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WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. - For the past eight years, the Middle Atlantic Conference football title seems to have either stayed in Delaware Valley or the route to the title passed straight through Doylestown. This season will be no exception, as Lycoming College heads to the Aggies’ field looking to knock off a nationally-ranked team to start the conference season.

Lycoming (0-1 overall) is coming off a 24-2 loss to Brockport as part of the MAC/NJAC Challenge. The Warriors were led by special teams in the game, as junior Zack Czap downed three punts inside the 20 and senior Parker Showers rolled up 149 yards on six kickoff returns.

Delaware Valley (0-1 overall) came into the year ranked in the top 10 nationally, but fell 27-13 to Rowan in its MAC/NJAC Challenge game.

Warrior Notes

• This is the only game this season that the Warriors will play on natural grass.

• Both junior Kabongo Bukasa and senior Corey Schuster need one more tackle to reach 100 in their careers.

• With 914 career kickoff return years, senior Parker Showers needs 74 more to pass Ricky Lanetti (2000-03, 987) for the top slot in the school’s career record book.

• The Warriors have won three games over ranked opponents during the Mike Clark era.

• Senior Jarrin Campman had a career-high seven catches against Brockport. He is tied for the league lead in receptions.

• Sophomore John Sibel tripled his previous career best, as he caught six passes for 55 yards against Brockport.

• Junior Kabongo Bukasa is second in the MAC with 10 tackles and sophomore Kody Flail is third with nine.

• Senior Nate Oropollo leads the MAC with three tackles for loss.

Scouting Lycoming
Offense: Multiple/Pro-Style
The Warrior offense relied heavily on the pass during its season opener against Brockport, but don’t let that fool you - the Warriors know that success in their offense means they will have to rely on a grinding running game.
 
With a pair of backs that rolled up more than 600 yards each in 2011, Lycoming will rely on both senior Parker Showers, who posted 816 yards as a junior, and sophomore Craig Needhammer, who rushed for more than 600 as a freshman, to pace the offense.

The Warriors’ wide receiver corps showed improvement in the opener against Brockport, though, with senior Jarrin Campman catching a career-high seven passes, sophomore John Sibel catching career-high six and sophomore Cam Kriner adding a career-high three receptions. Junior Matt Atkinson also caught three passes against the Golden Eagles.

Defense: 4-3
The Lycoming defense gave a balanced all-around effort against Brockport, allowing six players to finish the season opener in the top 10 in the league in tackles, led by junior Kabongo Bukasa, who is second after making 10 stops.

Four members of the secondary are also in the leagues top 10 in tackles, as sophomore Kody Flail made nine stops, sophomore Cody Butler made eight and both sophomore Tanner Troutman and senior Ryan Fenningham made seven. Junior defensive lineman Dwight Hentz also made seven stops.

The Warriors topped the conference in nearly all defensive statistical categories in 2011 and the team returns all-conference players in Bukasa, Fenningham, senior defensive lineman Roger Jayne and senior cornerback Matt Talerico.

Scouting Delaware Valley
Offense: Multiple
In Delaware Valley’s season-opening 27-13 loss to Rowan, the Aggies turned the ball over three times in the contest and Rowan scored 14 points off the miscues.

Sophomore Aaron Wilmer, the 2011 MAC and ECAC South Region Rookie of the Year and a 2012 BSN preseason All-American, is coming off a year where he threw for 2,729 yards and 23 touchdowns. He began the ’12 season by completing 29-of-49 passes for 255 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions against Rowan. He also scored on a run.
     
Senior wideout Chris Ruiz paced the Aggies at Rowan by catching seven passes for 55 yards. Junior Lewis Vincent put Delaware Valley on the board in the second quarter with a 15-yard touchdown catch and he finished the afternoon with six receptions for 78 yards.

Junior tailback Kyle Schuberth was an All-MAC honoree in 2011 as he racked up 1,095 yards and 14 touchdowns. Last week at Rowan, he carried the ball 16 times for 86 yards.

Defense: Multiple
The Delaware Valley defense permitted 280 total yards to Rowan, including just 97 in the air. The unit forced two turnovers and recorded a pair of sacks as well.

Junior linebacker John Marcelline led the Aggies with 16 stops and one sack. John Robinson forced one of the turnovers against Rowan as he intercepted a pass at his own one-yard line in the third quarter. The senior safety also added seven tackles.

Fellow senior Terrance Osborne, a two-time All-MAC cornerback, opened the ’12 campaign with five tackles. Two-time First Team All-MAC selection Jim DiLisio added five tackles against Rowan.

A century made
Senior Ryan Fenningham is the Warriors’ active leader in career tackles, as the cornerback surpassed 100 in his career with his second of seven against Brockport. However, a couple other players are closing in, as both junior Kabongo Bukasa and senior Corey Schuster need just one more tackle to reahc 100 in their careers.

Poll-busters
Head coach Mike Clark’s Warriors have gained a reputation as ranking killers. In his first year at the helm in 2008, the Warriors downed No. 22 Delaware Valley, 10-7, knocking the Aggies from the poll. In 2010, the team did it again, shocking No. 13 Ithaca, 26-24, to knock them from the poll. In 2011, the Warriors picked off their third ranked opponent in Clark’s tenure, knocking No. 22 Rowan from the polls with an 8-6 win.

Returning into the record book
Senior Parker Showers enters Saturday’s game looking to break a school record that last year it appeared he would never approach. Showers was the team’s top kick returner as a freshman and a sophomore, reeling in 765 yards, good for third in the school record book. However, for his junior year, the team handed kick returning duties to Warren Oliver and sophomore Craig Needhammer. With the transfer of Oliver, though, Showers returned to the kick returning role and he excelled in the first game against Brockport, notching six returns for 149 yards, leaving him just 73 yards shy of the school record of 987 career return yards set by Ricky Lanetti from 2000-03.

A real classic
Senior offensive lineman Cody Moyer earned a slot on the honorable mention portion of the D3Senior Classic Preseason All-American team. Moyer, who became the first offensive lineman to earn D3Football.com All-East Region honors in school history when he picked up third team honors in 2011, allowed just 2.5 sacks on the season en route to First Team All-MAC honors.

Kicking into new places
Junior Zack Czap was one of 44 placekickers included on the 2012 Fred Mitchell Award Watch List for the nation’s best collegiate placekicker. A Beyond Sports College Network Third Team Preseason All-American, Czap earned his first postseason All-American honors from Beyond Sports as a sophomore. He led the MAC in scoring by kickers at 7.3 points per game and added a league-topping 12 made field goals.