District College Football Preview for Saturday, September 21

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, September 19, 2013 | 10:20 AM

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Week 4 of the college football season opens a day early with one game on the slate as CMU heads to our nation's capital. Conference play begins for both the PSAC and PAC schools as the race for those titles begins.

Here are previews of ALL the games, including three that can be heard here on the Network:

Carnegie Mellon (1-1) at Catholic University (1-0)   Friday 7pm
The Tartans evened their record with a 26-7 win at Allegheny last week. The Tartans posted 19 second half points to break a 7 all tie at the half and pick up their first win of the season at Gesling Stadium.

Zachery Erra-Hernandez opened the scoring with a 1 yard run midway thru the second. Troy Witt had touchdown runs of 13 yards in the third and 8 yards in the fourth. Max Reinertsen scored on a 13 yard run with 4:09 remaining. Witt ran for 103 yards on 16 carries, Erra-Hernandez picked up 89 yards.

QB Rob Kalkstein has thrown for 346 yards this season but has no touchdown passes. Erra-Hernandez leads the Tartans with 165 yards rushing, Witt is close behind with 147 yards.

Catholic was idle last week, defeating McDaniel 48-16 on the road two weeks ago.

Slippery Rock (2-0) at Gannon (1-1)   Noon on WLER 97.7-FM and msasports.net

The trip to Erie has not been a good one for the Rock over the last few years. SRU has not won a game in the city since 2002.

The Rock defeated Shippensbug 58-38 last week as SRU went over the 50 point mark for the second straight week. The 109 points is a record for the Rock offense after two games, besting the 107 points posted last season.

It is the fourth time in the last five seasons the Rock has gotten off to a 2-0 start.

QB Nigel Barksdale leads the PSAC at 413 yards of total offense per game and in touchdown passes with 10.

WR John Schademan had another good game last week with 5 catches for 109 yards and two scores. The senior is the first Rock receiver to go over 100 yards in back to back games since Devin Goda did it in 2011.

While the Rock has had success thru the air in the last two games, they will need to find a running game. Gannon has allowed an average of 334 yards on the ground so far this season.

DB Anthony Saunders picked off another pass last week and returned it for a score, he has three Pick 6’s in the last 2 seasons.

P James McCombie leads Division II, averaging 48.8 yards per kick.

Gannon fell to #23 West Chester last week 56-41.

QB Liam Nadler leads the PSAC, averaging 384 yards per game. Nadler threw for 5 touchdowns in the loss last week.

WR Quad Law is having a great campaign for the Golden Knights. The former Ringgold star is second in the PSAC at 116 receiving yards per game, he has 2 td catches this season.

DB Mike Zanders has 21 tackles, good for third in the PSAC and has picked off a pass.

Gannon leads the series 5-3.

W & J (1-1) at Grove City (2-0)   7pm on WJPA 1450-AM and msasports.net

The Presidents fell 42-21 at #19 St. John Fisher last week. The game was tied 21-all in the third quarter but W & J could not score again.

WR Alex Baroffio caught 13 passes for 139 yards and a touchdown, he now becomes the all-time leading receiver in Presidents history with 200 catches.

LB Jared Pratt led the Presidents with 8 tackles and 1.5 sacks.

Grove City shut out Anderson 42-0 last week, the first road shutout for the program in 14 seasons. LB Ben Manwaring was named PAC Defensive Player of the Week, he made 8 tackles and had one of the Wolverines seven sacks.

QB Brian Pell was involved in four touchdowns last week, running for two and throwing for two more.

The Wolverines have now won 5 straight games for the first time since 1997.

W & J leads the all time series 35-13.

Thiel (0-2) at Geneva (2-0)  7pm on WBVP 1230-AM and msasportsl.net

The Tomcats have lost two heartbreakers, Thiel fell 28-27 last week to Rochester.

QB Andrew Smith threw for 181 yards and two touchdowns, he also ran for a score.

Geneva defeated Bethany 51-33 last week at Reeves Field to open PAC play with a win. The win was the second time that the GT’s went over 50 points this season .

