Complete Game Notes

GAME INFORMATION
Millersville (0-1) vs. Lock Haven (0-0)
Saturday, Sept. 10, 2011 - 7:30 p.m.
Hubert Jack Stadium - Lock Haven, Pa.

SERIES INFORMATION
Series vs. Lock Haven: 8-16-1
Series Streak: Millersville, Won 5
First Meeting: 1928 - T, 6-6
Last Meeting: 2010 - W, 35-21

MEDIA INFORMATION
Audio Broadcast (MSBN)
•  Millersville was dealt a 55-3 setback in week one against W.Va. Wesleyan but aims to bounce back against Lock Haven. It is the second game of a five-game road swing for the Marauders. It is also the first of two night games this year. Millersville did not play any night games last year and went 1-1 under the lights in 2009. Saturday's game marks the season opener for Lock Haven and the coaching debut of John Allen, who was hired in the offseason to take over for John Klacik. Klacik left for a position at Miami (Ohio) after posting a 5-61 record in his tenure.
• Last week, the Marauders' new spread-option offense stalled. It generated 130 yards of offense (85 rushing and 45 passing). Dan Miller received his first career start and went 3-for-10 for seven yards in the first half before being replaced by Kevin Fowle. Fowle completed 5-of-18 passes for 38 yards. Miller is still slated to be Millersville's starter in week two. In the opener, Miller rushed nine times for a gain of 18 yards but was sacked three times and finished with negative yards rushing.
• The three points scored was the fewest by a Millersville team in an opener since 2002, and the 55 points allowed were the most ever surrendered in a season opener. The 45 total passes yards was also the lowest total in a game since 2007.
• Audio can be heard on the home of Millersville Athletics, the Marauder Sports Broadcasting Network (MSBN). The broadcast, featuring play-by-play announcer Domenic Panza, can be accessed at www.millersvilleathletics.com.

ABOUT THE SERIES
• Lock Haven leads the series 8-16-1 all-time but Millersville has won each of the last five meetings dating back to 1996. The first meeting, which came in 1928, ended in a 6-6 tie. Lock Haven win 16 of the next 19 meetings. After Lock Haven's 26-14 win in 1959, the series took nearly a 40 year hiatus. The series resumed in 1996 with a Millersville 34-12 win. Since 1996, Millersville has not allowed more than 21 points in a game.
• Last season, Millersville used Bill Shirk's four touchdown passes and four interceptions to notch a 35-21 victory at home. Shirk went 20-for-30 and hooked up with Jamal Smith three times for scores. Donald Vodopija caught the other touchdown pass.  Mike Jones rushed for 100 yards on 16 carries including a long of 52.

THE HEAD COACHES
• Millersville's Greg Colby is in his fourth season as head coach. He is trying to rebuild a program that has not posted a winning season since 2000. Before coming to Millersville, he 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.
•  John Allen is in his first season as the Bald Eagles' head coach. He served as an assistant at Lock Haven from 1996-2003. During his time there, he served as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 2000-2003. Most recently, Allen was at Penn State (2008-11), where he was the coordinator of player development. He also served as head coach of the Berlin Thunder of NFL Europe and offensive coordinator of the Amsterdam Admirals. He is a 1996 graduate of James Madison.

SCOUTING THE BALD EAGLES
• John Allen takes over a program that is without a win in the last three seasons. A new coaching staff provides some enthusiasm for a team that scored 12.5 points per game and allowed 45.5 a year ago.
• The Bald Eagles had a quarterback competition in camp and Jarryd Burkett emerged as the winner. The team started four different quarterbacks last year. Burkett was the most efficient. In three starts and seven games, he completed 60.5 percent of his passes (72-119) with four TD's and four interceptions. He'll have some help with leading receivers Jay Hartman (52 catches, 660 yards, six touchdowns) and Jesse Hoover (27 catches, 499 yards, four touchdowns) back for 2011.
• Lock Haven also looks to improve upon a running game that was last in the PSAC. Brandon Brader is listed as the No. 1 back. he totaled 242 yards on 70 carries last year.

THE LAST TIME OUT FOR THE MARAUDERS
•  Led by Adam Neugebauer, W.Va. Wesleyan raced to a 43-3 lead at the half and coasted to a 55-3 win over visiting Millersville.
• Little went right for the Marauders. Wesleyan's opening drive went 53 yards in six plays. The second drive went 93 yards in one play. When the defense made a stop, the offense couldn't capitalize. Twice the defense generated turnovers and also forced two poor punts, but the Marauders' offense generated just three points on a 22-yard field goal from Anthony Kassab. Under new starting quarterback Dan Miller, Millersville managed just 45 passing yards—the fewest since the team threw for 25 on Oct. 25, 2007. The team also totaled 10 penalties, three turnovers and went 2-for-16 on third downs.
• Miller and Kevin Fowle, who entered after halftime, combined for 8-of-28 passing and 45 yards. 38 of those yards belonged to Fowle, but he also threw an interception that was returned 66 yards for a touchdown by Jeremy Dozier. Miller was responsible for two lost fumbles.
• On the ground, Mike Jones totaled 60 yards on 10 carries but did not play a snap in the second half. Ian Sadan managed 28 on nine totes.
• Neugebauer, who led the WVIAC in completion percentage a year ago, put his accuracy on display early. He torched the Marauders on 20-of-26 passing for 315 yards in the first half alone. All six of his touchdown passes came in the first half. He cooled down in the second and finished 23-of-34 for 335 yards. After managing 14 yards rushing in the first half, the Bobcats went exclusively to the ground in the second and finished with 144 yards. Wesleyan outgained Millersville 497 to 130.

