e 2016 Wagner Seahawks Football Sacred Heart Pioneers (4-0, 0-0 NEC) at Wagner Seahawks (2-1, 0-0 NEC) Saturday, October 1, 2016 * 6:00 p.m. (EST) Hameline Field (3,300), Staten Island, NY Wagner At a Glance Location: ............................................Staten Island, NY Play-by-Play: Paul Dottino President: ..................................... Dr. Richard Guarasci Color Analyst: Kevin Gilbride Athletics Director: ................................. Walt Hameline Sideline: John Schmeelk Head Football Coach: ......................Jason Houghtaling Producer: Eric Singer Record at Wagner: ................................. 3-1012nd year Overall Record: .................................................... Same Media Relations: .......................................John Beisser WAGNER-SACRED HEART SCENE-SETTER Beisser Office Phone: ..........................(718) 390-3227 Staten Island, NY - The Wagner Seahawks open Northeast Conference (NEC) play vs. Sacred Heart with a Beisser Email:[email protected] Homecoming clash at Hameline Field in a 6:00 p.m. start in a game that will be seen liveThe Green & White enter tonight’s matchup with a record of 2-1 while the Pioneers are a perfect 4-0 on the young season. After winning three consecutive games in the series, between 2011 and 2013, SHU has won the last two meetings played between the teams, including last season’s 45-17 in the 2015 regular 2016 Schedule season final on November 21 in Fairfield, CT. HISTORY vs. SACRED HEART W, 38-16 (9-9) Saint Anselm W, 38-0 September 1 Concordia ESPN 3) NEC OPENERS 2015: SHU 45, Wagner 17 L, 42-10 ( # September 10 at Boston College (ESPN 3) A charter member of the NEC, Wagner is 11-9 all-time in NEC openers since 2014 SHU 23, Wagner 7 September 24 6:00 p.m. Sacred Heart* 6:00 p.m. the inaugural conference season of 1996. 2013: Wagner 23, SHU 20 October 1 Columbia 1:00 p.m. (ESPN 3) 2012: Wagner 12, SHU 3 October 8 at Central Connecticut* 1:00 p.m. SEAHAWKS TAKE EARLY LEAD AT BOSTON COLLEGE 2011 Wagner 27 SHU 21 October 15 at Bryant* 12:00 p.m. After opening the season with wins over Saint Anselm (38-16) and Concordia 2010 SHU 38 Wagner 22 October 22 at UMass (38-0), the Seahawks traveled to Boston College on September 24. Aginst the October 29 12:00 p.m. 2009 Wagner 49 SHU 28 DUQUESNE* 12:00 p.m. Eagles, Wagner took an early 7-0 lead on a 55-yard touchdown run by junior 2008 SHU 42 Wagner 20 November 5 at Robert Morris* QB Alex Thomson (Keyport, NJ/ Keyport). The Green & White then hung tough November 12 12:00 pm 2007 Wagner 18 SHU 15 Saint Francis U* for a large portion of the game, and trailed by just a 14-10 count midway November 19 2006 SHU 25 Wagner 17 through the second quarter, before the Eagles pulled away for the 42-10 win. 2005 Wagner 26 SHU 21 -Homecoming 2004 SHU 30 Wagner 24 (2ot) - Home Games / * - NEC Game SACRED HEART IS WAGNER’S FIRST FCS FOE THIS SEASON Bold 2003 Wagner 24 SHU 16 All Times EST. After opening the season with games vs. an NCAA Division II team (Saint Anselm’s), a team from the NAIA (Concordia), and a Football Bowl 2002 SHU 10 Wagner 7 (ot) Championship (BCS) program in Boston College, the Seahawks will finally 2001 SHU 45 Wagner 24 face a fellow Football Bowl Championship (FCS) foe in Sacred Heart. Wagner 2000 SHU 22 Wagner 20 has the distinction of being the only team in FCS football this season that 1999 Wagner 33 SHU 0 will face opponents which compete in four different levels of classification. 1998 Wagner 40 SHU The Seahawks’-11-game game 2016 schedule features a cross-section of opponents who hail from the FBS (Boston College and UMass), Division II Home Games in Bold (Saint Anselm), NAIA (Concordia) and FCS (Columbia, as well as the NEC rivals WAGNER COLLEGE Bryant, Duquesne, Central Connecticut, Robert Morris, and Saint Francis U). Location: Staten Island, NY Nickname: Seahawks THE COACHES Enrollment: 2,000 Wagner Founded: 1883 Jason Houghtaling (say it Ho-tal-ling) is in his second season as the head coach of the Seahawks and, at age 35, is the third-youngest head coach in the FCS. He took over for Walt Hameline, who announced at the end of the 2014 season that he would be stepping down as head coach while remaining as Seahawk athletic director. Houghtaling (3-11) was the Seahawks’ associate head coach and offensive coordinator when the the Green & White claimed a share of the 2014 NEC title (with Sacred Heart), and overall, has spent seven years as a Wagner assistant. In his final three seasons as offensive coordinator (2011, 2012, 2014), the Seahawks amassed a 16-6 NEC record with league titles in two of those three years. In 2014, the Seahawks’ offense ranked No. 4 nationally in time of possession and did not commit a turnover in the final three games of the season. Houghtaling served as offensive coordinator at Cornell in 2013 before returning to Grymes Hill as SACRED