IUP Football - Indiana Gazette

New head coach Curt Cignetti
hopes to build on his father’s legacy
Special supplement to
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Eye on the
A Preview of the 2011
IUP Football Season
2 — Indiana Gazette IUP Football Preview, Thursday, September 8, 2011
2011 IUP SCHEDULE
MEET THE
CRIMSON HAWKS
vs. EAST STROUDSBURG
4 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 10
George P. Miller Stadium
Series: IUP leads, 9-6
Last meeting: IUP, 23-17 (2010)
vs. BLOOMSBURG
8 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 15
George P. Miller Stadium
Series: IUP leads, 16-9
Last meeting: Bloomsburg, 47-20 (2010)
at SLIPPERY ROCK
7 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 24
N.Kerr Thompson Stadium
Series: IUP leads, 44-33-2
Last meeting: IUP, 17-0 (2010)
vs. EDINBORO
2 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 1
George P. Miller Stadium
Series: IUP leads, 53-21-4
Last meeting: IUP, 18-0 (2010)
at MERCYHURST
Noon, Saturday, Oct. 8
Tullio Field
Series: Mercyhurst leads, 2-1
Last meeting: Mercyhurst, 28-27 (2010)
at CLARION
3 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 15
Memorial Stadium
Series: IUP leads, 55-23-3
Last meeting: Clarion, 21-14 (2010)
vs. GANNON
1 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 22
George P. Miller Stadium
Series: Gannon leads, 2-1
Last meeting: Gannon, 45-17 (2010)
vs. CALIFORNIA
1 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 29
George P. Miller Stadium
Series: IUP leads, 55-21-2
Last meeting: California, 18-15 (2010)
at LOCK HAVEN
3 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 5
Hubert Jack Stadium
Series: IUP leads, 53-15-3
Last meeting: IUP, 63-31 (2010)
at WEST CHESTER
1 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 12
John A. Farrell Stadium
Series: IUP leads, 11-6
Last meeting: IUP, 27-10 (2010)
COACHING STAFF
Head Coach: Curt Cignetti (first season)
Defensive Coordinator.......................Paul Tortorella
Linebackers............................................. Jim Smith
Defensive Ends/Special Teams..... Bernie McQuown
Defensive Line..................................Adam Schmidt
Defensive Backs.................................Tyler Scudder
Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks...... Luke Getsy
Offensive Line................................... Mike Campolo
Wide Receivers............................... Rod Rutherford
Running Backs..........................................Tim Zetts
Tight Ends.........................................Scott Kaniecki
No.
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88
90
92
93
96
97
98
99
Name
Roy-al Edwards
Randy Louis
Daryl Jones
Terrill Barnes
Kevin Berry
Mark Jackson
Pat Brewer
Javon Rowan
Sean McVay
Pat Smith
Chris Brown
Chris Gahagan
Anthony Perna
Andre Henderson
Joe Scott
Matteo Gazzalle
Zach Severance
Terrell Washington
Jake Alberts
Sam Gooden
Harvie Tuck
Ben Sasu
Marvens Toussaint
Mike Meriwether
Johnny Franco
Joey Mencer
Teddy Blakeman
Jake Campbell
Montay Green
James Johnson
Mario Sanders
Quentin Blackwell
Dennis Kerstetter
Jerrell McFadden
Nick Dudukovich
Tyler Dummermuth
Dom Maggio
Alex Berdahl
Jordan Batts
William McClure
Austin Phillips
Kole Kraut
Chris Smallwood
Mike Katch
Lowen Johnson
Matt Sasson
Joey Walter
Nick Carnicella
Jermel Lee
Maurice McKinney
Conor Jackson
Jacob Breakstone
Eddie Gavett
Cody Millett
Louis Mobley
James Heiss
Chris Macellaro
Carl Thornton
Bruce Atkins
Mike Charmo
Dylan O'Donnell
Greg Strauss
Anthony DiPasquale
Byron Dovales
Jason Musselman
Zach Wolfe
Evan Battallio
Matt Plautz
Trey Campman
Kyle Spencer
Ben Simmen
Jon Ditto
Errol Brewster
Larry Gooden
Akeem Smith
Brett Ullman
Grant Schallock
Javaughn Goree
Stephen Meadows
Pos.
WR
CB
DB
WR
WR
LB
WR
WR
WR
QB
DB
QB
QB
DB
QB
QB
DB
DB
DB
RB
RB
RB
CB
DB
DB
K
RB
DB
DL
RB
DB
DB
DB
DB
RB
TE
FB
LB
LB
LB
LB
S
RB
LB
LB
OL
LB
OL
LB
DL
LS
OL
LS
OL
OL
DE
OL
DL
OL
OL
OL
DL
OL
OL
OL
OL
TE
WR
WR
WR
WR
TE
DL
DL
DL
K
P
DL
DE
Class
Sr.
Sr.
Jr.
So.
Fr.
Sr.
So.
Sr.
Fr.
So.
So.
Jr.
Fr.
Sr.
Fr.
Fr.
So.
So.
Fr.
Fr.
Jr.
Rf.
Rf.
So.
Sr.
Jr.
So.
Fr.
Fr.
So.
Fr.
Fr.
So.
So.
Fr.
So.
Rf.
So.
Fr.
Fr.
Fr.
Rf.
Rf.
Jr.
So.
Fr.
Fr.
So.
So.
Rf.
Fr.
Fr.
Jr.
Fr.
Sr.
So.
So.
Jr.
Rf.
So.
Rf.
So.
Sr.
So.
Jr.
Rf.
So.
Jr.
Rf.
So.
So.
Sr.
So.
So.
So.
Rf.
Sr.
So.
Sr.
Ht.
6-1
5-10
5-11
6-2
5-7
6-0
5-11
6-0
5-10
6-5
5-11
6-3
6-2
6-0
6-2
5-11
5-11
6-1
6-0
5-9
5-10
5-11
5-8
5-8
5-9
5-10
5-10
6-0
5-10
5-10
6-1
5-8
5-9
5-9
6-0
6-1
5-6
5-11
6-0
6-2
5-9
5-11
5-10
6-1
5-11
6-1
6-2
6-1
6-0
5-11
6-1
6-4
6-3
6-3
6-1
6-2
6-1
6-2
6-4
6-2
5-11
6-0
6-2
6-3
6-6
6-7
6-3
6-5
6-1
6-1
6-4
6-4
6-2
5-11
6-3
6-1
6-7
5-8
6-4
Wt.
195
185
185
210
175
205
170
195
180
225
180
195
180
200
190
175
185
175
170
185
215
200
175
195
195
180
195
185
235
200
185
185
175
170
200
228
200
200
255
235
230
190
210
210
200
290
220
280
215
240
220
265
200
270
300
220
275
235
255
285
255
230
260
290
280
300
245
220
185
200
175
245
225
255
292
210
250
255
225
Hometown/High School
Media/Strath Haven
Washington, D.C./Quince Orchard
Pittsburgh/Woodland Hills
Gettysburg/Gettysburg
Coatesville/Coatesville
Canton, Ohio/McKinley
Coatesville/Coatesville
Erie/Cathedral Prep
Miramar, Fla./Miramar
Hollidaysburg/Hollidaysburg
Altoona/Bishop Guilfoyle
Penn Run/Penns Manor
West Windsor, N.J./Notre Dame
Erie/Strong Vincent
Orlando, Fla./Dr. Phillips
Key West, Fla./Key West
Columbus, Ohio/Reynoldsburg
Penn Hills/Penn Hills
Pittsburgh/Mt. Lebanon
McKeesport/McKeesport
Akron, Ohio/St. Vincent-St. Mary
ROY-AL
EDWARDS
Gaithersburg, Md./Quince Orchard
Ft. Lauderdale, Fla./Port Charlotte
Upper Marlboro, Md./DeMatha
Tyrone/Tyrone
Altoona/Altoona
Penn Hills/Penn Hills
Sarver/Freeport
Pittsburgh/Fox Chapel
Philadelphia/Glen Mills
Erie/Cathedral Prep
Scotch Plains, N.J./Fanwood
Millersburg/Millersburg
Manassas, Va./Osbourn
Windber/Forest Hills
New Phila., Ohio / New Phila.
