St. John Fisher Voted Preseason Football Favorite
The 2014 season opener is right around the corner and the Empire 8 coaches agree that St. John Fisher College is the team to beat, as the Cardinals’ claimed the top spot in the Football Preseason Coaches’ Poll. Fisher received the maximum of eight first-place votes and racked up 64 total points to earn the role of preseason favorite. Salisbury University sits second with 53 points, while defending champion Ithaca College totaled 52 points and one top nod on the way to the third position in the annual coaches’ survey.
Cardinal Chatter
Fisher enters the 2014 season ranked No. 9 overall in the D3football.com preseason poll. The Cardinals are coming off one of the most successful seasons in program history marching all the way to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III Championships before falling to No. 3 ranked University of Mary Hardin-Baylor.
Several key players will return from last year's squad that finished with a 10-3 overall record. Empire 8 Co-Offensive Player of the Year Tyler Fenti returns as the starting quarterback. The signal caller rewrote the single-season record book in 2013 moving into first place in completions (259) and yards (3,215), while also throwing 24 touchdowns. Fenti's favorite deep ball target, Nathan Nigolian, returns after racking up 64 catches for 898 yards and nine touchdowns in 2013. Defensively, the Cardinals will look to senior linebacker Sean Preish, a preseason All-American. Preish led Fisher with 128 tackles, seven sacks, and three forced fumbles last season.
Sea Gull Spotlight
The Sea Gulls finished the 2013 season with a 7-4 record and won the Eastern College Athletic Conference South Atlantic Bowl.
Salisbury was by far the best rushing team in the Empire 8, putting up 284.6 yards per game, good for 10th in the nation. Running back Jerome Johnson led the Sea Gulls with 627 yards gained on the ground. He 63 carries for nearly 10 yards per carry, finding the end zone four times during the season.
Punter Kyle Hamby, two-time E8 Special Teams Player of the Year, will once again be a key part in the field-position game. Last year, Hamby was one of the best punters in the nation, ranking 11th in Division III with a 41.1-yard average per kick, with 17 of his 44 punts landing inside the 20-yard line.
Bomber Basics
Ithaca starts the season ranked 23rd nationally after a 9-3 overall record. The Bombers won the Empire 8 Championship in 2013 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Ithaca's roster returns all-region selection Sam Carney as a return specialist; and all conference honorees offensive guard Andrew Benvenuto, kicker Garrett Nicholson (10 FGs) and defensive tackle Joe Ricotta (8 solo, 22 ast).
Carney, a preseason all-American, ranked seventh in the country in punt returns (15.7 yards/return) and 11th in kickoff returns (30.1 yards/return). Carney also contributed 33 total tackles including 21 solo stops and had two forced fumbles and two interceptions.
Saxons Side-Notes
The Saxons will feature new leadership on the sidelines as Bob Rankl has been named the head coach. He replaces Dave Murray, who resigned last week after 16 seasons at the Saxons' helm to take over the top job at Hamilton College. Rankl has been a member of the AU coaching staff for 15 seasons.
Rankl inherits a team that went 8-3 (5-2 Empire 8) in 2013, capping the year with a victory over Cortland State in the ECAC North Central Bowl Championship game. Tyler Johnson, the 2013 Empire 8 Rookie of the Year, returns as the starting quarterback. He finished the 2013 season with 1,722 yards on 140-of-237 passing with 12 touchdowns. He also ran for 418 yards (second-most on the team) and five TDs. Isiah Young, the team's backup tight end, saw action in all 11 games this year and was third on the team in receptions (23) and receiving yards (279).
Corry Wallace, in his first year as a starter, led the team in tackles with 115 (43 solo, 6 ½ for loss, one sack), with four interceptions, four pass breakups and one forced fumble.
Golden Eagle Essentials
Brockport will play its first season with the Empire 8 after an 8-3 overall record and 6-1 mark in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC). The Golden Eagles won the final seven games of the 2013 season, a share of the NJAC title and won the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Northwest Bowl.
Offensively almost all of the weapons are back for 2014 including quarterbacks Wayne Bonsell (95-179, 1262 yds) and Ty Stoldt (92-161, 1169 yds) who shared the starting spot a year ago. Behind the quarterback, the Golden Eagles return all three top rushers from a year ago in Dan Andrews (1274 yds, 11 TD), Tyrone Nichols (449 yds, 5 TD) and Shireem Cobb (303 yds, 8 TD).
On defense, several players that sparked the success of the Golden Eagles return led by defensive end Cortland Haines. He was third on the team with 66 tackles and led the Golden Eagles with eight sacks. Also returning on the defensive line is linebacker Jake Brickler who recorded 91 tackles in his rookie season.
