Complete Game Notes (PDF)  l  PSAC Week 6 Notes

Related: Soltes named D2Football.com Offensive Player of the Week


SATURDAY  l  6:05 p.m.  l  EILER-MARTIN STADIUM

Follow: Blue Ridge TV-13  l  ESU Warriors "All Access"  l  redzonemedia.com  l  Live Stats  l  Twitter

TV: Live on Blue Ridge TV-13 and esuwarriors.com. Play-by-play man Chris Doty, in his 25th season, is joined in the booth by Jim Riley (7th season).

Radio: Live on WVPO (ESPN Poconos) 840 AM for the 52nd season, and redzonemedia.com. Chuck Seese, the 2009 PSAC Heaslip Media Award recipient, is in his 26th season as the voice of the Warriors, with Bob Brittain in his 14th year providing the color commentary. Pre-game begins at 5:30 p.m.


1st & 10 ...  Complete Game Notes (PDF)

1 • ESU (4-1, 3-1) hosts Cheyney (0-5, 0-4) at Eiler-Martin Stadium. The Warriors are coming off a 37-33 win at Shippensburg last week, their 1st win vs. Ship since 2008, and 1st at Ship since 2002. ESU is 8-5 in home night games since 2007.

2 • ESU has won 34 straight games against Cheyney, an NCAA all-division record for consecutive victories in an uninterrupted series. Cheyney's only win came in 1979 (7-3). ESU leads the all-time series, 57-1, and head coach Denny Douds is 39-1 against the Wolves.

3 • Douds has 248 career wins and is one victory from tying Lou Holtz for 20th on the NCAA all-division list. Douds ranks 3rd among active NCAA coaches and 3rd in DII history in career wins. He holds the DII record for games coached (423) and ranks 10th in NCAA history.

4 • Douds faces Cheyney head coach Anthony Johnson for the 1st time. Johnson will be the 105th coach Douds has faced in 41 seasons at ESU (since 1974). Douds is 69-35 against first-time foes.

5 • R-Jr. QB Matt Soltes had 527 total yards (416 passing, 111 rushing) in ESU's 37-33 win at Shippensburg, leading 2 4th-quarter TD drives. He leads the PSAC and ranks 2nd in DII in total offense (430.8 ypg), and leads the PSAC and ranks 3rd in DII in passing (380.0 ypg). His 1,900 passing yards and 2,154 total yards are the most thru 5 games in ESU history, and his 2,154 total yards are the most in any 5-game stretch (surpassing his mark of 2,128 in 2012).

6 • Soltes had his 5th career game with 500+ yards total offense at Ship, setting a PSAC record he shared with ESU's Damian Poalucci (1996). Soltes' 5 500-yard games are tied for the most in DII since 2001 with Tusculum's Bo Cordell (2009-13) and are tied for the most among active NCAA QB's with Washington State's Connor Halliday.

7 • R-Jr. WR Jon Schnaars tied an ESU record with 14 catches at Ship and had a career-high 152 yards, along with 2 TD. Schnaars tied a record held by Evan Prall (2006 vs. California), John Kotarsky (1999 at Mansfield) and Brett Witmer (1997 at Bloomsburg). He had his 5th career 100-yard receiving game and is 6 receptions from 100 in his career.

8 • R-So. TB Robert Healy had his 10th straight game with 100 yards from scrimmage, extending his school record, with 89 yards (TD) rushing and 52 yards receiving. Healy is the only player in DII with 300 yards both rushing (403) and receiving (333). He has 7 TD on 98 touches this fall.

9 • Soltes was named PSAC East Offensive Player of the Week and R-Sr. DL Bryan Thomson was PSAC East Defensive Player of the Week with 8 tackles, 2 TFL, a sack, and 2 blocked kicks (extending his school record to 14). Thomson (19) and R-Sr. DE Brandon Gattelli (20) are the only teammates in DII to rank in the top 10 in active career sacks.

10 • Jr. CB Teron Dobbs had 2 interceptions at Ship, giving him 5 this year (leads PSAC) and 13 in his career (t-1st among active DII players).


