District College Football Preview for Saturday, September 28th

By: Bruce Markey
Thursday, September 26, 2013 | 9:05 AM

Week 5 of the College Football season and conference play is heating up with a Top 25 meeting in the PSAC. Waynesburg puts their unbeaten record on the line with a trip to Kentucky to meet Thomas More and Geneva travels to the city to meet CMU.

Here are previews of ALL the games including three heard right here on the Network, recaps will be posted Sunday

Mercyhurst (1-2) at Slippery Rock (2-1)   6pm on 97.7 FM and MSASports.net
Mercyhurst leads the series 3-2, the road team has never won in the series.
The Lakers fell 20-13 at Clarion last week in the division opener. It was the first time that the Lakers had dropped the PSAC West opener.

Sophomore RB Brandon Brown-Dukes continues to shine with 140 yards in last week’s matchup. It was his eighth 100 yard game and second consecutive. Brown-Dukes is fifth in the PSAC with 119 yards per game.

QB Anthony Vendemia was picked off seven times last season, he was intercepted four times last week.

DB Colin Kimball has three interceptions. The Lakers defense has allowed just 14 points per game, third in the conference.

Slippery Rock fell at Gannon 38-24 last week to fall to 0-1 in the PSAC West.

QB Nigel Barksdale threw two more touchdown passes last week, he now has 24 for his career and will move into eighth play all time at SRU with his next td toss. Barksdale has thrown for 1,019 yards and 12 touchdowns this season, that leads the PSAC.

WR John Schademan continues to shine with 6 catches and 123 yards last week. Schademan has gone over 100 yards in all three games this season, he is second in the PSAC at 116 yards per game.

The Rock offense is in the top 10 in D-II and second in the PSAC, averaging 535 yards per game.

Geneva (3-0) at Carnegie Mellon (1-2)   1pm on WBVP 1230-AM and MSASports.net
Geneva did not go over the 50 point mark last week, the Golden Tornadoes defeated Thiel 49-28 in their third straight home game. Geneva hits the road for the first time this season.

LB John Onufer was named PAC Defensive Player of the Week. Onufer made 14 tackles. The Golden Tornadoes held Thiel to 3 of 17 on third down conversions. LB Dillon Goodell  had 11 tackles, he leads the PAC with 34 stops.

Sophomore Zachery Taylor was named PAC Special Teams Player of the Week. Taylor returned a punt for a 69 yard touchdown, the first since 2009 for Geneva.

WR Lemuel Fuller broke the game open with a 81 yard touchdown pass from Zach Hayward in the third quarter. Fuller had 10 catches for 137 yards, the second straight game over 100 yards.

Geneva is 2-0 in the PAC, QB Zach Hayward is a big reason why. The senior threw for 248 yards and 2 touchdowns, he also ran for 100 and a score. Hayward averages 366 yards of offense per game to lead the PAC.

CMU fell to Catholic University in Washington 19-7 last Friday.

The Tartans have struggled to run the ball this season, Zachery Erra-Hernandez leads the team with 166 yards, he did not play last week. Troy Witt has 164 yards, Zach Cree ran for 74 yards last week.

QB Rob Kalkstein has thrown for 467 yards and 3 interceptions, he has not tossed a td pass this season.

WR Tim Kitka is tied for the team lead with 9 catches, along with Tim Swanson.

DB Eric Rolfes leads the Tartans with 29 tackles. Lineman Dallas Hartman of Wilmington has 2.5 sacks this season.

CMU leads the series 14-9-1, the Golden Tornadoes and Tartans have not met since 1990.

Thiel (0-3) at W & J (2-1)   2pm on WJPA 1450-AM and MSASports.net
The Tomcats rallied to tie the game at 28 but did not score again in a 49-28 loss at Reeves Field to Geneva.

RB Josh Potter ran for 121 yards, including a 58 yard touchdown run. Potter averages 77 yards per game, 4th in the PAC.

Jack Sindlinger and Wes Schmidt each made 12 tackles to lead the Tomcat defense. Schmidt averages 9 stops per game, good for 7th in the conference.

Two good numbers for Thiel that haven’t shown up on the scoreboard a plus 5 turnover ratio and the Tomcats are the second least penalized team in the conference.
 
