ESU Football Game Notes vs. C.W. Post

EAST STROUDSBURG – East Stroudsburg University redshirt senior quarterback Ray Wagner has been named the D2Football.com National Offensive Player of the Week after throwing for 522 yards and compiling 544 yards of total offense on Saturday at Kutztown.

Wagner (Harrisburg/Susquehanna Township) leads Division II in total offense with 378.3 yards per game and ranks second in passing with 360.7 yards per game as the trigger man in the Warriors' passing attack, which also ranks second nationally.

His passing yards and total offense at Kutztown, ranked No. 23 in the nation, are both the most in Division II this season. He threw for 330 yards in the first half, passing his average of 328.4, and had seven completions over 30 yards. Wagner's performance through the first half of the season has come against a schedule that ranks as the eighth-toughest in Division II.

He also holds the highest pass efficiency rating in a single game at 321.5, going 13-for-20 for 375 yards and six touchdowns – all in the first half – against Pace in his first career start on Sept. 1.

Wagner is one of two quarterbacks in Division II with 250 passing yards in every game this season and one of two to throw for 375 yards in three different games – 375 vs. Pace, 397 vs. Bloomsburg and 522 at Kutztown. He ranks fourth in school history in both single-game passing and total offense, sixth in PSAC history in passing and seventh in total offense.

His 2,164 passing yards through the first six games are the most in school history, passing two familiar names in Jimmy Terwilliger and Damian Poalucci. Terwilliger opened the 2005 season with 2,140 yards and went on to win the Harlon Hill Award for the top player in Division II, and Poalucci had 2,078 yards at the six-game mark in 1996 when he was third in the Harlon Hill voting and set Division II records with 3,831 passing yards and 17.9 yards per completion.

Wagner is averaging 15.4 yards per completion, also the best in Division II, and his top six wide receivers are all averaging more than 16.0 yards per catch. Sophomore Dusty Reed is seventh in DII with 107.8 yards per game, redshirt sophomore Robert Bleiler is 27th with 87.4 yards per game, and Reed, Bleiler and redshirt juniors Jordan Hallman and Wade Williams all have more than 15 catches and 250 yards this season.

ESU had three 100-yard receivers at Kutztown for just the third time in school history in Bleiler (seven catches, 153 yards), Williams (four catches, 140 yards, TD) and Reed (eight catches, 118 yards). Five Warriors have had a 100-yard game in the last two weeks after Hallman and freshman Ray Dominguez hit the mark against Bloomsburg.

His two-game passing total of 919 yards – 397 vs. Bloomsburg and 522 at Kutztown – is third-most in school history and his three-game total of 1,203 yards is second-best. He is the first quarterback in school history to throw for 250 yards in six straight games within the same season, and one of three – joining Terwilliger and Poalucci – with at least four 300-yard games.

Also of note, Wagner has been sacked just three times in 260 pass attempts thanks to a quick release and a veteran offensive line that has combined for 135 career starts going into this Saturday's game vs. C.W. Post. Redshirt senior center Dan Caffrey made his 40th consecutive start last week and redshirt senior LT Zach Sarginger (28 starts), redshirt junior RT Wrenton Wright II (28 starts), redshirt junior RG Seve Rivers (26 starts) and redshirt sophomore LG Greg Blue (13 starts) all returned intact from last season.

Wagner is the third Warrior to be recognized by D2Football.com in the last four seasons. Quarterback Matt Marshall and outside linebacker Matt Freed were both mentioned as redshirt sophomores in 2008 – Freed after his second career start vs. Gannon, and Marshall for his 258-yard performance in just over a half after coming on in relief at Millersville.