Pittsburgh/Central Catholic
Ashburn, Va./Bishop O'Connell
Jeannette/Jeannette
Venetia/Peters Township
Bowie, Md./DeMatha
York/Dallastown Area
Willow Grove/Upper Moreland
Lansdale/North Penn
Manheim/Manheim Central
Pittsburgh/Fox Chapel
Ashburn, Va./Broad Run
Greensburg/Hempfield
Bethlehem/Freedom
Springfield, Va./West Springfield
Venetia/Peters Township
Erie/McDowell
Pittsburgh/Mount Lebanon
MARK
JACKSON
ANDRE
HENDERSON
New Market, Ontario/Huron Heights
Philadelphia/St. John Neumann
Mt. Lebanon/Mt. Lebanon
Pittsburgh/Perry
Beaver Falls/Beaver Falls
Pittsburgh/Woodland Hills
Hamilton, Va./Loundon Valley
Butler/Butler
Saxton/Tussey Mountain
Pittsburgh/Pine-Richland
Reading/Muhlenberg
Alum Bank/Chestnut Ridge
Greensburg/Greensburg Salem
Norristown/Norristown
Cranberry Twp./Seneca Valley
Clearfield/Clearfield
Alexandria, Va./Thomas Edison
N.Fayette Twp./West Allegheny
Monroeville/Gateway
Washington, D.C./Springbrook
McKeesport/McKeesport
Philadelphia/Frankford
Baltimore, Md./Perry Hall
Webster, N.C./Smoky Mountain
Bronx, N.Y./Glen Mills
Spotsylvania/James Monroe
LOUIS
MOBLEY
ANTHONY
DiPASQUALE
Indiana Gazette IUP Football Preview, Thursday, September 8, 2011— 3
Taking Over
Cignetti planning to build on his father’s IUP legacy
By MATTHEW BURGLUND
[email protected]
Make no mistake about it: Curt Cignetti did not take
the IUP job so he could replicate his father’s success.
He’s setting his sights higher than winning 78 percent of his games, 14 division titles and respect across
the country.
He wants those achievements, for sure, plus one
other. It’s the one thing Frank Cignetti strived for, but
never could reach — a win in the NCAA Division II
championship game, played every December in Florence, Ala.
And on the day he was introduced to the public as
IUP’s newest football coach, Curt Cignetti said as
much.
“I knew they had been there before and could get
there again,” he said on Jan. 7, “and I would really like
to take the program one step further so that we can
raise the victory flag in Florence, Alabama, and that’s
the goal of this program.”
With those few words, Cignetti revealed everything
he hopes to do.
And in the nine months since then, he, his staff and
players have been working toward that goal. But it’s
one that won’t happen overnight, and it could take
several years to achieve.
Granted, the Division II landscape has changed
quite a bit since Frank Cignetti took over the IUP program in 1986.
Back then, most athletic departments in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference emphasized the
“small school” aspect of sports and had little interest
in becoming nationally known for college sports.
But Cignetti, who was also the athletic director at
IUP, had the vision to raise scholarship spending and
improve the facilities to the point where IUP was the
flagship for the PSAC, advancing to the playoffs more
than a dozen times and twice playing in the national
championship game.
Eventually, the rest of the PSAC took notice and also
began trying to raise the profile of their football programs. But the PSAC cut football scholarship spending from 36 (the NCAA max) to 25 in 1995 — the socalled “IUP rule” — to bring Cignetti’s program back
to the pack.
Although IUP had never been fully funded in terms
of football scholarships (the high-water mark was 29
in 1993), the gap between the PSAC and IUP began to
close.
By the time Cignetti retired in 2005, IUP still had the
most scholarships, but not that many more than the
rest of the league.
Things changed in 2008 when private schools Gannon, Mercyhurst and C.W. Post were admitted to the
PSAC. And, as a stipulation in the deal, the 25-scholarship cap was eliminated.
At the end of last season, four PSAC programs were
at or near the 36-scholarship limit — California, C.W.
Post, Gannon and Mercyhurst. And IUP, which was
then under the guidance of Lou Tepper, was a good
distance back, at 20 scholarships.
Tepper, who won 36 of the 54 games he coached,
was fired after the 2010 season and Curt Cignetti came
over from Alabama, where he had been an assistant
for Nick Saban.
From the start, Cignetti said he wanted to raise
scholarship funds. Because that money is raised
through university fundraising, and not from taxpayer
dollars, he needed the backing of the community. He
got that, and the ball has started to roll.
Continued on Page 11
FAMILY BUSINESS
Some other notable father-son head coaching duos
Son: Terry
Career record: 131-59-2
Schools: Salem, Samford, Auburn,
North Alabama
THE HOLTZES
Father: Lou
Career record: 249-132-7
Schools: William & Mary, North
Carolina State, Arkansas, Minnesota,
Notre Dame, South Carolina
Son: Skip
Career record: 80-55
Schools: Connecticut, East Carolina,
South Florida
▲
Son: Tommy
Career record: 90-49
Schools: Tulane, Clemson
▲
▲
THE BOWDENS
Father: Bobby
Career record: 377-129-4
Schools: South Carolina J.C.,
Samford, West Virginia, Florida State
THE TRESSELS
Father: Lee
Career record: 155-52-6
School: Baldwin-Wallace
Son: Jim
Career record: 217-78-2
Schools: Youngstown State, Ohio
State
TERI ENCISO and JAMES J. NESTOR/Gazette
FRANK CIGNETTI, top, won 182 games as IUP’s head coach from 1986 to
2005, and now his oldest son, Curt, bottom, runs the program.
4 — Indiana Gazette IUP Football Preview, Thursday, September 8, 2011
EYE ON THE HAWKS: Offense
Smith’s health is the key
to lighting up scoreboard
By MATTHEW BURGLUND
[email protected]
MIKE WALKER/Gazette
TEDDY BLAKEMAN is one of four tailbacks expected to carry the ball this
season for IUP.
It really is quite this simple: If
IUP quarterback Pat Smith stays
healthy, the Crimson Hawks have a
good chance of being a good team
this year.
If Smith spends more time in the
trainer’s room than the field,
things will probably go badly.
Just look at last season.
Smith won the starting job last
August from junior college transfer
Bo Napoleon and led the Crimson
Hawks to a win in the season
opener. He then was having the
best game of his short career the
following week at East Stroudsburg
when he hit his passing hand on a
helmet and broke his thumb.
Smith missed the rest of the season, and the Crimson Hawks
slumped to a 6-5 finish with
Napoleon under center. Things got
so bad that IUP had become onedimensional by the end of the season, choosing to pass only when
necessary.
“It was tough,” Smith said. “But
this is now. We’re ready to go play a
new season. I feel like the attitude
of the players is different. Everyone has a positive attitude.”
Smith is the only thing the same
on the IUP offense this year. Curt
Cignetti, a Division I offensive assistant coach the last 29 seasons,
STATISTICAL
ANALYSIS
How the IUP offense fared
last season in the PSAC:
Scoring
10th (23.4 ppg.)
Rushing
2nd (189.5 ypg.)
Passing
15th (108.8 ypg.)
Total
11th (298.3 ypg.)
Turnovers lost
10th (22)
has taken over as head coach.
Cignetti brought in two new assistants, including offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, and moved last
year’s coordinator, Jim Smith, to
defense.
But there is Pat Smith, the starting quarterback, still around. And
he’s happy.
“Coach brought in a new environment,” he said. “Everything is
up-tempo. There’s a good feeling
about playing football.”
There is a good feeling now, but
that might not last if Smith gets
hurt. The Crimson Hawks have
four other quarterbacks on the
roster, but none has ever taken a
snap in a college game.
“Pat just has to control what he
can control,” Cignetti said. “He’s
up to the challenge. This is his
Now Serving On Sundays
third year. He’s an older kid. I
doubt he feels too much pressure.
He’s feeling pretty confident that
he can play and play well, and I
think he’s excited about it.”
Smith is particularly excited
about the receivers around him.
