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COMPLETE GAME NOTESGAME OVERVIEW•   Millersville lost its season opener in shocking fashion while Clarion trailed 27-0 before falling 27-13 to Division I FCS member Saint Francis in its first game. After scoring 15 touchdowns in the entire 2013 season, Millersville generated 44 points on six touchdowns and a field goal last Thursday against Livingstone. It was the first time Millersville scored more than 40 points since the 2012 season opener. The 503 yards of offense was the most by a Marauder offense since 2006. Millersville managed just four plays of more than 40 yards in 2013 but generated three in game one. New quarterback
Matt Misley's four touchdown passes were as many as the team's 2013 leader. Even the defense got into the act, intercepting two passes, and
P.J. Santos returned a fumble for a touchdown.
•   Freshman
Malont'a Patterson was electrifying in his debut. He totaled five catches for 116 yards and two touchdowns and also recorded a 44-yard touchdown run. His three total touchdowns put him at the top of the PSAC in scoring after one week. His production could have been more but a 57-yard catch in the third quarter was called back because of a penalty.
•   While the Marauders gave up 44 points on defense,
Reggie Slaton and
Rasheed Johnson both recorded 15 tackles, which were highs in the PSAC last week. It marked career highs for both players.
ABOUT THE SERIES•   Millersville and Clarion are meeting for the 14th time Saturday. The first meeting came in 1929 with a Millersville victory. Clarion holds a 7-6 edge in the series. Millersville won three in a row from 1994-97 but Clarion has won four of five since 1998. Millersville's last win in the series came by a 13-10 score in overtime in 2003. Clarion most recently won in 2010 (49-10) and 2011 (34-20). In the 2011 game, now-senior
Brent Collins caught three passes for 49 yards. Clarion's All-America defensive end Julian Howsare had a half sack and 1.5 tackles for loss as a freshman in the game. Millersville played three quarterbacks in the game but the most productive was
Sean Quarterman (6-for-12, 92 yards), who is now playing wide receiver for the Marauders. Millersville trailed 27-20 with 7:59 left in the game but could not score on its final two possessions.
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES•   Clarion opened its 2013 season 3-0 but finished 4-7. Its offense relied heavily on the run, averaging 178.8 yards per game and just 136.4 passing yards per game. It looks like Clarion has a similar game plan in 2014. In the season opener at Saint Francis, Clarion mustered just 85 passing yards on 11-of-23 completions. The team employed two quarterbacks. Darelle Carson is a dual-threat quarterback, leading the team with 42 yards rushing, but he completed only 5-of-14 passes with an interception. Connor Simmons entered in relief and completed 6-of-9 passes for 50 yards and a touchdown. He led two fourth quarter scoring drives.
•   Clarion's defense is headlined by Julian Howsare, who is already a two-time All-America Third Team selection. Howsare was a consensus preseason All-America selection in 2014 and opened with seven tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and a half sack. He now has 35.0 career tackles for loss and 24 career sacks. He was the PSAC West Defensive Player of the Year in 2014.
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THE LAST TIME OUT•   Jalen Hendricks and Drew Powell rallied Livingstone from a 12-point deficit with two touchdowns in the final 1:26 to snatch a season-opening win away from Millersville Thursday evening at Chryst Field at Biemesderfer Stadium, 46-44.
•   The game seemed still in hand as Livingstone trailed by 12 with 2:40 left and no timeouts. But a Drew Powell to Hendricks 16-yard TD toss, making the score 44-40 in favor of the Marauders with 1:26 remaining. Livingstone attempted an onside kick, and the first landed in the hands of
P.J. Santos. Both teams, however, were flagged for off-setting penalties, and the kick was retried. The following Leonardo Manzo kick glanced off the hands of a Marauder and was quickly grabbed by Billy Moore at the Millersville 42. Powell needed only three plays to complete the improbable comeback. He hit Hendricks for 12 yards, rushed for five and then found Hendricks for 25 yards and a touchdown. Millersville's final drive resulted in an
Evan Stahl missed 40-yard field goal.
DAVID RETURNS FOR HISTORY•  Â
David Coates has already set Millersville career records for return yards and return attempts in a season and a career. Coates leads all NCAA football players regardless of Division in total kickoff return yards (2,583) and kickoff returns (116). He ranks second in all divisions behind Oregon State's Victor Bolden in yards per game (76.0). He is the only Division II player ranked higher than 25th. Coates now needs only 18 kick returns to set the all-time Division II record and is 683 yards away from snapping the career record of 3,265 set by Fairmont State's Zack Page from 207-10.
•   In 2012, Coates was the lone Marauder to earn All-PSAC East honors, being named to the second team. He was Millersville's first return specialist to be named all-conference since Bakari Brown in 2004. He led all of Division II in return yards and his 1,156 kickoff returns set a new school record and was the second-most in PSAC history. His 25.7 yards per return ranked 33rd nationally and was the highest by a Marauder since Dondre Gilliam in 1999. He had at least one 25-yard return in nine of 11 games.
INTO THE FIRE•   Coach Breitbach signed his first recruiting class in February and the freshmen class wasted no time making an impact. Kevin Wiggins scored the first touchdown of the season on a 64-yard catch and run that was the longest TD reception by Millersville since Oct. 3, 2010.
Malont'a Patterson scored three touchdowns in his debut--two receiving and one on the ground.
Sene Polamalu and
Logan Kinser shared a sack and Kinser intercepted a pass and nearly returned it for a touchdown until it was called back because of a penalty.
•   When the first depth chart of the season was released, four true freshmen found themselves in starting roles. A total of 11 true freshmen are listed on the two deep. A total of 17 true or redshirt freshmen are listed on the two deep.
