By Jeff Schuler
Of The Morning Call
September 26, 2012
Cheyney recap l
Clarion preview
Watch: Coach Douds talks about coaching 400 games at ESU
When
Matt Soltes threw a touchdown pass in East Stroudsburg's 59-27 win over Cheyney Saturday, the redshirt freshman and his father, Andy, joined the Terwilligers (Mike and Jimmy) and the Marshalls (Brian and Matt) as father-son duos to do that during
Denny Douds' tenure as head coach.
"All that means is you've got an old football coach," Douds quipped of the achievement.
That "old football coach" reached yet another milestone Saturday, becoming the 15th football coach in NCAA history and the first in Division II to coach in 400 games. The 71-year-old Douds, already the winningest coach in PSAC history, is just the fifth to reach that level at one school, joining the likes of Grambling's Eddie Robinson and Penn State's Joe Paterno.
Douds, fifth among Division II coaches with 234 career victories, said he "understands … to some degree" the significance of his accomplishment but said he didn't "take time to reflect on that.
"Who we're playing this week, that's what's on my mind," Douds said.
"Certainly those guys are great ones in the profession, and meant a lot to do it," he later added. "I just happened to end up there with them."
Douds coached his first game on Sept. 14, 1974, against his alma mater, Slippery Rock, as an interim head coach while Charlie Reese was away on sabbatical. When Reese decided not to return to coaching, Douds got the job permanently and has led the Warriors to a .500 or better record in 26 of his 38 seasons.
Including the 68 games he served as Reese's assistant, Douds has been involved in 61 percent (458 of 868) of the Warriors' all-time games.
In comparison, Paterno took part in 57 percent (704 of 1,232) of games in the history of the Nittany Lions program.
Asked about his most memorable games, Douds just laughed.
"You don't go home and say, 'Hon, remember this game or that game?' " he said. "But when you run into some of the guys that played for the Warriors over the years, you start talking about the games they were in, and that's what makes a game special.
"There's been great games with every team in every season," Douds added. "Some championship games, but also games we went into where people didn't think we had a prayer and the kids came out on the high end."
When the younger Soltes earns a letter, he will complete the eighth father-son combo to do so during Douds' tenure as assistant or head coach.
"That's one of the pure pleasures of coaching," Douds said.
Douds has said his current team reminds him of another young squad — his first, which finished 5-5 in 1974 before back-to-back unbeaten and PSAC championship seasons.
"One thing about coaching young guys, it's an adventure every day," Douds said. "Does it keep you young? Sure it does. I was out to dinner with my wife recently and said, 'You know what? I thought we were past this stuff 25 years ago. We're still raising kids.' And we had a good laugh."
More numbers: There were lots of numbers beyond 400 to come out of ESU's win over Cheyney.
The win was the 450th in the program's history, a level reached by only three other PSAC schools — West Chester (543), IUP (504) and Slippery Rock (452). … The win was the Warriors' 33rd straight against the Wolves, extending their NCAA record for consecutive wins in an uninterrupted series. … Senior tailbacks
Eric Deery (167 yards) and
Kendrick Williams (151 yards) became the first backs to top the 150-yard mark in the same game.
Kutztown's Morton questionable: All-American quarterback Kevin Morton has returned to practice but is questionable for Saturday's game at Slippery Rock, Kutztown coach Raymond Monica said.
"We'll just try to see how it goes," Monica said of Morton, who suffered a dislocated left shoulder two weeks ago in a loss at Bloomsburg.
Also questionable are senior running back Josh Mastromatto (broken left hand) and sophomore defensive back English Peay (hamstring). Senior defensive back Alex DiNolfi is out with a torn posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
Redshirt sophomore Josh Luckenbaugh, making his first start, completed 36 of 53 passes for 306 yards and a touchdown, although he was intercepted twice, in a 45-24 loss to West Chester last week. The attempts were four shy of the school record; the completions broke Morton's mark from 2010 by one.
Downey cited: Moravian freshman linebacker Brenden Downey was named the Centennial Conference's defensive player of the week after making 13 tackles and picking off his first pass against the Red Devils.
Downey leads the team with 42 tackles.
"He's a very instinctive player," Greyhounds coach Jeff Pukszyn said. "He runs well and he's very active, which is what you want at the linebacker spot. He's done a great job taking everything in, and he keeps working every day on his fundamentals."
Getting his kicks in: Punter Tyler Thompson showed off his ambidextrous feet against the Red Devils, booting a season-long 54-yarder with his right foot and a 43-yarder with his left that was downed at the 5 yard line.
Thompson, who sometimes rolls out and punts rugby style, averaged 42.7 yards on his four punts and also ran seven yards on a fake for a first down.
Big play Isiah: Senior Isiah Vaughn had three catches for 104 yards in Muhlenberg's 33-21 loss to Johns Hopkins, including grabs of 41 and 40 yards.
That gives Vaughn a conference-high 22.4-yard average on 15 catches, and he also leads the conference in receiving yards (336) and receiving yards per game (84.0).
Bragging rights: Johns Hopkins senior strong safety Adam Schweyer grew up on 33rd Street off Tilghman in Allentown, not far from the Muhlenberg campus, and strongly considered staying home before deciding to go to Johns Hopkins.
"It was on my final list," the Central Catholic product said of Muhlenberg.
Saturday he helped the Blue Jays beat Muhlenberg 33-21, giving him a 3-1 record against the Mules in his college career.
"I'm best friends with [Muhlenberg lineman] Garrett Bisbing, and we ran together almost every day this summer," Schweyer said with a smile. "I can hold this over his head a little bit."
Schweyer leads Hopkins with 28 tackles including five for loss and a sack to go with an interception. He has 170 tackles and three interceptions in his career and is also considered one of the best special teams players in school history.
"He's always been a very good football player; he's made himself a great football player," Hopkins coach Jim Margraff said. "He's physically imposing, he runs well, he's a bright football player, he's a great leader … he's what Hopkins' defense is all about."