THE LAST TIME OUT FOR THE BALD EAGLES
•  Lock Haven closed the 2010 season by falling to visiting Shippensburg 41-17 at Hubert Jack Stadium. The Red Raiders jumped out to an early 14-0 lead and led 34-10 at halftime.
• Rashad Johnson capped off a six-play, 54-yard drive with a nine yard touchdown run. His score with 7:48 left in the second quarter made it 20-7 in favor of Ship. With just one second left in the first half, Noah Heimer nailed a 35-yard field goal to make it 34-10, as the two teams headed into the locker rooms.
• Jay Hartman, who had a huge day receiving capped off the LHU scoring with 6:40 left in the game. Hartman caught a 18-yard pass from Jarrett Kratzer to cap off a eight-play, 45-yard drive. Hartman caught nine passes for 120 yards, which put him over 1,000 for his career. He also had a solid day returning kicks for the Bald Eagles. Krazter finised 22-for-36 passing for 190 yards and the one TD. Johnson rushed for 50 yards on 12 carries.

LONG-DISTANCE LAWSON
•  Jeff Lawson had a solid 2010, averaging 36.0 yards per punt with 15 inside the 20, four touchbacks and three longer than 50. His 2011 started brilliantly. Against W.Va. Wesleyan, he booted a career-high 10 punts and averaged 40.5 yards per punt. He placed five inside the 20 with just one touchback. He also hit the second 60-yard punt of his career.

GET THE GROUND GAME GOING
•  After employing a pass-heavy offense in 2010, expect the Marauders to get back to ground game in 2011. The team tried to do just that in the opener, running the ball 44 times while attempting just 28 passes. In the first half, the Marauders attempted 28 runs and just 10 passes.
• Mike Jones totaled 60 yards on 10 carries in the first half of the game. Ian Sadon also came on and totaled 28 yards in his career debut. 
• Jones was limited by injuries in 2010 but averaged 4.5 yards per carry. David Coates and Kevin Kelley are both redshirt freshmen. In high school, Kelley became just one of just five running backs in Lancaster-Lebanon League history to rush for over 2,000 yards in a season.
•  Last season the Marauders totaled just 78.9 yards rushing per game (868 yards on 332 carries), ranking 15th in the league. It was the lowest total and average yards per carry by a Millersville team since records started being tracked annually in 1970.  Jones' total of 497 yards was the fewest number of yards by a Millersville leading rusher since Calvin Everett totaled 494 on 86 carries in 2001. No Marauder has rushed for over 1,000 yards since Juan Jones went for 1,332 in 2005. In Greg Colby's first two seasons, the running game was a prominent part of the offense. Cardoza Jacks (2008) and Brad Lantz (2009) both rushed for over 700 yards in those seasons.

BACK IN THE MIDDLE
•  The Marauders lost their top three tacklers in Jeff Longley, Shane Gross and Matt Sutjak. But the linebackers are a veteran group, especially with seniors Ryan Christian and Craig Gardner moving back into the starting lineup. Both players started games as freshmen in 2008. Christian was the team's third-leading tackler as a sophomore in 2008 with 81 stops, but he fell out of the starting lineup last year in favor of sophomore Pat Maloney. Maloney racked up 53 tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss in just five games. Before his season ended with an injury he was in the nation's top five in tackles per game. Christian has played in 30 games and has 16 starts to his credit. Gardner has also played in 30 games.
• Maloney picked up right where he left off the season opener. Despite not starting, he still logged a team-high six tackles.

LEAD THE WAY
• Millersville teammates voted for their team captains a week prior to the season opener and selected senior safety Gary Tillman and senior tight end Greg Frantz. Tillman is a third-year player at Millersville after starting his career at Mansfield. He's played in 20 games totaling 87 tackles and three interceptions. Frantz is a fourth-year starter and last year he was named All-PSAC East Second Team. He was the first Millersville tight end to earn all-conference mention since Chris Hemmert in 1998.

A FAMILIAR FACE
• Jim Shiffer returned to Millersville in the offseason as the program's offensive line coach. After serving as the offensive coordinator at Kutztown and the head coach at Mansfield, Shiffer is back where he spent eight seasons from 1994-2001. Shiffer is a highly-regarded offensive line coach. He has spent 17 years in the PSAC. During his time at Millersville, he was part of three PSAC East Championships and two NCAA Tournament appearances. He also coached 10 offensive linemen to All-PSAC East honors. In three years at Mansfield, he developed 16 All-PSAC East players. He's a Lancaster County native, having graduated from Conestoga Valley High School and receiving a master's degree from Millersville in 1992.