{"id":1141,"date":"2011-11-18T09:00:16","date_gmt":"2011-11-18T15:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jonfmorse.com\/tog\/?p=1141"},"modified":"2011-11-18T00:49:42","modified_gmt":"2011-11-18T06:49:42","slug":"d-ii-first-round-precaps-super-region-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/jonfmorse.com\/tog\/2011\/11\/18\/d-ii-first-round-precaps-super-region-one\/","title":{"rendered":"D-II: First Round Precaps, Super Region One"},"content":{"rendered":"

Precaps for the first round games in Super Region One, and information on the two teams that have byes, right after this brief non-commercial linky:
\n
\n6 Concord (7-3) at 3 Kutztown (10-1)<\/strong><\/span>
\nUniversity Field, Kutztown PA, 12pm ET
\nVideo available via UStream<\/a>. Radio available via WEEU<\/a>.
\nSeries: first meeting.<\/p>\n

Concord Mountain Lions<\/span>
\n\"\"
\nLocation: Athens WV
\nConference: West Virginia IAC
\nColors: Maroon and Gray
\nPlayoff appearances: 1 (2011; seven NAIA appearances prior to moving to D-II)
\nCoach: Garin Justice (1st year, 7-3)
\nKey games: 26-6 loss to Lenoir-Rhyne on 9\/3; 28-14 win over Shepherd on 10\/1; 14-3 loss at Glenville State on 10\/10; 48-40 win over West Virginia Wesleyan on 11\/12
\nOffense: 24.1 ppg, 366.4 ypg
\nDefense: 20.3 ppg, 352.0 ypg
\nPassing offense: 221.6 ypg
\nPassing defense: 224.3 ypg
\nRushing offense: 144.8 ypg
\nRushing defense: 127.7 ypg
\nTurnover margin: +18
\nKey players: QB Zack Grossi (55.8%, 2203 yds, 17 TD, 10 INT), RB Brian Kennedy (170-882, 88.2 ypg, 7 TD), LB Joe Greenway (12 TFL), DL Josh Miller (11 TFL), DL Silas Agyeman (10 TFL)
\nOther notes: Concord earned their way here, as West Virginia Wesleyan’s surprise loss to Charleston on 11\/5 didn’t actually impact the race in terms of who was getting the playoff nod. But in reality, they’re the third-best team in their conference. That turnover margin is gaudy, though, and could be the difference-maker in a close game.<\/p>\n

Kutztown Golden Bears<\/span>
\n\"\"
\nLocation: Kutztown PA
\nConference: Pennsylvania State AC
\nColors: Maroon and Gold
\nPlayoff appearances: 2, 0-1 (2010, 2011)
\nCoach: Raymond Monica (6th year, 37-29)
\nKey games: 35-28 win at then #18 Mercyhurst on 9\/10; 49-7 loss at Shippensburg on 10\/1; 42-30 win at Long Island-C.W. Post on 10\/22; 52-14 win over then #12 Bloomsburg on 11\/5; 21-14 win over then #24 Slippery Rock in the PSAC State Game on 11\/12
\nOffense: 39.4 ppg, 483.8 ypg
\nDefense: 19.1 ppg, 354.2 ypg
\nPassing offense: 274.0
\nPassing defense: 227.3
\nRushing offense: 209.8
\nRushing defense: 126.9
\nTurnover margin: +11
\nKey players: QB Kevin Morton (63.9%, 2666 yds, 32 TD, 11 INT), RB Robbie Frey (155-982, 98.2 ypg, 10 TD), DB Alex DiNolfi (9 INT), KR Josh Mastromatto (20-637, 31.9 ypr, 2 TD, 611 rushing yds, 4 TD, 55.5 ypg, 466 rec yds, 3 TD, 42.4 ypg)
\nOther notes: A high-powered and balanced offense could cause a lot of problems in the bracket. Taken in context with the rest of their season, that game against Shippensburg just makes no sense at all; Kutztown performed admirably against every team they played that actually had a pulse.<\/p>\n

