Complete Game Notes

GAME INFORMATION
Millersville (1-1) vs. West Chester (1-1)
Saturday, Sept. 15, 2012 - 6 p.m.
Farrell Stadium - West Chester, Pa.

SERIES INFORMATION
Series vs. West Chester: WCU, 62-17
Series Streak: WCU, 9
First Meeting: 1921 (MU 38, WCU 7)
Last Meeting: 2011 (WCU 49, WCU 13)

MEDIA INFORMATION
Audio Broadcast (MSBN)
Live Stats

GAME OVERVIEW
•  Millersville hits the road for the first time in 2012. Of the program's 10 wins since 2008, five of the wins have come on the road including all three of the 2011 team's wins. Millersville also opens PSAC Eastern Division play this week against a long-time nemesis in West Chester. Of all the teams in the PSAC East Millersville has struggled most against West Chester, posting a .274 all-time winning percentage. The Marauders have not won at West Chester since 2004.
• The Marauders are also trying to bounce back from a rough week two loss to Mercyhurst. One week after scoring 41, Millersville scored 7. After giving up 17 in week one, Millersville allowed 45 in week two. It was a 59-point swing, marking the largest two-game difference since defeating Cheyney 48-6 and then falling to LIU Post 55-38 in back-to-back games in 2008. It was the 20th time since 2008 (46 games) that Millersville has allowed more than 40 points in a game. Since 2007, Millersville is 3-12 against the PSAC West, defeating Lock Haven twice and Gannon once.
• West Chester enters the game with a 1-1 record, losing to Delaware in the season opener and defeating Gannon in week two by a 21-17 score.  Against Gannon, West Chester scored on a 48-yard interception return and scored on a short field in the first quarter to take a 14-0 lead. They were then held scoreless until Mike Mattei hooked up with Erick Brundidge for a 29-yard touchdown strike to retake a 21-17 lead with 5:10 to play.

SCOUTING THE MARAUDERS
• Millersville struggled mightily on both sides of the ball against Mercyhurst. The Marauders rushed for 149 yards but surrendered 379 rushing yards and 7.4 yards per carry. Mercyhurst totaled 487 yards of total offense and the quarterback needed just seven pass completions. Ted Stachitas completed 14-of-22 passes with an interception, giving him three interceptions in two games. Stachitas totaled one-third of Millersville's rushing yards on one carry in the first quarter. Millersville's only score came Sean Quarterman led a nine-play, 58-yard drive that ended with 2:24 left in the game. Dating back to the 2011 season finale against Clarion, Quarterman has quarterbacked Millersville to scores and 24 points in four of his last five offensive drives.
• Ted Stachitas led the team in rushing for a second consecutive week, totaling 79 yards on 20 carries. 50 of his yards came on one carry, but he now has three carries of more than 40 yards in two games. A week after combining for 27 carries, four touchdowns and 118 yards, Myron Myles and Mike Jones received just 14 total carries and 37 yards against Mercyhurst.
• While the defense was gashed against Mercyhurst, it did managed to generate a turnover for the second straight week, giving it four generated turnovers on the season. Lou Brown recorded his second career interception, and both have come in the last six games. Millersville also tallied three sacks with five different players getting in on the act. Millersville ranks tied for sixth in the PSAC in with five sacks and three Marauders rank in the top four in total sacks. Reggie Slaton and Jamie Thomas are tied for second with 1.5 sacks. Pat Maloney is in fourth with one total sack coming on two half-sacks.
• On the other side of the ball, though, Millersville has allowed more sacks than any other team in the PSAC with 12, resulting in 51 lost yards. The offense also has 13 punts, which is third-most in the PSAC behind Lock Haven and Shippensburg.
• As a team, Millersville ranks third in kick returns  after averaging 29.3 yards on eight returns. Of players with mroe than one return, David Coates is third in the league in average at 32.5 on six returns. His 61-yard return was the second-longest of the season and is matched only by Mercyhurst's Paris Bruner, who went for 86 and a touchdown on one return. Coates' long return against Wesleyan matched his previous career high of 60, which he record against Wesleyan in the 2011 opener.
• Ted Stachitas enters week three ranked eighth in the PSAC in rushing average with 99.5 yards per game. He is the only quarterback in the top 14. Clarion's Ben Fiscus is the next closest quarterback on the list at No. 15 with 79 yards per game. Stachitas' week one run of 53 yards is the sixth-longest run by any player in the PSAC this season. Since reliable stat records came available in 1971, no Millersville quarterback has led a team in rushing for an entire season. Jamal Smith totaled 633 yards and averaged 57.5 per game in 2007. Stachitas is currently on pace to rush for 1,095 yards.
• Millersville is one of the least penalized teams in the PSAC, totaling only 10 flags through two games. The 10 flags have resulted in just 80 yards worth of penalties, which is second fewest in the league behind only Lock Haven.

