MAC begins to evolve with PAC series, expansion

The MAC is about to undergo some changes this year and next.

In 2010, the conference will take on a new test with the inaugural MAC/PAC Challenge. Every team in the MAC will host teams from the Presidents’ Athletic Conference in Week 2 of the season. The matchups are made based on last year’s standings so the first- through eighth-place finishers in each league square off against each other which should create some interesting games.

“With the way it’s been set up with the ones and the ones, you’re going to see some high profile football games early,” Wilkes coach Frank Sheptock said. “(Delaware Valley) playing (Washington & Jefferson), that could be a (playoff game) with how those programs have been doing.”

A bigger change will occur in 2011 when the MAC welcomes Stevenson University. The school announced its intention to start up a football program in June 2009 and was accepted into the MAC earlier this month. The Mustangs have begun practicing to go over fundamentals and had 115 players report to the first practice.

The school from Stevenson, Md., in the Baltimore/Washington, D.C. area, holds practices at the Caves Athletic Complex in Owings Mills, Md. That complex used to be home to the Baltimore Colts and Baltimore Ravens. Combining those facts has those involved with the MAC thinking the program is not going to be a pushover in its first year.

“I think it’s great for the MAC that we get another football playing institution,” Sheptock said. “I think it’s going to be tremendous for us. It creates expansion from a recruiting standpoint because recruiting is expanding on the east coast.”

Here’s a closer look at the participating teams in the MAC, except for the Wilkes-Barre schools:

Albright

Finishing second in the MAC last year, the Lions received an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament and didn’t disappoint by winning two games in the tournament before losing to eventual national runner-up Mount Union.

The team looks very different this season losing star quarterback Tanner Kelly, who was MAC Offensive Player of the Year, D3Football.com East Region Offensive Player and the ECAC Southeast Player of the Year.

Albright, which was picked to finish third in the preseason poll, returns running back Josan Holmes who was the 2008 MAC Rookie of the Year. Holmes has combined for more than 1,600 total yards of offense in two years as starter for the Lions.

Delaware Valley

The Aggies have had a stranglehold on the MAC, winning four championships in the last six years and according to the league’s coaches in the preseason poll, the Aggies should come out on top again. And for good reason.

The team is returning 18 starters from last year’s squad, which advanced to the second round of the NCAA Championships. Among those returners is tailback Matt Cook, a three-year starter who has racked up 3,231 yards in his career and is just 300 yards away from the school’s all-time record.

The biggest piece missing from the last two championship teams in quarterback Mike Isgro. The three-time All-MAC QB is replaced by senior Mark Hatty, who played in nine games in 2009 finishing with 425 yards and three touchdowns.

FDU-Florham

The Devils are another team in the conference which has lost its starting quarterback from a year ago. Bill Winters graduates after grabbing the school record in career passing yards, attempts, completions, completion percentage and touchdowns and several single-game records.

In 2010, the team will look to replace Winters with Matt Jeffers, who played the final three games of last season after Winters got hurt. The starting tailback from 2009, Bayshawn Wells, also returns on offense.

The defensive unit consists of eight players who had at least one start returning.

Lebanon Valley

The team, which made the postseason in 2009 for the first time since 1951, returns five starters on offense and eight on defense. The Flying Dutchmen won a school-record nine games last year and are picked to finish second in the league, according to the preseason poll.

Senior Caleb Fick returns to quarterback the team after piling up 1,555 yards and 13 touchdowns last year. The offense lost all-time leading rusher Charlie Parker to graduation, but three starters from the offensive line return. The O-line only allowed 13 sacks while helping the running backs to an average of 222 yards per game.

Lycoming

Add the Warriors to the list of MAC teams searching for a replacement at quarterback as well after losing two-year starter Colin Dwyer to graduation. Tim Hook enters at the top of the depth chart, but he only had one appearance last year and went 3-for-3.

In a tie with Wilkes picked to finish fourth in the preseason poll, the Warriors are led by senior tailback Josh Kleinfelter who is just 814 rushing yards away from reaching the school’s career mark of 3,267. In addition to Kleinfelter, Lycoming returns six starters on offense and six on defense.

Widener

The Pride open their 2010 campaign with their 22nd coach in school history as Isaac Collins takes over for David Wood , who manned the position for seven years going 41-32. Collins is the former defensive coordinator at The Citadel and also coached in some capacity for the University of Delaware, Lehigh University, the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants.

Widener returns five starters on offense and six on defense, including one of the top linebackers in the MAC with senior Joe Favringer who was first-team All-MAC and second team All-Region last year.

WVC in the MAC

A total of eight Wyoming Valley Conference graduates are listed on MAC teams’ rosters, not including Wilkes or King’s.

Among those eight, Ray Bierbach, a Northwest grad, and Matt Brislin, a Hazleton Area product, are listed as key players for their respective teams.

Bierbach, a sophomore at Lycoming, is set to start at safety for the Warriors. In the secondary last year, he had 37 tackles and four interceptions. He also averaged 16.0 yards per punt return in 2009.

Breslin is a junior kicker for Widener and ended last season tied for third in the MAC in field goals with five and had a .920 extra-point percentage making 23-of-25.

Also for Lycoming, sophomore defensive lineman Roger Jayne (Lake-Lehman), junior linebacker Chris Kish (GAR) and senior offensive lineman Matt Landsiedel (Tunkhannock) are on the roster.

Delaware Valley, the two-time MAC champion has three 2009 WVC graduates on the roster with quarterback Mike Kearney (Coughlin), defensive back Chris Vega (Crestwood) and offensive lineman Shawn Mahon (Wyoming Valley West).