WEST CHESTER Golden Rams (1-1, 0-0 PSAC East) at EDINBORO Fighting Scots (1-0, 0-0 PSAC West) 
Date: Saturday, September 17, 2016
Site: Edinboro, Pa.
Stadium: Sox Harrison Stadium (6,000)
Kickoff: 12 noon
Live Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/edinboro/football/
Radio: WFSE 88.9 (Streamed on www.edinboronow.com)
TV: ETV (Streamed on www.edinboronow.com)

Edinboro Game Notes
 
The Game Story

Edinboro has opened the 2016 season with back-to-back wins on the road, and now returns to Sox Harrison Stadium for its first home game under head coach Justin?Lustig. The going gets much more difficult, particularly the next two weeks as the Fighting Scots host the preseason favorites in the PSAC?East and PSAC?West. It starts with West Chester, last year's Eastern Division champion, on Saturday. The Golden Rams come in with a 1-1 record following an opening win at Bentley and a loss to Slippery Rock. On Saturday, September 24, Edinboro hosts an Indiana(Pa.) team which is currently ranked ninth in the AFCA?Top 25.l The Justin Lustig Era is off to a fast start thanks to a pair of road victories at Saint Joseph's(In.) in week number one (31-30), and at Lock Haven a week ago (44-38). In fact, Lustig and former head coach Scott Browning are the only Edinboro head coaches to win their first two games and also their first two road games. No Edinboro coach has started off 3-0.

The going gets much tougher for the Fighting Scots over the next few weeks, and in particular, the next two weeks. Edinboro plays its home opener against a West Chester team that was the Eastern Division champion a year ago and was picked to repeat in the PSAC?coaches preseason poll. That is followed by a home date with ninth-ranked Indiana(Pa.) on Saturday, September 24 in the PSAC?West opener.

West Chester comes in with a 1-1 record after opening the season with a 31-24 win at Bentley, before losing to Slippery Rock in the WCU?home opener last Saturday, 36-28. The Golden Rams were 7-4 last year, including 6-1 in the PSAC?East. Head coach Bill Zwaan is in his 14th season at the helm and has guided WCU to four PSAC?East titles and a school-record seven NCAA?Division II playoff appearances, with two trips to the national semifinals.  

The win at Saint Joseph's snapped an 11-game losing streak for the Fighting Scots after Edinboro suffered its first winless season since 1951 and the seventh in school history.  The Fighting Scots finished 0-11 a year ago, the most losses in school history. The win also snapped a string of eight straight setbacks on the road dating back to October 2014. The victory at Lock Haven gave Edinboro wins in back-to-back road games for the first time since 2012.

West Chester owns a 5-4 record in the all-time series with Edinboro. The two teams have not met since 2010, when Edinboro posted a 16-14 win at West Chester. In fact, this series has featured an odd twist in that the road team has won the last six meetings.

The season-opening win ended a two-year drought in season openers. The Fighting Scots had lost their last two season openers -- a 38-24 loss at Carson-Newman in 2014 and a 30-10 loss to Saint Joseph's in 2015.

Edinboro was picked to finish eighth in the PSAC West in the coaches' preseason poll after being picked to finish seventh a year ago. 

The Fighting Scots returned a total of 15 starters from 2015 -- seven on offense, six on defense, and two specialists. However, the offense will be without leading rusher Cory Bell, who is out indefinitely with injuries.

Youth is featured on the 2016 roster, along with a touch of seniority. After having just five seniors in 2015, this year's roster has six redshirt seniors and nine seniors. However, 50 of the 83 players on the opening day roster have a year experience or less. That breaks down to 24 freshman, nine redshirt freshmen, and 17 sophomores. The youth was evident in the season opener, with two redshirt freshmen starting and a total of three true freshmen and six redshirt freshmen playing.

Edinboro has rallied in the fourth quarter in each of the first two games, as both contests were back-and-forth affairs. The Saint Joseph's contest had six lead changes before Walter Fletcher scored on a 57-yard touchdown run for the winning score. Edinboro and Lock Haven exchanged the lead five times before a 13-yard pass from Jake Sisson to Alex Caratelli gave Edinboro the lead for good. The first two games have also featured plenty of big plays.  Against Saint Joseph's, Edinboro had two plays of 50-or-more yards, while the Pumas had four plays of 30-or-more yards. At Lock Haven, the two teams combined for ten plays of 30-or-more yards -- six for Edinboro and four for Lock Haven.  There were four scoring plays of 50-or-more yards, including a 99-yard clinching touchdown pass from Sisson to James Clark. That is the longest pass play in school history and ties the record for the longest play from scrimmage.

