback win over Clarion. RB Phil Overton ran for two scores in the loss.

The Rock moves up two spots to #18 this week. The Rock ran for 414 yards last week vs. the Warriors and just missed out on having three 100 yard runners. Shamar Green(West Mifflin) leads the PSAC in rushing and Isiah Neely(OLSH) averaged 12.7 yards per carry on his way to a 152 yard performance. Add in Julian Durden(Montour) and 95 yards and the Rock has a powerful rushing attack. 

Westminster(1-1) at Bethany(1-1)   1pm
The Titans could not pull the upset last week. Dominique McKinney ran for a career high 163 yards and a score. 

WR Eric Blinn(Western Beaver) broke the PAC record for career receiving yards in the win over Thiel. The senior also became the school leader with 26 receiving touchdowns. Blinn was named PAC Offensive Player of the Week, he needs two catches to break the PAC mark for career catches. Junior RB Jalen Holmes(New Castle) rushed for a career high 168 yards in the 51-16 win over Thiel.

Westminster leads the series 37-12-2.

W & J(2-0) at Carnegie Mellon(0-1)    1pm
Ryan Ruffing ran for four scores last week as the Presidents held off Westminster. W & J remains at #14 in this week’s D-IIIfootball.com Top 25. Daniel Lis(Char-Houston) and Eric Scott(Imani Christian) each caught seven passes.

CMU is 0-9 when facing ranked foes. Sam Benger ran for 204 yards in the week one loss to Washington(Mo), the most by a Tartan back since 1998.

The Tartans lead the series 32-27-5.

Thiel(1-1) at Thomas More(2-0)   1pm
Freshman WR Paul Jones(New Castle) caught two touchdowns in last week’s loss.

The Saints crushed Hanover 84-7 last week. Thomas More moved up one spot to #15 in this week’s D-IIIfootball.com poll. Thomas More leads the series 9-3 and has won eight straight games.

Saint Vincent(1-1) at Case Western Reserve(0-1)   7pm
The teams have split two previos meetings.

The Bearcats beat Waynesburg 28-21 at home. A pair of local players helped lead Saint Vincent. Shavonta Craft(Jeannette) and Ryan Crawford(Wilmington) each had four catches.

Case comes off a bye week.

Waynesburg(1-1) at Geneva(1-1)   7pm
Waynesburg looks to get back on the winning track. Jerry Lawman led the way with 20 carries and 90 yards.

The GT’s ended a 12 game road losing streak with last week’s win over Grove City. Senior RB Dylan Jones(Laurel) went over 100 yards rushing for the first time since 2013 with 106 in the victory. Freshman RB Javid Ellis finished with minus four yards but still ran for two scores.

Jon Fiscus(Freedom) was named PAC Defensive Player of the Week for two interceptions and blocked an extra point in the win. DB Nate Cannon was named Special Teams Player of the Week for returning a blocked extra point for a defensive conversion.

Waynesburg leads the series 44-30-4 and has won five straight.