Bengal Bullets
Buffalo State ended its season 5-5 overall, marking the third-consecutive season with a record of .500 or better.
With the graduation of quarterback Casey Katz, the offensive unit seems to be starting the season with a slight disadvantage. On a bright note, receiver Mike Doherty is back after totaling more than 1,000 receiving yards on 59 catches with six touchdowns. Also aiding the offensive attack will be running back Rich Pete. Pete ran for 767 yards last season, averaging 5.4 yards per-attempt. He also had 25 receptions for 171 yards.
The defensive unit should be well equipped with the return of all-conference honorees Shaq Frederick, Tawone Williams and Anthony Sanders. Frederick led Buffalo State with 78 total tackles, including 8.5 for loss and a sack. He also had two fumble recoveries, with one returned for a touchdown, and had an interception. Williams totaled 36 tackles including 3.0 for loss, while Sanders racked up 27 tackles, including 4.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.
Pioneer Points
Utica is coming off a 3-11 season and hopes to improve its 1-6 E8 mark. The Pioneers are fortunate to have Anthony Acevedo, reigning E8 Offensive Co-Player of the Year, returning for his season campaign. He finished the 2013 regular season ranked 10th nationally and first in the Empire 8 with an average of 8.0 receptions per game. Acevedo was also 17th in the country and first in the E8 with an average of 106.1 receiving yards per game. He finished the season with 72 catches, 955 yards and six touchdowns.
Offensive tackle Zach Hunnewell anchored a line that allowed less than one sack per contest (0.90), which ranked 27th nationally and first in the conference. Safety James Lenahan ranked 18th nationally with an average of 0.6 interceptions per game. He also recorded a career-best 50 tackles to go along with 11 passes defended.
Hawk Highlights
The Hawks are coming off a 6-4 season with a 3-4 mark in E8 play, but said goodbye to 23 seniors and will have some holes to fill. Hartwick was the only team to defeat eventual league champion Ithaca last year.
At the quarterback position, John Garcia returns after starting every game in 2013. He completed 157 passes for 2,450 yards with 27 touchdown passes. Receiver Tanner Williams will be a target for Garcia as he recorded 56 receptions including seven touchdown catches. Williams also had 24 kick returns for 437 yards and 18 punt returns for 190 yards to total 1,414 all-purpose yards. On the defensive end, Jarred Morrow and Dante Crump return after totaling 41 and 40 tackles, respectively.
Bobcat Basics
It's a new beginning for the Frostburg State football team as it heads into 2014 season under the direction of first year head coach DeLane Fitzgerald. With 15 starters returning Fitzgerald is poised to quickly rebuild the Frostburg program.
The Bobcats return almost 65 percent of the receptions and yards hauled in by wide receivers from a year ago. Myles Burgess finished third on the team a year ago with 24 receptions for 390 yards, while Haydan Roberts paced the Bobcats with 37 receptions for 488 yards and two touchdowns.
Senior Ken Emmons returns for his final season at quarterback. A year ago, Emmons finished seventh in the Empire 8 in yards (1,338), touchdowns (9) and yards passing yards per game (148.7) and totaled 1,718 yards in total offense with 13 total touchdowns.
The 2014 version of the Bobcat defense possesses talent and depth at every position. Leading the way statistically from last season is Rowan Pinkett who finished fifth in the E8 with 104 tackles. He finished 37
th in the country in tackles per game (10.4) and was second in the league with 61 solo stops.
Dates to remember
The 2014 football season begins on Saturday, September 6, with all nine Empire 8 schools taking the field for non-conference action. The path to the 2014 Empire 8 Championship begins on Saturday, September 20 with four conference games set to take place.
Follow Online
If you can’t make it out to the game be sure to check if Live Stats are available or better yet the game may be web streamed courtesy of Volar Video. Be sure to check out the schedule of streamed events by visiting
empire8.tv. The
Empire 8 scoreboard will have the latest schedule and results as well as media coverage links.
A closer look
For more information, visit any of the participating schools' websites or go to the Empire 8 home on the Internet at
www.empire8.com. Don't forget to become a fan of the Empire 8 on
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2014 Empire 8 Football Preseason Coaches Poll
|
St. John Fisher College (8 first place votes) |
64 points |
|
Salisbury University |
53 |
|
Ithaca College (1) |
52 |
|
Alfred University |
40 |
|
The College at Brockport |
36 |
|
Buffalo State |
32 |
|
Utica College |
21 |
|
Hartwick College |
16 |
|
Frostburg State University |
10 |