One of the changes Cignetti has
made to the offense is its alignment, favoring three receivers and
one running back to the traditional
tailback-fullback set. So that
means a rotation that includes
seniors Javon Rowan (47 career
catches, 548 yards, 5 touchdowns)
and Roy-al Edwards (38-447-1),
sophomores Ben Simmen (10-1121) and Pat Brewer (8-70-1), and
newcomers Terrill Barnes (a junior
college transfer), Matt Plautz (a
transfer from Monmouth) and
Sean McVay (a true freshman) will
all have a chance to get in the action.
“They all have great attitudes,”
Smith said. “We’ve been working
hard, and it seems like we’re on the
same page. Having more receivers
gives guys fresh legs and we can
rotate better.”
Throw in tight end Jon Ditto, a
Penn State transfer, along with
promising youngsters Evan Battalio and Tyler Dummermuth, and
there’s enough pass-catching talent to make a difference.
But there’s more to it than
Continued on Page 5
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Indiana Gazette IUP Football Preview, Thursday, September 8, 2011— 5
EYE ON THE HAWKS: Offense
QB Smith’s health
is the key to putting
points on the board
Continued from Page 4
“but there are things they need to
improve on.”
passing the ball.
For his part, Tuck said he’s excit“Offensively, I want to be fast,”
Cignetti said. “I want to be up- ed about the new look of the oftempo. But we’ve got to be bal- fense, along with the new attitude.
anced. We have to be able to run it He said the 11-11 record the Crimson Hawks had over the last two
and throw it.”
The success of the ground game seasons has made change neceswill depend heavily on the offen- sary.
“Eleven-and-eleven was kind of
sive line, which has three starters
back from last season: center An- like a bitter taste,” Tuck said. “I
thony DiPasquale, tackle Byron came here just expecting to win. …
Dovales and guard Nick Carnicella. (Cignetti) got us working a lot
Adding to the mix is Louis Mobley, harder than we had been, and I
think we’ll be better on
who missed last year
offense because of it.”
with a knee injury after
But how good the ofstarting at guard in 2009,
fense will be is based
and redshirt freshman
largely on Smith, the
Mike Charmo, who is exHollidaysburg
native
pected to play one of the
who will play with little
guard positions.
room for error. Should
Also, freshman Matt
he do something to get
Sasson could see plenty
hurt,
the
Crimson
of playing time, along
Hawks could be in a
with junior Jason Musworld of trouble.
selman.
So Smith said he’s takThe issue with the of“COACH
ing note of his place on
fensive line is depth.
BROUGHT
the team, and Getsy’s
“We can’t afford to
coaching has made him
have injuries,” Cignetti
in a new
aware of his responsibilsaid. “We don’t have that
environment. ity.
luxury. We’re too thin.”
“He’s very demandThe front line will
Everything
ing,” Smith said. “He
block for a talented
is up-tempo. sets very high standards
group of running backs
for us. He expects you to
There’s a
that most teams would
100 percent in
envy,
good feeling give
whatever you’re doing.
Leading the group is
about
As a quarterback, you’re
junior Harvie Tuck, who
the leaders, so you can’t
rushed for more than
playing
have a mistake because
1,100 yards last season.
football.”
a mistake for you is a
He’ll be backed up by
mistake for the team.”
sophomores
Teddy
And if Smith stays
Blakeman (502 yards)
Pat Smith, healthy, the IUP offense
and James Johnson
IUP quarterback
ought to be pretty good
(246) and redshirt freshthis year, which would
man Ben Sasu, all of
go a long way toward
whom could be counted
changing the fortunes of a team
on to shoulder the load if need be.
Cignetti listed Tuck as the starter that hasn’t had much success the
on the depth chart, but Blakeman, last two years.
“We like to be the underdogs,”
Johnson and Sasu are all named at
Tuck said, “and coming off the seathe No. 2 slot.
Training camp hasn’t cleared the son we had I feel like a lot of people
don’t think we can be as good as
picture much at all.
“They’ve done some good we all think we can be. That’s OK.
things,” Cignetti said of his backs, We like that.”
www.indianagazette.com
TERI ENCISO/Gazette
QUARTERBACK PAT SMITH returns to the starting lineup after missing most of last season because of a broken
hand that he suffered in the second game of the season.
6 — Indiana Gazette IUP Football Preview, Thursday, September 8, 2011
EYE ON THE HAWKS: Defense
Pressure to win falls
squarely on Hawks’ ‘D’
By MATTHEW BURGLUND
[email protected]
TERI ENCISO/Gazette
PAUL TORTORELLA has been running IUP’s defense since 1995 and has
guided some of the best defenses in school history.
G OOD L UCK
IUP
F OOTBALL !
H AVE
A G REAT
S EASON !
If Curt Cignetti has his way, opposing quarterbacks will cringe
when they look at the schedule
and see IUP is next. He hopes they
think to themselves, Oh no. Not
them. He wants his defense to be
fast and furious. To level big hits
and cause frustration.
“I want to be aggressive and I
want to attack,” Cignetti said. “We
have to be disruptive.”
Crimson Hawks safety Johnny
Franco’s eyes light up when he
talks about the expectations leveled on the defense by the team’s
new head coach.
Franco likes the idea of being a
dominant, disruptive defense, but
he knows there is pressure that
comes with that.
“I love it,” Franco said. “If there’s
pressure with saying that we’ll lead
the team, that’s fine. I think we
play better under pressure. Having
that pressure is something we like.
It’s a good challenge.”
But it’s not an unrealistic challenge.
If there’s one thing Cignetti is
certain about, it’s that his defense
will keep the Crimson Hawks in
the game. Coordinator Paul Tortorella’s group has plenty of experience and talent up front and a
deep secondary that can cover
anything. The only issue is at linebacker, where depth is an issue.
But Franco said he has no worries.
“As long as we do our jobs, we
can be good,” he said. “We just
have to play defense as a team.”
Last year, the pressure to keep
games close was also on the defense, due to an offense that struggled once quarterback Pat Smith
STATISTICAL
ANALYSIS
How the IUP defense fared
last season in the PSAC:
Scoring
4th (20.3 ppg.)
Rushing
4th (111.4 ypg.)
Passing
5th (180.5 ypg.)
Total
3rd (291.8 ypg.)
Turnovers gained
7th (25)
went down for the season with a
broken thumb in the second week
of the season.
The IUP defense did an admirable job, finishing fourth in the
Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference in scoring defense and
third in total defense, but the
Crimson Hawks still stumbled to a
6-5 finish.
That 6-5 finish cost head coach
Lou Tepper his job, and Cignetti
was brought in to breathe life into
a proud program that had once
been one of the nation’s elite.
When Tortorella was the defensive coordinator for Frank Cignetti,
he often used a base 4-3 defense
with much success. When Tepper
came aboard in 2006, Tortorella
switched to Tepper’s 4-2-5 scheme.
It seems there are concepts of both
in this year’s defense, which will
allow for flexibility in game situations.
“It’s basically the same thing as
last year,” said Franco, who had 47
tackles and four interceptions last
season. “We switch around depending on the offense we face.
But Coach Tort is doing a great job
like he always has.”
The strength of the IUP defense
is likely going to be the front line,
which features end Stephen Meadows, tackle Carl Thornton and
nose guard Larry Gooden, plus
outside (rush) linebacker Errol
Brewster.
Thornton has been a disruptive
force the last two seasons, totaling
17 tackles for loss and six quarterback sacks despite being quite a
bit lighter (235 pounds) than many
of the offensive linemen he went
against.
Gooden and Brewster were contributors last season and have had
solid fall camps.
The wild card in the mix is Meadows, a transfer from Youngstown
State who has one year of eligibility. An up-tempo end, Meadows
will certainly improve a front line
that will rely on quickness over
brute strength when rushing the
quarterback.
The four linemen leave Cignetti
feeling pretty good about what
they can do.
“We’ve got some guys on our Dline who can rush the passer,”
Cignetti said. “I mean, when we
want to be, we can be pretty darn
good on the D-line. I think our defensive line can be a dominant
force. I really believe that.”
The secondary also ought to be
pretty solid, especially at cornerback, where program newcomer
Marvens Toussaint and redshirt
freshman Jerrell McFadden have
drawn starting jobs.
“Those guys have done a great
job,” Cignetti said. “They’re good.
