2002 Warrior Football

ESU Faces Second Ranked Team of Season in Rival Bloomsburg

October 1, 2002

East Stroudsburg, Pa. - For the second time in 2002, East Stroudsburg will put their might against the muscle of a top 25 ranked team this Saturday. The Warriors will travel west to clash with rival and 20th-ranked Bloomsburg University for an important Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Eastern Division meeting.

The affair will pit the top two teams in the Division and the only two squads with winning overall records coming into the weekend. The nationally ranked Huskies have rolled up three consecutive wins after an season opening loss at IUP while ESU took two wins over the last two weeks to improve their mark to a matching 3-1 for the season.

"It will be another chapter in this rivalry," explains ESU head coach Denny Douds. "We are looking to play a good game at Bloom and happy to be in the position we are in heading into Saturday."

Catch the Warriors on WVPO and RedzoneMedia
The action for Saturday's game can be heard and seen by three different means. Chuck Seese and Pete Nevins will bring the call on the radio for WVPO 840 AM and on the internet at www.redzonemedia.com.

Huskies 20th and Warriors Receiving Votes in AFCA DII Poll
The contest will have not only importance in the Conference race but also effect on the national rankings. Bloomsburg heads into the clash sitting ranked 20th with 189 points while ESU lost one point from last week's poll to 20 points for a ranking of 27th.

Thoman Thwarts Edinboro Comeback Attempt
Freshman defensive end Greg Thoman had the game of his young career as a Warrior last week. Thoman combined with linebacker Matt Rapa to sack the Scot quarterback causing a fumble, which was recovered by linebacker Blaec Saeger to clinch the 30-24 victory over Edinboro.

Thoman ended his outstanding day on the line by leading the team with nine tackles (five solo), four tackles for loss of 15 yards, two sacks and the key forced fumble. Rapa collected eight tackles himself with a tackle for loss.

Palm Named PSAC East "Offensive Player of the Week"
Senior quarterback Jeremy Palm directed the East Stroudsburg attack to a 30-24 win over previously undefeated Edinboro University Saturday on the gridiron to gain Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Eastern Division "Offensive Player of the Week."

Palm generated 426 yards of total offense while throwing for four touchdown and no interceptions. He hit on 21 of 49 attempts for 376 yards passing and led the team with 47 yards rushing on seven carries.

The senior from West Lawn, Pa. (Wilson-West Lawn HS) moved into the ESU record books Saturday by becoming only the fifth Warrior to surpass the 5,000-yard mark in career passing at 5,112. He also moved into second place on the school's list for career touchdown passes at 52.

Palm has thrown for 921 yards on 50 of 105 attempts with eight touchdowns in two and a half games in 2002. He also stands at 144.5 for a pass efficiency rating.

Carfagno Continues to Rack Up Receiving Yards
Fullback Anthony Carfagno continues to rack up the receiving yards over the past couple weeks. For the second time in as many weeks the freshman eclipsed the 100-yard mark with his best total of 138 yards on six catches and a touchdown. His output a week earlier against Shepherd totaled 114 yards on seven receptions.

Carfagno has 16 catches for 297 yards and is now 10th in the PSAC at 74.2 yards receiving per game. He has added 72 yards on 22 carries and a total of four touchdowns.

Warriors Look to Increase Series Advantage
East Stroudsburg goes into Saturday's meeting with the Huskies having an overall series lead at 35-28-2. Bloomsburg though is on an eight game streak over the Warriors and have not dropped a game since the 1993 meeting in East Stroudsburg (31-6). The last ESU victory in Bloomsburg came in 1990 by a score of 23-21 and the Warriors have come up short on the last four games (1994 - 35-24; 1996 - 58-42; 1998 - 50-39; 2000 - 28-0) since the win. ESU did win the two games played in 1991 (20-10) and 1992 (42-17) which were played in Moosic.

In 2001, Bloomsburg ran out to a 20-0 halftime lead and 34-0 margin after three quarters. ESU was able to move the ball on the Huskies for 398 yards with Greg Vaughn scoring the only touchdown on the day with 6:42 remaining in the game.