Senior Victor Hudson was named the PSAC?West Defensive Player of the Week following one of the most dominant performances by an Edinboro defender in years. Against Lock Haven, the defensive end recorded a career-high 12 tackles, including nine solo. He lived in the Bald Eagles backfield all afternoon, finishing with a school-record 8.5 tackles for losses of 37 yards, including five sacks. That figure was two off the school record. Hudson moved from outside linebacker to defensive end during preseason drills.

Jake Sisson was named the D2Football.com Co-Offensive Player of the Week following his performance at Lock Haven. The 6'0", 214 lb. junior completed 28 of 47 passes for 486 yards with 5 TDs and an interception.  He also led the Fighting Scots in rushing with 31 yards on nine carries with another touchdown. In addition, he caught a pass for 11 yards. The 486 yards is the second-highest single-game total at Edinboro, as his the 517 yards in total offense. The five touchdowns passing and six touchdowns responsible for tie school records. He also passed for five TDs and had six touchdowns responsible for against Gannon in 2015.    


On TV/Radio
The Edinboro-West Chester game can be heard live on WFSE FM 88.9, with Drew Patrick providing the play-by-play and George Schmidt the commentary. The WFSE stream can be heard at www.edinboronow.com.  In addition, all Edinboro radio broadcasts will be aired by the Keystone Sports Network. The games will be broadcast on WWCB 1370 AM in Corry, Pa. and WLOA 1470 AM in Greenville, Pa. The Keystone Sports Network streams live at www.keystonesports.net. The game will also be televised locally on ETV, Edinboro's student TV station, and streamed live. The live stream is available at www.edinboro.now.com 
 
The All-Time Series
West Chester leads 5-4
Edinboro won the last meeting between the two schools, 16-14, in 2010 at West Chester. The series has seen the visiting team come away the winner in each of the last six meetings. 
 
The Last Meeting
2010 -- Edinboro 16, West Chester 14 
The two teams last met on September 11, 2010, with the 24th-ranked Fighting Scots winning a tight decision at West Chetser.  Edinboro was outgained 398 yards to 204 yards, but the Fighting Scot defense picked off four passes, recorded a fumble recovery, had three sacks and came up with a safety which ultimately proved to be the difference in the game.  All four interceptions came in Edinboro territory. The Fighting Scots, meanwhile, turned the ball over just once, that coming on their second offensive play of the game. WCU opened the scoring with a six-play, 63-yard drive following an interception as D'Andre Webb broke off a 28-yard touchdown run.  Edinboro knotted the game at 7-7 with 54 seconds left In the first quarter on a 19-yard pass from Cody Harris to Gary Nolen.  It marked the only pass in a 13-play, 49-yard drive that covered 5 minutes, 45 seconds. Edinboro converted three third-down plays plus a fourth down. The lone scoring in the second quarter came on a safety for the Scots with 9:14 remaining.  Following a scoreless third quarter, the Harris-to-Nolen combination hooked up for a 27-yard touchdown pass.  That made it 16-7 with 12:47 to play.  The Boro defense would add more two interceptions in the fourth quarter.  West Chester closed to 16-15 with exactly two minutes to play as Mike Mattei tossed a 10-yard scoring pass to Rondell White.  Edinboro recovered the ensuing onside kick and ran out the clock. The Scots employed a conservative attack on offense, running the ball 50 times for 94 yards and passing the ball just 15 times.  Harris was 12 of 15 for 110 yards with 2 TDs.  Michael Battles led all rushers with 21 carries for 63 yards.  Nolen caught 5 passes for 56 yards and the 2 TDs. Mattei completed 22 of 39 passes for 321 yards, but threw four costly interceptions and was haunted by numerous dropped passes. Edinboro held the Golden Rams to 77 yards rushing.  James Jackson intercepted a pair of passes in his first career start. 

