Complete Game Notes (PDF)  l  PSAC Week 5 Notes  l  Soltes interviewed on John Mendola Show

Last week's recap (W 37-34 at Lock Haven)

SATURDAY  l  6:05 p.m.  l  Eiler-Martin Stadium

Follow:  redzonemedia.com  l  Live Video  l  Live Stats  l  Twitter

TV: Live on Blue Ridge TV-13 and esuwarriors.com. Play-by-play man Chris Doty, in his 26th season, is joined in the booth by Jim Riley (8th season).

Radio: Live on WVPO (ESPN Poconos) 840 AM for the 53rd season, and redzonemedia.com. Chuck Seese, the 2009 PSAC Heaslip Media Award recipient, is in his 27th season as the voice of the Warriors, with Bob Brittain in his 15th year providing the color commentary. Pre-game begins at 5:30 p.m.

Tickets: Available at Eiler-Martin Stadium 90 minutes before kickoff. $10 General admission, $15 chairback seating, $5 seniors 65 and older and children under 12.


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

1 • ESU hosts Shippensburg under the lights at Eiler-Martin Stadium. The Warriors rallied for a 37-34 win at Lock Haven in their PSAC East opener last week, while Ship fell 17-6 at home to 2-time defending PSAC East champion Bloomsburg.

2 • ESU is 9-6 in night games at Eiler-Martin Stadium since lights were installed in 2007. Ship won 63-21 under the lights in its PSAC East championship season in 2012. ESU fell 41-40 vs. LIU Post in a 7 p.m. kickoff in the season opener.

3 • Head coach Denny Douds set the PSAC record for career wins (213) with a 44-41 (OT) win vs. Shippensburg in 2008. He has since extended his record to 252 wins, ranking 3rd in DII history, 20th in NCAA history and 3rd among active coaches.

4 • Douds holds the DII record and leads active coaches in career games (433). He coached his 500th overall game with the Warriors on Sept. 19 (56-12 W vs. Edinboro). Douds has been part of 501 of ESU's 801 games, and 297 of 468 wins, as a varsity program (since 1926).
4a • Douds is in his 42nd season as head coach and 50th at ESU overall.

5 • ESU has won 9 PSAC East divisional titles under Douds, posting a 151-95-1 (.613) record in conference games in 41 seasons. The Warriors are pursuing their first PSAC East titles since 2002 and 2003.

6 • R-Sr. QB Matt Soltes had 429 total yards (315 passing, 5 TD; 114 rushing) and led a game-winning 80-yard TD drive in last week's 37-34 win at Lock Haven. Soltes was 4-for-5 for 43 yards, ran twice for 22 yards and threw a 9-yard TD to Sr. WR Gerard Wendowski with 1:32 remaining.  He was named PSAC East Offensive Player of the Week for the 8th time in 30 career starts.

7 • Soltes is a 2-time Harlon Hill candidate, joining 2014 winner Jason Vander Laan (QB, Ferris St) as the only active 2-time candidates. Soltes leads active DII QB's in career total offense per game (345.2 ypg - 4th in DII history) and games with 300 (21), 400 (11) and 500 (5) yards of total offense. 

8 • ESU has the PSAC leaders in total offense (Soltes - 365.5 ypg, 8th in DII), yards from scrimmage (R-Jr. TB Robert Healy - 165.0 ypg, 9th in DII) and receiving yards (R-Sr. WR Jon Schnaars - 134.0 ypg, 3rd in DII). 

9 • Healy is the only NCAA player with 300+ yards rushing (341) and receiving (319) thru 4 weeks, and is the only ESU player with 2,000 career rushing yards (2,287) and 1,000 receiving (1,084).

10 • Schnaars has 31 catches, the most thru 4 games in ESU history. He ranks 2nd among active PSAC players in career receiving yards (2,373) and 1st in receiving TD (27). He had 9 catches for 200 yards and 2 TD vs. Edinboro 2 weeks ago.


For more ... Complete Game Notes (PDF)

THE SERIES: Shippensburg holds a 30-18-2 lead entering the 51st meeting and is one of just six PSAC programs to have a winning record against ESU, along with IUP (10-6), Slippery Rock (13-3), West Chester (56-22), Bloomsburg (39-38-2) and Mercyhurst (2-0). Douds is 4-12-1 vs. Ship in his career, posting wins in 1990, 2002, 2008 and 2014. The tie (14-14) was in the 1976 State Game. Ship holds a 5-2 series lead since moving to the PSAC East in 2008. Three of ESU's 10 overtime games have come against Shippensburg, including the first-ever in the 1991 NCAA Playoffs. Six of the 11 meetings since 2000 have been decided by 5 points or less. Ship won 3 straight from 2011-13 by 82 combined points before ESU's 37-33 win in 2014.