W & J defeated Grove City 40-19 last week. RB Dion Wiegand was named the ECAC D-III Southwest Offensive Player of the Week for his efforts. Wiegand ran for 172 yards and five touchdowns, including a 76 yard touchdown run. Wiegand was also named the PAC Offensive Player of the Week.

QB Matt Bliss was in and out of the game last week, he suffered an injury in the loss to St. John Fisher two weeks ago. Three quarterbacks played for the Presidents , including former USC star Pete Coughlin, who led the Presidents to a td on the opening drive of the game.

W & J leads the series 42-22-1 and has won the last 7 matchups.

Fordham (4-0) at Saint Francis (1-2)   Noon
The Rams are ranked #16th in the country and the top team in the Patriot League. Fordham defeated Columbia 52-7 last week. Michael Nebrich threw for 347 yards and 3 touchdowns and Carlton Koonce ran for 158 yards and a pair of scores on 27 carries.

Nebrich has 1,124 yards passing with 9 touchdowns and just one pick on the season. Koonce is a yard shy of 500 for the campaign with 4 scores. Brian Wetzel has 5 td catches. 

RB Kyle Harbridge ran for 230 yards and 4 touchdowns in a 38-7 win over Lincoln last week. Harbridge continues his comeback from an injury that robbed him of the 2012 campaign and was named NEC co-Offensive Player of the Week. The senior leads the NEC with an average of 154 yards per game.

CB DaQuan Minter picked off another pass last week, giving him 3 in the last two weeks, that leads the NEC. It is the third top 25 opponent for Saint Francis with losses to Georgia Southern and James Madison.

Robert Morris (1-2) at VMI (1-3)   1:30pm
Colonials head coach Joe Walton will be on the sidelines for his 200th game this week. Walton, who is retiring at the end of the season has won 110 games at Robert Morris and led the Colonials to 6 NEC titles.

The Colonials come off a bye week. QB Paul Jones is third in the NEC with a 161 yards per game average, he has 6 td’s and 3 interceptions. Duane Mitchell and Dontae Jeter are both in the top 10 in the conference in receiving.

VMI is a member of the Big South Conference and comes off a 49-0 loss to Virginia.

QB Eric Kordenbrock threw for 300 yards in back to back games, was held to just 38 yards passing on 9-27. He has 853 yards passing with 6 touchdowns and 3 interceptions this season. Derrick Zieglar leads the team with 214 yards rushing, he is also the team’s leading receiver with 13 catches.

Seton Hill (0-3) at Edinboro (1-2)   Noon
It is the first meeting between the teams. The Griffins are looking for their first PSAC win, falling last week to #8 IUP 26-0. Seton Hill forced five turnovers and held the Crimson Hawks to a 2-0 halftime lead, before IUP scored 21 third quarter points. LB Tyler Zimmer continues to stand out for Seton Hill with 14 tackles last week, he leads the PSAC with 36 tackles.

QB Nick Hafhill has thrown for five touchdowns, WR Norman Darden has 4 scores in his 16 catches. The Griffins are averaging just 21 yards rushing per game, they are scoring just 12 points per game and allowing 44 on average.

The Fighting Scots played without four offensive starters, including QB Cody Harris. Freshman Jon Girvin made his first NCAA start and struggled, going 13 of 34 for 120 yards and three interceptions in the 20-7 loss to Cal. It will be Girvin again this week, Harris is out indefinitely. Edinboro scored their points in a strange way, with a field goal and two safeties. Jeremy Donaldson ran for 89 yards on 22 carries, Marcus Johnson had 7 catches for 96 yards, he is third in the PSAC with 104 yards per game. 

California (3-0) at IUP (3-0)   1pm
This game is the fifth annual Coal Bowl, which has been seriously one-sided with Cal winning all four trophies and six overall against the Crimson Hawks. Cal was the only team to knock off IUP last season, the Crimson Hawks shared the division title and won the PSAC State Game and advanced to the national quarterfinals. Both teams are 1-0 in divisional play and are ranked entering the game. California is #25 in the D2Football.com poll. IUP is #7 in the AFCA poll and #8 in the D2 rankings.

