Complete Game Notes

GAME QUICK FACTS
Millersville (0-0) at Assumption (0-0)
Friday, Aug. 28, 2009 - 7 p.m.
Assumption Field, Worcester, Mass.
Audio: MSBN
Live Stats

THE SERIES
All-Time Series: First meeting
Series Streak: First meeting
First Meeting: N/A
Last Meeting: N/A

ABOUT THE GAME
• The Millersville Marauders are celebrating the 120th anniversary of football this year, and the season opens Friday evening in Worcester, Mass., against Assumption College. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m., and audio can be heard on the home of Millersville Athletics, the Marauder Sports Broadcasting Network (MSBN). MSBN is a webcast that is accessed at millersvilleathletics.com. Domenic Panza and Matt Majewski return for another year of broadcasting Marauder games.
• Millersville is entering its second season under the guidance of Greg Colby. Colby and his squad battled through a major rebuilding campaign in 2008, suffering the first 10-loss season in school history. Millersville, however, returns 13 starters—including eight on offense—and 26 letterwinners from last year's young team.
• In now its 114th season of football, Millersville is making just its fourth trip to Massachusetts. Last year's season started with a trip to Waltham, Mass., to face Bentley. The program also made the trip in 1993 and 1995 and defeated American International twice by a combined score of 69-10. In the last six seasons, the Marauders have journeyed outside of Pennsylvania just six times. That includes three trips to West Virginia (Shepherd and Glenville State), one to Delaware (Delaware State), one to Maryland (Bowie State) and one to Massachusetts (Bentley). During that stretch, Millersville went 12-23 on the road (23-42 overall). Last season, the Marauders came up empty on the road, going 0-6. Only once during that stretch have the Marauders produced a winning record on the road. In 2006, the team went 3-2 on the road and 5-6 overall.
• While Friday's game is a night game, the Marauders are no strangers to playing under the lights. Millersville has a successful history in night games, especially at home, where it has posted a 30-8 record since lights were put into Biemesderfer Stadium in 1985. Last season, Millersville played a pair of night games, falling at Bentley in the season opener, 35-22, and at West Chester, 41-10. Friday's game marks the fourth time since 2004 that the Marauders have opened the season with a night game on the road. The team is 1-2 in those games, winning the 2005 contest at Indiana (Pa.), but falling in 2004 to Indiana (Pa.) and last season at Bentley.
• Millersville has suffered eight-straight non-winning seasons and has not won more than five games in a season since 2000. The last .500 season came with 5-5 record in 2004. This seven-season stretch has come on the heels of a run in which Millersville recorded nine-straight winning seasons from 1992-2000 and in 28 of 30 seasons from 1970-2000.

IMPORTANT OPENERS
• Millersville is opening its 2009 campaign on the road for the third straight season. The Marauders have opened its season on the road in four of the last five years and are 1-3 in those games. The lone win was a 28-9 triumph at Indiana (Pa.) in 2005.
• Millersville has dropped its last three season openers. Two losses came to Shepherd by scores of 36-7 and 28-7 and last year's 35-22 loss to Bentley. On averaged, the Marauders have allowed 33 points per game in the last three season openers.
• Millersville has fallen in seven of their last nine season openers. The Marauders' last season opening win was also their last season opening road win (2005 vs. Indiana (Pa.)).
• Despite boasting a .530 all-time winning percentage, Millersville is just 48-56-9 in season openers.
• Of the 56 seasons that have started with a loss, only 15 of those seasons ended with an above .500 record. Three of those seasons were in 1889, 1895 and 1896 when Millersville went 2-1. It also went 2-1-3 in 1921 after opening the year with a loss. Producing an above .500 season after opening the year with a loss has happened only twice since 1990. The 1990 team went 7-3 and the 2000 squad went 6-4.

TOUGH START
• Millersville faces a daunting road schedule to start the season. The first three games are on the road and the three trips combine for a total of 1,706 miles.
• It is the first time in 29 years that the Marauders have started the season with three straight road games. The last time came in 1980. That squad finished the year with a 6-2-1 record but tied the opener at New York Tech, 14-14, and then was shut out at Edinboro and Kutztown to start 0-2-1.

ABOUT THE SERIES
• Friday's game is the first-ever meeting between Millersville and Assumption.
• It is 11th time the Marauders have faced a team from the Northeast-10. The first meeting came in 1987 against Southern Connecticut State. Millersville played Southern Connecticut State four times from 1987-90, going 3-1. The Marauders also posted a perfect 4-0 record against American International from 1992-95, and went 0-2 against Bentley in the last two years.

