Complete Game Notes (PDF)  l  PSAC Week 4 Notes

Related: Douds to enter NCAA's all-time top 10 in games coached


SATURDAY  l  3:05 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 2:30 p.m.


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

1 • ESU (2-1, 1-1) hosts Lock Haven (0-3, 0-2) on Family Weekend at ESU. Head coach Denny Douds moves into the top 10 in NCAA history in career games coached, entering with 421 games - the most among active NCAA coaches. He will move into a tie for 10th on the all-division list with former Delaware coach Tubby Raymond (422).

2 • Douds, in his 41st year, set the NCAA Division II record for games coached in 2011. He holds the PSAC record for career wins (246) which he set in 2008. He ranks 3rd in career wins among active NCAA coaches, and 3rd in DII history. Douds' Warriors are 22-18 on Family Weekend since 1974.

3 • ESU R-Jr. QB Matt Soltes was named PSAC East Offensive Player of the Week for the 2nd time in 3 weeks after another impressive performance in last week's 47-34 win at Edinboro. Soltes threw for 502 yards and 6 TD and gained 532 yards of total offense. He leads the PSAC and is 2nd in DII in passing (394.3 ypg) and total offense (437.0 ypg).

4 • Sr. WR Dusty Reed had 9 catches for 170 yards and 4 TD at Edinboro on Saturday. He is the 1st ESU receiver with 4+ TD since 2006 (Evan Prall, 5 vs. Kutztown). Reed moved into ESU's career top 5 in both receptions and TD.

5 • Soltes tied 2 PSAC records, for career games with 500+ yards passing (2) and 500+ yards total offense (4). ESU's Damian Poalucci and Ray Wagner both had 2 500-yard passing games, and Poalucci had 4 500-yard total offense games (all in 1996).

6 • R-So. TB Robert Healy gained 158 yards and 2 TD on 22 touches at Edinboro - 14 carries for 60 yards and a TD, and 8 catches for 98 yards and a TD. He is one of 2 players in DII with 150+ yards rushing (197) and receiving (255) in the first 3 games and has 5 TD on 57 touches in 2014.

7 • R-Sr. DL Bryan Thomson, a D2Football.com preseason All-America selection, continues to extend his school record for career blocked kicks (currently 12). He has a block in each of the last 2 weeks and has blocked 8 extra points and 4 field goals in his career.

8 • R-Sr. DE Brandon Gattelli (18.0) and Thomson (16.0) rank 2nd and 4th among active PSAC players in career sacks. Gattelli is tied for 2nd in the PSAC with 4.0 sacks through 3 games, and ESU is tied for 2nd with 3.0 sacks per game.

9 • ESU leads the PSAC and is 3rd in DII in passing (394.3 ypg), and is the only PSAC team with 5 players with 10+ catches in Healy (18-255, 3 TD), Reed (13-296, 5 TD), R-Jr. WR Jon Schnaars (13-212, 3 TD), Jr. WR Gerard Wendowski (11-149) and R-Sr. TE Steven Jones (10-205). Reed (2,389 yards), Schnaars (1,242) and Jones (1,101) all have 1,000 yards in their careers.

10 • ESU had 300+ passing yards for the 100th time under head coach Denny Douds last week at Edinboro. The Warriors have thrown for 350+ yards in 3 of their last 4 games vs. Lock Haven - 462 in 2013, 355 in 2012 and 346 in 2006.


For more ... Complete Game Notes (PDF)

THE SERIES: ESU is 9-6 against Lock Haven in a series that will be played more frequently in future seasons, as the Bald Eagles moved to the PSAC East in 2013 due to the conference's expansion (adding Seton Hill to the PSAC West). The series dates back to 1926, ESU's first season of varsity football, and the Warriors' 99-0 win that year remains a school record for victory margin. More recently, ESU has won the last 5 meetings - 1999, 2006, 2007, 2012 (31-0) and 2013 (52-28). LHU's last win was 17-7 in 1989. ESU head coach Denny Douds is 5-2 in 7 games against Lock Haven, and 2-0 since John Allen arrived at Lock Haven in 2011.