 
Last Week
Edinboro 44, Lock Haven 38 
In a back-and-forth contest that featured five lead changes, the Fighting Scots rallied with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns. Jake Sisson capped a spectacular day with a 13-yard TD pass to Alex Caratelli to give the Boro the lead for good. Just over two minutes later, the junior threw a school-record 99-yard TD pass to James Clark for a 44-32 lead. The game featured five lead changes and six drives of 70-or-more yards, along with five scoring plays of 45-or-more yards. Sisson would end the day throwing for 486 yards, the second-highest total ever at Edinboro, along with 517 yards in total offense, which also is second all-time. He accounted for six touchdowns -- five passing and one rushing -- to tie a school record. Clark would finish with career highs of 9 catches for 193 yards and 2 TDs.  Walter Fletcher was held to 14 yards rushing, but caught 4 passes for 122 yards, including a 64-yard TD catch. True freshman Ta'Nauz Gregory scored for the second straight week, this time catching a 57-yard TD pass. The defense came up with the big plays when it needed to, particularly Victor Hudson. The senior defensive end had a career-high 12 tackles while setting a school record with 8.5 TFL. That included five sacks, two shy of the school record.      
 
Slippery Rock 36, West Chester 28
The Golden Rams lost to 12th-ranked Slippery Rock in their home opener as a late rally fell short.  Junior Andrew Derr  threw for 435 yards with 4 TDs (3 pass, 1 rush), including a 15-yarder to Jordan Banks with less than two minutes to play to pull within eight points. West Chester recovered a fumble and drove to the SRU 45 before a 4th-and-10 pass fell incomplete.   Derr completed 41 of 62 passes, but also threw three interceptions and WCU passers were sacked four times. WCU attempted a school-record 63 passes. The Golden Rams finished with 500 total yards while running 99 plays, and held Slippery Rock to just 341 yards. Shannon Mayer caught 9 passes for 128 yards and 2 TDs (8, 14). West Chester trailed 22-6 at the half.  
 
The Coaches
Justin Lustig (Bucknell '00) took over as Edinboro's 14th head coach on January 11, 2016. This marks Lustig's first head coaching position after serving as an assistant coach at Ball State since 2011. A native of western Pennsylvania who played his high school football at nearby Cathedral prep, Lustig also has served as an assistant coach at Louisiana-Lafayette, Eastern Illinois, Christopher Newport, and Villanova.  Lustig has been a part of four teams that earned bowl eligibility in eight years at the FBS level. He was an assistant on five teams that won conference championships in 14 years in the profession, including six NCAA playoff appearances and two bowl games. Five of the teams he has been associated with have been ranked in the top 25. Finally, he has helped develop 37 all-conference performers, including 12 at Ball State. Most recently, Lustig was the special teams coordinator/ running backs coach at Ball State since 2011, along with earning the title of assistant head coach prior to the 2015 season. The Cardinals played in two bowl games during Lustig's tenure. They faced UCF in the Beef O'Brady's Bowl in 2012, then earned a spot in the 2013 GoDaddy Bowl against Arkansas State. Ball State finished with a 10-3 record in 2013 and 9-4 in 2012. In addition, Ball State posted wins over four BCS conference teams -- Indiana twice, South Florida, and Virginia.     
 
Bill Zwaan (Delaware '79) is in his 14th season as head coach of the Golden Rams, having put together one of the most impressive coaching resume's in the PSAC during that span. He has won four PSAC East titles (2004, 2007, 2008 and 2015) while being named the PSAC East Coach of the Year each time. He has guided the Golden Rams to the NCAA Division II II playoffs a school-record seven times while authoring the second-most wins in school history (108) and steering the Golden Rams to the national semifinals twice (2004 and 2013). His 14 years as head coach ties him for the second- longest stint as head coach in school history with the man he replaced in 2003 (Rick Daniels). Zwaan owns a record at WCU of 109-52 and has an overall mark of 163-66, now in his 20th season.  Zwaan's 20 years of service as a head coach is tied for seventh in Division II in longevity. His .714 career winning percentage ranks seventh among active head coaches in DII. He entered the 2016 campaign ranked fifth nationally among active head coaches at Division II. Prior to taking over as the head coach at WCU, Zwaan was the head coach at Widener for six seasons, He still owns the highest winning percentage in school history at Widener (.794), with a record of 54-14. He led the Pioneers to three straight Middle Atlantic Conference titles in 2000, '01', and '02. 
 
Lustig Comments ... on the Fighting Scots
"Getting our second win on the road was a big accomplishment for our program. I am most proud of the way our players kept fighting, again we found ourselves in a back forth game that was decided late in the 4th quarter. We knew going into this game that slowing down their QB would be difficult, for the second week in a row our offense played very well and our defense made big stops at critical times."

Lustig Comments ... on the Golden Rams
"West Chester will be a big challenge this week, but we are excited to compete at home against a formidable opponent. West Chester is a very talented football team led by a very strong OL. They return many veteran players. They are also a very well coached football team. We are expecting for a very large crowd on Saturday afternoon and we hope that will be an advantage for us on gameday."