Thiel Tomcats Picked To Repeat as PAC Titlist

By William Albright

Team: Bethany

Nickname: Bison

Stadium: Bethany Field (1,000)

Head Coach: Tim Weaver (1st year)

2005 Record: 1-9 overall, 0-6 in PAC

Returning Starters: Offense (7), Defense (7), Special Teams (2).

Key Returnees: Wide Receiver T. J. Parker, Linebacker Cliff Anderson, center Stefan Bernacki, tight end/punter Mike Wlias, linebacker/defensive end Chance Kildow.

Coaches Comments: "We are excited to be a part of this league. We are proud at Bethany to have won four championships, but the last one has been too long ago. We are going to show up and play hard. We have proven skilled position players returning and that should be the strong part of our offense. Our defensive strength should be at linebacker, while our biggest concern right now is the lack of depth up front."

Team: Grove City

Nickname: Wolverines

Stadium: Robert E. Thorn (3,500)

Head Coach: Chris Smith (23rd season, 85-123-2)

2005 Record: 3-7 overall, 2-4 in PAC

Returning Starters: Offense (9), Defense (5), Special Teams (5).

Key Returnees: Split end/kick returner Scott Fichter, tight end Dan Jeltes, guard Matt Rice, tackle Bob Perri, fullback Matt Weil, linebacker Garret Choby and cornerback Chris Schwamberger.

Coaches Comments: "We had a great off-season and the kids are dedicated to make things happen. We return four seniors on the offensive line and we also return a number of outstanding skilled people as well as tight end Dan Jeltes. On defense, (Garret) Choby will lead the way, while (Chris)Schwamberger is very versatile and could wind up playing a number of positions. We have a lot of great things going on around the campus that has generated a lot of excitement and we are anxious to get things going."

Team: Thiel

Nickname: Tomcats

Stadium: Alumni Stadium (1,400)

Head Coach: Jack Leipheimer (6th year, overall record 26-26).

2005 Record: 11-1 overall, 6-0 in PAC

Returning Starters: Offense (8), Defense (7), Special Teams (2).

Key Returnees: Defensive back Darius Thompson, tailback Steve Minton, offensive lineman Rock Davis, linebacker Jeff Wagner and offensive lineman Ricky Gable.

Coaches Comments: "It is very humbling when we win some type of award and I always look at awards as staff awards. At Thiel, we are excited and optimistic about out future. We have been very fortunate to be able to recruit the right kind of young man to turn our program around. We have a tough road to travel from the start as we play four of our first five games on the road. As for having a bullseye on our back after winning the championship last season, that is OK with us. We are not going to change a whole lot, but rather, we are going to just be who we are. We lost some great athletes from last year’s team, but we also have a great group of athletes coming back. One of our strengths will be on the offensive line where we have a pair of 3-year starters coming back. Steve Minton is back and healthy at running back and his backup, Dan Hess, is also back after doing an outstanding job last year when Minton was injured. Defensively, our strength should be at linebacker with Logan Malie and Jef Wagner leading the way. Last year generated a lot of excitement on campus and that has carried over to this year. As always, our focus is to be a little better today than we were yesteday and a little better tomorrow than we are today."

Team: Thomas More

Nickname: Saints

Stadium: Thomas More Stadium

Head Coach: Mike Hallett

2005 Record: 6-4 overall, 4-2 in PAC

Returning Starters: Offense (X), Defense (X), Special Teams (X).

Key Returnees: Linebacker Mark Carlisle, cornerback Chris Willis, center Brandon Lee and linebacker Rashawn West.

Coaches Comments: "This is an exciting time for Thomas More to be a part of this outstanding conference. Coming out of spring drills, it was refreshing to see how out kids came of last year’s 5-5 season. We have a nucleus of players to build this year’s team around. One of the biggest things we have going into the season will be the offensive line where we have five kids returning. Defensively, we are hoping to build around our two inside guys. We are going to be young and inexperienced in the kicking game and the development in that area could be crucial to our success, especially early in the season."

Team: Washington & Jefferson

Nickname: Presidents

Stadium: Cameron Stadium

Head Coach: Mike Sirianni

2005 Record: 9-2 overall, 5-1 in PAC

Returning Starters: Offense (7), Defense (8).

Key Returnees: Offensive guard Chris

Hickey, Offensive tackle Chris Teter, placekicker Kyle Sidebotham, cornerback Cory Walsh, strong safety Gabe McKee.

Coaches Comments: "We are glad for the expectations placed on us by ranking us 7th in the nation, but at this point in the season, I think that ranking is a little far-fetched. As always, our two main goals are to win the PAC championship and be able to compete for a national championship. Our offense will be a little different because we won’t have the ball flying through the air as much as we have in the past. We have two quarterbacks and I have no problem operating with two quarterbacks. Last year, we started anywhere from 7 to 8 linemen on offense and all of them are returning. Many times we learn more from losses than wins, and we are going to have to win some games with our defense. I am anxious to begin the season because the biggest reason I coach is the relationships I am able to develop with the athletes."