We play physical on the corners,
and they do a great job, and that allows us to do some other things on
defense. We have confidence in
those guys that they can walk up in
someone’s face and stop them.”
Continued on Page 7
“I LOVE IT. If there’s pressure with saying that we’ll lead the
team, that’s fine. I think we play better under pressure. Having
that pressure is something we like. It’s a good challenge.”
Johnny Franco,
IUP safety
Indiana Gazette IUP Football Preview, Thursday, September 8, 2011— 7
EYE ON THE HAWKS: Defense
Time to
pack the
stands.
TERI ENCISO/Gazette
DEFENSIVE BACK Mike Meriweather, left, tried to shed a block from wide
receiver Sean McVay during a practice last month.
No one cheers louder for Western
Pennsylvania high school
athletics. That’s why we’re
excited to support another season
of great high school football
across our region.
Pressure to win falls
squarely on defense
Continued from Page 6
The rest of the secondary features Franco at free safety, Andre
Henderson at strong safety, and
Terrell Washington at drop safety.
Henderson is an interesting
story. He is the only player on the
roster to have played for Frank
Cignetti (2005), Tepper (2008-09)
and now Curt Cignetti.
He played in 2005 as a true freshman, then left school for two seasons before returning during Tepper’s third season. In 2009, he suffered a shoulder injury that kept
him out of the rest of that season,
plus all of last year.
At 24, Henderson is trying to regain the form that made him one
of the better safeties just a few
years ago.
“He was at about 80 percent in
the spring, but I’m hoping he
comes back and plays like the
Andre of old,” Cignetti said.
Cignetti’s main concern on defense is at linebacker, where Mark
Jackson and Alex Berdahl are penciled in as the starters. Jackson,
who was a safety last season,
missed half of training camp with
an ankle injury and is still working
his way back into shape. Jackson
and Berdahl, a former walk-on, are
backed up by sophomore Jermel
Lee and true freshman Will McClure, both of whom will see plenty of playing time.
“We have some real questions at
linebacker,” Cignetti said. “We
have four or five young kids … at
that position, and hopefully they
can learn fast.”
Should things come together on
defense, the Crimson Hawks certainly should live up to Cignetti’s
expectations.
“We’ve got a great group out
there,” Franco said. “We’re looking
forward to playing together.”
FCB Member FDIC. Equal Opportunity Lender.
8 — Indiana Gazette IUP Football Preview, Thursday, September 8, 2011
PSAC PREVIEW
NEW BOSSES
Other than IUP’s Curt Cignetti,
there are three new head coaches
in the PSAC, each with a different
challenge.
The toughest tasks belong to
Lock Haven’s John Allen and
Cheyney’s Kenneth Lockard, who
inherit teams with little to boast.
Lock Haven has
lost 32 games in
a row and 42 of
its last 43, while
Cheyney has won
only once in the
last three
seasons.
What’s more,
JOHN
Cheyney has not
ALLEN
had a winning
season since 1979; Lock Haven
has not had one since 1981.
“The past is the past; I wasn’t
here,” Allen said. “I look at (the
players) like they weren’t here.”
At Shippensburg, longtime
assistant coach Mark Maciejewski
was promoted during the
offseason to head coach following
the retirement of Rocky Rees, who
coached the Red Raiders for 20
years and led them to several
NCAA Division II playoff berths.
Indiana Pipeline
Clarion stocks roster with former IHS players
I
COACHES’ SALARIES
Name (School)
Salary
John Luckhardt (California) $136,837
George Mihalik (SRU)
$134,971
Curt Cignetti (IUP)
$120,000
Bill Zwaan (West Chester) $110,718
Danny Hale (Bloomsburg) $108,300
Denny Douds (E.Stroud.)
$98,120
Greg Colby (Millersville)
$93,015
Scott Browning (Edinboro) $89,838
Ray Monica (Kutztown)
$82,221
Mark Maciejewski (Shipp.)
$81,800
Jay Foster (Clarion)
$79,909
John Allen (Lock Haven)
$78,000
Kenneth Lockard (Cheyney) $50,000
Note: Mihalik and Douds are under
faculty contracts and earn salaries as
professors as well as coaches. The
number listed is for the two jobs
combined. ... C.W. Post, Gannon and
Mercyhurst are private schools and do
not make public their coaches’
salaries.
“THEY’RE THE KIND
of kids you can
build a football
team around.
There’s something
inside them that if
they’re given the
right opportunity,
they blossom.”
Jay Foster,
Clarion head coach
t’s pretty rare to find two football players from the same high school
on the same college team. But at Clarion, there seems to be a
common thread as you read down the roster.
Five of the players listed are from Indiana High School: defensive backs
Kwaku Asamoah and Kyle Edgar, quarterback Ben Fiscus, defensive
lineman Zach Newquist and safety Jay Pettina.
So how did this happen? Clarion coach Jay Foster says it’s an easy
thing to understand. He says IHS coach Mark Zilinskas has made a mold of
tough kids who can adapt well to the Clarion schemes.
“(Zilinskas) does a great job down there,” Foster said. “He
has tough, hard-nosed players, good kids who seem like they
have found a home at Clarion. ... All of those kids are kids who
don’t come in and wow you right off the bat. But the thing is
they’re the kind of kids you can build a football team around.
There’s something inside them that if they’re given the right
opportunity, they blossom. Those guys seem to have found
the right fit, and it’s with us.”
Fiscus, left, enters the season as the Golden Eagles’
JAY
starting quarterback, a position he took over last year as a
PETTINA
redshirt freshman midway through the season. At the time,
Clarion was 0-5 and going nowhere. Fiscus took over and
won four of the six games he started, including a 21-14
victory over his hometown IUP Crimson Hawks. Fiscus
ended up throwing for 713 yards and seven touchdowns while
rushing for 582 yards and six scores.
Pettina missed three games but still managed to finish ninth
on the team in tackles, with 37. He also had two sacks. He’ll
start at safety this fall.
As for this season, Newquist is expected to compete for
playing time along the Golden Eagles’ defensive line, while
JAY
the two freshmen, Asamoah and Edgar, could be given a
FOSTER
redshirt to preserve their four years of eligibility and then
earn playing time next season.
Because Clarion offers far fewer scholarships than most schools
in the PSAC, Foster said he doesn’t have the luxury to recruit
the best players possible, but rather to find good players he
can shape into better ones over the years. In Indiana, he
has found a handful of such players already.
“We go out and find football players,”
Foster said. “And if they’re good
football players and good people, they’ll
figure out where they fit. We have to
adjust to what we have.”
Northern Cambria’s Andrew Paronish
is also a Clarion recruit. He has started
the last two seasons in the secondary, and
last year he was fourth on the team with 54
tackles.
Indiana Gazette IUP Football Preview, Thursday, September 8, 2011— 9
PSAC PREVIEW
SCHOLARSHIP
NUMBERS
Back for More
League loaded with talented rushers
T
ry this on for size: Last season, Bloomsburg’s Franklyn
Quiteh gained more yards on the ground (2,015) than
any other running back in the country, at any level of
college football. And by the way, Quiteh was a freshman.
That ought to be enough to keep PSAC defensive coaches
awake at night, but the nightmare doesn’t end there. Of the top 10
leading rushers from last season, seven are back this fall.
Quiteh, right, leads the group. A year ago, he was third on the
Huskies’ depth chart and going nowhere. But because of an injury to
one tailback and the departure of another because of a
suspension, Quiteh found himself the Huskies’ openingday starter. He gained 140 yards against Ashland that day,
and took off from there, rushing for more than 200 yards
three times en route to just the fourth 2,000-yard season by
a PSAC running back.
Two other players are also back in the fold after standout
freshman seasons. Cheyney’s Marcus Jones (917) yards and
Edinboro’s Drew Herrell (682) hope to pick up where they left off last
AKEEM
year and be their team’s dominant rusher.
SATTERFIELD
Also back this year is Slippery Rock’s Akeem Satterfield, who led
the PSAC West with 1,352 yards during his sophomore season; California’s Lamont
Smith, who gained 1,165 yards for the Vulcans; and IUP’s Harvie Tuck, who
amassed 1,134 yards in 10 games.
