2012 Siena Heights University Football
Siena Heights Saints (1-1, 0-0) vs
#3 Marian Knights (2-0, 0-0)
Saturday, Sept. 8 - 1 p.m. - Adrian, Mich.

Live Coverage: Jerry Hayes (play-by-play), Doug Goodnough (color commentary), Siena Heights Sports Network (www.shusaints.com), WLEN 103.9 FM

For a complete PDF version of game notes, click HERE.

THE GAME
The Siena Heights football team will play its first Mid-States Football Association Mideast League contest on Sept. 8 when No. 3 Marian (Ind.) visits O'Laughlin Stadium for a 1 p.m. start. The Siena Heights community will also celebrate Heroes Day.

Running back Travis Damron had his second consecutive three-touchdown game last week as the Saints dropped a 36-34 triple-overtime decision at Iowa Wesleyan. With 1:52 left, quarterback Matt King found tight end Donovan Campbell with a 25-yard touchdown pass, helping to force overtime. King also had a touchdown run of his own while Damron finished with 22 carries for 90 yards. For the Siena Heights defense, linebacker Trent Bragg had 10 1/2 tackles and defensive back Sederick Dunbar II contributed 10 tackles and two interceptions.

In its last game, Marian earned a convincing 31-7 victory over No. 11 Bethel (Tenn.) in the third annual NAIA Big River Bowl in Dyersburg, Tenn. The contest was ended after three quarters due to weather.

Running back Tevin Lake had a strong performance, rushing the ball 18 times for 137 yards. Quarterback Adam Wiese  was 12 of 16 for 161 yards and three touchdowns.

FOLLOW THE MARCH
All Siena Heights football games will be broadcast on the radio on WLEN 103.9 FM and on the Siena Heights Sports Network, which can be accessed via the Stretch Internet link on WWW.SHUSAINTS.COM. Live stats can be followed online at WWW.SHUSAINTS.COM.

SHSN will provide live video for each Saint home game. Play-by-play will be called by Jerry Hayes while Doug Goodnough will provide color commentary.  Jay Nicols is the producer. Games will be archived in Stretch's on-demand feature.

THE COACHES
Jim Lyall (Michigan '74) is in his second season as head coach for Siena Heights, where he now has a 1-1 varsity record. He is 103-92-1 all-time as a collegiate varsity football coach. During SHU's 2011 club season, Lyall went 8-1. He was previously the head coach at Adrian, where he compiled a 102-91-1 varsity slate.

Ted Karras Jr. (Northwestern '87) has been Marian's head coach for the entirety of the Knights' six-year history. He is 52-38 all-time as a collegiate varsity football coach with a 38-22 slate for Marian. He was previously head coach for Rose-Hulman, where he went 14-16. Prior to that, he was the offensive coordinator for Saint Xavier (Ill.) and defensive coordinator for Lake Forest (Ill.).

UP NEXT ...
On Sept. 15, the Saints will head back on the road for Mid-States Mideast action -- this time taking on Concordia at 1 p.m. at Huron High School. A geographic rivalry will be born when the two-year-old programs clash for the first time. Siena Heights and Concordia are no strangers to one another; the schools compete in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference in several other sports.

Concordia will host Trinity International (Ill.) this week at Skyline High School with kickoff taking place at 1 p.m. Playing a varsity schedule in their inaugural year, the Cardinals went 0-11 in 2011. This year, CUAA is 0-1, with a 44-14 season-opening loss at Saint Francis (Ind.).

SCOUTING THE KNIGHTS
An NAIA Tournament semifinalist, the Marian football team is the defending Mid-States Football Association Mideast League champion. The Knights were upended in last season's national tournament by eventual national champ -- and league-mate -- Saint Xavier.

Currently, Marian is ranked No. 3 in the NAIA with a record of 2-0. Last year, the Knights fielded one of the top defenses in the nation, finishing with the top scoring defense (7.4 ppg), rush defense (72.4 ypg) and total defense (208.9 ypg). The Knights were also the second-best pass defense (136.5 ypg).

Sophomore running back Tevin Lake is one of many outstanding performers on the Marian roster. In 2011, he set a single-season school record with 1,248 rushing yards. He was also the nation's leader in scoring with 18 rushing touchdowns, which is also a single-season school record.

Several Knights were honored by Beyond Sports Network as preseason all-americans. Those honorees were four First Team selections: senior offensive lineman Brody Dixon, senior quarterback Adam Wiese, junior defensive lineman Seth Vondersaar and senior defensive back Nate Toon. Lake was selected to the preseason Second Team, junior defensive lineman Dan Brunke was mentioned on the Third Team and a pair of offensive linemen, senior Steve Seculoff and junior Zack VanDeman were listed as honorable mentions.

SIX FOR TD
Sophomore running back Travis Damron continues to impress as he has compiled six touchdowns through the Saints' first two contests. He is leading SHU in several rushing categories, including carries (37), yardage (158), yards-per-carry (4.3) and longest run (24).

Last week, Damron had touchdown carries of 4 and 24 yards during regulation before pounding his way into the end zone on a 10-yard carry in the third overtime. The third touchdown gave SHU a chance to tie with a two-point conversion, but the Saints ultimately fell short.

TWO-HEADED MONSTER
Sophomore tight ends Donovan Campbell and Lyle VanFleteren have proven themselves valuable as the SHU offense gets acclimated to varsity opponents.

In two games, Campbell has 13 receptions for 128 yards while VanFleteren totals four catches for 67 yards against Robert Morris. Campbell has the Saints' only two touchdown receptions -- a nine-yard catch against Robert Morris and a 25-yard reception versus Iowa Wesleyan.

Campbell has certainly shown his flair for the dramatics. At IWC, the Saints trailed 28-21 when junior quarterback Matt King found Campbell for the 25-yard TD with 1:52 remaining. The King-to-Campbell connection came through the previous week against Robert Morris when SHU was down six points and scored a game-tying touchdown on a fourth-and-4 in the first OT.

TURNOVERS EQUAL POINTS
The Saints manufactured 21 points off turnovers in their loss to Iowa Wesleyan last week, including 14 in the fourth quarter. During their previous game, neither Siena Heights nor its opponent, Robert Morris, turned turnovers into points.

At IWC, defensive lineman Robert Becker had his hand in a pair of turnovers. In the second quarter, he forced a fumble on Tiger quarterback Kevin McConnell, allowing fellow defensive lineman Collin Teff to recover the ball at the Iowa Wesleyan 11-yard-line. Quarterback Matt King followed up with a 11-yard touchdown run for the Saints.

In the third, Sederick Dunbar II picked off McConnell at the SHU 40 and the Saints turned that opportunity into a nine-play, 60-yard drive, culminating with a 24-yard TD run by Travis Damron in the fourth.

Later in the fourth, a Becker recovery of a McConnell fumble led to a SHU touchdown with 1:52 to go with King found tight end Donovan Campbell for a 25-yard scoring reception, tying the contest at 28-all.

BACK AT IT
The Siena Heights defense recorded three sacks and forced Iowa Wesleyan into five turnovers last week in defeat, including two interceptions by defensive back Sederick Dunbar II, one interception by linebacker Tyler Karcher and fumble recoveries by defensive linemen Robert Becker and Collin Teff.

Sacks were had by Becker and defensive lineman Cecil Marious while Karcher and defensive lineman Jordan Martin combined on a sack.

In total, the Saints surrendered 427 yards of offense to Iowa Wesleyan, including 191 yards rushing and 191 yards passing to Tiger quarterback Kevin McConnell, who accounted for all five touchdowns and all five turnovers by IWC.