DOUDS' MILESTONES: Douds is one of 13 men 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) on that list.

Entering this week: has coached more games (433) than any active coach in NCAA football ... ranks 1st in DII history in games coached (set in 2011), and 9th in NCAA history ... 3rd in career wins (252) among active NCAA coaches ... 1st in the PSAC in career wins (set in 2008), 3rd in DII history and 20th in NCAA history ... 53 career wins since turning 65 - more than 10 of the other 15 PSAC coaches have in their careers.

DOUDS DWARFS PSAC EAST: Douds had 250 career wins entering 2015 ... the other 7 coaches in the PSAC East had combined for 164 wins while coaching in the PSAC - WCU's Bill Zwaan (101), Ship's Mark Maciejewski (31), Bloom's Paul Darragh (21), KU's Jim Clements (6), Cheyney's Chris Roulhac (3), Mill's Greg Breitbach (2) and LHU's Dave Taynor (0) ... Douds had coached 41 seasons in the PSAC entering 2015 (other 7 - combined for 24).

THE HEAD COACHES: Denny Douds (Slippery Rock '63) has a career record of 252-178-3 (.585) in his 42nd season. He is in his 50th 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.

Mark Maciejewski (Shippensburg '92) is 33-17 in his 5th year as head coach and 14th year overall at Shippensburg. He was the AFCA Regional Coach of the Year in 2012, leading the Red Raiders to a 10-0 start and 11-2 overall record, falling to IUP, 41-10, in the State Game. Ship beat Bloomsburg, 58-20, in the 1st round of the NCAA Playoffs before bowing out to national runner-up Winston-Salem, 37-14. As a player, Maciejewski was an AP Little All-America defensive tackle in 1991 and 1992 and played in the 1991 NCAA Playoff game vs. ESU won by Ship, 34-33 (OT), at Eiler-Martin Stadium. That game was Douds' 183rd at ESU.

TAKEAWAYS vs. LOCK HAVEN
1. Soltes was named PSAC East Offensive Player of the Week for the 8th time in 30 career starts. His 8 weekly honors are 2nd-most in school history behind Jimmy Terwilliger (9) in 48 starts from 2003-06.
2. Soltes had his 11th career game with 400 yards total offense, tying Terwilliger for the most in school history, and his 9th career game with 5+ TD passes, surpassing Terwilliger (8) for the most in school history.
3. Soltes had his 3rd career game with 300 yards passing (314) and 100 yards rushing (115).
4. Sr. WR Gerard Wendowski (5 catches, 40 yards, 3 TD at LHU) has 4 career receiving TD, all in the last 2 weeks.
5. ESU leads the PSAC and ranks 2nd in DII in red zone defense (11-for-21, 9 TD). LHU was held to a FG attempt (blocked) with 3:20 left, and stalled at the 27 and missed a potential game-tying 44-yard FG on its final possession.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR vs. SHIPPENSBURG
1. Soltes has 9,979 yards passing and 1,411 yards passing in his career. With 21 passing yards, he can become the 10th QB in DII history with 10,000 career passing and 1,000 rushing yards, and 2nd ESU QB, joining Terwilliger.
2. R-Sr. WR Jon Schnaars has 31 catches, most thru 4 games in school history. All-America WR Evan Prall holds the 5-game record with 36 catches as a senior in 2006.
3. R-Jr. TB Robert Healy has 660 yards from scrimmage, most thru 4 games at ESU (5-game record - 736 last fall).
4. Soltes, Healy and Schnaars have been effective vs. Ship the last 2 years. Soltes has rushed for 100+ yards in each of the last 2 games (903 total yards - 675 pass, 228 rush). He had 527 total yards (416 passing, 111 rushing) in 2014.
5. Healy has 367 yards from scrimmage vs. Ship the last 2 years (278 rushing, 89 receiving).
6. Schnaars tied a school record for receptions (14) and had 152 yards and 2 TD in last year's 37-33 win.

TRENDING UP: ESU has notched 2 straight winning seasons (6-5 in 2014, 7-4 in 2013), building on a 5-5 mark in 2012 after consecutive 3-8 seasons in 2010 and 2011. Since 2000, ESU is 103-66 (.609) with a .500+ record in 12 of 15 years.

DOUDS' FOES: Douds has faced 108 head coaches in his career at ESU ... Dave Taynor (LHU) was Douds' 108th opponent on Sept. 26 ... Douds is 71-37 against first-time foes ... Douds faced Millersville's Gene Carpenter 27 times, and faced Danny Hale 26 times between his career at WCU and Bloom ... Among active coaches, his most frequent opponents are West Chester's Bill Zwaan (13), SRU's George Mihalik (12) and LIU Post's Bryan Collins (10).