This meeting will be the third consecutive home game for the Golden Tornadoes.

RB Dylan Jones is having a great start to his sophomore campaign, running for 152 yards and two touchdowns in the victory. Rocco Colavecchia posted 4 touchdowns last week for the Golden Tornadoes.

Lemuel Fuller had 14 catches for 140 yards, the fourth highest total in school history for a single game.

LB Dillion Goodell made 13 tackles for the Geneva defense.

DB Rashard Briscoe made 10 stops and picked off a pass in the fourth quarter.

Geneva leads the series 25-11-3, Thiel won in 2012 21-14 in overtime.

Lincoln (1-1) at Saint Francis (0-2)   2pm
Division II Lincoln fell 42-3 to Sacred Heart last week and trailed 28-0 at the half.They defeated Cheyney in the season opener.

Saint Francis gave #17 James Madison a major scare before falling 24-20. The Red Flash scored two of the four weekly player awards in the NEC. DB DaQuan Minter was named NEC Defensive Player of the Week, he made 5 stops and became the first Red Flash player to pick off 2 passes in the same game in over 2 years.

Freshman kicker Lance Geesey was named NEC Special Teams Player of the Week, kicking field goals of 45 and 47 yards to keep the Red Flash in the game. The kicks were two of the longest in school history.

Kyle Harbridge continues his recovery from a 2012 season ending injury. He ran for 100 yards on 20 carries with a touchdown last week. Harbridge put up 132 yards against Georgia Southern in the opening week of the season.

Duquesne (1-1) at Youngstown State (2-1)   4pm
The Dukes opened the season with a 35-24 win over Albany before falling at Dayton 23-20 in Week 2. Duquesne had the bye last week.

QB Dillon Buechel has had a good start to his career, throwing for 604 yards and 4 touchdowns. He was named NEC Offensive Player of the Week following the Albany win.

WR Gianni Carter leads the Dukes with 13 catches, he averages 17 yards per reception.

Duquesne is struggling to run the ball, the leading rusher is Ryan Ho with 102 yards on 40 carries, but just a 2.5 yard average. The Dukes are averaging 2.3 yards per attempt.

YSU fell 55-17 at Michigan State last week. Freshman TB Martin Ruiz had both touchdowns for the Penguins, one rushing and a td toss from QB Kurt Hess.

The Penguins defeated Dayton 28-10 and Morehead State 67-13. Adaris Bellemy ran for 203 yards in the opener but has not played since. Ruiz has ran for 198 yards. Hess has thrown for 476 yards and 4 touchdowns, with 2 interceptions.

Edinboro (1-1) at California (2-0)   3:30pm
QB Cody Harris has completed 77 percent of his passes and is second in the conference with 8 td tosses. Return man Marcus Johnson is second in D-II, averaging 48.8 yards per kick return. Johnson also has 12 catches for 217 yards and a score.

DB Devin Ghafoor leads the Fighting Scots defense with 20 tackles, the Perry grad has 1 interception.

Edinboro fell 47-35 to #15 Bloomsburg last week, the game featured 1,040 yards of offense.

QB Cody Schroeder has done a good job taking over the Cal offense. He was named PSAC Western Division Offensive Athlete of the Week for his performance in a 45-10 win over Kutztown. Schroeder was 20-28 for 267 yards  and completed 4 touchdown passes, all to different receivers.

WR Mike Williams is his main target with 14 catches, two for touchdowns.

Cal leads the PSAC in rushing defense, holding the Bears to just 9 rushing yards last week, the Vulcans also forced 4 turnovers. The Vulcans lead the series 42-35-2 and have won 8 straight games.

IUP  (2-0) at Seton Hill (0-2)   6pm
The Crimson Hawks remain at #8 in the AFCA top 25 for a second consecutive week, coming off a 49-0 win over Cheyney.

QB Mike Box has really come into the role of a starter, he is averaging 253 yards per game and has thrown for 5 touchdowns. WR Terrill Barnes is his main target with 13 catches for 268 yards and a score.

