web1_TTL082716depaul.backpacks.jpg

St. Vincent de Paul Kitchen distributes school backpacks

editorials.png

Our Opinion: Wilkes University skates into new sports era with introduction of men’s and women’s hockey

<p>Misericordia University&#8217;s offense will have a new look this season.</p><p>Brandon Leap, a junior from Pleasant Valley, emerged as the starter with Jeff Krisiak, a senior from Pocono Mountain West, as his back-up from a group of five quarterbacks who sought to replace Jeff Puckett.</p><p>Puckett, the MVP of each of Misericordia&#8217;s first four teams, ran or passed for 2,504 of the team&#8217;s 3,238 yards and 22 of its 24 offensive touchdowns.</p><p>Leap will lead the team into its fifth season, which begins Saturday with a 1 p.m. home game against Utica College.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve had a good competition,&#8221; Misericordia coach Mark Ross said. &#8220;We&#8217;ve made the determination that we will start Brandon Leap this Saturday. &#8230; The two guys separated themselves. They did a great job. I feel pretty good about the two of them.</p><p>&#8220;They will run the ball, but they&#8217;re probably further along in their development as passers. We&#8217;ll probably add that dimension a little more than we&#8217;ve had up until the second half of last year.&#8221;</p><p>Puckett surpassed 1,000 yards both rushing and passing last season. He was a first-team MAC all-star and the only Cougar named to either the first or second teams.</p><p>While the quarterback position gets the attention, Ross knows its the other areas that&#8217;s important to the ongoing development of a program that knocked off local rival Wilkes University in the next-to-last game for its only win of 2015.</p><p>&#8220;O-line is always a concern,&#8221; Ross said. &#8220;We had three guys coming back that played a lot, but we&#8217;re awfully young there.</p><p>&#8220;I think they&#8217;ve come a long way, getting better each day. I think we&#8217;re pretty confident in the group we&#8217;re going to start Saturday.&#8221;</p><p>Center Lenny Watson, who earned all-MAC honorable mention after playing in nine games and starting seven as a freshman last season, returns to anchor the line.</p><p>Zach Robertson and Sam Johnson give the Cougars veterans at each tackle spot and Alec Rhoads is back to line up next to one of them as the tight end.</p><p>Sophomore Tyler Stephan and freshman Tyler Colonno have landed the guard spots.</p><p>Ryan Kurtz, who was second on the team in rushing with 438 yards, is back as the single setback.</p><p>Mark McMaster is back at one wide receiver spot after leading Misericordia with 31 catches for 345 yards last season. Sam Gillison was also part of the rotation in the Cougars&#8217; three-receiver sets. He finished second on the team with 29 catches.</p><p>Misericordia allowed 34.6 points per game last season, a number that almost has to come down for the team to start winning more frequently.</p><p>Ross sees that as a three-part process.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve got to eliminate big plays in the pass game,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We&#8217;ve got to get off the field on third down. We&#8217;ve not won the third downs that we should win the vast majority of the time. We&#8217;ve talked about that and tried to address that with our kids. And, then, I&#8217;ve made a big emphasis on taking the ball away.</p><p>&#8220;Those are three things, we have to do a better job on to keep advancing on that side of the ball.&#8221;</p><p>Mid Valley graduate Tyler Collins led the defense in tackles and tackles for losses last season. He returns for his third season at safety.</p><p>Delaware Valley graduate Nikolai Kepple is one of four freshman who have cracked the starting lineup. He&#8217;ll be at tackle between veteran ends Fredo Santorelli and Cory Dickerson.</p><p>Noah Bard is at linebacker and Matt Parrella at cornerback, giving the Cougars two more freshmen in the starting defense.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve gotten our roster to where we need to be to compete in the league, especially this year&#8217;s freshman class,&#8221; Ross said.</p><p>Jordan Aquino is the veteran of the linebacker corps. Thomas Anderson and Anthony Rand-Willever are expected to join Aquino and Bard.</p><p>Chris Hutter, a senior who has some experience, is not currently listed among the depth chart of first- or second-team lienbackers.</p><p>Kenneth Grady from Wallenpaupack is a second-timer at the position.</p><p>Jared Harris gained valuable cornerback experience last year as a freshman. He is playing opposite Parrella. Stephen Cushing is another safety.</p><p>The special teams are highlighted by the return of Mark Newins, an honorable mention all-MAC choice after averaging 39.5 yards per unit.</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Fact-box-template.pdf">
<div class="neCaption"></div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Fact-box-template.pdf</photo0><caption0></caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_MU-Logo.jpg">
<div class="neCaption"></div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_MU-Logo.jpg</photo1><caption1></caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Tom Robinson</p><p>For Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>COLLEGE FOOTBALL </strong></p><p><strong>Saturday</p><p><strong>at Mangelsdorf Field</p><p>Utica at Misericorida, 1 p.m.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Times Leader sports at 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @tlsports.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Misericordia University football gears up season opener