WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. - Amongst a season full of long-standing rivalries, the Lycoming College football team will kick off the 2018 season with perhaps its most bitter rival when Susquehanna University heads up Route 15 for the Stagg Hat Trophy game on Saturday, Sept. 1, at David Person Field.

The Warriors were selected to finish fifth in the Middle Atlantic Conference poll, as the team returns seven offensive starters and six defensive starters from a team that went 4-6 in 2017.

The River Hawks were selected to finish fourth in the Centennial Conference poll after posting an 8-3 record in 2017. The team returns nine starters on each side of the ball.

Warrior Notes
• The Warriors lead the Stagg Hat Trophy series, 14-7, and have won 14 of the last 18 meetings.

• Senior Nick Costello needs one more reception to become the 11th player in program history to post 100 in a career.

• Junior Jamie Fisher needs to hit one more field goal to become the eighth player in school history to hit 15 in a career.

• Senior Dominic Loffredo needs one more tackle to reach 100 in his career. Loffredo had 99 stops in 2015-16 before sitting out 2017 with an injury.

• Freshmen Elijah Shemory or Chase Snavely will become the first Lycoming freshman to start at quarterback since Tim Hook started seven games in 2007.

• Head coach Mike Clark needs one more win to become the fifth coach in the MAC to post 60 victories since 2000.

Reaching 60
With his next win, head coach Mike Clark will become just the fifth Middle Atlantic Conference coach to reach 60 wins since the turn of the century. Entering his 11th year as head coach, Clark is the second-longest tenured coach in the conference, with Albright's John Marzka entering his 12th season. The Warriors have produced six winning seasons under Clark in the past 10 years, winning two MAC titles.

Hauling in 100
Already seventh in school history with 1,559 receiving yards, senior Nick Costello enters this year on the brink of reaching another milestone, needing one more reception to become the 11th receiver in program history to post 100 catches in a career. A significant contributor throughout his career, the 6-5 receiver had 28 receptions as a freshman, 34 as a sophomore and 37 last year. Costello is also already in the top 10 in school history with 15 receiving touchdowns.

Taking down 100
Senior Dominic Loffredo has waited a long time for his 100th career tackle. After posting 99 stops in his first two seasons as a linebacker for the Warriors, he sat out the 2017 season with an injury. Back in the rotation as a SAM linebacker, the Linden, Pa., native has impressed during camp, stepping back into one of the team's top linebacker roles. Loffredo had 53 tackles as a sophomore in 2016 and 46 as a rookie in 2015.  

Fisher earns slot on Fred Mitchell Award list
After sophomore Jamie Fisher turned in one of the best years in Lycoming's history as a kicker, he has earned a spot on the Fred Mitchell Award's Preseason Watch List, awarded to the best placekicker in small college football. Community service is also a consideration of the award. He started his first year as a starter by hitting a field goal in seven straight games, a streak that only came to an end because he didn't have an attempt against Misericordia.  He finished the year eighth in Division III with 1.30 field goals made per game, tying the school record of 13 field goals made set by John Phillips in 1990. He is the  first kicker in school history to hit three 40-yard field goals in a season and he was also a perfect 27-for-27 on extra points and he led the MAC with 19 touchbacks, averaging 61.5 yards per kick. For community service, Fisher has volunteered with the football team as part of Favors Forward's Spring Cleanup, as well as helping with soccer and baseball clinics in his hometown of Ridley, Pa.

Senior receivers
Over the past two seasons, the Warriors receiving corps has been dominated by the four members of its senior class - Nick Costello, Mike Mulvihill, John Kim and Brock Zollicoffer. As sophomores, the class made up 72 percent of the team's 1,858 receiving yards and that impact continued in 2017, with the quartet accounting for 55 percent of the team's 159 receptions and 65 percent of the team's 1,875 receiving yards. 

Romo Cop
Senior Sam Romanofsky finished third in the MAC with 0.70 sacks per game in 2017, firmly entrenching himself as one the best pass rushers in the conference. The Havertown, Pa., native finished the season with 7.0 sacks and 10.0 in his career. A two-time member of the MAC Academic Honor Roll as a managerial economics and business administration major, Romanofsky was selected as Lycoming's candidate for the National Football Foundation's National Scholar-Athlete Awards, making him one of the semifinalists for the 2017 William V. Campbell Trophy. Romanofsky has 67 tackles, 14.5 in his career, as he has also added five passes defended.