NEW LEADERSHIP, NEW LOOK•   Millersville's defense has a new leader in defensive coordinator
Ralph Clark and a new look with a 3-4 scheme. The Marauders' defense has finished no higher than 13th in the 16-team PSAC in total defense and no higher than 14th in scoring defense since 2007. Only once in the last six seasons did Millersville allow fewer than 400 yards per game. While Clark coached Millersville's wide receivers last season, he is a defensive coach by trade. He served as the defensive coordinator at Division I FCS Saint Francis and at Division III Rose-Hulman.
TEAM PICKS CAPTAINS•   The Millersville football players voted for their team captains following the 2014 training camp. The players chose senior linebacker
Reggie Slaton, senior tight end
Trenton Petrovich and graduate quarterback
Matt Misley. Slaton is now a rare two-time team captain, becoming only the 10th two-time captain since 1956.
•   Of those two-time captains, three were linebackers (Slaton, Joe Hollister (2003-04), and Tim Naylor (1991-92)). Quarterback had the most with four (Dan Csencsitz (2005-06), Drew Folmar (1999-00), Chris Fagan (1991-92) and Bret Stover (1987-88)).
•   The good news for Slaton is that eight of the nine previous two-time captains were named All-PSAC East during their careers. Hollister was the 2004 PSAC East Defensive Player of the Year.
•   Additionally, the coaches will select a fourth captain each week based on the performance in practice and games. As part of Millersville's new "Hoist The Colors" tradition, The weekly coaches' pick will lead the team out of the tunnel carrying the "colors." The day after the game, coaches will choose a new captain for the week and the new captain will take over the "colors" for the week.
SANELLI'S STREAK•   Center
Lenny Sanelli is becoming Millersville's Iron Man. He has started all 23 games since stepping on campus as a freshman in 2011. He started at tackle during his first season and moved to center as a sophomore. He has started 12 consecutive games at center.
WELCOME "BACK"•  Â
Myron Myles, who started nine games for the Marauders in 2012 returns after a season away from the program. The redshirt junior averaged 4.0 yards per carry two seasons ago. His 2014 season started in grand fashion with a career-high 97 yards on 14 carries, which was good for nearly 7.0 yards per carry.
FAMILY CONNECTIONS•   A pair of Marauder football players have family ties to the NFL. Senior wide receiver
Mike Reichenbach's father, Mike, played eight years as a linebacker with the Philadelphia Eagles and the Miami Dolphins. The younger Mike played quarterback for his father at Calvary Christian Academy.
•   Freshman linebacker
Sene Polamalu shares the same last name as his first cousin Troy Polamalu, who is an All-Pro safety and future Pro Football Hall of Famer Troy Polamalu. Sene's father, Ao, played defensive line for Penn State. Sene's older brother, Maika, is a senior linebacker at Navy.
PETRO SHOWS GOOD HANDS•  Â
Trenton Petrovich is in his third season as the team's starter with 30 games played at the position. Petrovich caught a career-high 14 passes in 2013, which was the most by a Marauder tight end since Greg Frantz caught 14 in 2009. Petrovich also blocked four kicks to help Millersville lead the nation in the category. His 2014 season started with his second career touchdown catch.
•   Petrovich not only shows good hands on the field, he was also nominated for the AFCA/Allstate Farm Good Works Team for his efforts off the field. Petrovich was one of 182 nominees across all divisions of football. There will be 11 individuals selected from the ranks of Division I FCS, Division II, Division III and NAIA to be recognized at the Allstate Sugar Bowl in January 2015. Petrovich contributed 70 hours of community service while the team was in season in 2013 and individually raised over $1,000 and shaved his head for the St. Baldrick's Foundation.
MISLEY TAKES OVER•    Millersville used four quarterbacks in 2013 and three of them are no longer with the program. The four combined to throw 17 interceptions and just seven touchdown passes with a combined completion percentage of 50.5. The lone QB from that group to return is
Curtis Frye, who posted far-and-away the best numbers. He was 34-of-52 (63.0) for 323 yards in six reserve appearances. His season, however, was cut short because of a knee injury.
•   From 2011-2013, Millersville used an eight different quarterbacks. Seven different quarterbacks started games in that span. Millersville's eight quarterbacks have combined to throw for 22 touchdowns and 45 interceptions with an average of 1,405 yards per season and a completion percentage of 50.2.
•   While
Matt Misley--a graduate student--will only be Millersville's starter for one year. He played 21 games at Division I FCS Wagner before coming to Millersville. He was impressive in his debut, become the first Marauder to throw for more than 200 yards and rush for 70 yards in more than 12 years. He also threw four touchdowns to no interceptions and ranks third in the PSAC in passing efficiency (171.4) after the first week of action.
BOUNCE BACK•   Millersville posted a 1-10 record in
Greg Breitbach's first season. The first season for Millersville coaches have rarely been successful. Before Breitbach, Greg Colby went 1-10 in his opening season. The last 10 Millersville coaches all posted records under .500. John Pucillo, who went 4-2 in 1933, was the last first-year coach to post a winning record.
•   The good news for the Marauders is that year two almost always shows an improvement. George Katchmer (1954), Gene Carpenter (1970) and Colby (2008) all improved records in year two. Kevin Kiesel (2001) and Joe Trainer (2005) posted identical records in year two.
A CHAMPIONSHIP PEDIGREE•   In addition to the promotion of
Ralph Clark,
Greg Breitbach also added
Mike Wood as the team's wide receivers coach. A 2001 graduate of McDaniel and native of Delaware, Wood is returning home. In the previous two seasons, Wood built a championship resume as the offensive coordinator at American International. His Yellowjacket offense led the NE-10 in rushing in 2013 and paved the way to a NE-10 Championship and NCAA playoff appearance.
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