THE MATCH-UP
• Millersville and Malone face off for the first time ever Saturday at Chryst Field at Biemesderfer Stadium. Malone, a member of the Great Midwest Conference, comes to Pennsylvania for the first time as a Division II program. Only once before has Millersville played a team from the state of Ohio, and that came in the 1979 NCAA Division III playoffs against Wittenberg. That game was played at Millersville with Wittenberg winning, 21-14.
• Malone is located in Canton, Ohio, and plays its home games at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, next door to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It's program started in 1993 as a NAIA affiliate. Malone made the leap to Division II in 2012 and has since gone 6-55. Head coach Fred Thomas has served 16 seasons at Walsh, first as the defensive coordinator and the last three as the head coach.
• Malone enters Saturday's game with four consecutive losses, allowing at least 38 points in all four of those games. Walsh's defense is allowing 39.7 points and 459.3 yards per game, and that might be good news for a Millersville offense that was shut out and totaled a season-low in total yards against Shippensburg last week. The Marauders rank 16th in the PSAC in points per game, rushing offense and total offense while Malone's defense ranks eight in the nine-team Great Midwest in points allowed, total defense and passing defense.
• While the Marauders have struggled to score, its defense ranks fifth in the PSAC in total defense and has allowed more than 400 yards of offense just once this season. The Marauders also rank No. 1 against the pass, holding opponents to 178.1 yards per game. Limiting Malone's Ashton Dulin will be a key for the Marauders. The wide receiver has 33 catches for 458 yards and six touchdowns--all but one of Malone's receiving scores. And while Millersville has made a habit out of creating turnovers (10 in the last two weeks), Malone quarterback Deandre Clayton doesn't make many mistakes. He has throw just three interceptions in 174 attempts. He is also a threat with his legs. He has scored six rushing touchdowns and owns a 106-yard day against Lake Erie and a 74-yard performance against Hillsdale. Clayton has had double-digit carries in all but one game.
• Malone's defense has totaled just six takeaways (three interceptions and three fumble recoveries). Millersville, meanwhile, has 18 takeaways.
• Millersville's defense has been outstanding at getting off the field on third down. The Marauders rank fourth in the PSAC, holding teams to a 32.6 percent conversion rate. The Marauders are also third in first downs allowed and have held teams to a 38.5 success rate on fourth down conversions.
LAST WEEK
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Malone (at Ohio Dominican (L, 17-57)): Ohio Dominican, a team receiving votes in the AFCA Division II poll, scored on six of seven first-half possessions to take a 40-3 lead at halftime. The Pioneers, meanwhile, saw drives end on downs, a punt, a blocked field goal, and two fumbles. Malone's only scoring drive of the first half followed a defensive fourth-down stop inside the Panthers' redzone. A pair of long pass plays, a 36-yarder to James Jackson and a 35-yard completion to Ashton Dulin, helped set up Marcus Moeller for a 22-yard field goal with 5:22 left in the second quarter.
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Millersville (vs. Shippensburg (L, 0-37)): Millersville forced five turnovers but couldn't take advantage of Shippensburg's miscues. Millersville started two of its first three offensive possessions inside Shippensburg territory but could not put points on the board and was shut out for the first time since 2016. Millersville's three quarterbacks combined for 13 of 31 passing for 91 yards and were sacked seven times. Only two of Millersville's drives had more than five plays, and six of the drives posted negative yardage.
NO FLY ZONE
• Millersville's PSAC-best pass defense is holding teams to just 178.1 yards per game and is one of only two teams (West Chester) holding opponents to under 200 yards passing per game. The Marauders' 51.9 completion percentage allowed ranks second in the league. Millersville is one of only five teams in the PSAC to have equal or more interceptions than touchdown passes allowed.
RAY MAKING PLAYS
•
Ray Lopez was a Division I outfielder for the VMI baseball team before returning to Lancaster County and walking on to the football team in 2017. Lopez is putting his ball-tracking skills into effect this season, intercepting four passes this season.
• Lopez picked off two passes against Lock Haven and was named the PSAC East Defensive Player of the Week following the Oct. 6 game at Lock Haven.
• Lopez' four picks have come in just five games played as he missed the first two games with an injury. He is one INT away from tying for the most by a Marauder since 2007. No Marauder has had more than six picks since Dale Reed's eight in 1995.
TURNOVER-VILLE
• Millersville forced five turnovers in each of the last two games, including five interceptions and five fumble recoveries. It has generated 16 turnovers in the last four games after totaling just two in the first three. Millersville has picked off 10 passes in the last four games, and the 11 on the season is tied for fourth in the PSAC.
• Five different Marauders have at least one interception and six others have fumble recoveries. Lopez,
Zac Button and
Marcel Mingo entered the season with zero career interceptions, and the trio has combined for nine this season.
FLAGS NOT FLYING
• Despite being flagged 10 times last week against Shippensburg, Millersville ranks second in the PSAC in penalties against with 46 times for 394 yards (56.3 per game). Millersville's penalty yards total is the best in the PSAC--leading IUP's 44 penalties for 63.9 yards per game. Millersville has committed 26 fewer penalties than 16th-ranked Slippery Rock and Gannon.