Team: Waynesburg

Nickname: Yellow Jackets

Stadium: Wiley Stadium

Head Coach: Rick Shepas

2005 Record: 4-6 overall, 2-4 in PAC

Returning Starters: Offense (6), Defense (5), Special Teams (1).

Key Returnees: Running back Ryan Abels, quarterback Tres Cobb, defensive tackle LaDrekus Burford, placekicker Ben Popson, defensive end Mike Czerwien

Coaches Comments: "I guess we have been the benefactor of being in the right place at the right time. We will have field turf at Wiley Stadium this year and it will now be an even better place to play a football game. Last year, it was just challenging to get to know the players and it took us about half of the season for them to make the transition into our program. Going into the season, our two most important things appear to be strength & conditioning along with rest & recovery. We left last season with our kids wanting more and hopefully that will carry over to this season. We return one of the best players in the conference in tailback Ryan Abels. He is a very special player who is exciting to watch. When he is running the ball, I become more of a fan than a coach."

Team: Westminster

Nickname: Titans

Stadium: Harold Burry Stadium

Head Coach: Jeff Hand

2005 Record: 4-6 overall, 2-4 in PAC

Returning Starters: Offense (7), Defense (3), Special Teams (1).

Key Returnees: Quarterback J. R. Barley, wide receiver Jake Buzard, defensive lineman Chris Dulovich, defensive back Joey Tissler and placekicker/punter Dusty Rhodes.

Coaches Comments: "We have the similar feeling every year, and it is a feeling of anxiety to begin the season. Offensively, our strengths should be on the line where we return three of five starters, while we also have a nice group of skilled players returning as well. Defensively, we only return three starters so we are hoping a number of newcomers step up and play well. We have had a lot of continuity on the staff and I think that has shown in the development of the program. As a coaching staff, we are anxious to see the fruits of our first off-season program. As always, we are going to cintinue to stress things we feel are important to any program and those are strength & conditioning along with academics. We believe in doing things the right way."

New Face On Top Of PSAC-West Polls

By BILL ALBRIGHT

CRANBERRY TWP. -- You can now officially consider the collegiate football season under way.
Tuesday afternoon, August 1, the Pennsylvania State Athletic Association held its annual kickoff luncheon for the 2006 season at the Regional Learning Center located in Cranberry Woods.
While the seven teams comprising the division remain the same, one major difference evolved during the get-together.
One of the big attractions of the luncheon is the announcing of the coaches pre-season poll. In many of the recent years, the team expected to be at the top of the standings when the season concluded was either IUP or Edinboro and sometimes either Slippery Rock or Shippensburg.
However, this year, a different program will be wearing the target on its back as the California Vulcans were tabbed as the "team to beat" in the PSAC-West.
"Being named as the top-ranked team in the conference is such a different perspective for California than it has been in the past," pointed out Cal head coach John "Lucky" Luckhardt. "Our goal each year is to be in that one or two mix and we want to be a competitor wherever we are picked. This is a very, very good league and I truly believe there are five teams that all have a chance to win and we just want to be one of those five. Our goal when we came here (to California) was to be in that mix so I guess we have reached that goal."
So what does it mean to Luckhardt and his Vulcans?
"We aren't going to out and change our practice schedule because of the ranking," quipped Luckhardt. "We are just going to go out and work real hard and if we perform well, we'll have a chance to be competitive. Frank's (former IUP coach Cignetti) teams always seemed to dominate things with Edinboro, Shippensburg and Slippery Rock finding their way in there from time to time. Five years ago, we weren't competitive in this league, but right now, we are a competitor and really, that is all you can ask for."
While the Vulcans are the top choice in the polls, the Lock Haven Bald Eagles are perched on the other end in the seventh spot. Having been there numerous times before, LHU head coach John Klacik hopes his kids are tired of hearing about that and go out and prove the pollsters wrong.
"I don't put much stock in them (the polls) and I never have," said Klacik. "What I hope is that sooner or later our team starts looking at it and says, hey we are tired of being picked last and we have to do something about it. Some guys might look at the rankings and say, hey, we are ranked number one so we must be pretty good, while on the other hand, the guys on the team picked to place last might say, hey, we are picked last so we must stink. I don't know if our team is in that mode any more. Maybe three or four years ago, but not now."
With California (8-2, 5-1) and Lock Haven (2-9, 0-6) located at either end of the spectrum, the other five teams that provide the filling for the sandwich in spots two through six are Edinboro (8-2, 5-1), Slippery Rock (5-5, 4-2), IUP (5-5, 4-2), Shippensburg (4-7, 2-4) and Clarion (3-7, 1-5) respectively.
While Luckhardt, Dr. George Mihalik (Slippery Rock), Rocky Rees (Shippensburg) and Klacik all return with their same programs, three other coaches have either different roles or positions heading into the 2006 campaign.
At Edinboro, Scott Browning, an assistant in the Fighting Scot program for 20 years, takes over for the departed Lou Tepper. On the other hand, Tepper remains in the conference by moving to Indiana County where he takes over the reins of the Indians with the resignation of Frank Cignetti. Completing the trio of "new" faces is Jay Foster who takes over at Clarion after serving as Mihalik's defensive coordinator for the past 17 seasons at SRU.
In addition to the six conference games on each team's schedule, the new format of the PSAC will feature four "crossover" games for each team against teams from the Eastern Division of the PSAC on a rotating basis.
The Bald Eagles will waste no time getting the season untracked as they travel to Southern Illinois to face the Salukis on August 31. Following a week off, the Bald Eagles will face three crossover teams in East Stroudsburg, Millersville and Mansfield before tackling the six tough divisional foes with Kutztown tossed into the mix in week 11.

