EDINBORO Fighting Scots (6-4, 4-3 PSAC West) at CHEYNEY Wolves (1-9, 0-7 PSAC east
Date: Saturday, November 11, 2017
Site: Cheyney, Pa.
Stadium: O'Shields-Stevenson Stadium (5,000)
Kickoff: 12 noon
Live Stats: none
Radio: none
Edinboro Game Notes
Scouting the Teams
On Radio and TV
WFSE 88.9 will be unable to cover Saturday's due to campus commitments.
The All-Time Series
Edinboro leads 8-1
Cheyney won the first-ever meeting between the two schools in 1967 by a 13-12 score. Since then, Edinboro has run off eight straight wins in the series. The two teams met for the first time since 2011 a year ago, with Edinboro wrapping up a 9-2 season with a 66-8 win at Sox Harrison Stadium.
The Last Meeting
2016 -- Edinboro 66, Cheyney 8
The Fighting Scots wrapped up the biggest turnaround in Division II history with a resounding victory over visiting Cheyney. Edinboro got off to a slow start on Senior Day, leading just 3-0 on a 29-yard field goal by Austin Reese after one quarter. The Fighting Scots would score four touchdowns in the second quarter, with Jake Sisson accounting for three on touchdown passes of 64 yards to James Clark, 34 to Ta'Nauz Gregory and nine yards to Jordan Williams. They would tack on three more scores in the third period, beginning with a 70-yard punt return by Gregory. Sisson threw his fourth touchdown pass of the day, this one nine yards to Alex Caratelli. Kyle Galyk added two touchdowns on runs of one and eight yards, Rob Bell scored from 19 yards out for his second TD run of the day. Edinboro finished with 492 yards as Sisson threw for 372 yards. The defense held Cheyney to 97 total yards, including just nine yards on the ground. The unit forced four turnovers.
The Coaches
Wayne Bradford (Salisbury St. '90) was named Edinboro's 15th head coach on March 29, 2017. Bradford worked under four different head coaches and was an assistant at Edinboro for 18 years before taking over as the interim head coach. He has spent a majority of his time as the Fighting Scots' defensive coordinator. Bradford has master-minded some brilliant defensive performances over the years in a day and age when offense has taken over. For instance, in 2011 the Fighting Scots ranked eighth in Division II in scoring defense (17.0 ppg.), 11th in pass efficiency defense, and 18th in total defense (292.6 ypg.). Edinboro gave up fewer than 20 points in seven of its 11 games. A year ago, his Edinboro defense finished first in the PSAC and fourth in Division II in tackles for losses, and second in the PSAC and sixth in the country in sacks. Edinboro finished the 2016 campaign with a 9-2 record, marking the fifth time an Edinboro team with Bradford on the staff tied the school record for victories (9). Three of Edinboro's teams during his tenure have reached the NCAA playoffs, including the 2009 team, which finished at 9-4 and reached the Super Region One semifinals. All told, he has been a part of 115 wins.
Chris Roulhac (Albany State '70) is in his second go-around as the head coach at Cheyney. After serving as the head coach of the Wolves from 1992-94, he returned two years ago as the head coach. He has an overall record of 5-60 as he completes his sixth season as Cheyney's head coach. Under his leadership, the Wolves snapped a 43-game losing streak last year, and snapped a 36-game losing streak in 1993, winning three games in 1993. Roulhac was named PSAC East Coach of the Year. Roulhac has more than 30 years of experience, began his coaching career as a high school coach at several schools in Philadelphia. He has served as an assistant coach at West Chester. He also spent four seasons on the sidelines at Temple, after stints at Colgate, Drexel, Dartmouth, and the Ottawa Rough Riders of the Canadian Football League.
Last Week
California(Pa.) 30, Edinboro 13
California(Pa.) scored the final 20 points of the game to extend its winning streak to 13 games against Edinboro. The Vulcans snapped Edinboro's three-game winning streak in the process. One week after totaling a school record 826 yards against Seton Hill, the Edinboro offense was limited to a season-low 176 yards by a Cal defense that recorded six sacks and stopped Edinboro on two drives inside their ten yard-line in the fourth quarter. The Vulcans were able to take advantage of a pair of breakdowns in the punting game plus a fumble to score 13 points on short drives. The loss was the first at Sox Harrison Stadium this season and spoiled Senior Day for seven seniors. The Edinboro defense held Cal to 279 total yards, including just 57 yards on the ground. Walter Fletcher saw his string of 100-yard rushing games come to an end as he finished with 90 yards on 24 carries. Jake Sisson completed 16-of-33 passes for 131 yards, with touchdown passes of 26 yards to Ta'Nauz Gregory and six yards to Blake Reddick.