PROGRAM WINS: ESU has a 468-314-19 (.596) record in its 88th year of varsity football. West Chester (574), IUP (530) and Slippery Rock (477) are the only other PSAC programs with at least 450 wins (Bloomsburg has 445) ... As head coach, Douds is responsible for 54.0 percent of the program's games (433 of 801), and 53.9 percent of its wins (252 of 468) ... Including 68 games and 45 wins as an assistant coach under Charlie Reese from 1966-73, he has coached in 501 of the 801 games (62.5 percent) and 297 of the 468 wins (63.5 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 4 players who have earned All-PSAC East status in their careers:
QB - R-Sr. Matt Soltes (2013 and 2014 2nd team, 2012 Freshman of the Year)
TB - R-Jr. Robert Healy (2013 and 2014 2nd team, 2013 Freshman of the Year)
WR - R-Sr. Jon Schnaars (2014 2nd team)
CB - Sr. Teron Dobbs (2014 2nd team)

TWO TERWILLIGERS: Jimmy Terwilliger, the 2005 Harlon Hill Trophy winner as a junior at ESU, joins the Warriors' coaching staff as defensive backs coach ... He joins his father, Mike Terwilliger, ESU's offensive coordinator, on Denny Douds' staff ... Mike Terwilliger enters his 38th year as assistant coach after 4 years as ESU's starting QB from 1974-77 - Douds' first 4 years as head coach ... Mike was a 2-time 1st team All-PSAC East selection, leading ESU to a 30-4-1 record, the 1975 PSAC championship (10-0) and a tie in the 1976 State Game (9-0-1) ... Jimmy was 36-12 in 4 years as ESU's starting QB from 2003-06 and is the only 4-time 1st team All-PSAC East QB in conference history ... he set 18 DII and 2 NCAA all-division records, tying the all-time mark with 148 career TD passes and setting DII records for passing yards (14,350) and total offense (16,064), among other standards.

THE OFFENSE

ESU has routinely fielded one of the top offenses in DII, both in passing offense and total offense. The Warriors are one of 2 teams in DII (along with Colorado Mines) to average 300+ yards passing per game in each of the last 4 years:
2011 - 323.2 ypg ... 2012 - 327.6 ypg ... 2013 - 318.6 ypg ... 2014 - 329.1 ypg

R-Sr. QB Matt Soltes has started 30 of ESU's 36 games since the start of the 2012 season. In that span, ESU ranks:
• 2nd in DII in yards per play (6.8) of 169 teams in the division
• 6th in DII in passing yards per game (326.0 ypg)
• 6th in DII in total offense per game (485.2 ypg)

3,000 - 1,000: R-Sr. QB Matt Soltes and R-Jr. TB Robert Healy are the only active teammates in DII to account for 3,000+ yards total offense (Soltes) and 1,000+ yards from scrimmage (Healy) in each of the last 2 years:
* 2014 - Soltes (3,054 total yards), Healy (1,378 yards from scrimmage)
* 2013 - Soltes (3,716 total yards), Healy (1,333 yards from scrimmage)

10,000 - 3,000: Soltes and Healy are the only active teammates in DII, and one of three tandems in NCAA football, with 10,000 career yards total offense and 3,000 career yards from scrimmage

ESU (Matt Soltes 11,390 total yards -- Robert Healy 3,371 yards from scrimmage)
Oregon (Vernon Adams 12,351 total yards -- Byron Marshall 3,170 yards from scrimmage)
Guilford (Matt Pawlowski 10,070 total yards -- Adam Smith 3,216 yards from scrimmage)

HEALY, SCHNAARS ARE DII'S TOP TANDEM: R-Jr. TB Robert Healy and R-Sr. WR Jon Schnaars have accounted for 1,196 of ESU's 1,947 yards (rushing + receiving) thru 4 games (61.4 percent) - the largest percentage among the 45 DII teams currently averaging 450+ yards per game. Only 8 of the 45 schools, including ESU, have 2 players that have gained at least 50 percent of their team's yards this season. ESU is the only school in that group from the PSAC.