For more ... Complete Game Notes (PDF)

THE SERIES: ESU's 34 straight wins over Cheyney are an NCAA all-division record for an uninterrupted series. The Warriors won last year's meeting, 40-6, at Cheyney. Only one of the last 15 meetings has been decided by less than 21 points - a 10-6 win at Cheyney's O'Shields-Stevenson Stadium in 2011. ESU leads the all-time series, 57-1, with Cheyney's only win coming in 1979 (7-3) when the Wolves went on to win the PSAC championship.

5 TAKEAWAYS FROM 37-33 WIN at SHIPPENSBURG
1. R-Jr. QB Matt Soltes (33-for-54, 416 yards, 4 TD; 13 carries, 111 yards) has 2 of the 3 games in PSAC history in which a quarterback has thrown for 400+ yards and rushed for 100+ yards. He was 9-for-11 for 142 yards and 2 TD after Ship took its 1st lead of the game on the 1st play of the 4th quarter.
2. Schnaars (14) and R-So. TB Robert Healy (7) combined for 21 catches, an ESU record for teammates in a game.
3. Jr. WR Joe Welk (5 catches, 129 yards, TD) had career-highs in catches and yards (69-yard TD early 4th quarter).
4. ESU's defense was on the field for 97 plays - and had sacks on the 96th and 97th plays to seal the victory. Ship took over on its own 21 with 1:41 left and moved to the ESU 27, before sacks by R-Sr. DE Brandon Gattelli and R-So. DE Ahmad McFarland saved the game.
5. R-Sr. DL Bryan Thomson had 2 blocked kicks - knocking away a 30-yard field goal in the 1st quarter, and an extra point in the 4th quarter. He saved 4 points - the final margin of victory. His 4 blocks this year are t-1st in DII.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR vs. CHEYNEY
1. ESU is looking for its first 4-game winning streak since the last 4 games of the 2008 season [the Warriors won the first 3 games in 2009 for a combined 7-game winning streak].
2. Soltes has 9,028 career yards total offense, 97 yards from entering the top 10 in PSAC history in his 24th start.
3. Soltes had 419 total yards (387 passing) in last year's 40-6 win. R-Sr. TE Steven Jones had 4 catches for 144 yards and 3 TD, including scoring plays of 80 and 53 yards.
4. ESU has gained 450+ yards in 14 of the last 18 meetings since 1996, when the Warriors had a series record 678 total yards ... the Warriors have rushed for 200+ yards in 5 of the last 7 meetings ... they have thrown for 300+ yards in just 5 of the last 17 meetings.
5. ESU has held Cheyney to less than 400 yards in 15 straight games, beginning with the 1999 season ... the Wolves haven't rushed for 200 yards against ESU since 1997 (273), and haven't thrown for 200 yards since 2003 (284).

DOUDS' MILESTONES: Last year, Douds became the 13th man to reach 40 seasons as head coach in NCAA football history, the 9th to coach 40 years at one school, and the 5th to spend all of his 40+ year career at the same institution. He joins Eddie Robinson (Grambling, 1941-42, 45-97), John E. Dorman (Upper Iowa, 1905-06, 09-42, 45-59), Joe Paterno (Penn State, 1966-2011) and Jim Malosky (Minn.-Duluth, 1958-97).

Entering this week: has coached more games (423) than any active coach in NCAA football ... ranks 1st in DII history in games coached (set in 2011), and 10th in NCAA history ... 3rd in career wins (248) among active NCAA coaches ... 1st in the PSAC in career wins (set in 2008), 3rd in DII history and 21st in NCAA history ... 49 career wins since turning 65 - more than 10 of the other 15 PSAC coaches have in their careers.

DOUDS DWARFS PSAC EAST: Douds' 244 career wins entering 2014 were almost double the PSAC win total (130) of the other 7 coaches in the PSAC East - WCU's Bill Zwaan (90), Ship's Mark Maciejewski (25), Bloom's Paul Darragh (10), LHU's John Allen (4), Mill's Greg Breitbach (1) and Cheyney's Anthony Johnson and KU's Jim Clements (0) ... Douds coached 40 seasons in the PSAC entering 2014 (other 7 - combined 19).