ABOUT THE SERIES
• West Chester has won nine straight games in the series and all nine games have been lopsided. West Chester has scored an average of 41.2 points per game during the winning streak and has not scored less than 41 points in any game since 2006. Millersville, meanwhile, has averaged just 12.7 points per game during the losing streak.  • Millersville's last win at West Chester came on Oct. 21, 2000 by a 6-0 score. The last win for Millersville in the series came by a 31-24 score in 2002.
• In the last six meetings, West Chester has totaled no fewer than 471 yards of total offense in a game, and has piled up over 600 yards of offense twice. Four times, the Golden Rams have thrown for over 300 yards and have rushed for over 200 yards four times. In 2008, the Rams rushed for 453 yards, and in 2010, they rushed for 302 and passed for 305. Last season, West Chester out-gained Millersville 542-302.
• Rondell White rushed for 87 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries. Sean McCartney threw for 274 yards and three touchdowns. LaRonn Lee caught two of the TD passes. Millersville was led by Marquis White's 92 yards rushing. Dominic Sanders caught five passes for 61 yards in the 49-13 defeat.

THE HEAD COACHES
• Millersville's Greg Colby is in his fifth 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.
•  Bill Zwaan is in his 10th season at West Chester and has won three PSAC Eastern Division titles, three PSAC East Coach of the Year awards and led the team to the NCAA Division II Playoffs five times. With 71 wins, he already ranks third in all-time wins. Prior to arriving West Chester, he posted a 54-14 record at Widener University. He was a quarterback at Delaware during his playing days and his son Bill, who was a quarterback at West Chester, is currently on his coaching staff.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN RAMS
• After reaching the NCAA Playoffs each year from 2004-2008, West Chester has not been the dominant team in the PSAC East. Over the previous three seasons, West Chester has two losing seasons and a total record of 16-17. So far this season, West Chester has scored 21 points in both games against Delaware and Gannon and has not been all that potent on offense.  The offense ranks 12th in the PSAC in scoring offense and total offense (347.0). The Golden Rams average 162 yard per game on the ground, but most of that came in the season opener against Delaware when Rondell White totaled 209 of the team's 224. He averaged 7.5 yards per carry in the game. Last week against Gannon, White was held to 50 yards on 18 carries, and almost have of those carries came on a 23 yard run. West Chester totaled 100 on the ground,  and Mike Mattei completed 15-of-31 passes for 184 yards and two touchdowns. Mattei has played in both games, totaling 21-of-39 passing for 277 yards. Sean  McCartney also played in the season opener, completing 14-of-22 for 89 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
• Rondell White is not only a threat on the ground, but he's the quarterbacks' favorite target in the passing game. He leads the team with 10 catches for 94 yards and a touchdown. He ranks fourth in the PSAC in rushing average and leads the league in all purpose yards, with 185.5 yards per game.
• LaRonn Lee has a touchdown in each of the first  two games and is averaging 13.9 yards per catch.
• On defense, Ronnell Williams leads the league in tackles with 21 and 10.5 per game. John O'Donnell was named PSAC East Defensive Player of the Week in week two after his 48-yard interception return for a touchdown.
• As a unit, the defense is allowing 419.0 yards per game, which ranks 12th in the PSAC.  It's slightly better agains the run (130.0) than the pass (289.0).

