By Lisa Byers
Meadville Tribune
Sept. 2, 2010 7:00 a.m. EDINBORO —
Last season was a magical one for the Edinboro football team.
The Fighting Scots not only reached the NCAA Division II Super Regional One semifinals, they matched the school record in wins with nine and helped produce one of the conference’s most successful quarterbacks ever.
As special as 2009 was, though, there is one thing in particular no one will forget: a record-setting 84-63 loss to West Liberty that saw Edinboro’s magical season come to an end. It’s a pill the Scots’ defense still has trouble swallowing and an event they hope never happens again.
“That was tough,” Edinboro senior Dan Skelton said. “It was more frustrating than anything else.”
Welcome 2010.
Defense is figured to be a key for the Fighting Scots this season. Last year, Edinboro ranked as one of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference’s worst defenses. It finished ranked 13th in scoring defense (28.2 points per game) and total defense (361.3 yards per game) and 11th or worse in at least three other categories.
Fortunately for the Scots, they countered with one of the best offenses in not only the PSAC, but Division II, led by current Jacksonville Jaguars’ quarterback Trevor Harris.
Whether or not Edinboro will offer a similar high-powered offense behind rookie quarterback Cody Harris remains to be seen, which makes improvement on defense an even bigger deal. Veteran-led, head coach Scott Browning believes the defense will rise to the challenge in 2010.
“I think it’s important,” Browning said. “I think it’s important for us to show progress.
“We’ve done that. Our guys believe in what we’re doing schematically. They believe in the coaches. They believe in each other. We’re going to be a fine football team on the defensive side of the ball.”
With all the experience the Scots return, there is no reason why they shouldn’t be.
The Scots have a very experienced secondary that includes junior preseason All-American Branden Williams. They also return nose guard Adam Smith-Friedman, linebacker Greg Sondag, free safety Ben Swank and Skelton at strong safety. Edinboro returns a total of 25 players who made a statistical contribution on defense. They lost just 13.
“We have a lot of young players stepping up right now,” Skelton said. “The big thing is just to do your one-eleventh. If everyone does their assignment, it’s going to be hard to beat us on defense.”
From Harris to Harris
For four years, even the mention of Trevor Harris’s name brought a smile to Browning’s face. He was a special player. But judging from Browning’s smile when questioned about Harris’ predecessor and younger brother Cody Harris could quite possibly be just as special. Time will tell.
For now, Browning is just excited to see the redshirt freshman go out and finally get his shot to lead the Fighting Scots.
“I’m excited about Cody,” Browning said. “We’ve had Trevor for four years. I think that’s the fun of college football is the turnover. You never get stale. You never get stagnant with the same guys.
“The closest we get to being stale or stagnant is with a guy who’s been with the program for five years. I think the change is good for everyone. It’s good for your coaching. We’ve got a wrinkle here and there that’s different. If Trevor had been our quarterback again this year, maybe that change wouldn’t have happened. I think it’s good. It’s fun. It really is.”
Browning is also excited about Cody’s potential.
“Trevor was in our program for five years and he was our leader for four years,” he said. “Obviously you miss him. But when we came to camp, our football team prepared itself to move on without him. It’s part of the archives.”
“We don’t do as much now as we did with Trevor,” Browning continued. “But someday we’re going to do more with Cody than we are now. It’s a learning process. You try to take them to a point where they are overloaded and then you have to know you’ve got to stop.
“The more he plays, the longer he’s with us and the more he’s the guy, the more we’re going to be able to do with him. I’m excited.”
While the Scots welcome a young quarterback — his backups Casey Kacz and Alvin Busbee, both transfers, are redshirt freshmen as well — the rest of the offense is pretty experienced. Tailback David Bostic, wide receivers Josh Brown and Gary Nolen, tight end Shawn Walker, left guard Rob Stoner, right guard Nick Christman and right tackle Shane Hess are all returning starters.
Bostic led the Scots with 595 yards rushing on 149 carries with seven touchdowns. Michael Battles also returns to the backfield after rushing for 344 yards on 88 carries with three touchdowns a year ago. Brown was Edinboro’s leading receiver in 2009 with 48 catches for 723 yards and seven touchdowns. He is one of six receivers back with at least 100 yards receiving last year.
Gary Nolen caught 40 passes for 556 yards and a touchdown. Bostic added 36 catches for 353 yards with a touchdown. Nick Marino caught 29 passes for 431 yards with four touchdowns.
They key offensively will be the quarterback and the offensive line, which includes a rookie Ryan Wilson at center.
“Hopefully we have a good season,” Skelton said. “You never know until it comes out. Everybody’s working hard. If everybody does their own job, then we’ll have a great season.”
That season begins Saturday at West Liberty where it all ended a year ago.
