EAST STROUDSBURG - East Stroudsburg University has announced its 2016 football schedule, including kickoff times for all five home games, as the Warriors enter their 43rd season under head coach Denny Douds next fall.

ESU will open the season on Thursday, September 1 at 6 p.m. with a non-conference game at Brevard (N.C.) in the first-ever meeting between the two schools.

The Warriors' home slate features IUP on Sept. 10 (6:05 p.m.), Cheyney for Family Weekend on Oct. 1 (6:05 p.m.), Kutztown for Homecoming on Oct. 15 (7:05 p.m.), West Chester on Oct. 29 (1:05 p.m.) and Lock Haven on Nov. 5 (1:05 p.m.).

Road trips are set for Mercyhurst (Sept. 17), Shippensburg (Sept. 24), Millersville (Oct. 8), Bloomsburg (Oct. 22) and California (Pa.) (Nov. 12).

ESU was 6-5 last fall for its third straight winning season and fourth straight with at least a .500 record. The Warriors finished the season with two wins in the last three weeks, beating Bloomsburg (35-34) on Oct. 31 and Gannon (49-37) on Nov. 14 to end the year.

The Warriors return 15 starters (7 on offense, 8 on defense) and both kicking specialists for the 2016 season, including four All-PSAC East selections in redshirt senior tailback Robert Healy (1st team), sophomore offensive tackle Michael Fleming, redshirt senior defensive end Ahmad McFarland and redshirt junior outside linebacker Sekou Jones.

Healy is already ESU's career leader in rushing yards (2,830) and yards from scrimmage (4,352) and is a three-time All-PSAC East selection. The Warriors must replace two of the most outstanding offensive players in program history in quarterback Matt Soltes and wide receiver Jon Schnaars, both All-America selections last fall.

Douds, who ranks second in NCAA Division II history with 256 career wins, enters his 51st year at ESU overall including eight seasons as an assistant coach (1966-73) before being named head coach in 1974. Douds has coached in a DII-record 440 career games, ninth-most in NCAA football history.


2016 ESU Football Schedule
Sept. 1 (Thurs.) - at Brevard (5:45 p.m.)
Sept. 10 (Sat.) - IUP (6:05 p.m.)
Sept. 17 (Sat.) - at Mercyhurst (12 p.m.)
Sept. 24 (Sat.) - *at Shippensburg (1 p.m.)
Oct. 1 (Sat.) - *Cheyney (Family Weekend) (6:05 p.m.)
Oct. 8 (Sat.) - *at Millersville (4 p.m.)
Oct. 15 (Sat.) - *Kutztown (Homecoming) (7:05 p.m.)
Oct. 22 (Sat.) - *at Bloomsburg (2 p.m.)
Oct. 29 (Sat.) - *West Chester (12:05 p.m.)
Nov. 5 (Sat.) - *Lock Haven (1:05 p.m.)
Nov. 12 (Sat.) - at California (Pa.) (1 p.m.) (or PSAC championship game)

* denotes PSAC East game


SCHEDULE NOTES

Brevard (away, Sept. 1)
* Brevard will be ESU's 60th different opponent as a varsity program (since 1926).
* They will be ESU's 40th different opponent under Denny Douds (since 1974).
* Douds has faced 108 head coaches in his career at ESU.
* Brevard head coach Paul Hamilton, entering his 10th season, will be the 109th.
* Brevard will be the 3rd North Carolina-based program ESU has played.
* The Warriors are 3-0 vs. Lenoir-Rhyne, winning in 1991 (34-17, away), 2003 (58-0, home) and 2004 (26-21, away), and 0-1 vs. Elon, falling in 1997 (41-34, away).

IUP (home, Sept. 10)
* IUP leads the all-time series, 10-6, including a 4-3 record at ESU.
* IUP won the most recent meeting, 28-13 in Indiana, in 2011.
* ESU head coach Denny Douds is a 1959 graduate of Indiana High School.
* ESU is 4-9 vs. IUP under Douds.