HEART UNIVERSITY associate head coach/offensive coordinator. Location: Fairfield, CT Nickname: Pioneers Sacred Heart Enrollment: 4,232 Mark Nofri, who is in his fourth season as head coach at Sacred Heart and 22nd with the program, has led Founded: 1963 the Pioneers to a 24-15 record in this time, including back-to-back Northeast Conference titles and Coach of the Year accolades. Nofri earned his second consecutive NEC Coach of the Year award in 2014, leading the Pioneers to their first-ever national rankings and second consecutive berth in the FCS Playoffs. SHU defeated nationally ranked Delaware, on the road, and Bryant, at home, for the program’s first-ever wins over nationally ranked opponents. Nofri and the Pioneers went 9-3 in 2014, with a 5-1 mark in league play as they earned the league’s automatic FCS berth on the strength of a win at Wagner. A 1993 graduate of Keene State University, Nofri took over as the Pioneers’ interim head coach for the 2012 season and the Pioneers finished 2-9 and were 1-7 in the Northeast Conference. 2016 Wagner Football Quick Facts General Information Head Coach Location: Staten Island, NY Jason Houghtaling (Binghamton, 2004) 2nd Year Founded: 1883 Enrollment: 2,000 Assistant Coaches Nickname: Seahawks Rich Scangarello - Offensive Coordinator (Sacramento St., 1996) Colors: Green (PMS 3308) & White Tony Brinson – Defensive Coordinator (Rhode Island, 1995) Affiliation: NCAA Division I (FCS) Custavious Patterson – Wide Receivers (Morgan St., 2004) Conference: Northeast Conference (NEC) Stefon Wheeler - Offensive Line (Michigan St., 2005) Stadium: Hameline Field (3,300) David Fredrickson –Offensive Assistant (Wagner, 2015) Surface: Field Turf Max Wassel – Inside Linebackers (Wagner, 2015) President: Dr. Richard Guarasci (Fordham, 1967) Eric Franklin – Outside Linebackers (Maryland, 2013) Athletic Director: Walt Hameline (Brockport St., 1975) Zamel Johnson - Defensive Backs (Temple, 2012) Athletic Dep. Phone: (718) 390-3433 Rob Calabrese– Running Backs (Central Florida, 2012) Ticket Office Phone: (718) 420-4039 Steve Ciocci – Defensive Line (Wagner, 2013) Walter Kusmirek - Tight Ends (Fitchburg State, 2013) Football History Vincent DiGaetano - Def. Asst./Program Analyst (Wagner, 1999) First Year of Football: 1927 Brian Tracz - Assistant AD for Athlete Performance (Fordham, 2008) Overall all-time record: 398-340-19 (.532) Undefeated Seasons: 1960, 1964, 1967 Football Support Staff Div. III National Champions: 1987 Peg Hefferan – Associate Athletic Director (Penn State, 1985) Became FCS Program 1992 A.J. Firestone – Football Operations Director (Wagner, 2015) Became NEC Program 1996 Football Office Phone: 718-420-4511 All-time NEC Record: 65-70 (.481) Media Relations Team Information Asst. AD For Media Relations John Beisser 2014 Overall Record: 1-10 Office Phone: 718-390-3227 2015 NEC Record/Finish: 1-5/T-5th Office Fax: 718-420-4015 Starters Returning/Lost: 13/9 Cell Phone: 732-921-6744 Offense: 5/6 E-mail: john.beisser@wagner. Defense: 3/8 edu Lettermen Returning: 50 Press Box Phone: (718) 420-4050 Lettermen Lost: 31 Website: www.wagnerathletics.com Newcomers: 64 THIS IS W AGNER C OLLEGE As tenacious as any Seahawk, Wagner College enjoys a bucolic perch atop Grymes Hill overlooking Manhattan and the other boroughs of New York City. Founded in 1883 as a Lutheran proseminary, Wagner has evolved to become an independent residential liberal arts college enrolling a capacity of over 2,000 students. The location of the College above the gateway to one of the world’s greatest financial and cultural capitals was the work of alumnus Frank Sutter who convinced the College’s Board of Trustees to relocate Wagner here from Rochester in 1918. In this, the Rev. Sutter and the trustees were extraordinarily prescient. Their wisdom provided Wagner with a distinct geographical advantage over all other all liberal arts colleges in the country. Wagner is New York State’s southernmost college and its 105 park-like acres represent the highest elevation on the eastern seaboard from Maine to Key West Florida. The College’s signature curriculum – the Wagner Plan for the Practical Liberal Arts – capitalizes on the best of a traditional, suburban, liberal arts college campus and the infinite array of educational opportunities afforded by New York City. Students intern in the world’s Dreyfus and as the site of a prospective private military school in the leading financial institutions. They observe and experience diversity HBO series, The Sopranos. The school was also used a a backdrop for from the sophisticated workings of the United Nations to melting pots current shows, Rescue Me and Law & Order. of multicultural neighborhoods. They circulate in the city’s unparalleled Since the adoption of the Wagner Plan in 1997, enrollment has creative environment of museums, media, and performing arts.