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EDINBORO, PA – The bulls eye will be
clearly on the back of the Edinboro University football team as it
begins the 2005 campaign. The Fighting Scots have been chosen as
the preseason favorite in the Pennsylvania State Athletic
Conference Western Division. Voting was conducted among the head
coaches in the division, with the poll announced today during the
PSAC West Media Day at Cranberry, PA.
The rest of the Western Division poll has
California(Pa.) ranked second, Indiana(Pa.) in third place, with
Shippensburg fourth. Slippery Rock was voted fifth, followed by
Clarion and Lock Haven in sixth and seventh place, respectively.
Edinboro is attempting to do what few teams
have done before – win back-to-back-to-back PSAC
championships. That is something that has only been accomplished
four times, by West Chester (1959-61), Slippery Rock (1972-74 and
1997-99) and Indiana(Pa.) (1990-94).
Head coach Lou Tepper has guided his Fighting
Scots to consecutive 9-3 finishes, finishing as the co-champions
in the PSAC West a year ago along with Shippensburg and IUP.
Edinboro has been selected for the NCAA Division II playoffs both
years.
It comes as no surprise to Tepper that the
Fighting Scots are the preseason favorite, particularly in light
of being ranked eighth nationally by Street & Smith’s
2005 Yearbook and 18th by Lindy’s Football Annual.
But the veteran coach is very wary of the upcoming campaign.
Edinboro returns 29 letterwinners, including
seven starters on offense and eight starters on defense.
Edinboro opens the 2005 season on Saturday,
August 27, hosting WVU Tech in a 1:30 p.m. kickoff at Sox Harrison
Stadium. The following week the Fighting Scots travel to East
Stroudsburg for a meeting with the preseason favorite in the PSAC
East. The Warriors ended Edinboro’s season a year ago with a
36-32 win in the Northeast Region quarterfinals, and were a 20-7
victor over the Fighting Scots during the regular season.
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