District College Football Preview for September 5th

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, September 3, 2015 | 11:13 AM

With September here, that brings us to football season and another edition of College Preview. Each Thursday, MSA Sports will take a look at the upcoming week’s games and on Sunday provide all the scores and recaps from the area’s best. 

Without further ado, let’s get to the games: 

Dayton at Robert Morris   Noon
The Colonials return 15 starters but are picked to finish seventh in the NEC. Leading rusher Rameses Owens returns along with leading tackler Jake Tkach.

Kentucky Christian at Duquesne   Noon
The Dukes are expected to be a passing machine again in 2015. QB Dillon Buechel(Montour) returns for his junior year. Despite battling injury last year, Buechel threw for 2,015 yards and 14 touchdowns. Senior WR Chris King also returns, catching 16 td tosses one year ago. A pair of sophomores in Stew Allen(New Castle) and Tony DeVivo(Freeport) will be in line for the start at tight end.

Sopomore LB Nathan Stone(Greensburg Central Catholic), he was named NEC Defensive Rookie of the Year with 100 tackles. Linebacker will be a strong position for the Dukes as both junior Christian Kuntz(Char Valley) and sophomore Aaron Reed(Montour) return after missing 2014 with injuries. A pair of WPIAL players will start at corner in Malik Shegog(Aliquippa) and Pitt transfer Trenton Coles(Clairton).

Georgetown at Saint Francis   Noon
Senior RB Khairi Dickson returns to lead the Red Flash. Dickson was the top rusher in the FCS with 1,708 yards at 155 per game and ran for 12 touchdowns. He has ran for 2,269 for his career.

Bentley at Mercyhurst   Noon
The Lakers return seven offensive starters from a team that averaged 530 yards last year. QB Brendon Boylan and RB Brandon Brown-Dukes lead the way. Brown-Dukes has been picked all PSAC West all three years of his career.

Gannon at Southern Connecticut State   Noon
The Golden Knights were picked number one in the PSAC West coaches poll. Ganon returns 16 of 22 starters, including QB Liam Nadler who threw for 2,750 yards and 27 touchdowns in 2014. PSAC West Offensive Athlete of the Year Brock Jones returns at RB, he rushed for 1,628 yards and 16 scores.

California at Virginia State    1pm
The Vulcans return an explosive offense for 2015. QB James Harris threw for over three thousand yards and 24 touchdowns last year. WR Garry Brown led the PSAC in receiving yards per game and finished sixth in D-II. Brown racked up 62 catches and eight touchdowns.

Seton Hill at Shippensburg   1pm
The Griffins are led by a pair of pass catchers in Eric Brown and Jarvis McClam. The pair racked up ten touches last season and will need to do more if Seton Hill is to be successful.

The Red Raiders could be looking at a rebuilding year in the East Division with only seven seniors on the roster. Watch out for WR Sheldon Mayer, he caught eleven touchdowns in 2014.

Slippery Rock at New Haven   1pm
The Rock was picked to finish second in the PSAC coaches poll for the Western Division, but did gather enough votes to be ranked in the AFCA Coaches poll at #25 to start the year. SRU is the defending PSAC champion and return 17 starters. RB Shamar Greene leads the offense, he ran for 1,482 yards and ten touchdowns. Marcus Martin is a force on defense, he racked up 16 sacks as a freshman.

Grove City at Juniata   Noon
Chris Smith begins his 32nd year as the head man of the Wolverines. Grove City returns ten starters on defense. 

Waynesburg at Muskingum   1pm
The Yellow Jackets lost nine offensive starters but do return first team all PAC running back Willie Leavell.

W & J at Wooster   1pm
The Presidents look for their fourth straight and 25th PAC Title. W & J is ranked 15th in the D3.com pre=season poll. 18 starters return for W & J on their way to hopefully another NCAA playoff appearance.

John Carroll at Saint Vincent   1pm
Saint Vincent returns twenty starters from a 4-6 team in 2014.

Carnegie Mellon at Washington (Mo)   1pm
Tartans head coach Rich Lackner starts his 30th season, he is tied for fifth among active D-III coaches with 188 wins. Senior QB Andrew Hearon  has thrown for 1,901 yards in his career, he is fifteenth in CMU history and will likely love into the top ten during the season.

Bethany at Mount Union     1:30pm
WR Eric Blinn(Western Beaver) needs just 70 receiving yards and 19 catches to become the PAC’s all time leading receiver. 

It may be tough going for the Bison against the Purple Raiders, who are again ranked and among a short list of contenders for a D-III title. Mount Union defeated Bethany 58-7 last year.

Frostburg State at Geneva   7pm
Head coach Geno DeMarco starts his @2nd season at Geneva. The Golden Tornadoes are led by QB Aaron Channing and RB Dylan Jones(Laurel). Channing threw for ten touchdowns in the first four games of last season before being injured. 

Westminster at Hiram   7pm
The Titans ended 2014 with a high note, winning three straight games. QB Paul Columbo returns for his sophomore season with his entire offensive line intact, including senior center Dylan Hogue.

Allegheny at Thiel   7pm
QB Ryan Radke ran for 99 yards and three touchdowns in a 28-14 win over the Gators last year. Radke returns to lead the Tomcats offense in 2015.

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