THE HEAD COACHES: Denny Douds (Slippery Rock '63) has a career record of 248-172-3 (.590) in his 41st season. He is in his 49th season at ESU overall, including 8 years as an assistant coach from 1966-73. He has led the Warriors to 9 PSAC titles and 4 NCAA Playoff appearances since taking over as head coach in 1974. His teams won outright state titles in 1975, 1978 and 1982 before the State Game was discontinued following the 1987 season. His teams have claimed PSAC East divisional titles in 1975, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1991, 2002 and 2003. NCAA Playoff appearances have come in 1991, 2004, 2005 - when the Warriors won the Northeast Region title and advanced to the national semifinals - and 2009.

Anthony Johnson (Salisbury '06) is in his 1st season as interim head coach at Cheyney and has a career record of 0-5. Johnson was previously offensive coordinator for the Wolves under head coaches Jeff Braxton and Ken Lockard, who preceded Johnson as head coach from 2011-13. Prior to arriving at Cheyney, Johnson was an assistant coach at Salisbury. He was a member of two conference championship and NCAA Tournament teams as a player at Salisbury.

PSAC CHANGES: PSAC crossover games vs. Slippery Rock (Sept. 13) and Edinboro (Sept. 20) counted towards the PSAC's divisional standings for the first time in 2014, creating a 9-game PSAC schedule. The final crossover game (Nov. 15 vs. Gannon) will not count. The State Game, in its 7th year after returning in 2008, will be played that weekend.

TRENDING UP: ESU notched a 7-4 record in 2013, building on a 5-5 campaign in 2012 after consecutive 3-8 seasons in 2010 and 2011. Since 2000, the Warriors are 99-60 (.623) with a .500+ record in 11 of 14 seasons.

PRESEASON POLLS: ESU was picked 2nd in the PSAC East preseason poll behind defending regional champion West Chester - the highest the Warriors have been picked since they were the preseason favorite in 2005 ... ESU was 4-3 in the PSAC East in 2012 and 2013, and is seeking its 1st divisional title since 2002 and 2003 ... ESU received votes in the AFCA DII preseason poll - the 5th time in the last 10 years it has been ranked or received votes in the preseason poll.

DOUDS' FOES: Douds faces Cheyney's Anthony Johnson for the first time. He has coached against 104 different head coaches in his career at ESU and is 69-35 against first-time foes ... He will also face Jim Clements (Kutztown) and Brad Rzyczycki (Gannon) for the first time this fall ... Douds faced Millersville's Gene Carpenter 27 times, and faced Danny Hale 26 times between his career at West Chester and Bloomsburg ... Among active coaches, his most frequent opponents are WCU's Bill Zwaan (12), SRU's George Mihalik (9) and LIU Post's Bryan Collins (9).

PROGRAM WINS: ESU has a 464-308-19 (.599) record in its 87th year of varsity football. West Chester (564), IUP (525) and Slippery Rock (469) are the only other PSAC programs with at least 450 wins.

As head coach, Douds is responsible for 53.5 percent of the program's games (423 of 791), and 53.5 percent of its wins (248 of 464). Including 68 games and 45 wins as an assistant coach under Charlie Reese from 1966-73, he has coached in 491 of the 791 games (62.1 percent) and 293 of the 464 wins (63.2 percent) in program history. There have been at least 4 head coaches at every other PSAC school since Douds was named head coach in 1974.

