2002 Warrior Football

Warriors Set to Take on Undefeated Veteran Edinboro

September 24, 2002

East Stroudsburg, Pa. - Top of the line matchup. A simple phrase to describe the gridiron action on Saturday when the
Edinboro Fighting Scots visit the Poconos to face East Stroudsburg. The clash should produce another classic Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East-West Division affair and an exciting rematch for the Hall of Fame Day contest.

The two teams come in a combined 5-1 in the record column and should present each other with their stiffest test of the season.
"I feel Edinboro will be a tougher team than Shepherd was last week," feels ESU head coach Denny Douds. "They bring a very veteran club with eight starters returning on both sides of the ball, a balanced attack and think last year's game slipped away from them."

ESU will be honoring eight new inductees into the Warrior Hall of Fame. There will be a special presentation at halftime to honor the inductees including current wide receivers coach Frank Lupin.

Catch the Warriors on WVPO, TV 13 and Redzone
The action for Saturday's game can be heard and seen by three different means. Bob Brittain and Quintin Currie will bring the call on the radio for WVPO 840 AM and on the internet at www.redzonemedia.com. Bob Capasso and Chris Doty bring the game live on Blue Ridge TV 13.

Battle of Teams Receiving Votes in AFCA DII Poll
Both teams for Saturday's matchup are rated just outside the latest American Football Coaches Association Division II Coaches' Poll. ESU is sitting tied for 26th position with North Dakota receiving 21 votes while Edinboro garnered nine votes which would make them 34th.

ESU Trying to Keep Home Cooking Brewing
The Warriors under Douds will be trying to keep the home cooking going at Eiler-Martin Stadium. The team has won five of their last six games played at the stadium since the start of the 2001 campaign. The only defeat came at the hands of Bloomsburg last season.

Warriors Were in Good Hands with Palm's Return to Improve to 2-1
East Stroudsburg reaped the benefits of having their team leader back in control of the offensive attack last week by defeating then 21st-ranked Shepherd College, 35-23, to improve to 2-1. Missing since the second half of the opening contest, quarterback Jeremy Palm returned to the lineup by passing for 368 yards (23 of 43 attempts) and three touchdowns.
The Palm to John Jeffries combination made a huge difference in the win for ESU. Jeffries pulled in a 32-yard pass on a hitch and tiptoed down the sideline for the score to put the Warriors ahead for good. The two connected on a final strike from 46 yards to ice the game away on a 3rd and 27 play.

Beisker Gains PSAC and ECAC Honors
For the second time in the 2002 season, the Warriors gridiron team has received honors in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference and a first in 2002 from the ECAC. Senior defensive back Nick Beisker garnered the PSAC East Division and ECAC "Defensive Player of the Week" with his outstanding performance in the win over Shepherd.
Beisker made two key interceptions to propel ESU to their second win in three contests this season. The first came in the opening quarter to set up a Warrior touchdown and picked off another Ram pass on Shepherd's final possession. He rounded out his top notch effort with seven tackles, a forced fumble and a pass breakup.
The Leola, Pa. product has totaled 16.5 total tackles, third on the Warrior defense, and 13 solo. He leads the defensive unit with three interceptions, two forced fumbles, a fumble return, and two pass breakups.

Jeffries and Carfagno Record 100-yard Receiving Days
For the first time in almost five years two Warriors hauled in over 100-plus yards receiving in a game. Wideout John Jeffries (8 rec. for 140 yds.) and fullback Anthony Carfagno (7 rec. for 114 yds.) each surpassed the 100-yard mark against Shepherd College, which has not happened since the fifth game in 1997 (Oct. 11th) versus West Chester. Wide receivers Mike Mancuso (8 rec. for 172 yds.) and Brett Witmer (7 rec. for 168 yds.), who is a Warrior coach, both eclipsed 100 yards.
Carfagno is the first fullback for the Warriors in recent memory of both ESU coach Denny Douds (29 yrs.) and former SID Pete Nevins (33 yrs.) were able to recall having over a 100 yards receiving in a game.

