OPENING KICKOFF: Today's Centennial Conference (CC) game marks the 27th meeting between McDaniel (1-6, 0-6 CC) and Juniata (3-4, 2-4 CC) in a series that dates back to 1923. The Eagles have won the last two meetings, including by a 42-21 margin in Westminster last season to take a 13-12-1 lead in the all-time series. The Green Terror had won the previous three meetings, including 23-19 in Westminster in 2011.
WHEN LAST WE MET: After going down 7-0, Juniata scored 42 straight point to open up a 42-7 lead early in the fourth quarter en route to a 42-21 victory over McDaniel last season. Mike Oliveto (Robesonia, Pa./Conrad Weiser) recorded six catches for 81 yards and a touchdown to lead the Green Terror in the passing game while Neil DeLuca led the way in the run game with 42 yards on nine carries. Deonte Alston paced the Eagles with 138 yards on 21 rush attempts while Ward Udinski added 118 on 14 carries. Both had a rushing touchdown while Zach McCaulley scored four times to go with his 56 yards running.
LAST TIME OUT: Dickinson built a 13-point lead in the second half then held on to defeat McDaniel 33-28 last Saturday. Nick O'Melia (Taneytown, Md./Francis Scott Key) led the Green Terror on offense with six catches for 105 yards that included a pair of touchdowns. Matty Callahan (Germantown, Md./Northwest) threw for a career-best 281 yards, completing 23 of 41 passes with three touchdowns. Chris Soulas and Cedric Madden did the lions' share of the work for the Red Devils, combining for 280 of the team's 310 yards rushing. Soulas had 158 yards on 19 carries with three touchdowns while Madden had 122 yards on 19 carries with one score.
WITH HONORS: Nick O'Melia, Matt Quattrone (Carlisle, Pa./Carlisle Area) and Brett Haas (Laurel, Md./Atholton) were named to their respective CC Weekly Honor Rolls last week. O'Melia earned a spot on the offensive ledger after leading the Green Terror with 105 yards receiving on six catches. He added a pair of touchdown grabs. Quattrone earned the defensive nod after leading the way with 11 tackles while adding a forced fumble. Haas made an appearance on the special teams list after punting seven times for 304 yards, averaging a career-best 43.4-yards per kick. He had three punts downed inside the 20.
LEADING THE WAY: Brandon Jones (Middle River, Md./Eastern Tech) and Mike Oliveto captain the squad in 2014. The two captains mark the fewest under Mike Hoyt and is the first time in program history since 2007 that just two players will serve in the role. This is the second straight year that Oliveto will serve as a captain.
O-ME, O-MY: Nick O'Melia has been steadily increasing his offensive production over the last few games. The senior wideout broke out for a 105-yard day against Dickinson on Saturday. His afternoon included two touchdowns among his six grabs. For the season, he is now the team's leading receiver with 34 catches for 396 yards. Saturday marked his first two touchdowns of the season after grabbing seven a year ago. With the 79-yard first-quarter touchdown, O'Melia now has three of McDaniel's five longest plays this season.
GOING LONG: Nick O'Melia's first touchdown on Saturday was not only his first touchdown of the season but it was also the Green Terror's longest play from scrimmage this season. Matty Callahan connected with O'Melia as the senior streaked down the right sideline for a 79-yard score. In fact it was the longest play since O'Melia snagged an 82-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Yamada (Brookeville, Md./Good Counsel) at Dickinson last season.
FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING: The first-quarter touchdown on Saturday also provided more firsts for McDaniel on Saturday. The scoring strike with 2:18 remaining in the first quarter marked the first first-half touchdown for the Green Terror this season. It was also the first lead for McDaniel since scoring the go-ahead touchdown with 26 seconds remaining at Catholic in Week One.
LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON: Sophomore LB Matt Quattrone had a big afternoon against his father's team on Saturday. The son of Dickinson defensive coordinator Joel Quattrone, Matt recorded a game-high 11 tackles. He made his presence known early, forcing a fumble early in the second quarter that set up his team's offense on the Red Devil 22. Six plays later, Nick O'Melia paid off the turnover with his second touchdown grab of the day.