Tuck is one of four running backs who will shoulder the load this season for the
Crimson Hawks. Sophomores Teddy Blakeman and James Johnson, both of whom
saw playing time last year, as well as redshirt freshman Ben Sasu, hope to get
some carries as the Curt Cignetti era opens at IUP.
As a side note, three of the four leading rushers in the PSAC played against IUP
last season, and none of them reached the 100-yard mark. Quiteh totaled 91 yards
on 22 carries in a 47-20 win over IUP, while California’s Smith totaled 55 yards on
20 carries in an 18-15 overtime win. Slippery Rock’s Satterfield mustered only 56
yards on 27 carries in a 17-0 loss to the Crimson Hawks.
1. California
2. Gannon
3. C.W. Post
4. Mercyhurst
5. IUP
6. Slippery Rock
7. Clarion
8. Edinboro
9. West Chester
10. East Stroudsburg
11. Bloomsburg
12. Lock Haven
13. Millersville
14. Shippensburg
15. Kutztown
16. Cheyney
35.58
35.46
34.80
33.35
20.10
17.33
12.82
12.27
11.74
9.45
9.26
7.82
6.98
6.58
6.14
5.00
Note: Numbers are for the 2010-11
school year. Numbers for current season
are not released until end of school year.
Scholarships are accumulated through
school fundraising, not through tax dollars.
AREA PLAYERS
IN THE PSAC
Clarion
Kwaku Asamoah, DB, Indiana
Kyle Edgar, DB, Indiana
Ben Fiscus, QB, Indiana
Zach Newquist, DL, Indiana
Andrew Paronish, DB, N.Cambria
Jay Pettina, DB, Indiana
Eli Rupert, OL, Apollo-Ridge
Lock Haven
Jeremiah Dunchack, RB, N.Cambria
Bobby Shorthouse, WR, Derry
IUP
Chris Gahagan, QB, Penns Manor
Mercyhurst
Devon Luzell, DL, Punxsutawney
Ian Weaver, LB, Punxsutawney
KEY GAMES ON THE PSAC SCHEDULE
Bloomsburg at IUP
California at Slippery Rock
Bloomsburg at Kutztown
8 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 15
Five days after opening his first season as head coach,
IUP’s Curt Cignetti will find out just where his team
stands when it welcomes perennial power Bloombsurg
for a Thursday night game to be televised on national
TV. The Huskies are looking to defend their PSAC East
crown and have plenty of talent and experience
returning from last year. Cignetti’s Crimson Hawks could
score major points with an upset win.
2 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 15
It’s no surprise the high-spending Vulcans are the
favorites (again) to win the PSAC West. But Slippery
Rock is the dark horse, thanks to the addition of
quarterback Cody Endres, a transfer from UConn.
The Rock has the most experience of any team in the
West, but California will likely have the most talent.
This Week 7 game will go a long way in deciding
who wins the division.
1 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 5
It’s a safe bet that Kutztown already has this game
circled on its calendar. Last year, the Golden Bears went
10-1, with their lone loss coming at the hands of the
Huskies, 56-37. With a reloaded roster, Kutztown has
designs on winning the East for the first time in school
history, but to do so the Golden Bears will have to get
past Bloomsburg. That this game is in the final week of
division play gives it even more weight.
10 — Indiana Gazette IUP Football Preview, Thursday, September 8, 2011
PRESEASON POLLS
AMERICAN FOOTBALL
COACHES ASSOC. TOP 25
Record
1. Minnesota-Duluth (28) 15-0
2. Delta State
11-4
3. NW Missouri State (1) 12-2
4. Abilene Christian
11-1
5. Grand Valley St.
11-2
6. North Alabama
9-4
7. Texas A&M-Kingsville 10-2
8. Augustana
11-2
9. (tie) Albany State
11-1
Bloomsburg
10-3
11. Shepherd
12-2
12. California
10-2
13. St. Cloud State
10-3
14. Wingate
9-3
15. Central Missouri
11-3
16. Nebraska-Kearney
9-2
17. Mercyhurst
10-3
18. Washburn
8-4
19. West Texas A&M
8-4
20. Valdosta State
8-3
21. Wayne State
9-2
22. Central Washington
8-3
23. Kutztown
10-2
24. Henderson State
7-4
25. Hillsdale
9-3
Pts
724
657
624
607
579
468
437
426
379
379
377
369
346
284
270
242
207
201
186
184
177
164
144
139
91
D2FOOTBALL.COM
TOP 25
2010 Record
1. Minnesota-Duluth
15-0
2. Delta State
11-4
3. Abilene Christian
11-1
4. Grand Valley State
11-2
5. Northwest Missouri
12-2
6. Texas A&M-Kingsville
10-2
7. Shepherd
12-2
8. Central Missouri
11-3
9. Augustana
11-2
10. Albany State
11-1
11. California
10-2
12. North Alabama
9-4
13. St. Cloud State
10-3
14. Valdosta State
8-3
15. Bloomsburg
10-3
16. West Texas A&M
8-4
17. Mercyhurst
10-3
18. Hillsdale
9-3
19. Wingate
9-3
20. Kutztown
10-2
21. Missouri Western
8-4
22. Washburn
8-4
23. Colorado Mines
9-3
24. Wayne State
9-2
25. Nebraska-Kearney
9-2
PSAC COACHES’ POLL
West
Team
2010 record
1. California
10-2
2. Mercyhurst
10-3
3. IUP
6-5
(tie) Slippery Rock
6-5
5. Gannon
6-5
6. Edinboro
7-4
7. Clarion
4-7
8. Lock Haven
0-11
East
Team
2010 record
1. Bloomsburg
10-3
2. Kutztown
10-2
3. West Chester
4-7
4. C.W. Post
7-4
5. East Stroudsburg
3-8
6. Shippensburg
5-6
7. Millersville
2-9
8. Cheyney
1-10
Leadership,
And
Professionalism...
Visit www.ruddock2012.com
to learn about your Indiana
County Commissioner,
ROD RUDDOCK!
EYE ON THE HAWKS: Special Teams
Hawks’ new kickers
already showing promise
By MATTHEW BURGLUND
[email protected]
All football coaches know the importance of special
teams, but few spend the time necessary to build
strong special teams. IUP’s Curt Cignetti isn’t following that path.
During most practices, Cignetti would order his
players to take a break from the grind of blocking and
tackling to work on things such as punt returns and
extra points, drills some players might find mundane.
But Cignetti knows that if his team can win the special
teams battle every week, it will be in good shape.
“We’ve put a lot of time into special teams in camp,”
Cignetti said. “I want to be sound. I want it to be an
edge for us.”
But after spring drills concluded in April, Cignetti
had no punter on his roster, nor did he have a kicker
who had tried an extra point or a field goal in a game.
Last year’s starters, Jared Kaufmann and Craig
Burgess, graduated.
That changed over the summer. The Crimson
Hawks brought in Grant Schallock, a 6-foot-7 punter
who transferred from North Carolina, and Brett Ullman, a placekicker who spent one year, but did not
play, at Morgan State. Both have already wowed
Cignetti.
At North Carolina, Schallock was a walk-on who
won the starting job as a sophomore in 2009. But after
last season, when he lost the starting nod, he chose to
transfer. It was through an exchange of emails that
Schallock ended up at IUP.
So far, Schallock has shown the ability to put kicks
high in the air and also far downfield. On several kicks
during scrimmages last month, he booted the ball
well over 50 yards, with a tight spiral.
“Nowadays,” Cignetti said with a smile, “when you
get an email, you respond to it.”
EDDIE
GAVETT
GRANT
SCHALLOCK
BRETT
ULLMAN
Ullman, a 6-foot-1 freshman, beat out lefty Joey
Mencer, a holdover from the last two seasons, for the
placekicking job. He solidified the decision at the
team’s final scrimmage, when he drilled a 53-yard
field goal, which probably had enough on it to be
good from 58 yards.
The longest field goal in IUP history is 52 yards, by
Jon Ruff, in 1995.
“He’s got a nice, strong leg,” Cignetti said. “I really
like him. I’m excited about our kicking game.”
At IUP, Ullman joins his sister, Arika, who is a member of the Crimson Hawks’ women’s basketball team.