Warriors Lead Scots 5-3 in Series
East Stroudsburg has the advantage in this PSAC series 5-3 overall and has split the two meetings the past two seasons. The Warriors came from behind to take the contest last November 10th in the season finale as Palm hit Justin Kondikoff from 22 yards awy with 1:38 left for the 31-30 win.
ESU coach Douds stands at 3-3 against the Scots and 2-1 at home. The Warriors are 3-1 when playing at Eiler-Martin stadium in the series. The other game scores in the series were: 2000 (at Edinboro) - Edinboro 20-9; 1985 (at Edinboro) - Edinboro 30-14; 1984 (at ESU) - Edinboro 40-20; 1982 (at Edinboro) - ESU 24-22; 1975 (at ESU) - ESU 24-20; 1968 (at ESU) - ESU 49-14; 1967 (at Edinboro) - ESU 33-6.

ESU Takes in Top Scoring Offense in PSAC East
Jeremy Palm directs the Warriors top scoring offense in the PSAC East Division and third-rated unit in the Conference at 31.3 points per game. The offense ranks fifth in total offense at exactly 360 yards per contest and second in passing at 249.7 yards each affair.
Signal caller Palm would be leading the league in total offense at 272.0 but has only played in two of the teams three games. His top target so far this season in Jeffries sits at third in the PSAC at 90.3 yds/game.
Tailback Greg Vaughn has totaled 169 yards on 43 carries as the top ground gainer while Mike Yanocha has 107 yards on only 14 attempts.

Vermillion and DeCecco Stepping up Play at Linebackers for Warriors
Linebackers Ryan Vermillion and Phil DeCecco have stepped up their play in the last couple weeks of action. Vermillion heads into Saturday as the team's leading tackler at 21.5 which is already almost half his total of 56 from a year ago while DeCecco is on the same type of course with 15.0 stops after 33 a year ago.
The cornerbacks remain a Warrior strong point with the tandem of Nick Beisker and Michael Glover. The duo have accounted for five interceptions with one returned for a touchdown, 34 tackles, five breakups, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and 1.5 tackles for loss. Safety Pat Good stands fourth in tackles at 14.0.

Scots Bring Balanced Attack to Poconos
A team cannot get much more balanced than the Scots heading into the game. The balance has worked to a 3-0 record so the mix must be right. Edinboro is averaging 132.7 yards on the ground and an equal 135.7 through the air.
Running back Brandon Munson ran through Tiffin a week ago for 140 yards on 20 carries and now leads the team stands second on the team at 159 yards for the season. Senior Alonzo Roebuck missed last week but had 163 yards on 43 attempts in the Scots first two games and 671 yards in eight games of action last year.
Sophomore QB Cam Marsh has fired for 317 yards on 25 of 40 attempts with three tds. His backup Justin Bouch, a redshirt freshman, saw his first action last week to throw for 90 yards on eight of 18 tries.
The two quarterbacks have spread out their passes with 10 players with at least two catches on the year. The long player with more than three is sophomore Justin Bobitski standing at nine receptions for 82 yards.

Linebacking Guides Edinboro 3-4 Defense
Just like in the pro ranks, Edinboro's 3-4 defensive unit is guided by a strong group of linebackers. Three-time All-PSAC West selection Dave Smith is the force behind the defense. Smith has 18 stops and one sack in the first three games. He is one of the best Edinboro has had with 22.5 career sacks over three-plus seasons.
Smith is joined by the trio of James Cowart, Foster Johnson and Jermaine Hughley. Cowart has a team-high 23 stops with six tackles for loss while Johnson, the team's leading tackler the last two seasons, had 17 tackles and Hughley 16.
Defensive end Kyle Thorne has recorded an outstanding three games with 18 tackles, five tackles for loss and two sacks. Senior strong safety Jeff Richardson leads the Scot secondary with 13 stops.

McNicholas Top PSAC Punter for Scots
Punter Sean McNicholas has shown a lead foot punting the ball so far this season and is tops in the PSAC. He has an outstanding 50.0 yards per punt average over his first 14 kicks. McNicholas has a long boot of 66 yards. The senior averaged 41.4 yards in 2001 and 40.0 for his career.

Notes: ESU celebrates their 25th annual Hall of Fame Day Saturday with eight new inductees … A banquet will be held to honor the new members Saturday evening at 8:00 p.m. in the Keystone Room on campus … The Warriors are 3-3 against PSAC West members the past two seasons (Edinboro, Shippensburg and Clarion) … ESU will be back on the road next weekend for their second PSAC East Division game at Bloomsburg University.

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