KICKING BACK: Brett Haas may have had one of his best days as the Green Terror punter. The junior punted the ball seven times and amassed 304 yards on his kicks. His 43.4-yard-per-punt average was the best of his collegiate career. He unfurled his second and third punts of 50 yards or more – all of which have come in the last two weeks – and dropped three of the seven kicks inside the 20-yardline with just one touchback. All seven of his punts were travelled between 39 and 50 yards. For the season, he is averaging 37.5 yards per punt, which ranks third in the CC.
TURNOVERS FOR SALE: After going 16 quarters without forcing a turnover, the Green Terror turned Franklin & Marshall over twice two weeks ago. McDaniel continued that trend, forcing three Dickinson turnovers last week. It was the second straight week and third time this season that the Green Terror won the turnover battle. In addition to the second-quarter fumble that Brandon Jones recovered, Richard Settle (Dillsburg, Pa./Northern York) and Dan Trainor (Brick, N.J./Point Boro) each nabbed their first collegiate interceptions.
YOUTH MOVEMENT: The Green Terror enters this week with 104 players on its roster. Of that 104, 75 are either freshmen or sophomores (72.1 percent), including 45 first-year players. McDaniel has just 11 players listed as seniors on the roster, seven of which have an additional year of eligibility if they choose to use it.
TERROR TIDBITS: On the year, 17 different players have caught a pass for the McDaniel offense this season. In total, 21 players have contributed yards on offense… Matty Callahan established a new career best with 281 yards passing. He also threw for three touchdowns… The Green Terror has thrown for 200 or more yards in six of the seven games this season… Sean Montgomery (Bethesda, Md./Walter Johnson) matched his career high with six receptions on Saturday for a new career-best 75 yards… McDaniel used three different kickers on Saturday. Spencer Wiersberg (Salisbury, Md./J.M. Bennett) took care of all of the PATs and the onside kick. Mike Casper (Bridgeton, N.J./Cumberland Regional) was the primary kickoff man while Fletcher Sullivan (Severna Park, Md./Mt. St. Joseph) saw his first collegiate action as the kickoff man on the Green Terror's first kickoff.
COACHES' CORNER: Mike Hoyt is in his third season at the helm of the Green Terror with an overall record of 3-24, picking up his first win on Sept. 14, 2013 – a 21-14 victory over Moravian. He spent the previous eight seasons as the defensive coordinator, culminating with being a finalist for the American Football Coaches Association Assistant Coach of the Year award in 2011. In his first season at Albright, his defense went from allowing an average of 235.4 yards per game to 175.1 yards per contest, helping to guide Albright to an ECAC South Atlantic championship. His tenure as defensive coordinator was marked specifically by stout run defense, ranking in the top half of the Middle Atlantic Conference in rush defense, total defense and scoring defense in four of his last five seasons. His 2008 defense led the conference and ranked 33rd nationally, allowing just 16.9 points per games and appeared in the ECAC South Central Bowl… Tim Launtz is in his fourth season at the helm of the Eagles, entering today with a record of 14-24. He became Juniata's 22nd head coach after serving 15 years on the staff, going 1-9 in his first season as the head man. In his third year last season, he guided the squad to a 7-3 regular-season record and ECAC Bowl appearance. He most recently served seven seasons as the Eagles' quarterbacks coach. Prior to that, he mentored the receiving corps, defensive backs and served as special teams coordinator from 1997-99. The Huntingdon native graduated from Juniata in 1980.
THE WORD ON JUNIATA: The Eagles enter today's game off a 42-13 loss at Muhlenberg last week. Ward Udinski completed 29 of his 42 pass attempts for 267 yards for his fifth 200-yard passing game of the season. Isaiah Slutter and Kirby Breault combined for 208 of their team's 336 receiving yards. Slutter caught seven passes for 105 yards while Breault had seven grabs for 103. Muhlenberg limited Juniata to just 38 yards rushing… Udinski has thrown for a CC-best 1,736 yards this year… Juniata is averaging a conference-best 261.7 yards passing but is eighth in the league in rushing (116.6)… Udinski is also the team's top rusher with 394 yards on the ground… Slutter is currently second in the CC with 541 receiving yards.
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