SERIES VS. NE-10 AT A GLANCE
All-Time Meetings: 10
Record: 7-3
Road Record: 4-2
Home Record: 3-1
Points Per Game: 29.8
Points Allowed Per Game: 14.4

(view complete game notes for game-by-game results)

CONFERENCE VS. CONFERENCE
• The PSAC and Northeast-10 square off four times in 2009. In the last three years, the two conferences have met 12 times with the PSAC holding an 8-4 edge. Last year, the PSAC was 2-1 with the NE-10's lone win coming from Bentley against Millersville. Over the last three years, three of the NE-10's four wins have come from Bentley. The PSAC is also a perfect 3-0 in NCAA playoff games.

THE HEAD COACHES
• Millersville's Greg Colby is in his second season as head coach. Colby spent most of his career as an assistant at the Division I level. From 1979-86, he was the head coach at Schlarman High School and Naperville High School in Illinois. While at Schlarman, Colby led the team to back-to-back Illinois High School 2-A State Championships (1981-82).
• Colby has an impressive resume. He came to Millersville after serving as the defensive coordinator at Northwestern from 2002-07 during which time the Wildcats posted three-straight six-win seasons for the first time in 70 years. He was also the defensive coordinator at Kent State for four seasons and served as a defensive assistant at Michigan State under Nick Saban and at Illinois under Lou Tepper.
• The 32-year-old Cory Bailey is back from his second tenure with Assumption. He was originally hired in 2004 and served four years as head coach, posting a 13-28 record. He left the job and spent one year in the private sector but returned to the position after Assumption posted a 1-9 record under Adam Fuller in 2008.
• Bailey is a 1998 graduate of Fordham. There, he was an All-Patriot League performer on the football field. He received his coaching start in 1999 as an assistant at Dean College and also spent time at Iona College, with the Rhein Fire of NFL Europe, at King Philip Regional and had an internship with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

SCOUTING THE GREYHOUNDS
• Assumption, like Millersville, is looking to bounce back from a disappointing one-win season. The Greyhounds have not seen a winning season since 1995. Last year, the team's lone win came by a 16-7 score against Saint Anselm. Despite losing nine games, it lost four by seven points or fewer.
• The Greyhounds return three All-NE-10 selections including leading rusher Herbert Woodward, who led the team with 550 yards and six touchdowns last year. In his career, he has 1,971 all-purpose yards. He is also the team's top punt returner, averaging 12.7 per return a year ago. Back at quarterback is Josh Ratacik, who threw for over 1,600 yards in 2008. He also tossed nine touchdowns but 12 interceptions. Bailey and the coaching staff will have to find some new targets for Ratacik to throw as leading receivers Joe Fabiano and Jake Longenecker both graduated. The staff is excited about the return of David Canney, who missed all of last year with an injury. Canney was the fastest wide receiver in school history to 1,000 receiving yards.
• On defense, the Greyhounds allowed 28.5 points per game and 356 yards per game last year. All-NE-10 selection Dustin Zitzmann is back at middle linebacker, though, and has 301 tackles. Top corner Bernard Scott brings three years of starting experience back as well.

THE LAST TIME OUT
• Matt Egenrieder totaled a career-high 103 yards receiving, but the Millersville football team's 2008 campaign ended Saturday at Sox Harrison Stadium with a 38-13 loss to No. 20 Edinboro.
• The Fighting Scots (9-2) needed a victory to remain in contention for one of the six spots in the Super Region One in the NCAA Division II Playoffs. Quarterback Trevor Harris made sure they did just that, completing 22-of-27 passes for 336 yards and two touchdowns. Harris received plenty of help from the ground game as well, as Ulysee Davis and Michael Battles each rushed for over 100 yards. Edinboro totaled 651 yards of total offense--the most allowed by the Millersville defense all season.
• Millersville fell behind early and could not recover. Davis pounded the Marauders for gains of 14, nine, nine and eight, and Harris found Josh Brown for 46 yards to set up a touchdown strike to Ryan Rybicki from one yard out to complete an eight-play, 95-yard drive on Edinboro's first possession.
• The Fighting Scots raced to a 24-0 lead at the half and built it to a 38-0 advantage in the third period. Both of Millersville's scores came in the fourth. Bill Shirk plunged in from three yards with 13:08 left in the game, capping an impressive nine-play, 90-yard drive that included a 23-yard completion to Derek Fry and a 35-yard hook up with Egenrieder.
• With just over three minutes left, Shirk threw his 14th touchdown pass of the season and made it nine straight games with a TD toss when he found Bobby Swier for his first career touchdown reception.
• Shirk finished the day 19-of-32 for 194 yards. He also rushed for 53 yards on five carries. Egenrieder's 103 yards receiving topped his previous career best by 73 yards and his six catches were also a career best.