HEAR COMES HALLOWAY
• Millersville did not record a sack in the first three games but but the pass rush has been ramped up in the last four weeks as Millersville has recorded 10 sacks in that span. Three of those have come from
Tommy Halloway, who has a sack in three of the last four games.
ZAC ATTACK
•
Zac Button played in 21 games at Lock Haven before transferring to Millersville, and in his seven games as a Marauder, he has recorded his first career interception (at IUP) and his first career sack (at West Chester). Button has since totaled two interceptions, two sacks, three pass breakups, two quarterback hurries, a team-leading 9.0 tackles for loss and a forced fumble. He has a tackle for loss in six of seven games and in five in a row. He totaled a career-high 13 tackles against Shippensburg. Button is tied for ninth in the PSAC in TFL.
CATCHING ON
• In weeks two and three, redshirt freshman
Chris Dolan totaled 19 receptions against top PSAC West competition (Slippery Rock and IUP). At IUP, Dolan made 10 catches for 137, becoming the first Millersville freshman since 2014 with 100 yards receiving. Both marks were career highs, and his yardage total was the most by a Marauder since
Kevin Wiggins totaled 144 yards on Oct. 8, 2016. Dolan also made his first career touchdown catch. Against The Rock, Dolan totaled nine catches for 97 yards, giving him the highest back-to-back reception total by a Marauder since Andy Neupauer's 21 catches against Bloomsburg (9) and Slippery Rock (12) in weeks six and seven of 2003.
• Dolan is trending toward becoming just the second Millersville freshman (
Kevin Wiggins (2014)) to lead the team in receptions and the first to ever lead the team in receptions and yards.
SAFETY STOPPER
•
Trejon Dinkins has made double-digit tackles in five of the team's seven games, ranking him first in the PSAC in tackles per game. His 12 in week one against Pace were the most by any player in the PSAC that week, and he matched that total in week two and week seven. He added 10 tackles in week three and week five.
TWO SPORTS, NO PROBLEM
•
Evan Morrill continues to make an impact on the football field, starting every game at wide receiver and serving as the team's long snapper. Morrill has caught a pass in 14 consecutive games dating back to last season, and his four against IUP and West Chester were the second-most of his career.
• Morrill is also the starting 184-pounder for the Millersville wrestling team. Morrill went 13-13 with an 8-5 dual meet record in 2017-18. He won two matches at the NCAA Super Region 1 Championships as well.
CAPTAINS
• Millersville's players voted seniors
Brett Harris and
Trejon Dinkins and junior
Tommy Halloway as the team's captains for 2018. Dinkins in his second season with the Marauders. Harris is the team's second-most experienced offensive player with 32 starts. Halloway is just the 11th junior since 1956 to earn a captaincy.
GOING FOR 44
•
Morgan Faughnan has been the model of consistency for the Marauders. He has started 39 consecutive games--every game the Marauders have played over the last three-plus years. Faughnan entered the season No. 2 in the PSAC in consecutive starts, trailing only Alec Petrillo of Shippensburg, who started the season with 34. Only three players in the entire league had consecutive start streaks of 30 games or more. In 2017, he set career highs with 48 tackles, 3 1/2 sacks and 4 1/2 tackles for loss. He has made 11 tackles through three games in 2018.
TWO-WAY PLAYER
•
Joey Farley has made 5 of 8 field goals this season and has connected on 10 of his last 13 tries dating back to last season. He is also a perfect 41 for 41 in PAT attempts in his career.
• Farley, however, is not just a kicker. Farley led the team with six catches and 62 yards receiving in week one. In week three against Slippery Rock, he made the longest catch of his career (43 yards) and scored his first career touchdown. He ranks third on the team with 20 catches.
• Farley was named PSAC East Special Teams Athlete of the Week once in 2017.
NEW LEADERSHIP
• Millersville's staff is almost entirely brand new.
J.C. Morgan was named Millersville's head coach on April 30. Morgan hired eight new assistant coaches, with only Millersville alum and defensive coordinator
Matt Sutjak returning from last year's staff. Morgan is the 22nd head coach in the 123-year history of Millersville football. Of that long list, only John Pucillo (1925-29, 33-36), George Katchmer (1954-69) and Dr. Gene Carpenter (1970-2000) coached for more than five seasons. The last time a Millersville first-year head coach posted a winning record in his first season was John Pucillo in 1933, going 4-2.
• Unlike Millersville's previous three head coaches, Morgan is coming to Millersville from another Division II program, and a PSAC program at that. Morgan started at Shippensburg in 2005 and spent the last three as offensive coordinator. Morgan's staff is loaded with PSAC experience. Both coordinators--Sutjak and
Jeff Tomasetti--played and coached in the league. Special teams coordinator
Dan Beard and tight ends coach
Ron Kerr also coached at Shippensburg.
Tim Tobin was the defensive line coach for a PSAC Championship at Kutztown. Running backs coach
Chris Palubinsky was the starting quarterback at Bloomsburg just last season.
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