Jon’s Prediction:<\/span>
\nKutztown 30, Concord 14. It’s not that the WVIAC was weak; far from it, they were just cannibalistic. But Kutztown had to survive a gauntlet to get here, and the numbers don’t lie. The only edges either team really has on the other are that Kutztown’s passing offense is stronger, and their rushing offense is stronger. And it’s over a hundred yards stronger.<\/p>\n

4 Elizabeth City State (8-3) at 5 California (PA) (9-2)<\/strong><\/span>
\nAdamson Stadium, California PA, 12pm ET
\nVideo available via B2LiveTV<\/a>. Audio available via WCAL<\/a>, WJPA<\/a>, and WRVS<\/a>. Live Stats available via Sidearm<\/a>.
\nSeries: first meeting.<\/p>\n

Elizabeth City State Vikings<\/span>
\n\"\"
\nLocation: Elizabeth City NC
\nConference: Central IAA
\nColors: Royal Blue and White
\nPlayoff appearances: 3, 0-2 (1981, 2006, 2011)
\nCoach: Waverly Tillar (9th year, 49-46)
\nKey games: 28-21 loss in OT at Delta State on 8\/27; 22-17 loss to Winston-Salem State on 9\/3; 28-7 loss to Virginia State on 10\/15; 38-18 loss to Winston-Salem State on 11\/12 in CIAA Championship Game
\nOffense: 30.4 ppg, 344.5 ypg
\nDefense: 20.0 ppg, 272.0 ypg
\nPassing offense: 120.0 ypg
\nPassing defense: 158.2 ypg
\nRushing offense: 224.5 ypg
\nRushing defense: 113.8 ypg
\nTurnover margin: +13
\nKey players: QB Creven Powell (53.4%, 1058 yds, 6 TD, 6 INT), RB Darone McNeill (334-1580, 143.6 ypg, 22 TD), DL John Davis (11 sacks, 17 TFL), DE Brad Davis (11 sacks, 15.5 TFL), LB Brandon Smith (11.5 TFL), DL Orlando Barrow (11 TFL)
\nOther notes: The Vikings boast a fearsome defensive line, which could disrupt California’s passing game, and the test between McNeill and the California rushing defense will be something to keep an eye on. But ECSU really only played three games this year — two against Winston-Salem, and one at Delta State — and they lost all three. They’re vulnerable in this field.<\/p>\n

California Vulcans<\/span>
\n\"\"
\nLocation: California PA
\nConference: Pennsylvania State AC
\nColors: Black & Red
\nPlayoff appearances: 5, 7-4 (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)
\nCoach: John Luckhart (10th year, 87-32; 224-69-2 overall including 17 years at Washington & Jefferson)
\nKey games: 26-3 loss to Saint Cloud State on 9\/1; 17-3 loss at Slippery Rock on 10\/15; 34-28 win over Edinboro on 11\/5
\nOffense: 30.3 ppg, 422.7 ypg
\nDefense: 15.8 ppg, 265.2 ypg
\nPassing offense: 276.0 ypg
\nPassing defense: 165.2 ypg
\nRushing offense: 146.7 ypg
\nRushing defense: 100.0 ypg
\nTurnover margin: +4
\nKey players: QB Peter Lalich (62.0%, 2987 yds, 26 TD, 9 INT), RB Lamont Smith (175-995, 90.5 ypg, 2 TD), FB Jeff Knox (66-220, 20.0 ypg, 8 TD), WR Thomas Mayo (66-1141, 103.7 ypg, 13 TD), DL Darnell Harding (12.5 TFL), LB Brian Justice (11.5 TFL), DL Thomas Mulabah (10.5 TFL)
\nOther notes: California has a little problem holding onto the football; they’ve lost 19 fumbles on the year. They’re decent at forcing turnovers themselves, however, as despite that they have a plus turnover margin. One red flag for the Vulcans: with the exception of their win over Edinboro, they’ve lost to every strong team they’ve seen this year.<\/p>\n