Top Two Scoring Offenses in PSAC East Meet
It will be a meeting of the two most potent scoring offensive units of the PSAC East. Bloomsburg leads the PSAC East in scoring at 32.5 points per contest while ESU had put just six less points on the board in four games for a 31.0 points average.
The rivals are very close in the points they are allowing on the defensive front as well. ESU has allowed 94 points for a 23.5 ppg mark while Bloom has given up just six more tallies at 25.0 ppg.

Palm Passing Leading PSAC
Senior qb Jeremy Palm is guiding the league's top passing attack at 282.0. Palm individually not only leads the Conference in passing yardage per game at 307.0 but also total offense at 323.3. He is only 79 yards away from his fourth-straight 1,000-yard passing season.

Wide receiver John Jeffries has been the top target over the first four games. The junior ranks eighth in the PSAC at 82.2 yards per game while pulling in 21 passes for 329 yards and three scores. After a big game last Saturday of five catches for 74 yards, Justin Kondikoff moved up to 12 catches for 154 yards with two scores.

Junior running back Greg Vaughn continues to lead the Warrior ground gainers. Vaughn has compiled 196 yards on 61 attempts including three touchdowns. Mike Yanocha has backed up Vaughn with 117 yards on 15 attempts.

Vermillion and DeCecco Stepping up Play at Linebackers for Warriors
Linebackers Ryan Vermillion and Phil DeCecco have stepped up their play and currently guide the defensive unit in tackles. Vermillion heads into Saturday as the team's leading tackler at 33 which is already well over half his total of 56 from a year ago while DeCecco is on the same type of course with 27 stops after 33 a year ago.

Defensive end Greg Thoman and tackle Dustin Barno have combined to form a formidable pair of linemen to anchor the team's defense. Thoman in his first year as a starter stands at 18 stops and Barno has 16 in three games while they are tied for the team lead of five tackles for loss. Sophomore tackle David Dean is also in the mix with 15 tackles with four coming behind the line of scrimmage.

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, 51 tackles, seven breakups, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and 3 tackles for loss. Safety Pat Good has chipped 16 in three games with James Plowden adding 11 in his backup role.

Huskies Showing Balanced Attack
The Huskies led by senior signal caller Andrew Herrmann have a balanced attack and a running game by committee in 2002. Herrmann has passed for 805 yards completing an solid 53.5 percent of his passes with nine touchdowns in four contests.
Known for their recent string of "feature" running backs including Marques Gaze who gained 1,327 yards last year, Bloomsburg is using the tandem of Mike Ceroli and Julius Brown this year. Ceroli had a career-high of 169 yards on 21 carries for a 8.0 yards per carry average last week in the win over Slippery Rock. The sophomore stands at 351 yards on 59 attempts to lead the offense in rushing.

Right behind Ceroli, Julius Brown has ran for 207 yards over 52 attempts. Brown, a sophomore as well, has found the endzone four times in 2002.

Herrmann has concentrated his passes to two main targets in Rocco Forgione and Tierell Johnson. Forgione sits at second in the PSAC in receiving yards at 101.5 per game with 406 in four contests on his 25 receptions. Johnson has hauled in 12 balls for 246 yards with both receivers having four touchdowns.

Armstrong and Linebackers Paces Bloom Defense
Senior defensive lineman Dave Armstrong has transferred into Bloomsburg from Michigan and made an immediate impact. Armstrong has 23 tackles with 11 for loss and 6.5 sacks. He is backed by the team's three linebackers of Shawn Butler, Matt Keys and Eric Steffan. Butler has been a forced at 43 tackles, eight tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. Keys has 34 stops while Steffan has recorded 32 tackles, five for loss and two sacks.

Notes: ESU Head Coach Denny Douds is 1-13 against Bloom head coach Danny Hale covering Hale's time at West Chester and Bloomsburg combined … The Warriors return home Oct. 12th for ESU Family Day against Cheyney University … ESU has not had a 100-yard rusher in 2002 over the first four games.

###