5 TAKEAWAYS FROM 47-34 WIN at EDINBORO
1. ESU outscored Edinboro, 13-0, after the Fighting Scots tied the game with 13:58 remaining. R-Jr. QB Matt Soltes was 8-for-12 for 142 yards and a TD in the 4th quarter, leading 2 scoring drives, and the defense forced a turnover on downs with 7:00 left after Edinboro drove inside the ESU 10-yard line.
2. Soltes was 6-for-7 for 84 yards on a 12-play, 92-yard drive that erased 6:14 and ended with a 30-yard TD to Sr. WR Dusty Reed on 4th-and-5 with 46 seconds left.
3. ESU's top 3 receivers - Reed (9 catches, 170 yards, 4 TD), R-Jr. WR Jon Schnaars (7-107-1) and R-So. TB Robert Healy (8-98-1) - combined for 24 catches, 375 yards and all 6 TD from Soltes.
4. Soltes had 227 passing yards in the 2nd half - with Reed catching 6 passes for 148 yards and 2 TD after halftime.
5. Neither team forced a turnover - just the 4th time in 421 games under Douds that there were 0 turnovers in a game.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR vs. LOCK HAVEN
1. Soltes had 536 yards of total offense (462 passing, 74 rushing) in last year's 52-28 win over Lock Haven. He played just 2 series in the 2nd half, finishing with a 99-yard TD pass to Robert Bleiler midway through the 3rd quarter.
2. LHU pulled within 21-16 in the 4th quarter and had the ball with a chance to take the lead in the final 5 minutes, but IUP held on for the win last weekend. R-So. QB Caleb Walton was 25-for-40 for 221 yards and 2 TD.
3. Lock Haven is ranked in the top half of DII in scoring defense (22.3 ppg - 51st) and pass defense (202.7 ypg - 70th) after ranking in the bottom half in 2013 - 32.0 ppg (106th) and 233.3 pass ypg (103rd)
4. Each of LHU's first 3 opponents ranks in the bottom half of DII in scoring offense:
WV State - 14.0 ppg (152nd) ... Seton Hill - 22.3 ppg (108th) ... IUP - 23.0 ppg (104th)
5. ESU ranks 3rd in DII in passing offense (394.3 ypg) and has thrown for 300+ yards in 3 of the last 4 meetings vs. LHU.

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 (421) than any active coach in NCAA football ... ranks 1st in DII history in games coached (set in 2011), and 11th in NCAA history ... 3rd in career wins (246) among active NCAA coaches ... 1st in the PSAC in career wins (set in 2008), 3rd in DII history and t-21st in NCAA history ... 47 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 246-172-3 (.588) 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.

John Allen (James Madison '96) has a career record of 4-31 (.114) in his 4th season at Lock Haven. He guided the Bald Eagles to a 3-8 record in his 3rd year in 2013, the most wins for the program since 2004 (3-8). LHU ended the nation's longest losing streak (52 games) with a 15-7 win over Cheyney in the 2012 season finale. Allen was previously an assistant coach at Lock Haven for 8 years (1996-03) and was offensive coordinator from 2000-03. He has also coached in NFL Europe, leading the Amsterdam Admirals to the 2005 World Bowl championship. He was coordinator of player development at Penn State from 2008-10.

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 97-60 (.618) 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 has coached against 104 different head coaches in his career at ESU, and will add 3 more in 2014 - Anthony Johnson (Cheyney), Jim Clements (Kutztown) and Brad Rzyczycki (Gannon) ... He is 69-35 against first-time foes ... 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) ... He has faced Lock Haven's John Allen twice, going 2-0.

PROGRAM WINS: ESU has a 462-308-19 (.598) record in its 87th year of varsity football. West Chester (563), IUP (524) and Slippery Rock (468) are the only other PSAC programs with at least 450 wins.

As head coach, Douds is responsible for 53.4 percent of the program's games (421 of 789), and 53.2 percent of its wins (246 of 462). Including 68 games and 45 wins as an assistant coach under Charlie Reese from 1966-73, he has coached in 489 of the 789 games (62.0 percent) and 291 of the 462 wins (63.0 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)

PSAC and NCAA DII rankings:
Scoring - 38.0 ppg (4th in PSAC, 31st in DII)
Total Offense - 529.3 ypg (3rd in PSAC, 13th in DII)
Passing Offense - 394.3 ypg (1st in PSAC, 3rd in DII)

SOLTES NAMED PSAC EAST OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: R-Jr. QB Matt Soltes has been named PSAC East Offensive Player of the Week in 2 of the first 3 weeks this season, and 6 times in his career. He is the 3rd ESU QB to earn 6+ honors, joining Jimmy Terwilliger (9) and Damian Poalucci (6):
• 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)

R-Jr. QB Matt Soltes
1. Only returning Harlon Hill candidate in Super Region 1 ranks 2nd in DII in passing (394.3) and total offense (437.0)
2. 1st among active DII QB's in career total offense/game (341.0 ypg) - 8,185 yards in 24 games (21 starts)
3. Only active DII QB with 7,000 career passing yards (7,049), 1,000 career rushing yards (1,136)
4. Has the top 7 total offense performances among active PSAC QB's (all 450+ yards)
5. 1 of 3 active NCAA QB's with 4 games of 500+ total yards (Connor Halliday, Wash St and Taylor Heinicke, ODU)

Sr. WR Dusty Reed
1. 2nd among active PSAC players in career receptions (156), yards (2,389)
2. 5th at ESU in career receptions, 7th in yards, 5th in TD (23)
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. 1 of 2 players in DII with 150+ yards rushing (197), receiving (255) through first 3 weeks
2. 3rd in PSAC, 16th in DII in yards from scrimmage (150.7 ypg) and 5 TD (2 rush, 3 rec) on 57 touches
3. 100+ yards from scrimmage in 12 of 14 career games at ESU
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 21 STARTS: R-Jr. QB Matt Soltes has made 21 career starts for the Warriors - including 7 as a redshirt freshman in 2012, and all 11 games in 2013.

In his 21 career starts, Soltes is averaging 373.5 yards of total offense, with 6,764 passing yards and 1,079 rushing yards. He is 438-for-726 passing with 65 TD and 18 Int., and has carried 213 times and scored 5 rushing TD.