Kutztown 65, Cheyney 0
Cheyney suffered its ninth straight loss as Kutztown totaled 602 yards while limiting the Wolves to 60. Cheyney finished with minus 16 yards rushing. Dominick Trautz (7-of-13, 36 yards) and Chad Palmer (3-of-10, 26 yards) shared time at quarterback.
The Game Stories
- Edinboro wraps up the 2017 season on Saturday, November 11 at Cheyney in a PSAC Crossover contest. The Fighting Scots come into the game with a 6-4 record after last week's 30-13 loss to California(Pa.). They finished fourth in the PSAC West at 4-3. That is the same position the Scots were picked in the coaches preseason poll.
- The loss to California(Pa.) snapped a three-game winning streak. Edinboro will finish 2017 with back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2011, when the Fighting Scots capped a stretch of nine straight winning seasons.
- Edinboro opened the season with back-to-back wins at Sox Harrison Stadium, defeating Lake Erie (30-3) and Lock Haven (20-3). Their next two games came on the road against the two preseason favorites in the PSAC. Edinboro suffered a 62-28 loss at West Chester, the Eastern Division favorite, followed by a 38-7 setback at then sixth-ranked and PSAC West preseason favorite Indiana(Pa.) in the PSAC West opener. They snapped their two-game losing skid with a 45-10 win over Clarion to end September, but began October with a 47-25 loss at Gannon. Edinboro celebrated Homecoming with a 28-25 win over Mercyhurst on October 14, and make it back-to-back wins with a 49-39 upset of 17th-ranked Slippery Rock on October 21. A record-setting 69-20 win at Seton Hill on October 28 gave Edinboro a three-game winning streak.
- Cheyney has a 1-9 record after losing to Kutztown on Saturday, 65-0. They were picked to finish eighth in the PSAC Eastern Division. The Wolves opened the season with a 56-28 win over Lincoln, snapping a ten-game losing streak. Since that victory, the Wolves have lost nine games in a row and have been shut out in three of the last five games while scoring just 13 points during that stretch. Cheyney averages 13.1 ppg., last in the PSAC, while allowing 52. 5 ppg., which ranks 15th. The Wolves have allowed 40-or-more points in eight games and have been outscored 297-13 over the last five contests.
- The Edinboro-California(Pa.) game features two of the top passers in Division II. Jake Sisson of Edinboro has 7,994 career yards and 78 TDs. He ranks 11th among active Division II passers and is currently fourth in the PSAC and 19th in Division II in passing yards per game at 261.8 ypg., and third and 16th, respectively, in passing touchdowns with 20. California(Pa.)'s Michael Keir has 5,785 career passing yards with 57 TDs. He ranks third in the PSAC and 17th in Division II in passing yards per game (273.3).
- Wayne Bradford is in his first season as Edinboro's interim head coach. He was on the Edinboro staff for 18 years, most of that as the defensive coordinator, before assuming the head coach responsibilities. He needs a win against Cheyney to record the second-most wins by a first-year coach. Scott Browning recorded six wins in 2006.
- Bradford took over for Justin Lustig, who was Edinboro's head coach for just a year and set the record for most wins by a first-year coach. Lustig moved on to an assistant coaching position at Syracuse. He enjoyed a monumental one season as head coach, as Edinboro recorded the largest turnaround in NCAA Division II history. The Fighting Scots went 9-2 in 2016, tying the school record for wins in a season, after finishing 0-11 in 2015.
- After finishing 9-2 finish in 2016, Edinboro was ranked in several preseason polls. The summer began with the Fighting Scots picked 16th in the Street and Smith's Division II Preseason Top 25 Poll. Next came a ranking of 30th in the College Football America 2017 Yearbook Division II Preseason Top 30. The AFCA released its 2017 AFCA Division II Preseason Coaches' Top 25 Poll on August 14, with defending national champion Northwest Missouri State ranked number one. While failing to land a spot in the top 25, Edinboro was one of the top teams among "others receiving votes". The Fighting Scots received 57 votes after ending the 2016 season among "others receiving votes", as well.