Mercyhurst (away, Sept. 17)
* Mercyhurst leads the all-time series, 2-0.
* The Lakers won 2012 in Erie (52-45) and 2013 at ESU (37-20).

Shippensburg (away, Sept. 24)
* Ship leads the all-time series, 31-18-2, including an 18-7-1 record in Shippensburg.
* ESU won the last trip to Ship, 37-33 in 2014.
* Ship won 69-67 (5OT) at ESU on October 3 last fall - one OT short of tying the longest OT game in DII history in which both teams were DII members.
* The 136 total points were the 2nd-most in PSAC history.
* Ship has won 6 of the last 7 meetings.
* ESU is 4-13-1 vs. Ship under Douds, including a 14-14 tie in the 1976 State Game.

Cheyney (home, Oct. 1 - Family Weekend)
* ESU leads the all-time series, 59-1, including a 31-0 record at ESU.
* ESU's 36 straight wins in the series are an NCAA all-division record for consecutive wins in an uninterrupted series
* Warriors won 69-7 at Cheyney last season.
* ESU is 41-1 vs. Cheyney under Douds (Wolves won 7-3 at Cheyney in 1979).

Millersville (away, Oct. 8)
* ESU leads the all-time series, 41-25-1, including a 20-13-1 record in Millersville.
* ESU has won 4 straight, 7 of the last 8 and 13 of the last 15 meetings since 2001.
* Warriors won 34-2 at home last season.
* ESU has won its last 8 trips to Millersville.
* ESU is 21-20-1 vs. Millersville under Douds.

Kutztown (home, Oct. 15 - Homecoming)
* ESU leads the all-time series, 44-19-1, including a 23-10 record at ESU.
* Kutztown has won the last 2 games and 5 of the last 6, after ESU won 9 straight from 2001-09.
* Kutztown won 63-17 at home last season.
* ESU is 26-16 on Homecoming under Douds (won 3 of last 4).
* ESU is 26-16 vs. Kutztown under Douds.

Bloomsburg (away, Oct. 22)
* The all-time series is tied, 39-39-2, since 1926. Bloomsburg leads, 21-19-1, on its home field.
* ESU has met both Bloomsburg and West Chester 80 times in 88 seasons as a varsity program.
* ESU won 35-34 last fall for its first victory since the 2005 NCAA DII playoffs, and its first regular season victory since 2004.
* ESU's last win at Bloomsburg was a 52-39 victory in the 2005 NCAA playoffs (2nd round).
* ESU's last regular season win at Bloomsburg was a 30-24 victory in 2004.
* ESU is 18-25 vs. Bloomsburg under Douds.

West Chester (home, Oct. 29)
* West Chester leads the all-time series, 58-22, including a 30-11 record at ESU.
* ESU has met both WCU and Bloomsburg 80 times in 88 seasons as a varsity program.
* WCU is ESU's longest active continuous opponent, meeting 70 straight seasons since 1946.
* WCU won 41-27 at home last season and has won 11 of the last 13.
* ESU's most recent win was a 35-28 victory in 2012.
* ESU is 14-29 vs. WCU under Douds.

Lock Haven (home, Nov. 5)
* ESU leads the all-time series, 11-6, including a 4-4 record at home.
* ESU has won the last 7 meetings (1999, 2006-07, 2012-15), including a 37-34 win at LHU last season.
* ESU has won its last 4 home games vs. LHU (2006, 2012-14).
* ESU is 7-2 vs. LHU under Douds.

California (Pa.) (away, Nov. 12)
* The all-time series is tied, 3-3-1, since a 28-28 tie in the 1968 State Game. Cal leads 2-1-1 on its home field.
* Cal won the most recent meeting, 22-19, at ESU in 2011 and has won 3 straight in the series (2007, 2010-11).
* Cal won 45-20 in ESU's most recent trip to Cal in 2010.
* ESU is 3-3 vs. Cal under Douds.