‘Boro looks for secondary to lead team

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August 19, 2012

‘Boro looks for secondary to lead team

By Lisa Byers MEADVILLE TRIBUNE The Meadville Tribune Sun Aug 19, 2012, 07:00 AM EDT

EDINBORO — In the two-plus decades that Scott Browning has been involved with the Edinboro University football program he has worked with a number of outstanding teams.

So, what Browning had to say during the opening day of camp on Wednesday at Sox Harrison Stadium should have Fighting Scot fans rather anxious for the 2012 season to begin.

“This is my 27th year and I think I’m more excited than I’ve ever been,” Browning said.

There are a variety of reasons for Browning’s excitement, even despite his team earning the No. 4 spot in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West preseason rankings.

First of all, “when you bring a great recruiting class in, you’re excited,” Browning said. “You expect big things.”

Then there’s new offensive coordinator Bryan Volk.

“I’m excited about our new offensive coordinator because I think we hit the jackpot,” Browning said. “I think we brought a great guy in. He’s a heckuva football coach and brings a lot to the program.

“It’s kind of like bringing that blue chip recruit in. I think we brought a blue chipper in.”

Then there are the intangibles.

There’s a strong work ethic at the ’Boro this summer. The team has great chemistry and has taken the right approach — the “I want to be good” approach, as Browning refers to it.

Then … well, then there’s that Edinboro secondary. And there are only a few people who shouldn’t be excited about what the Fighting Scots bring back in the secondary. Those people would be the ones with ties to every other PSAC team on the ’Boro’s schedule this season.

Edinboro boasted one of the best secondaries in the country a year ago and returns five of those starters, including the PSAC’s active leader in career interceptions, Branden Williams, and preseason all-American James Jackson.

“We have a great secondary,” said Edinboro sophomore strong safety Veuntrae Robinson. “There is no other way to put it. All of the players are back and we have the addition of House (Lehigh transfer Mike Hanhauser). This is going to be a great year for us I think.”

Williams has been a dynamic player since coming to Edinboro. And opposing teams have learned that the best defense against Williams is to simply avoid him and throw to the other side of the field.

But those teams learned a tough lesson last year. In avoiding Williams, they had to deal with Jackson. How did Jackson respond? He finished with four interceptions, 12 pass breakups and 16 passes defended (which ranked 12th in Division II) along with 25 solo tackles and 14 assists.

“Now they have to decide,” Browning said, “because I think the guy, James Jackson, on the other side is a pretty good football player. It’s going to be fun. I think you’re going to find out week to week who’s going to get challenged. It’s going to be interesting.”

The thing with the Scots secondary is it doesn’t matter which of those two players teams choose to avoid, not just because both are high caliber players, but because both are surrounded by teammates who have the potential to be just as good. They proved it a year ago … as freshmen.

Robinson and Devin Ghafoor saw ample playing time as freshmen and were a main cog in the Scots’ passing defense that ranked 12th in NCAA Division II. They matured fast. They had to.

“I think with Kenny (Pettis) and myself being the veterans and being the leaders and with James coming into his own last year, it kind of showed the freshmen what we’re all about,” Williams said. “In the secondary we take pride in what we do. We want to be the best not only in the PSAC, but in the country. And I think we’re on our way to doing that.”

Browning is confident. And so are the Fighting Scots.

“We don’t have a mediocre attitude,” Robinson said.

“If we come out and handle our business the first couple of weeks, I feel like a lot of people will kind of disregard that No. 4 ranking,” Williams added. “We’re here for business.”

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