The Warriors found gold at the end of the 2002 season. East Stroudsburg
recorded its best campaign in a decade and its first Pennsylvania State Athletic
Conference Eastern Division crown since 1991.
The Warriors’ second
5-1 PSAC season in a row produced the school’s first Divisional title in
11 years. The 8-2 overall mark was the school’s first eight victory season
since an identical record in 1992 and third straight winning season.
ESU
was able to finish the year ranked in two different national polls. The squad
gained a 21st ranking by Don Hansen’s Football Gazette and rated 24th by
the American Football Coaches Association. The team was rated as high as 19th
by the AFCA.
For the second year in a row, the Warriors placed eight players
on the All-PSAC Eastern Division first team, third most in program history.
Coach Denny Douds received his third PSAC East “Coach of the Year” honors
and fifth coaching distinction in his years in the PSAC coaching ranks.
The long-time coach directed the team to its first win at Bloomsburg since 1993
on a 38-yard field goal by freshman kicker Mark Brubaker with 50 seconds to go
for a 16-13 victory.
ESU had three other fourth quarter wins. Two of
the wins included 21 points in the final stanza for a 35-23 win over Shepherd
and a 30-yard ‘hail mary’ pass from Jeremy Palm to Tim Strenfel on the
game’s last play over Shippensburg, 23-21.
The other wins came over
Mansfield, 31-14, to start the season in which Mike Yanocha returned the season-opening
kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown, Edinboro, 30-24, Cheyney, 48-7, Millersville,
37-26 and Kutztown, 34-7. The only two defeats came on the road at Glenville State,
33-28, and at West Chester, 17-14.
Cornerback Michael Glover became the
third Warrior selected to the All-PSAC East first team at two positions in the
same season. Glover grabbed first team status at cornerback and also as a return
specialist. He returned an interception 25 yards for a score at Glenville State
and a kickoff 93 yards for another touchdown versus Millersville. Glover led the
conference with 16 passes defended.
ESU had the top offense in the PSAC-East
(388.3 yds./gm) behind first team members quarterback Jeremy Palm, guard Greg
Munch and tailback Greg Vaughn. Palm completed his career with 6,391 yards passing
and 62 touchdowns, second in school history. He fired for 2,200 yards and 18 scores
including five touchdowns against Cheyney.
Vaughn scampered for 755 yards
on 158 carries with four touchdowns. He had his best game of 170 yards on 31 attempts
against Kutztown to be named PSAC East Offensive Player of the Week. Vaughn ran
behind the line anchored by offensive guard Munch.
Glover was joined by
fellow cornerback Nick Beisker and defensive tackle Dustin Barno on the All-PSAC
East first team. Beisker picked off seven passes and forced four fumbles.
Barno, a repeat first team member, guided the defense up front with 11 tackles
for loss and 4.5 sacks. He became the first ESU player in three years to sign
with an NFL team with the Tennessee Titans as a free agent.
Six Warriors
made the All-Conference second team. The offense saw center Joe Burton, wide receiver
John Jeffries and fullback Anthony Carfagno. A trio was honored in defensive end
Greg Thoman and linebackers Ryan Vermillion and Phil DeCecco.