THE LAST TIME OUT FOR THE MARAUDERS
•  One week after almost everything went right for the Marauders, almost nothing did Saturday against Mercyhurst. The Lakers stormed into Chryst Field at Biemesderfer Stadium and used 379 rushing yards to power their way to a 45-7 win.
• Brandon Brown-Dukes led the Laker rushing attack with 213 yards on 22 carries, and Allen Jones II added 132 on 17 totes. The duo combined for six rushes of at least 20 yards. Quarterback Anthony Vendemia needed to throw just 11 times and completed seven passes. His one touchdown passes was a 52-yarder to Paris Bruner with just 23 seconds left in the first half.
• The game starting promisingly for Millersville as Ted Stachitas found Mike Jones for eight yards to convert a first down on its first drive. The next play, Stachitas kept for 50 yards, but was tripped up from behind by Todd Wingate at the Mercyhurst 7. That proved to be a true, touchdown-saving tackle as after a Millersville penalty, the drive went in reverse. It ended when Stachitas was intercepted by Linnell Robinson at the 6.
• The Marauders forced a punt after a three-and-out, but Steven Wakefield reversed field position with a 77-yard boot. Special teams played a huge part of the game as Wakefield's punt and his 46-yard field goal on Mercyhurst's next drive helped his team get started. Wakefield also sidelined Millersville's kick return unit, which entered the game ranked tops in the PSAC, with three touchbacks.  Millersville, meanwhile, struggled, especially in the punt game as it averaged 33 yards on eight punts and was unable to pin Mercyhurst deep.
• After Wakefield's field goal, Mercyhurst scored touchdowns on six of the next of the next eight drives. Millersville forced just two punts in the game. Millersville, however, was forced to punt on eight consecutive possessions until the last drive of the game.
• Mercyhurst took a 31-0 lead into the half. Led by Brown-Dukes' 146 first-half yards, the Lakers totaled 216 yards on the ground and 307 total yards in the first half alone.
• Millersville's lone score came with 4:02 left in the game. Back-up quarterback Sean Quarterman led a nine-play, 58-yard drive that included a 13-yard rush and a 26-yard strike to Dominic Sanders. Quarterman took it in for the score from three-yard out to cap the drive.

SENIORS' MOMENT
• Millersville's roster is led by 20 seniors. Of that group, 17 entered 2012 with starting experience. Lou Brown, Matt Egenrieder, Pat Maloney, Mike Jones, Brian Knell, Zack Riley, Jeff Lawson, Josh Hunter and Pat Cantrell are all multiple-year starters. 12 seniors started in each of the first two weeks. The entire senior class has combined for 194 career starts. Riley, with 29, is the team leader.

TRANSFER IMPACT
• Two new Marauders are both come from Division I schools and both made an immediate impact on the offense. Quarterback Ted Stachitas transferred after graduating from Wake Forest, and Myron Myles is a redshirt freshman who spent a year at Temple.
• Stachitas is currently enrolled in the sport management program, and comes to Millersville with plenty of big-game experience. At Wake Forest, he redshirted in 2008, completed 4-of-7 passes in 2009, and started the first three games of 2010 before suffering an injury. He led the team in rushing and passing in each of the first two games. In 2011, he completed 18-fo-26 passes for 152 yards. He completed 5-of-7 for 64 yards against North Carolina. In high school, he was considered the 20th best QB in the country by Rivals and led Nease to the state championship game. He was the successor to Tim Tebow.
• Myles was previously at Temple where he was named the team's scout team player of the year and rushed for 133 yards in the spring game. At Wissahickon, he rushed for over 2,000 yards. He was a three-star prospect according to most recruiting services.

GET IT GOING
• Millersville closed 2011 by averaging 143 rushing yards per game over the final four games after averaging a mere 76.1 in the first seven games. The Marauders opened 2012 with 243 yards rushing in week one against W.Va. Wesleyan and followed that with 149 against Mercyhurst.
• After two weeks, Millersville ranks seventh out of 16 teams in the PSAC with 191.5 rushing yards per game. Its five rushing touchdowns are tied for third most and the 4.2 yards per carry ranks ninth.
• Millersville has not had a 1,000-yard rusher since Juan Jones in 2005. Since then, the most rushing yards in a season was Brad Lantz's 902 in 2007. Since Colby arrived in 2008, Cardoza Jacks' 765 yards in 2008 is the most by any Marauder running back in a season. There have been 16 PSAC running backs total over 1,000 yards in that same stretch.

MAKING THE SWITCH
• Millersville flipped three players from offense to defense in the offseason, and two of them started the season opener and all three played. Lou Brown, who spent two-and-a-half seasons at wide receiver, moved to cornerback for the final five games of 2011. He finished the season with an interception and a recovered fumble. He was recruited as a corner, so it is his more natural position. So far this season, Brown has picked up right where he left off, recording five tackles against Wesleyan, and six tackles and an interception against Mercyhurst.
• Dean May has traveled a bumpy road for three seasons at Millersville. After redshirting in 2009, he was not on the team in 2010 and then suffered a serious knee injury that kept him out nearly the entire 2011 season. After working as a receiver for three seasons, coaches moved him to the hybrid outside linebacker/safety position in the spring, and he has worked his way to No. 1 on the depth chart ahead of players like Shakar Jones and Jake Allen, who have both played extensively in the past. May has two tackles in each of the first two games.
• Last season's starting quarterback, Dan Miller, is also moving to defense. Coaches recruited him as a cornerback, and he is back in the secondary but as a safety. Miller started the first 10 games of 2011 under center and led the team in total offense. Miller also has two stops in each of the first two games.