One part of the punting and kicking game is the long
snapper, and the Crimson Hawks welcome back one
so good in Eddie Gavett that he largely goes unnoticed. A junior from Mount Lebanon, Gavett took over
during the second game of his true freshman season
and has held down the job since. He’ll be backed up
by freshman recruit Conor Jackson.
As for returns, several players have been used in
practice on punts and kickoffs, including wide receivers Kevin Berry, Javon Rowan, Ben Simmen and
Sean McVay, running back James Johnson and defensive back Mike Meriweather.
SUPPORTS family business owners
through educational seminars and peer networking events that
contribute to the strength, growth, and longevity of the businesses.
RECOGNIZES family-owned businesses at the annual Family
Business Award Program for their excellence in performance and
contribution to community.
Go to www.iup.edu/centerforfamilybusiness to see area
family business owners honored by the CFB!
Center for Family Business
324 Eberly College of Business and Information Technology
664 Pratt Drive, Indiana, PA 15705-1036
DID YOU KNOW?
IUP has been playing 4-year
college football since 1927 (84
seasons), but 44 percent (218)
of the program’s wins have
come since Frank Cignetti took
over, in 1986. IUP’s third win
this season will be the 500th in
the program’s history.
Indiana Gazette IUP Football Preview, Thursday, September 8, 2011— 11
Cignetti planning Don’t Let Your FINANCIAL GOALS
Become Long Shots
to build off his
father’s IUP legacy
.
Continued from Page 3
“We’ve had a tremendous response from the community,” he
said. “I think there’s excitement
about it. I think people understand
that Rome wasn’t built in a day,
they know that regardless of how
this season turns out, there will be
progress. I mean internally, externally, structurally, financially.
That’s why I am here. Our community has been awesome. The alums
have been awesome, and the businesses inside and outside the community have been great.”
Cignetti has said the financial
goal is to reach 36 scholarships,
which could lead to a resurgence
for the program, which has won
only 11 of its last 22 games. But the
rest of the PSAC has taken notice of
what’s happening here in Indiana.
“I thought it was a great hire,”
said Edinboro coach Scott Browning. “I love Frank, and when I was
an assistant here for all those
years, Frank gave me the time of
the day and he gave me more than
he’ll ever know. I have great respect
for him because of that. But hiring
Curt kind of came out of the
woods, though. It’s a great, great
hire.”
“I don’t think there’s any question,” California coach John Luckhardt said, “Curt is going to have
an immediate impact at IUP.”
So far, he has had an impact. The
players say they like the up-tempo
attitude and sense of accountability that Cignetti has brought.
“I was real excited when I heard
he got the job,” said running back
Harvie Tuck. “With his father being
here, this would be a good fit. We
like having him here; we love him.”
With the plan in place, Cignetti
hopes his team will make quick
progress. He has overhauled the
team, with only about three dozen
players, out of the roughly 80 on
the roster, who have ever played a
game for IUP. He brought in a
group of talented freshmen and
transfers who have already made
an impact.
The work Cignetti has done in
the offseason has already paid off
in one sense. The rest of the PSAC
In football, the closer you are to the goal, the easier it is to succeed.
In life, the sooner we start planning for our financial goals the easier it is
to succeed.
CURT CIGNETTI
Age: 50
College: West Virginia, Class
of 1982
Family: Wife, Manette;
children, Curtis, Carly and
Natalie.
Previous
experience:
Alabama, wide
receivers
coach/
recruiting
coordinator,
2007-10; North
Carolina State,
quarterbacks and wide receivers
coach/recruiting coordinator,
2000-06; Pittsburgh,
quarterbacks and tight ends
coach/recruiting coordinator,
1993-99; Temple, quarterbacks
coach 1989-92; Rice,
quarterbacks coach, 1986-88;
Davidson, quarterbacks and
wide receivers coach, 1985;
Pittsburgh, graduate assistant,
1983-84.
coaches picked the Crimson
Hawks third in the division in the
preseason poll, one year after they
finished 3-4 in PSAC West games.
“We can be as good as we decide
every single day in practice and
games to be,” Cignetti said. “It’s
about focus. It’s about doing your
job; about being committed and
being tough. I don’t set any ceiling
on how good we can be. I don’t
think anybody knows how good
we can be.”
It will be a climb to get back to
the top, Cignetti admits. But with a
goal in place to bring home IUP’s
first NCAA team championship, he
believes good days are ahead.
“We have a lot of work to do at
IUP,” he said, “and I’m excited
about the challenge.”
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12 — Indiana Gazette IUP Football Preview, Thursday, September 8, 2011
PSAC WEST NOTEBOOK
Wide-open division has many stories to tell
CLARION
By MATTHEW BURGLUND
[email protected]
When the eight head coaches got together
for the annual Pennsylvania State Athletic
Conference West Division media luncheon
on Aug. 1, there was a sense of familiarity
despite a number of changes.
Edinboro was pinning its hopes on a quarterback named Harris. IUP was being led by
a coach named Cignetti. Mercyhurst was
still looking for respect, and Lock Haven was
starting over at the bottom, And California
was still looking for the right formula to get
to the NCAA Division II championship
game.
As much as things change in the PSAC
West, things are also the same. And like
nearly every other season, this one ought to
be a dogfight to the top.
“Any team, one through eight, can win
each week,” said Mercyhurst coach Marty
Schaetzle. “There aren’t many easy games.”
CALIFORNIA
Since head coach John Luckhardt took
over the program in 2002, the Vulcans have
reached their highest point while also drawing the most criticism for the way they got
there — by using Division I transfers.
But Luckhardt said any venom sent his
way is unwarranted. Although the perception is that his program has become a haven
for second-chancers, Luckhardt said he
doesn’t take on players who are not willing
to change the things that made them a Division I castoff.
“Have we made a mistake or two? Maybe,”
he said. “But 99 percent of our kids have
been good. I can tell you that a lot of our kids
have turned their lives around.”
Luckhardt points to the fact there is so
JOHN
LUCKHARDT
JIM
KIERNAN
much competition for recruits in western
Pennsylvania as the reason for his reliance
on transfers. He said many of the players he
brought in were ones the Vulcans had originally recruited out of high school, and then
later came to California after their time at
Division I ended.
“Those guys aren’t coming to us right out
of high school,” Luckhardt said. “Now, in
Duluth, Minnesota, you can either go ice
fishing or go to Minnesota-Duluth. So you
can win out there with high school recruits.
But in western Pennsylvania, you’ve got to
compete against so many schools for recruits. So I’m not gonna apologize for it. If
you’re not doing it, you can scare some people locally, but you won’t scare anybody nationally.”
The Vulcans, who have advanced to the
national semifinals three of the last four seasons, are hoping they finally have the right
mix to get to the next level.
“We’ve been working awfully hard to find
the right formula to win at the national
level,” Luckhardt said. “We think we’ve put
the ingredients together, and I think we’re
closer, on paper, than we’ve ever been.”
Unlike California, which is fully funded,
head coach Jay Foster’s Golden Eagles are
near the bottom of the division in terms of
scholarship spending, with a little more
than a third of the money California has.
Foster said the difference might not be noticeable at first. But over the course of the
season, as injuries mount, the inequality becomes evident because schools like Clarion
must rely on walk-ons to fill the gaps.
“It comes back to a depth thing,” Foster
said. “People don’t realize that before the
second game was over last year, we had lost
seven projected starters. We’re not deep
enough to lose seven starters. I believe we
can always put 22 kids out there who can
compete on a weekly basis. But can we come
up with 30? That’s the challenge. That’s what
the scholarship does: It just buys you insurance if you get an injury. That’s a battle we’ll
always be in.”
As for this season, Foster is searching for
another offensive weapon to go with multitalented quarterback Ben Fiscus, an Indiana
High School graduate. And Foster knows if
he can find a player good enough to make
defenses also have to scheme for, things will
open up for the Golden Eagles.
“This isn’t rocket science,” he said. “If you
become one-dimensional, it doesn’t matter
how good that one dimension is, you won’t
get far. We know everybody is going to chase
(Fiscus). So the challenge for us is to come
up with another weapon.”
