GAME #4
#16 Lycoming College vs. #5 Widener University
September 29, 2001 - 1:00 p.m.
David Person Field & Robert L. Shangraw Athletic Complex (3,700)
Williamsport, Pa.

THE STORY: The two teams that have won the past seven Middle Atlantic Conference championships meet Saturday  in what has become one of the conference’s most heated rivalries. Both squads enter the game with perfect 3-0 records on the season. Lycoming has defeated Lebanon Valley (40-0), Susquehanna (45-20), and King’s (20-14). Widener has topped Wilkes (52-13), Lebanon Valley (48-20), and Moravian (44-26). The winner of this contest will have the inside track for the MAC title and an automatic birth into the NCAA playoffs.

RADIO AND TV: Saturday’s game is being broadcast live on WRAK-AM (1400) in Williamsport, WRLC-FM (91.7), the Lycoming College radio station, and as the d3football.com Game of the Week. Ken Sawyer and Bill Byham will call the action for WRAK, Jamie Spencer and Andy Slawecki will handle the broadcast for WRLC, and Pat Cummings and Rick Herwald will provide the audio for d3football.com. The game will also be televised via tape delay by Susquehanna Communications. The game will be replayed Sunday morning at 10 a.m. and Monday evening at 7 p.m. Gary Chrisman will call the play-by-play for the game. Babe Mayer will provide the color commentary.

THE COACHES: 
Lycoming – Frank Girardi (West Chester, 1961)
Career: 221-68-5 (.760)/30th season
At Lycoming: 221-68-5 (.760)/30th season

ALL-TIME SERIES RECORD: Lycoming leads series – 15-8-0 (.652)

LAST MEETING: LYCOMING 49 WIDENER 50 2OT
September 16, 2000 – Leslie C. Quick, Jr. Stadium, Chester, Pa.

LAST GAME: KING’S 14 LYCOMING 20
September 22, 2001 – David Person Field, Williamsport, Pa.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Saturday’s game features both the defensive and offensive players of the week from last week’s action in the MAC. Lycoming’s Tim Schmidt was named the defensive player of the week for his role in the Warriors 20-14 win over King’s. The sophomore defensive back made 11 tackles, broke up a pass and forced a fumble. On the other side, Widener’s Mike Warker was named the MAC offensive player of the week. In the Pioneers’ win over Moravian, Warker threw for school records of 462 yards and six touchdowns.

LYCOMING’S OFFENSE: The Warrior offense continues to be one of the most explosive in the MAC, averaging 35 points and 459.7 yards of total offense per game. Joe Feerrar leads the passing attack. He has completed 42-of-85 passes for 730 yards, seven touchdowns and just one interception. Tom Zulkowski leads the team with 15 receptions, while Chris Dauber has recorded the most receiving yards with 272. Tim Deasey has rushed for 483 yards on 82 carries so far this season. He has scored four touchdowns, including one receiving.

WIDENER’S DEFENSE: The Pioneer’s defense returns eight starters from a year ago and has been impressive in the early part of this season. Through three games, opponents have scored an average of 16.3 points per game. Widener has allowed just 72 yards rushing and 205.3 yards passing per game. T.J. Hess is their leading tackler with 35 stops, including five for losses of yardage. Steve Varrasse and Anthony O’Neill each have three sacks on the year; and Darren Sinclair has recorded two interceptions.

WIDENER’S OFFENSE: To say the Pioneer offense is explosive is an understatement. Widener is averaging an astounding 48 points and 530.3 yards of total offense per game. Quarterback Mike Warker has completed 48-of-78 passes for 927 yards and 13 touchdowns while throwing just one interception this season. All-American receivers Jim Jones and Michael Coleman have combined for 40 catches for 844 yards, including 11 receiving touchdowns. Michael Gandy leads the rushing attack, averaging 65 yards per game. Three other running backs are each averaging more than 30 yards per contest.

LYCOMING’S DEFENSE: The Warrior defense returned just three starters from last season, but the squad has matured quickly into one of the top units in the MAC. Opponents have scored just 34 points in three games against Lycoming and are averaging just 217.7 yards of total offense. All-American candidate Ryan Rupprecht leads the team with 26 tackles, including eight behind the line-of-scrimmage. Chris Roantree has made 17 tackles and leads the team with three sacks. A young but talented secondary has been led by Matt Henrich and Jake Davis. Henrich leads the conference with four interceptions and has broken up a total of seven pass attempts. Davis has broken up eight passes this season, including one interception.

MATCH-UP TO WATCH: Widener offense versus Lycoming defense. The Pioneer offense leads the MAC, averaging more than 530 yards per game and 48 points per game. The Warrior defense leads the conference in total defense, limiting opponents to 217 yards and just over 11 points per game.

NATIONALLY RANKED: Saturday’s game is the only Division III game across the nation featuring two teams ranked in the AFCA top-25. Widener is currently ranked fifth in the nation. Lycoming has moved up the poll to 16th in the country this week. This is the third week the AFCA has released a poll. The Pioneers were ranked eighth in the initial poll, while the Warriors began at 21st.

LEADERS OF THE MAC: Lycoming continues to lead the conference in a variety of statistical categories, including rushing offense (216.3 ypg), total defense (217.7 ypg against) and third-down conversions (40%). The Warriors are also second in the MAC in scoring, total offense, pass defense and scoring defense. Individually, Tim Schmidt leads the conference in forced fumbles and Jake Davis is tops with eight passes defended.

CONFERENCE UPDATE: In 2001, there will no longer be two conferences (Freedom and Commonwealth) under the umbrella of the Middle Atlantic Corporation for football. All 11 schools will now compete in the Middle Atlantic Conference for a single championship. The change was made to eliminate confusion over the naming of two conference champions and to improve the chances of the MAC having more than one team qualify for the NCAA playoffs.

ATHLETIC UPDATES VIA E-MAIL: Weekly updates on all of Lycoming’s athletic teams are now available via e-mail. If you would like to receive these updates, simply send an e-mail to: dietrich@lycoming.edu and ask to be added to the Warrior Update List. Also, for articles, statistics and more visit:

September 29, 2001
Susquehanna at Albright
New Jersey City at Delaware Valley
FDU-Madison at Wilkes
Juniata at King’s
Lebanon Valley at Moravian