PRODUCING DUO
• Millersville is more than happy to have Matt Egenrieder back on the field. The senior co-captain redshirted during the 2011 season but in 35 games, and 23 career starts has 87 catches and 1,202 yards receiving. Egenrieder ranked 10th in the PSAC in receiving yards while playing alongside All-PSAC East First Team pick Jamal Smith in 2010. He averaged an explosive 17.5 yards per catch that season. He's also totaled 1,310 kick return yards and averaged 18.2 yards per return in three seasons as the primary return specialist.  He is on pace to become just the 10th player in school history with 100 catches, and also need just 410 yards to move into 10th in career receiving yards.
• In Egenrieder's last 13 games, he's caught eight passes of at least 25 yards and four of more than 40. He's also recorded a catch in 18 consecutive games that he has played an offensive snap, dating back to Oct. 17, 2009. He's also recorded a catch in 26 of 27 games.
• Couple Egenrieder with Dominic Sanders, and the Marauders have two productive pass catchers. Sanders led the team with 41 catches and 424 yards in 2011 and he has six catches for 62 yards so far this season. He and Egenrieder combine for 1,892 receiving yards and 156 catches through week two. The Marauders haven't had such a productive duo enter a season together since Ryan Clift and Andy Neupauer in 2004. That duo finished with 3,477 career yards, totaling 1,486 of those in 2004.

RACK 'EM UP
• Senior Pat Maloney has been among Millersville's leading tacklers going on four consecutive seasons, and has piled up 193 in his career. His numbers have improved each season, jumping from 43 as a true freshman to 78 as a junior. He was averaged 10.6 per game as a sophomore until he was injured after game five. Maloney led the PSAC in tackles at the time of his injury.
• Last season, he also led the Marauders in tackles for loss with 9.0 and sacks with 4.0. He aims to become just the sixth player since defensive stats started being recorded in 1973 to lead the team in tackles in back-to-back seasons. Matt Sutjak most recently performed the feat in 2008 and 2009. The last Marauder linebacker to do so was Lee Rizzotto, who did it from 1997-99.
• So far in 2012, Maloney leads the team and ranks seventh in the PSAC with 19 stops. He also has a quarterback sack to his credit.
• Maloney's 13 tackles against Mercyhurst were a game high, giving him eight games with double-digit tackles in his career. He has also led the team in tackles in seven of the last 13 games that he has played.

FIRST IN A WHILE
• Jordan Rigby became the first Millersville defensive player to be named PSAC East Defensive Player of the Week in over five years Sunday after intercepting two passes and returning one for a touchdown in the week one win over W.Va. Wesleyan.
• His 19-yard interception return for a touchdown turned the tide of Saturday's game. Millersville trailed 10-7 in the third until Rigby's interception return put the Marauders on top to stay. He picked off Nate Montana twice, totaling 26 return yards. He also hurried Montana once, broke up another passes and tallied five tackles including a half-tackle for loss.
• His INT return was the first by a Marauder since Dan McClellan's in the 2008 season opener at Bentley.

THREE BY ONE
• Running back Mike Jones totaled a career-high three touchdowns. One came on a reception and the other two were rushing. In his 12 previous games as a Marauder, Jones had scored just two touchdowns, and his first quarter, 1-yard run against Wesleyan was his first TD since scoring on a 74-yard run against Shippensburg on Oct. 30, 2010. It was also the first three-touchdown performance by a Marauder since Jamal Smith totaled three touchdown catches against Lock Haven on Sept. 11, 2010.

LIVING ON THE EDGE
• Marauder defensive end Reggie Slaton is having a breakthrough season. His 17 tackles rank second on the team and 11th in the PSAC.  His 1.5 sacks are also tied for second in the PSAC and his 4.5 tackles for loss are not only a team best, but a league best as well.  His average of 2.25 TFL's per game are tied for 24th in Division II.
• Maintaining his current averages put him on pace for 94 tackles, 8.5 sacks, and 25 tackles for loss. No Marauder has had more than 93 stops since Joe Hollister won the PSAC East Defensive Player of the Year award in 2004, and no player has had more more than seven sacks since Lee Rizzotto totaled 13 in 1999.