EDINBORO
Maybe on the surface, Cody Harris’ first
season as the Fighting Scots’ quarterback
didn’t measure up to the standard set by his
older brother, Trevor, who owns every
meaningful school passing record. But head
coach Scott Browning throws out one key
statistic that means more than passing yards
or touchdowns thrown.
“You have to remember,” he said, “that
Trevor won six games as a freshman; Cody
won seven.”
That might point to good days ahead for
Edinboro, which went 31-14 with Trevor
Harris under center from 2006 to 2009. But
in his first season, Cody Harris didn’t exactly
light up the sky like his brother did, throwing
for a pedestrian 1,811 yards and 11 touchdowns in 11 starts.
Browning knows his quarterback must
play better this season for the Fighting Scots
to make any noise in the division. It’s the
most important position on the field, a fact
Browning readily agrees with.
“If you go back through the history of any
league, the team with the elite quarterback
is gonna be near the top,” Browning said.
“The quarterback gives you a chance. Everything begins with the quarterback, from
leadership to execution.”
And just like the days when Edinboro put
its hopes in the hands of Trevor Harris, this
year’s team is relying on Cody Harris to lead
the way back to the NCAA Division II playoffs.
“He’s a gamer,” Browning said. “I think it’s
gonna be fun now to see where our team
goes. I think as Cody goes, our team will go.”
GANNON
The Golden Knights have been, historically, one of the last teams to take a transfer.
Head coach Jim Kiernan said it’s because
taking a Division I castoff is a huge gamble.
“Every school has a way of going about
getting your players,” he said. “For us, building through the high school ranks fits
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IUP has earned 14 NCAA
Division II playoff berths. The
other seven teams in the PSAC
West have earned a combined
20 playoff berths.
❒❒❒
Combined playoff berths for
Cheyney, Gannon and Lock
Haven: 0.
Indiana Gazette IUP Football Preview, Thursday, September 8, 2011— 13
PSAC WEST NOTEBOOK
2010 PSAC
STANDINGS
Wide-open West has stories to tell
WEST DIVISION
Continued from Page 12
Gannon. But if you look at other schools, you
see they have found their niché. The question is
if it fits your program. Recruiting can be such
an inaccurate science. You wonder why a guy is
leaving the school he’s at and how well he’ll fit
in your program. It’s a big adjustment for a
player to make.”
This season, Gannon is rebuilding with some
big holes to fill, mainly at quarterback and skill
positions. But the way the Golden Knights have
been progressing each year gives Kiernan reason to think his team is one that can fly under
the radar. Gannon has, after all, beaten IUP and
Slippery Rock the last two seasons and also
dealt PSAC West champ Mercyhurst its only divisional loss last year.
“We’re hoping to take another step,” Kiernan
said. “We’ve had a degree of success the last few
years. We’d like to build off that and go a little
further. This is a whole new season. Everyone
starts fresh. We’ve got to show that we’ve
learned from what we’ve done before.”
LOCK HAVEN
“I’ve heard that before,” new Lock Haven
coach John Allen says with a laugh.
The question: “Are you crazy?”
Allen insists he is not, despite the daunting
task he faces as the next man in line trying to
make something out of nothing at Lock Haven.
The Bald Eagles haven’t had a winning season
since 1981, and they haven’t won a game since
2007, a losing streak that sits at 32 games.
So why did Allen seek out and accept this job?
“I’ve always felt like this program could be
one of the premier programs in the conference,” said Allen, who was an assistant at Lock
Haven in the late 1990s. “This has the foundation to be something special, and I’m just excited to have the opportunity to push it forward.
It’s no different than any other program in the
conference. Fundraising is always a challenge.
But I think there are some things we can do to
help us move forward. It’s not going to happen
overnight.”
Allen replaces John Klacik, who left to be the
offensive coordinator at Miami of Ohio after
going just 5-60 in six seasons. Allen admits he
has inherited a losing streak, but said it means
nothing in terms of the program’s future.
“The past is the past,” Allen said. “I wasn’t
here. I look at (the players) like they weren’t
here. Everything we’re doing here is new. We’re
trying to bring a new energy to the program.”
MERCYHURST
His team is coming off a dream season, with a
division and conference title and a trip to the
Super Region One final, and yet Mercyhurst
head coach Marty Schaetzle is left feeling like
the Rodney Dangerfield of the PSAC — he can’t
get any respect.
In the preseason coaches’ poll, the Lakers
were picked second in the West, behind California. But Schaetzle said his players don’t care.
“They’d rather see where they finish,” he said.
“But I don’t think we’ll ever be picked first in our
conference. … Look around our league, and
some of these schools have great athletes. We
don’t have those guys. We’re a small school up
in Erie, and we have great kids who play hard.
We have to work our tails off to hang with these
other guys. There are just so many good teams
in this league.”
Schaetzle hopes winning titles becomes as
much a tradition at Mercyhurst as the one the
Lakers have now, when Schaetzle does one
“down-up” — going from a standing position to
prone on the ground, then back to his feet — for
every point his team scores in a win.
Last year, he did a painful number of them,
316, including 56 after the Lakers’ win over
Bloomsburg in the PSAC State Game.
“The guys like it, which is a good thing,”
Schaetzle said. “And I don’t mind doing them,
either, to be honest with you.”
SLIPPERY ROCK
Longtime coach George Mihalik insists he
hasn’t thought about retiring, and the last time
he checked he certainly had a pulse, so he admits it’s a bit embarrassing to have his name
placed on Slippery Rock’s football stadium. Yet
the university Mihalik has devoted most of the
last 41 years to will change the name of the
building to Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
“It’s kind of funny,” Mihalik said. “(This happens when) you are either retired or dead. I
don’t have any plans to retire, and I sure am not
dead. It was a total shock. I didn’t know it was
even a consideration. I’m humbled by it. It’s
quite an honor.”
Mihalik, Slippery Rock’s quarterback in the
early 1970s, became an assistant coach at his
alma mater in 1977 and has been there since.
He was named the head coach in 1988 and has
gone on to become the school’s all-time winningest coach, with 153 career victories.
“My whole life, since 1970, every year but one
has been here,” he said. “This has been a great
place for my two daughters, and I love the university.”
As for this season, Mihalik is pinning his
hopes on quarterback Cody Endres, a transfer
from Connecticut who gives the offense an immediate boost.
“This gives us a legitimate opportunity to
keep our opponents off balance,” he said.
“We’ve always had a string running game, and
hopefully now we can throw the ball. … You go
back to the ’09 season, when we did have a
quarterback, we could run and throw. Then the
last two years we struggled, especially last season. If we could have thrown the ball, our season might have gone a lot different.”
Mercyhurst*
California
Gannon
Edinboro
Slippery Rock
IUP
Clarion
Lock Haven
Div. All PF PA
6-1 10-3 354 265
6-1 10-2 417 173
4-3 6-5 240 207
3-4 7-4 200 207
3-4 6-5 282 226
3-4 6-5 257 223
3-4 4-7 233 245
0-7 0-11 137 501
EAST DIVISION
Bloomsburg
Kutztown
C.W. Post
West Chester
Shippensburg
E.Stroudsburg
Cheyney
Millersville
Div. All PF PA
7-0 10-3 486 276
6-1 10-2 466 321
7-4 5-2 369 320
4-3 4-7 304 358
3-4 5-6 288 260
2-5 3-8 351 271
1-6 1-10 151 466
0-7 2-9 217 409
* — Won division title via first tie-breaker:
head-to-head result.
STATE GAME
Mercyhurst 28, Bloomsburg 14
PSAC AWARDS
WEST DIVISION
Offensive Player of the Year
Trevor Kennedy, WR, Mercyhurst
Defensive Player of the Year
Bryan Boyce, LB, Mercyhurst
Rookie of the Year
Darnell Harding, DE, California
Coach of the Year
Marty Schaetzle, Mercyhurst
EAST DIVISION
Offensive Player of the Year
Kevin Morton, QB, Kutztown
Defensive Player of the Year
Mike Varanavage, LB, Bloomsburg
Rookie of the Year
Franklyn Quiteh, RB, Bloomsburg
Coach of the Year
Ray Monica, Kutztown
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14 — Indiana Gazette IUP Football Preview, Thursday, September 8, 2011
RECAPPING THE 2010 SEASON
GAME ONE
GAME THREE
GAME FIVE
GAME SEVEN
GAME NINE
IUP 16, S. CONNECTICUT ST. 6
BLOOMSBURG 47, IUP 20
IUP 18, EDINBORO 0
CLARION 21, IUP 14
CALIFORNIA 18, IUP 15 (OT)
1 2 3 4
F
SCSU
0 0 0 6 — 6
IUP
10 0 0 6 — 16
Craig Burgess kicked three field
goals and Roy-al Edwards scored on
an end-around as the Crimson Hawks
won their season opener. Southern
Connecticut outgained IUP, 290-266,
but reached the red zone only once.