SECOND YEAR CHARM
• Coach Greg Colby's program is looking to bounce back in 2009. He has some history on his side. Of the 14 coaches in Millersville history to have coached more than one season, only four lost their first two season openers and just six saw a decrease in winning percentage in their second season. Since 1938, Millersville has had eight head coaches. Only one of them (Joe Trainer in 2005) won his first game as Millersville's head coach. However, five of the seven produced either a win or a tie in their second season opener.

MOVING ON UP
• Despite playing three of his four games last season at wide receiver, senior running back Brad Lantz still has an opportunity to leave his mark on the Millersville record books. The running back enters the 2009 season ranked 12th all-time in rushing yards with 1,951 yards. He needs just 61 yards to pass John Flamish for 10th on the all-time rushing list and 62 to move past Juan Jones for ninth.
• In his two healthy seasons at running back, Lantz averaged nearly 880 yards rushing per season. If he can match that total in 2009, he will have 2,831 yards and rank fourth all-time behind Marc DeBellis (1991-94).
• Also, Lantz already ranks third all-time in career carries with 472. He averaged 213 carries during his first two seasons, and another season with that total would put him at 685 carries and in first place all-time ahead of the legendary Ricke Stonewall, who totaled 648 while racking up 4,169 yards from 1981-84.

DOUBLE THE PRODUCTION
• With Brad Lantz injured last season, Cardoza Jacks emerged as the team's workhorse running back. Jacks totaled a team-best 765 yards in just five starts and rattled off four 100-yard performances in the final five games. With Jacks and Lantz both healthy in 2009, the Marauders have two backs with over 1,000 career yards.
• While Lantz boasts 1,951 yards, Jacks, a junior, has 1,007 yards and a career average of 4.6 yards per carry.
• Lantz has seven 100-yard rushing performances to his credit, and his career best is 152 (Nov. 10, 2007 vs. Kutztown). All four of Jacks' 100-yard rushing games came in 2008, and his high is 274 yards. He also set a school record for carries with 44 against Cheyney on Oct. 11.
• Jacks has averaged just over 500 yards per season in his first two years. Staying on that pace would put him over 2,000 yards and into the top 10 on Millersville's career rushing list. Of the top 10 rushers in school history, there are three sets of teammates. Ricke Stonewall (1st), Bob Coyne (5th) and Troy Smith (8th) all played together from 1982-83. Scott Highley (2nd) and Ron Porter (6th) were teammates from 1988-89, and Marc DeBellis (3rd) and Gerald Mack (7th) played on the same team in 1993-94.

CAPTAIN SHIRK
• Bill Shirk emerged as one of the top passers in the PSAC despite starting only eight games in 2008. He finished sixth in the league in total offense.
• He made an immediate impact on the offensive production. In the first three games of the year, the team averaged 16.3 points, 12 first downs, 127.1 yards rushing and 73 yards passing per game. In the eight games that Shirk started, the squad produced 22.8 points, 18.5 first downs, 150.1 yards rushing and 209.9 yards passing per game.
• Shirk finished the year with five 200-yard passing efforts. On Oct. 18 against C.W. Post, he became the first Millersville quarterback to throw for 300 yards in a game since Dan Csencsitz threw for 301 against Bloomsburg in 2004. Millersville played 40 games during that stretch without a 300-yard passer.
• Shirk also completed 29-of-45 passes for 290 yards and a touchdown against East Stroudsburg on Nov. 1. It was the most pass attempts by a Marauder since 2004 when Csencsitz totaled 49 attempts against Bloomsburg.
• With 22 completions against Bloomsburg, he became the first Millersville quarterback since 2004 to complete at least 20 passes. The last Marauder QB to perform the feat was Csencsitz. Shirk's three passing TD's against Cheyney were the most by a Millersville QB since Dan Csencsitz threw four against Mansfield in 2006.
• In 2008 Shirk threw at least one touchdown in each of his eight starts and also threw TD passes in two of his appearances off the bench.