Jon’s Prediction:<\/span>
\nCalifornia 24, Elizabeth City State 20. This game just shapes up to be a lot closer than it appears at first glance. ECSU is going to win the turnover battle, and the main focus of Cal’s offense is liable to be shattered by ECSU’s defensive line. But the Vulcans should still manage to come out on top, barely. On a neutral field, this would likely go into overtime.<\/p>\n

The byes:<\/strong><\/p>\n

2 New Haven (10-1)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

New Haven Chargers<\/span>
\n\"\"
\nLocation: West Haven CT
\nConference: Northeast-10
\nColors: Blue and Gold
\nPlayoff appearances: 5, 7-4 (1992, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2011)
\nCoach: Peter Rossomando (3rd year, 23-8)
\nKey games: 35-32 win in OT over West Chester on 9\/3; 13-10 loss to D-I FCS William & Mary on 9\/17; 59-38 win at Southern Connecticut State on 10\/7
\nOffense: 42.9 ppg, 420.0 ypg
\nDefense: 22.1 ppg, 343.1 ypg
\nPassing offense: 274.0 ypg
\nPassing defense: 230.6 ypg
\nRushing offense: 146.0 ypg
\nRushing defense: 112.5 ypg
\nTurnover margin: +5
\nKey players: QB Ryan Osiecki (66.5%, 2694 yds, 30 TD, 10 INT), RB Mike DeCaro (128-691, 62.8 ypg, 10 TD, 2 TD on KO returns), K Chris Scifo (11-14, 6-7 from 30-49, long 47), DE Tom Herd (10 sacks, 12.5 TFL), DL Raheem Stanley (12.5 TFL), DE Robert Hill (12.5 TFL)
\nOther notes: It’s an aerial attack, established with DeCaro’s steady running. The loss to William & Mary said a lot about this team, but there were a lot of close calls to fairly average teams in the conference schedule.<\/p>\n

1 Winston-Salem State (11-0)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Winston-Salem State Rams<\/span>
\n\"\"
\nLocation: Winston-Salem NC
\nConference: Central IAA
\nColors: Red and White
\nPlayoff appearances: 5, 1-4 (1978, 1987, 1990, 1991, 2011)
\nCoach: Connell Maynor (2nd year, 18-2)
\nKey games: 22-17 win at Elizabeth City State on 9\/3; 34-7 win at North Carolina-Pembroke on 11\/5; 38-18 win over Elizabeth City State on 11\/12 in CIAA Championship Game
\nOffense: 43.5 ppg, 436.7 ypg
\nDefense: 15.3 ppg, 263.9 ypg
\nPassing offense: 203.6 ypg
\nPassing defense: 189.9 ypg
\nRushing offense: 233.1 ypg
\nRushing defense: 74.0 ypg
\nTurnover margin: +8
\nKey players: QB Kameron Smith (58.4%, 2036 yds, 28 TD, 8 INT), RB Nicholas Cooper (212-1462, 132.9 ypg, 17 TD), DB Alton Keaton (12 TFL)
\nOther notes: 3 different players have returned punts for TDs this year. The Rams steamrolled pretty much everyone, with the season opener at ECSU being the only exception. The win over Pembroke was basically the Rams’ “See, we’re real” statement. Kutztown is the only team in the Super Region that’s really a threat, but if they do get into the semifinals, things will change drastically.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Precaps for the first round games in Super Region One, and information on the two teams that have byes, right after this brief non-commercial linky:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8,7],"tags":[9],"class_list":["post-1141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-division-ii","category-division-news-and-notes","tag-d2"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p185sV-ip","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/jonfmorse.com\/tog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/jonfmorse.com\/tog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/jonfmorse.com\/tog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jonfmorse.com\/tog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jonfmorse.com\/tog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1141"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/jonfmorse.com\/tog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1141\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1144,"href":"http:\/\/jonfmorse.com\/tog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1141\/revisions\/1144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/jonfmorse.com\/tog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jonfmorse.com\/tog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jonfmorse.com\/tog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}