NFF Announces $5 Million Play It Smart Campaign

The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame

Initiative will provide critical support for the NFF’s highly successful mentoring program

MORRISTOWN, N.J., August 23, 2006 – The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) announced today that it has launched a national $5 million fundraising campaign in 2006-07 to fund its highly successful “Play It Smart” initiative.

“Over the past eight years we have developed one of the most comprehensive and effective youth development programs in the country for helping at-risk student-athletes,” said NFF President Steve Hatchell. “We would love to be in a thousand schools because we know our model works, and this campaign will play a key role in our ability to support the program.”

Introduced in 1998 and currently in 136 high schools (listed at www.playitsmart.org) in 35 states and reaching 12,000 at-risk student-athletes, Play It Smart trains “academic” coaches to work with high school football teams in underserved areas during the entire school year, taking the transferable life skills learned on the field and applying them in the classroom and the community.

“Because of the Play It Smart program, I took school more seriously and (developed) my study habits,” said Southern California wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett in a May 22 USA Today article, which said Jarrett wouldn’t have made it to USC without Play It Smart. “Going into my first year of college it would have been much tougher without the organization and management skills I learned.”

With major financial support from the NFL and the NFL Players Association, corporations, communities and individuals, the program has achieved dramatic results, including:

  98% of participants graduating high school, compared to a national rate of 86%;

  80% of seniors enrolling in college compared to 64% of their peers;

  Participants completing more than 60,000 hours of community service annually;

  Rosters increasing by 35% for teams with fewer than 40 players; and

  71 seniors earning spots on Division I-A rosters in 2006 as incoming freshman, bringing the number of participants in the elite collegiate ranks to more than 150 student-athletes.

The fundraising campaign is being headed by USC’s Ronnie Lott, a 2002 inductee into the College Football Hall of Fame who recently agreed to serve as the chairman of the program’s National Advisory Board, which is comprised of leaders in the fields of education, business and community affairs.

“When you think about life, one of the things you have to learn is how to compete,” Lott said. “Most of these kids know how to compete in athletics, yet when it comes to learning how to compete outside of athletics, they need to have the right tools. Play It Smart is teaching them those types of skills as they move forward.”

The campaign will solicit funds from individual philanthropists, foundations and corporations in the form of grants, donations and sponsorships. The objective of the campaign is to solidify support for the current schools in the program and identify new schools for inclusion.

ABOUT The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame

With 120 chapters and 12,000 members nationwide, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame, a non-profit educational organization, runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship and athletic achievement in young people. The NFF presents the MacArthur Trophy, the Draddy Trophy, presented by HealthSouth, and releases the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) Standings. NFF programs include the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind., Play It Smart, the NFF Center for Youth Development Through Sport at Springfield College (Mass.), the NFL-NFF Coaching Academy, and scholarships of over $1 million for college and high school scholar-athletes. Learn more at www.footballfoundation.org.

ABOUT PLAY IT SMART

Established in 1998 by The National Football Foundation as an educational program, Play It Smart works to turn football teams from tough inner city environments into learning teams. Designed to take a student-athlete’s passion and dedication to football, Play It Smart leverages the positive peer pressure of a team to make academic achievement the norm. At the heart of the program is a year-round academic coach, an official member of a team’s staff, who serves as a direct link to the classroom by helping players and the team achieve their academic and personal development goals during the entire school year. With significant financial support from the NFL and NFL Players Association, Play It Smart currently reaches over 12,000 participants at 136 high schools in 85 cities and 35 states. www.PlayItSmart.org.

Contacts:

Hillary Jeffries, National Football Foundation

Phone: 1-800-486-1865, ext. 123


Steve Griffith, Pyramid Public Relations

Phone: 212-643-1068, ext. 250