MR. SMITH GOES TO WR
• Jamal Smith began the 2008 season as the starting quarterback but will start 2009 as the team's top receiving threat. After three starts under center, he made the switch to wide receiver and immediately produced, hauling in six catches for 131 yards and a touchdown in week four against West Chester. Against C.W. Post, he totaled a career-high 139 yards on five catches and made his second touchdown catch of the season. On Nov. 1 against East Stroudsburg, he matched a career-high with six catches.
• At season's end, Smith totaled 31 catches for 448 yards and two touchdowns. Both of Smith's touchdown catches were for over 50 yards. His 80-yard grab against West Chester was the team's longest completion of the season and was the longest since Drew Folmar's 91-yard TD pass to Sean Scott in 1999. Both of his TD catches are two of the three longest pass completions of the season for Millersville.
• He returns as the team's receiver as Andy Tischbein and his 50 catches graduated at season's end.
• Only two receivers in school history have totaled 1,000 yards in a season. Sean Scott did it twice (1998 and 1999), and Mike McFetridge set the school record with 1,131 yards in 1998.

DEFENSIVE QUESTION MARKS
• While the Millersville offense hit its stride in 2008, the defense struggled mightily, ranking 15th in the 16-team PSAC in points allowed (38.3) and dead last in yards allowed yards per game (508.9). It gave up more points and more yards than any other defense in school history.
• Millersville also ranked last in sacks, totaling just seven in 11 games. Only three players that registered a sack last year are back in 2009, and the trio combined for just 2.5 sacks.
• Three of Millersville's top five tacklers in 2008 were linebackers and all three graduated. The coaching staff must find a replacement at all three spots. Only three players return with game experience at the position. Ryan Christian is the most experienced, having played in seven games and logging four starts. Craig Gardner played in seven games last year and Jeff Longley played in four. The three combined for 45 tackles last year. Christian totaled 33 of them.

TOTALING TACKLES
• Millersville's returning safety duo of Matt Sutjak and Julius Carter led the team in tackles in 2008 with 73 and 70 respectively. Both players ranked in the PSAC's top 25 in tackles per game. It was Sutjak's first season with the Marauders, but Carter, a three-year letterwinner, has totaled 134 in his career.
• Carter totaled eight or more tackles in a game six times in 2008 and set a career high with 12 stops at Shippensburg on Sept. 27. Sutjak tallied eight or more tackles five times. He made nine tackles in three games.

BIG LEG BANZHOF
• Despite never punting in his career, John Banzhof became the team's starting punter in addition to serving as the kicker in 2008. He led the team in scoring with 55 points, hitting 25-of-26 extra points and 10-of-17 field goals. He became first Millersville kicker to make 10 field goals since 2000.
• He hit three field goals longer than 40 yards including a career-long 50 yarder against Bloomsburg.
• Banzhof set new school record for punting yards in a season (2,572) and landed 22 punts inside the 20 while totaling only five touchbacks. He drilled six punts of longer than 50 yards and hit a career-long 67 yarder against East Stroudsburg. That punt came within six yards of school record.

CENTURY STREAK
• With 132 yards rushing against Edinboro in the 2008 season finale, Millersville extended its streak of 100 yards rushing as a team to 21 straight games dating back to the second game of 2007.
• The streak began in Jamal Smith's first career start at quarterback and continued with Bill Shirk at the helm. Millersville is averaging 159.5 yards rushing per game since.
• The team has averaged 42.0 rushes per game in each of those games. In 2008, Millersville rushed 40 or more times in three games including a season-high 50 against Cheyney in week seven. Millersville rushed 43 times for 103 yards in the season opener versus Bentley and 48 times against Kutztown on Oct. 25.
• The 280 yards against Cheyney was the most by the Marauders since gaining 313 against Kutztown on Sept. 30, 2006. The Marauders rushed for over 200 yards twice in 2008.

YOUTH WILL BE SERVED
• The Marauders have seven seniors on the roster, and only four of those players have experience starting on offense or defense.
• The Marauders will rely heavily on several newcomers this season. To start the 2009 season there are 35 true freshmen, 11 redshirt freshmen and 14 sophomores on the roster. That means that 51 percent of the roster has never competed in a collegiate game.

DIFFICULT TO NAVIGATE
• Not only does Millersville's 2009 schedule start with three road games, it is dotted with outstanding teams. Three teams (West Chester, Bloomsburg and Edinboro) start the season ranked in the top 25 of the AFCA Division II Coaches Poll.

WELCOME ABOARD
• Greg Colby added four new coaches to his 2009 staff. Roland Weeden takes over as running backs coach after two years at Cheyney and three at Fairleigh Dickinson. Terry Owens will assist with the defensive backs after an outstanding career at Kutztown, and former Marauders Adam Cobb and Eric Updegrove will also work as assistants.