RETURNING ALL-PSAC EAST: ESU has 7 players who have earned All-PSAC East status in their careers:
QB - R-Jr. Matt Soltes (2013 2nd team, 2012 Freshman of the Year)
TB - R-So. Robert Healy (2013 2nd team, 2013 Freshman of the Year)
WR - Sr. Dusty Reed (2011 and 2012 1st team)
TE - R-Sr. Steven Jones (2013 1st team)
DL - R-Sr. Bryan Thomson (2012 and 2013 1st team, 2012 Defensive Player of the Year)
LB - Sr. Cody Simcox (2013 2nd team)
P - Sr. Jordan Bair (2013 2nd team)

THE OFFENSE

PSAC and NCAA DII rankings:
Scoring - 39.8 ppg (4th in PSAC, 23rd in DII)
Total Offense - 551.6 ypg (1st in PSAC, 4th in DII)
Passing Offense - 386.6 ypg (1st in PSAC, 4th in DII)

SOLTES PSAC EAST OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Soltes has been named PSAC East Offensive Player of the Week in 3 of the first 5 weeks this season, and 7 times in his career. Only Jimmy Terwilliger (9) has received more PSAC weekly honors for the Warriors.
• 2012 10-6 - at West Chester (373 total yards)
• 2012 10-27 - at LIU Post (666 total yards)
• 2012 11-3 - at Millersville (382 total yards)
• 2013 10-5 - vs. Clarion (481 total yards)
• 2014 9-6 - at LIU Post (467 total yards)
• 2014 9-20 - at Edinboro (532 total yards)
• 2014 10-4 - at Shippensburg 527 total yards)

R-Jr. QB Matt Soltes
1. Only returning Harlon Hill candidate in Super Region 1 - 2nd in DII in total offense (430.8), 3rd in passing (380.0)
2. Among 42 DII QB's with 20.0 completions/game - ranks 1st in yds per completion (15.3), 4th in yds per att (9.0)
3. Among top 10 passing QB's in DII - ranks 1st with 254 rushing yards
4. 1st among active DII QB's in career total offense/game (347.2 ypg) - 9,028 yards in 26 games (23 starts)
5. Ranks 2nd in ESU history in career total offense and is 97 yards from entering the PSAC's top 10
6. Has the top 8 total offense performances among active PSAC QB's (all 450+ yards)
7. PSAC-record 5 games with 500+ yards total offense - t-1st in DII since 2001 (Bo Cordell, Tusculum, 2009-13)

Sr. WR Dusty Reed
1. 2nd among active PSAC players in career receptions (158), yards (2,421)
2. 5th at ESU in career receptions, 7th in yards, 5th in TD (24)
3. 1st ESU player with 4+ receiving TD (4 at Edinboro) since Evan Prall in 2006 (5 vs. Kutztown)
4. 9 career 100-yard receiving games - t-3rd at ESU behind Evan Prall (22) and Tim Strenfel (16)
5. Looking to become 1st ESU WR to be named 1st team All-PSAC East 3 times in his career

R-So. TB Robert Healy
1. Only player in DII with 300+ yards rushing (403), receiving (333) through first 5 weeks
2. 3rd in PSAC, 17th in DII in yards from scrimmage (147.2 ypg) and 7 TD (4 rush, 3 rec) on 98 touches
3. 100+ yards from scrimmage in 14 of 16 career games at ESU (10 straight - school record)
4. 2 TD catches of 50+ yards in 2014 (62, 57 yards) - long catch of 37 yards in 2013
5. 2013 PSAC East Freshman of the Year (ESU FR record 1,129 rushing yards, 1,333 yards from scrimmage)

SOLTES THROUGH 23 STARTS: R-Jr. QB Matt Soltes has made 23 career starts for the Warriors - including 7 as a redshirt freshman in 2012, and all 11 games in 2013.

In his 23 career starts, Soltes is averaging 377.7 yards of total offense, with 7,481 passing yards and 1,205 rushing yards. He is 492-for-812 passing with 73 TD and 21 Int., and has carried 236 times and scored 6 rushing TD.

SOLTES AMONG DII'S BEST: Soltes' career rankings among active DII quarterbacks:
Total Offense - 4th (9,028 yards) - 1st among DII juniors
Passing Yards - 5th (7,766 yards) - 1st among DII juniors
Passing TD - 4th (74 TD) - 1st among DII juniors
Pass Efficiency - 5th (161.3)
Total Offense/Game - 1st (347.2 ypg)
Passing Yards/Game - 2nd (298.7 ypg)