Harvie Tuck rushed for 98 yards, and
Nate Morrow caught three passes to
lead IUP. Mike Scott and Mark
Jackson had interceptions.
1 2 3 4
F
IUP
10 3 0 7 — 20
Bloomsburg
7 14 10 16 — 47
Bo Napoleon threw five interceptions,
one of which was returned for a
touchdown, as the Huskies won easily.
Bloomsburg outgained IUP, 391-262,
but the Crimson Hawks had seven
turnovers. Burgess kicked two field
goals for IUP. Bloomsburg’s Franklyn
Quieteh, who would go on to lead the
NCAA in rushing, was held to his
season low, 91 yards.
1 2 3 4
F
IUP
6 3 3 6 — 18
Edinboro
0 0 0 0 — 0
Against one of the top defenses in
the country, IUP ground out 303
rushing yards, led by Tuck’s 168, and
scored its second straight shutout
win. Tuck and Blakeman scored
touchdowns, and Burgess kicked two
field goals for the Crimson Hawks.
IUP didn’t attempt a pass in the
second half. The Scots had only 179
yards of offense.
1 2 3 4
F
Clarion
7 0 0 14 — 21
IUP
0 0 0 14 — 14
Alfonso Hoggard scored two
touchdowns in the fourth quarter to
lift visiting Clarion. Napoleon threw
touchdown passes to Pat Brewer and
Ben Simmen and finished a seasonbest 16-for-26 for 169 yards. Hoggard
finished with 179 yards to lead the
Eagles, who rolled up 354 total yards
behind quarterback Ben Fiscus, an
Indiana High School graduate.
1 2 3 4 OT
F
IUP
0 6 9 0 0 — 15
California 0 0 0 15 3 — 18
Josh Portis threw two touchdown
passes in the fourth quarter, and the
first-place Vulcans narrowly avoided a
loss. In overtime, California scored on
a 17-yard field goal, but Burgess
missed from 42 to give the Vulcans
the win. Tuck rushed for 112 yards
and a touchdown, and Terrell
Washington returned a blocked punt
for a score.
GAME TWO
GAME FOUR
GAME SIX
GAME EIGHT
GAME TEN
IUP 23, EAST STROUDSBURG 17
IUP 17, SLIPPERY ROCK 0
MERCYHURST 28, IUP 27
GANNON 45, IUP 17
IUP 63, LOCK HAVEN 31
1 2 3 4
F
IUP
0 13 3 7 — 23
ESU
10 0 0 7 — 17
Burgess kicked three more field
goals, and Tuck and Morrow scored
as IUP won a narrow one. The
Warriors led 10-0 barely eight minutes
into the game but didn’t score again
until there were 32 seconds left in the
game. The Crimson Hawks lost
quarterback Pat Smith for the season
with a hand injury early in the third
quarter.
1 2 3 4
F
Slippery Rock 0 0 0 0 — 0
IUP
7 0 0 10 — 17
Tobias Robinson put an exclamation
point on a solid win over thenunbeaten Slippery Rock with a
75-yard interception return for a
score. Teddy Blakeman scored a
touchdown and Burgess kicked a field
goal in the first quarter. The Rock had
only 143 yards of offense, including
just 24 on the ground, and advanced
inside the red zone only once.
1 2 3 4
F
Mercyhurst
7 7 7 7 — 28
IUP
10 7 7 3 — 27
Travis Rearick threw a 28-yard
scoring pass to Trevor Kennedy with
26 seconds left to lift the visiting
Lakers. IUP held Mercyhurst to just 35
rushing yards, but Rearick shreded
the Crimson Hawks’ defense for 344
passing yards and three touchdowns.
Mychal Skinner caught a 68-yard
touchdown pass on IUP’s first
offensive play from scrimmage.
1 2 3 4
F
IUP
10 0 7 0 — 17
Gannon
0 21 14 10 — 45
The host Golden Knights forced five
turnovers and handed head coach Lou
Tepper his most-lopsided loss with
IUP. Napoleon was picked off four
times, one of which was returned for
a touchdown. Skinner and Darryl
Herrod scored touchdowns for IUP,
which mustered only 219 yards of
offense. The loss was the Crimson
Hawks’ third in a row.
1 2 3 4
F
Lock Haven
7 2 7 15 — 31
IUP
21 0 21 21 — 63
The Crimson Hawks snapped a
four-game losing streak in a big way,
pounding winless Lock Haven for their
29th straight win over the Bald Eagles.
IUP rushed for 278 yards, including
190 by Tuck. Washington intercepted
two passes and returned both for
touchdowns. Blakeman rushed for two
scores, and James Johnson, Edwards
and Tuck had one each.
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IUP 27, WEST CHESTER 10
1 2 3 4
F
West Chester 0 3 7 0 — 10
IUP
6 7 0 14 — 27
The Crimson Hawks wrapped up
their season with an easier-thanexpected win over the visiting Rams.
Brewer, Herod and Blakeman rushed
for touchdowns, and Burgess booted
two field goals for IUP. West Chester
gained only 174 yards of offense and
lost three turnovers. The Crimson
Hawks rushed for 307 yards, led by
132 from Tuck and 118 from
Blakeman.
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Indiana Gazette IUP Football Preview, Thursday, September 8, 2011— 15
IUP DEPTH CHART
Offense
WR
TE
LT
LG
C
RG
RT
WR
WR
QB
TB
Roy-al Edwards
Matt Plautz
Jon Ditto
Evan Battalio
Byron Dovales
Bruce Atkins
Nick Carnicella
Dylan O’Donnell
Anthony DiPasquale
Matt Sasson
Mike Charmo
Chris Macellaro
Louis Mobley
Jason Musselman
Ben Simmen
Terrill Barnes
Javon Rowan
Sean McVay
Pat Smith
Anthony Perna
Harvie Tuck
James Johnson
6-1, 195, Sr.
6-5, 220 Jr.
6-4, 245, Sr.
6-3, 245 So.
6-3, 290, So.
6-4, 255, Fr.
6-1, 280, So.
5-11, 255, Fr.
6-2, 260, Sr.
6-1, 290, Fr.
6-2, 285, So.
6-1, 275, So.
6-1, 300, Sr.
6-6, 280, Jr.
6-4, 175, So.
6-2, 210, So.
6-0, 195, Sr.
5-10, 180, Fr.
6-5, 225, So.
6-2, 180, Fr.
5-10, 215, Jr.
5-10, 200, So.
STRENGTH
AND
DETERMINATION.
Defense
DE
NG
DT
OLB
ILB
ILB
DB
CB
SS
FS
CB
Stephen Meadows
Montay Green
Larry Gooden
Akeem Smith
Carl Thornton
Javaughn Goree
Errol Brewster
Maurice McKinney
Mark Jackson
Jermel Lee
Alex Berdahl
Will McClure
6-4, 225, Sr.
5-10, 235, Fr.
5-11, 255, So.
6-3, 292, So.
6-2, 235, Jr.
5-8, 255, So.
6-2, 225, So.
5-11, 240, Fr.
6-0, 205, Sr.
6-0, 215, So.
5-11, 200, So.
6-2, 235, Fr.
We know what it takes to reach your goals.
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6-1, 175, So.
5-10, 185, Sr.
5-9, 170, So.
5-11, 185, So.
6-0, 200, Sr.
6-0, 170, Fr.
5-9, 195, Sr.
6-0, 170, Fr.
5-8, 175, Fr.
5-8, 195, So.
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16 — Indiana Gazette IUP Football Preview, Thursday, September 8, 2011
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