GAME INFORMATION
Saturday, Sept. 13 • 11 am CT
O'Laughlin Stadium
Adrian, Michigan

Series History
Overall: Siena Heights leads 4-3.
First: St. Francis 17, at Siena Heights 14 (11/2/13)
Last: St. Francis 31, at Siena Heights 24 (10/5/24)
Streak: St. Francis has won the last two games in the series.

The Two Coaches
USF: Joe Curry
Alma Mater: USF 2001
Career: 71-64 (14th year)
at USF: 71-64 (14th year)

SHU: Matt Kohn
Alma Mater: University of Indianapolis
Career: 46-38 (10th year)
At Siena Heights: 46-38 (10th year)


TOP STORYLINES
• For the second year in a row, the Saints will face a team that is playing in its final season of intercollegiate football.  One year ago, it was Concordia University (Mich.).

• After catching only five passes for 49 yards one year ago, USF tight end Jake Friddle had a big day in the season opener last week, authoring the first two touchdowns of his collegiate career and catching five passes for 85 yards.
 
• Siena Heights' special teams units made quite the first impression last week with D.J. Young returning the opening kickoff for a 92-yard touchdown and punter Ian Furlong averaging 42.3 yards per boot.

• SHU runningback Brendan Haisenleder is back for his sophomore season after being one of just a handful of 1,000-yard rushers in the MSFA one year ago.
   
• USF's 468 yards of total offense last week put it in the No. 12 spot in the nation in that category, while its 296 passing yards rank 14th best.


GAME NOTES

THE HEAD COACHES
Joe Curry (St. Francis) is in his 14th season as the Saints' head coach, which makes him the longest-serving coach in school history.  He is also the winningest coach in the history of the program with 71 victories and second in winning percentage (.526, 71-64).  Program founder Gordie Gillespie maintains the top spot in winning percentage at .593.

Matt Kohn (Siena Heights) is currently in his tenth season at Siena Heights and sports an overall mark of 46-38.  His best seasons as well as those of the program came back-to-back in 2018 and 2019 when those clubs went 7-3.  A quarterback at University of Indianapolis, Kohn still holds Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) records for the most passing yards (645) and the most total yards of offense (652) in a single game.  He also was a Harlon Hill nominee, the NCAA II equivalent of the Heisman Trophy, during the 2003 campaign.   

ABOUT SIENA HEIGHTS
Playing in its final season of intercollegiate football, Siena Heights nearly pulled off the upset to begin the 2025 campaign.  The Saints opened up a 20-0 lead on NAIA No. 24 preseason-ranked University of Saint Francis (Ind.) in the opening quarter only to have the Cougars score the final 21 points of the game, including 14 in the fourth quarter, to rally for a 21-20 victory.  One year ago, Siena Heights went 3-7, its lowest win total in the 13-year history of the program.  Redshirt sophomore quarterback Braylen Himmelein has earned the starting nod to begin the season.  A dual threat, he completed 13 of his 24 pass attempts for 136 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions last week.  On the ground, he ran a team-high 17 times for a net of six yards after being sacked six times.  One of just a handful of 1,000-plus yard rushers in the league one year ago, Brendan Haisenleder is back for his sophomore season after amassing 1,013 yards on the ground with six touchdowns last fall.  Senior Kendrick McBride is one of the main threats among the receiving corps.  After catching just two passes in 2024, he secured the ball four times for 50 yards last Saturday.  Along the line, the Saints are young with four of the five starters being freshmen or sophomores and all five backups being true freshmen.  The lone upperclassman in the mix is Jaret Alcock, a junior center.  Always solid defensively, 2025 is expected to be no different for SHU with senior outside linebacker Clarke Hamilton leading the charge.  He turned in a 75-tackle season one year ago with 12 of those stops going for loss.  He also had one sack and one fumble recovery. SHU's special teams unit made quite the first impression last week highlighted by redshirt freshman D.J. Young's 92-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to begin the contest and 42.3-yard average on the day.  One year ago, he averaged 29.3 yards on six returns.  Bailey Jackson is another returnee after averaging 10.7 yards per punt return.  Redshirt freshman Ian Furlong also had quite the first week, averaging 46.3 yards on his three punts, including a 56-yarder.  That average ranks the Saints fourth in the nation.  They are also second on kickoff returns.  Carter Ball handles placekicking responsibilities.  He made 7-of-8 PATs and 1-of-2 field goals for 24 yards last season.