The Vulcan defense forced five turnovers and only allowed a field goal last week. Cal did give up two safeties on bad punt snaps. Senior LB BJ Stevens made 11 tackles last week and forced two fumbles. The Cal D leads the PSAC in rush defense and is 9th in D-II.

QB Cody Schroeder is sixth in the PSAC with 725 yards throwing, he also has 7 touchdowns. His favorite target has been Mike Williams with 16 catches.

IUP picked up their second straight shutout with the 26-0 blanking of Seton Hill. The Crimson Hawks committed five turnovers and had only 266 yards of offense. Terrell Holloway blocked a punt, Dorian Lane returned a punt for a touchdown. RB Erik Finklea ran for two scores.

QB Mike Box has thrown for 652 yards with 5 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. WR Terrill Barnes is sixth in the PSAC with 97 yards per game average. The Crimson Hawks defense is third in D-II in total defense and leads the nation, allowing just 6 points per game.

Gannon (2-1) at Clarion (3-0)   2pm
The Golden Knights defeated Slippery Rock 38-27 at home last week in the division opener. Senior RB Jansen Jones was named PSAC Western Division Offensive Athlete of the Week for his performance with career highs with 38 carries and 181 yards. Jones scored two touchdowns.

Gannon swept the division awards as CB Nick Bengal was named Defensive Athlete of the Week by the conference. Bengal made seven solo tackles, picked off a pass and forced a fumble in the win. DB Mike Zanders leads the team with 29 tackles.

QB Liam Nadler is third in the PSAC with 892 yards passing, he has 8 touchdowns. Former Ringgold star Quad Law broke a 28-28 tie with a 93 yard kickoff return.

Clarion held on to beat Mercyhurst 20-13 last week in the divisional opener. The Golden Eagles jumped out to a 20-0 lead with Darrelle Carson at QB, replacing Ben Fiscus, who missed the game with an injury. Carson threw for 209 yards and a score and ran for 85. Fiscus is listed as questionable for this week’s game.

The Clarion defense picked off four passes, DE Julian Howsare had 16 tackles in the win. It is the first time since 1996 that the Golden Eagles are 3-0, that team won the PSAC West and advanced to the D-II semifinals.

Clarion leads the series 4-1.

Westminster (0-2) at St. Vincent (0-2)   1pm
The Titans fell 31-0 to Thomas More in last week’s home and PAC opener. Senior WR Colin Wallace had 8 catches for 139 yards, both career highs. QB Dak Britt was 22-36 for 239 yards, he led the Titans with 32 yards rushing.  Britt is third in the PAC in total offense.

Saint Vincent fell 23-6 to Waynesburg last week. The Bearcats were held under 100 yards rushing for the tenth straight game. Saint Vincent has lost 14 consecutive games. The Bearcats have 9 turnovers this season.

Westminster leads the series 9-3.

Waynesburg (3-0) at Thomas More (2-0)   1:30pm
The Yellow Jackets are 3-0 for the second straight year and won the conference opener over Saint Vincent last week. DE Brandon Fedorka recovered two fumbles, he picked up his fourth sack of the season. K Alex Henry connected on his fourth field goal of the season.

QB Carter Hill threw for 131 yards and 2 touchdowns, he has not been intercepted this season.

The Saints have not allowed a point in 2013 after a blanking of Westminster. Sophomore QB Jensen Gebhardt went 12-17 for 216 yards and 3 touchdowns in the win, he has 5 touchdown tosses on the season.  Junior RB Donmonique Hayden has started this season where he left off last year, running for 178 yards and a score.

Thomas More leads the series 6-4 but Waynesburg has won the last two meetings.

Grove City (2-1) at Bethany (0-3)   2pm
WR Khalil Ervin had 6 catches for 109 yards in a 40-19 loss to W & J. Anthony Ritchie had 9 catches, matching a career high. RB Steve Maskrey ran for a pair of scores.

The Bison fell 36-28 to Randolph-Macon last week. Matt Grimard threw for 223 yards and a score, he also ran for two scores, Grimard is second in D-III with 1,024 passing yards. WR Eric Blinn had 9 catches and another 100 yard game, Blinn leads D-III  with 450 receiving years.  WR Jaylen Jennings has 3 touchdowns this season.

Grove City leads the series 41-22-2 has won 14 of the last 16 meetings.