RECORD-SETTING: Soltes holds 7 ESU records and 4 PSAC records:
• ESU/PSAC - 666 yards of total offense, 2012 at LIU Post
• ESU/PSAC - 211 consecutive passes without an interception, 2013
• ESU/PSAC - 5 career games with 500+ yards total offense
• ESU/PSAC - 2 career games with 500+ yards passing (t-1st)
• ESU - 11 career games with 400+ yards total offense (t-1st)
• ESU - 7 career games with 400+ yards passing (t-1st)
• ESU - top 2 marks in single-game completion % (record 85.3 vs. Clarion)

SOLTES PSAC EAST OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Soltes has been named PSAC East Offensive Player of the Week 8 times in his career. Only Jimmy Terwilliger (9) has received more PSAC weekly honors.
• 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)
• 2015 9-26 - at Lock Haven (429 total yards)

DUAL THREAT: Soltes ranks 2nd at ESU in career rushing yards by a QB (1,411) and has 5 career 100-yard rushing games. He ranks 4th in PSAC history in career rushing yards by a QB.

• 2012 - 536 rushing yards (#2 QB rusher in PSAC)
• 2013 - 472 rushing yards (#2 QB rusher in PSAC)
• 2014 - 276 rushing yards (7.5 games - #5 QB rusher in PSAC)
• 2015 - 127 rushing yards (#4 QB rusher in PSAC)

500+ PASSING, 100+ RUSHING - NCAA History
One of 2 QB's in NCAA history with 500+ passing, 100+ rushing yards
• Matt Soltes - 535 passing, 131 rushing at LIU Post (2012)
• Zac Dysert (Miami OH) - 516 passing, 108 rushing at Akron (2012)

400+ PASSING, 100+ RUSHING - PSAC History
• Matt Soltes - 416 passing, 111 rushing at Shippensburg (2014)
• Matt Soltes - 535 passing, 131 rushing at LIU Post (2012)
• Jeff Petrucci (California) - 406 passing, 111 rushing vs. Edinboro (1968)

R-Sr. QB Matt Soltes
1. One of 2 active 2x Harlon Hill candidates in DII [3rd ESU 2x candidate - Jimmy Terwilliger (4), Damian Poalucci (2)]
2. Can become 10th DII QB with 10,000 career passing yards (9,979) and 1,000 rushing yards (1,411)
3. 1st among active DII QB's in career total offense per game (345.2 ypg - 4th in DII history)
4. Career pass efficiency (159.6) ranks 2nd among active DII QB's, 2nd at ESU, 3rd in PSAC history
5. Career total offense (11,390 yards) ranks 1st among active DII QB's, 2nd at ESU, 5th in PSAC history
6. Career passing yards (9,979 yards) ranks 2nd among active DII QB's, 2nd at ESU, 7th in PSAC history
7. Career pass TD (96) ranks 2nd among active DII QB's, 2nd at ESU, 5th in PSAC history
8. Career TD responsible for (102) ranks 3rd among active DII QB's, 2nd at ESU, 6th in PSAC history
9. PSAC record (t-DII record) with 5 career games with 500+ yards total offense (also Bo Cordell, Tusculum, 2009-13)
10. 1st among active DII QB's in career games with 300 (21), 400 (11) and 500 (5) yards of total offense
11. One of 2 active NCAA QB's (with Oregon's Vernon Adams) with 9,000 career passing yards, 1,000 rushing yards

R-Jr. TB Robert Healy
1. 1st ESU player with 2,000 career rushing yards (2,287) and 1,000 receiving yards (1,084)
2. One of 3 active DII players with 2,000 rushing yards, 1,000 receiving yards
3. 9th in DII in yards from scrimmage per game (165.0 ypg) thru 4 weeks
4. 660 yards from scrimmage thru 4 weeks are the most in program history
5. Only NCAA (all-divisions) player with 300+ yards rushing (341), receiving (319) thru 4 weeks
6. One of 2 players in DII with 500+ yards rushing (817), receiving (561) in 2014
7. 1st among active PSAC players in career yards from scrimmage per game (129.7)
8. 100+ yards from scrimmage in 21 of 26 career games
9. Top 2 ESU seasons in yards from scrimmage by back (1,378 in 2014, 1,333 in 2013)
10. 2,287 career rushing yards - 5th at ESU (292 from school record - 2,579 by Rick Sterner, 1988-92)

R-Sr. WR Jon Schnaars
1. 3rd in DII (1st in PSAC) in receiving yards (134.0 ypg) thru 4 weeks
2. 31 catches thru 4 weeks are the most in program history
3. 9 catches, 200 yards (career-high), 2 TD vs. Edinboro in week 3
4. Ranks 7th among active DII players in career yards (2,373 - 2nd in PSAC) and t-4th in TD (27 - 1st in PSAC)
5. Ranks 6th at ESU in career receptions (156), 8th in yards (2,373) and t-3rd in TD (27)
6. 18 receiving TD in last 15 games (at least 1 TD in 13 of those 15 games)
7. 2nd ESU receiver with 100+ yards in first 3 games of a season (joining Evan Prall, 2005)

Complete Game Notes (PDF)