IUP is 9 for 9 in red zone touchdowns this season.

LB Carl Fleming has started 2013 where he left off last season as the MVP of the PSAC State Championship Game. Fleming leads the PSAC with 24 tackles and is in the top 20 in D-II. The IUP defense has allowed just 20 points in the first two games.

The move to the PSAC has not gone well for the Griffins, they have been outscored 107-36 in the first two games, including a 70-7 loss to East Stroudsburg last week.

QB Nick Hafhill has thrown for 5 touchdowns this season.

WR Norman Darden is averaging almost 18 yards per catch.

Seton Hill must find a running game, the Griffins have ran for just 35 yards in two games.

Mercyhurst (1-1) at Clarion (2-0)   6pm
RB Brandon Brown-Dukes has started 2013 with a bang, averaging 109 yards per game, including 142 yards and 3 scores last week.

Colin Kimball has picked off three passes so far this season, he is tied for second in D-II. The McDowell grad was named PSAC Western Division Defensive Athlete of the Week for his play in a 49-7 win over Millersville. Kimball returned a 45 yard Pick 6 in the victory. The Lakers defense forced 4 turnovers.

Clarion is 2-0 for the first time since 1996. But QB Ben Fiscus left last week’s game with a leg injury, his status is uncertain this week.

TB Bobby Thomas took over last week’s 30-13 win over Lock Haven, he ran for 147 yards and a touchdown.

On the defense, lineman Andrew Fragale leads the PSAC with 6.5 tackles for loss.

Mercyhurst is 4-1 in the series.

Randolph Macon (1-1) at Bethany  (0-2) 1:30pm
The Bison fell 51-33 at Geneva last week. QB Matt Grimard leads Division III with 800 yards passing and second in passing average with 400 yards per game. Bethany leads the PAC in total offense and passing yards. WR Eric Blinn is second in D-III with 27 catches and fifth in receiving yards with 313. 

Saint Vincent (0-1) at Waynesburg (2-0)   1:30pm
The Bearcats had the bye last week, coming off a 57-0 loss to Bridgewater.

The Yellow Jackets had two players receive ECAC Southwest Player of the Week awards. QB Carter Hill threw for 483 yards on 38-53, a new school record, and three touchdowns. Kicker Alex Henry was 6-6 on extra points and 3-3 on field goals, he was named Special Teams Player of the Week.  Hill and Henry also took the PAC Player of the Week Awards.

Waynesburg knocked off Frostburg State 58-48 last week, the most points scored by the Yellow Jackets since a 64-0 win over Dennison in 2004.

The Yellow Jackets lead the series 16-11-4.

Thomas More (1-0) at Westminster (0-1)    7pm
Both teams come off a bye, Thomas More defeated Capital 20-0, while Westminster fell 23-19 at Hiram.

RB Domonique Hayden led the Saints in the win with 157 yards and a touchdown.

Thomas More leads the series 10-1 and has won 10 straight, it’s the first time the Saints will play a night conference game since joining the PAC.

QB Dak Britt threw for 280 yards and 2 touchdowns for the Titans, he was also picked off twice. WR Collin Wallace had 7 catches, TE David Wright had 6 receptions for 127 yards and a touchdown.

LB Nate Moot led the defense with 12 tackles.

Hiram (1-1) at Allegheny (0-2)   1pm
Hiram fell 17-12 to Dennison last week in the conference opener. Robert Partridge hit Brendon James in the first quarter for a 23 yard touchdown, but the Terriers could not reach the end zone again.

The Gators are 0-2 after falling last week to Carnegie Mellon 26-7. Allegheny allowed 19 points in the second half. WR Andrew Niklaus had 8 catches for 113 yards in the loss.

Allegheny has been outscored 63-14 this season and is 0-1 in the NCAC. QB Jon Nigro is just 20-43 for 287 yards so far this season, with 2 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. 

Tags: Geneva, Washington