ABOUT THE SERIES
The Saints and Siena Heights have played each other seven times with SHU holding a slight 4-3 edge.  The four wins came in succession between 2014 and 2021.  USF has won each of the past two meetings, including last year, 31-24, in Adrian.

BOOKEND IT
Jake Friddle authored both the first and last touchdowns of the Saints' 45-28 setback to Taylor University with his two grabs of 17 and 14 yards last Saturday.  It was part of a big day for the senior tight end, highlighted by the first two touchdowns of his career.  He finished with a game-high five catches fo 85 yards.  One year ago, in an injury-riddled campaign, he caught the same number of passes for 49 yards for the whole season.
 
TRIPLE THREATS
Friddle was one of five Saint receivers to total at least three receptions last week.  He was joined by Ryan Little (4-93), Carl Bew (3-48), Connor Engstrom (4-40) and Mason Hackman (3-23).  Like Friddle, Engstrom also registered his first receiving touchdown from five yards out.

HERE, THERE AND EVERYWHERE
Bew found himself all over the field last Saturday from running the offense (12 yards passing), to catching the ball as a receiver, to performing as a halfback (7 carries, team-high 58 yards) and also returning kickoffs (3-60).

MAUL-ING THE OPPOSITION
Redshirt freshman Nathan Maul had a big day in his first collegiate start, completing 19 passes in 33 attempts for 284 yards with the three touchdown strikes opposite one interception.  He also carried the ball eight times for 19 yards to help lead the team to a 468-yard afternoon.  One year ago, in limited duty, Maul completed 4-of-9 passes for 48 yards with one touchdown.

PERFECTION
USF was a perfect 4-for-4 in the red zone against Taylor with all four scores being touchdowns.

NOT SO PERFECT
The Saints committed six turnovers (four fumbles, two interceptions) in their season opener, which were the most since hitting the same figure in a 35-7 loss to Olivet Nazarene back on Oct. 28, 2023.  One year ago, USF did not register its sixth turnover until Week 7.  Two of the fumbles on Saturday came at the end of 30-plus yard runs.

THAT WAS QUICK
Freshman strong safety Michael Hackman needed just two plays to record his first statistic as a Saint when he picked off a pass on the second play of the game, which eventually set up USF's first score of the contest and gave St. Francis an initial 7-0 lead.

THERE HE GOES AGAIN
After forcing four fumbles and picking off a pair of passes in just eight games one year ago, senior nickel back Trey Sayers is at it again.  In the season opener, he picked off a pass and tied for the team lead in tackles with ten.

THE TFL HOUND DOG
Senior linebacker Karsen Hansen is back at having a nose for the ball.  After leading the Saints in tackles for loss (21) and sacks (9) one year ago, he had a TFL as part of a ten-tackle effort last Saturday.

BREAKING THINGS UP
Senior linebacker Nick Franciskovich led the team in pass breakups against Taylor, collecting three on the day.  He also registered nine tackles.

OTHER DEFENSIVE HIGHLIGHTS
Sophomore cornerback Nathen Choute posted nine tackles in his first game of the year, while grad student defensive lineman Charlie Brooks recorded 1.5 tackles for loss amongst his five total stops.  

SHUTTING THINGS DOWN
After allowing 21 points in each of the first two quarters of the Taylor matchup, USF's defense yielded just three points over the final 30 minutes of the game.    

CHECKING THE NUMBERS
The Saints highest-ranking number on the national statistical scene has them committing the fourth-fewest penalties with just four last week.  They also rank 12th in total yards per game (468.0), 14th in passing yards per game (296.0) and 15th in yards per rush at 5.2.

FOUR SCORE AND 40 YEARS AGO
This is the 40th season of football at St. Francis with the inaugural campaign coming in 1986.  The Saints went 6-4 that first year.  

LUCKY SEVENS
USF has gone 7-3 in each of their last three seasons.

FOR THE RECORD
The Saints are 179-232 all time, 150-173 in day games and 87-127 on the road.