#15/18 Frostburg (6-1, 5-1 NJAC)  vs  Southern Virginia (1-6, 0-6 NJAC)
Frostburg has spent all nine weeks of the season ranked inside the D3football.com Top 25 Poll

The Fields
Friday, October 27  I  7:00 pm
Live Video  I  Live Stats
Directions to Southern Virginia

Frostburg Game Notes
Southern Virginia Preview
 

---

Setting the Scene
The 15th-ranked Frostburg football team hits the road for a New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) matchup against Southern Virginia on Friday night. Kickoff for the Friday night matchup with the Knights is set for 7:00 p.m.
 
Frostburg (6-1, 5-1) looks to continue its momentum from back-to-back blowout wins, including last week's 62-3 Homecoming victory over Montclair State at Bobcat Stadium. The Bobcats scored on all three phases of the ball and racked up the third-highest single game scoring total in school history.
 
Southern Virginia (1-6, 0-6) mustered just 126 yards of offense in a 42-0 loss last week at Salisbury. The Knights will host the Bobcats for their final home contest of the 2017 season before ending the year with a pair of road games.
 
Frostburg defeated Southern Virginia 24-7 last year at Bobcat Stadium. Senior RB Jordan Brown led the Bobcats with two rushing touchdowns while the defense allowed just 161 yards of offense.
 
The game will be broadcast live on YouTube, courtesy of Southern Virginia athletics.

The Series
After dropping the first contest in the series, Frostburg has rattled off three-straight wins in the four-game series and the Bobcats lead 3-1.

Frostburg is also looking for its third win in Buena Vista as Frostburg is 2-0. In 2015, FSU captured a 42-7 win at SVU, while the Bobcats dropped the Knights 24-7 at Bobcat Stadium last fall.

The first meeting was in 2007 and the Knights downed the Bobcats 35-20 at Bobcat Stadium.

Scouting Southern Virginia
Southern Virginia hosts Frostburg this Friday night and the Knights are 1-6 overall on the season and are one of just two remaining winless teams left in the NJAC at 0-6.

The Knights, picked eighth in the NJAC Preseason Poll, defeated Apprentice on Homecoming 45-23 for its only win thus far this fall.

Last Saturday, Southern Virginia was shutout by Salisbury 42-0 and the Knights have been held scoreless in three of seven games this season. SVU opened the season with five-straight losses.

Joe DuPaix is in his second season at the helm of the Knights after coaching at BYU for two seasons. Last year, Southern Virginia finished 2-8 with wins over Earlham (28-18) and William Paterson (26-17).

Southern Virginia enters the matchup with Frostburg ranked eighth in the league in scoring (13.6) and ninth in scoring defense (34.1). The Knights average just 256.0 yards of offense per game and are surrendering the third most in the league (351.9). Southern Virginia does however boast the fourth-best rushing attack as it averages 153.1 yards per game.

Running back Simi Moala has rushed for four touchdowns on the season and paces the team with 303 yards on 45 carries. Quarterback Ty Jones has also rushed for two touchdowns and has passed for three more. He has accounted for 591 yards in offense through seven contests.

Mitch Orme leads the team with 59 total tackles, including 4.5 behind the line of scrimmage. Neil Davis is second with 55 tackles and two interceptions.

Scouting Frostburg
The Bobcats powered past Montclair State last Saturday for a 62-3 Homecoming victory at Bobcat Stadium. Fourth-year head coach DeLane Fitzgerald enters the conference matchup with a 26-12 (.684) career record as the coach of the Bobcats, including a 16-2 (.888) mark since 2016.
 
Frostburg (6-1, 5-1) notched 62 points and earned its largest margin of victory (59) in program history. It was just the fourth time that the Bobcats have scored 60 points or more in a single game.
 
Frostburg was dominant on all phases of the ball, racking up 518 yards of total offense while limiting the Red Hawks to 37 rushing yards. The Bobcats passed for 295 yards on just 12 completions and the FSU ground attack rushed for 223 yards on 38 carries. Junior QB Connor Cox threw four touchdown passes and was named the NJAC Offensive Player of the Week while senior kicker Hassan Mostafa garnered Special Teams Player of the Week honors from the conference.
 
This season, Cox is completing nearly 65% of his passes with 18 passing touchdowns. Cox has tossed 47 touchdown passes in his career and is tied with Terry Changuris for the second most touchdown passes in school history.
 
The Bobcats are on an unprecedented offensive surge over the last two games and lead the NJAC in scoring offense (40.6), total offense (455.1), passing offense (272.1) and time of possession (33:23). Frostburg has 20 scoring drives that have spanned two minutes or less and the team has scored 12 touchdowns of 20+ yards this season. Junior RB Jamaal Morant leads the team with 471 rushing yards and five touchdowns.  
 
Senior DL Niles Scott had a strong performance last week with three tackles, two tackles for loss and two sacks. Scott leads the team with 13.0 TFLs and 8.5 sacks. Junior DB Josh Scales leads the team with 36 total tackles and two fumble recoveries.

Pulling Rank
The Bobcat football team moved up one spot to 15th in the week eight edition of the D3football.com Top 25 Poll, while holding steady at 18th in the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Week Six Poll.

The Bobcats collected another lopsided win last week, this time over Montclair 62-3, and the victory pushed Frostburg to 15th. In the week seven poll, Frostburg had been ranked 16th, while undefeated Washington & Jefferson was 15th. The two schools swapped spots this week.

The Bobcats also sit one spot and 30 points behind NJAC opponent and 14th-ranked Wesley. The Wolverines handed Frostburg it's only loss of the fall campaign, a 27-24 overtime defeat on Oct. 7.

According to the AFCA Poll, FSU is ranked 18th for the second-straight week and sits behind 17th-ranked Case Western Reserve.

Frostburg has been ranked in both of the major polls all year long, spending the entirety of the season inside the top 20. The Bobcats were ranked 11th four-straight weeks in the D3football.com Poll until its overtime loss to Wesley dropped the team to 18th. Frostburg ascended to ninth in the AFCA Coaches Poll, its highest ranking in program history.

The Bobcats garnered plenty of national attention leading up to the 2017 season, ranking 15th in the Street & Smith's Preseason Poll, 16th according to the Lindy's Poll and 19th in the College Football Yearbook Preseason Poll.

FSU was picked to finish second in the NJAC and received two first-place votes.

Head Coach DeLane Fitzgerald
DeLane Fitzgerald is in his fourth season at the helm of the Frostburg State football program in 2017 and his impact has been immediate. The Bobcats finished 4-6 overall in '14, posted a 6-4 mark in 2015 and rolled to an impressive 10-1 overall mark a year ago. FSU capped the '16 season with nine-straight wins, a share of the NJAC Title, the 18th Annual Regents Cup trophy and the Asa S. Bushnell Bowl Game trophy.

Frostburg hasn't just improved in the win/loss column, but the team GPA has improved every semester since Fitzgerald became head coach. Fitzgerald and his staff also see vast improvements in the weight room and around campus and in the town of Frostburg in terms of volunteer hours.

On the field, the Bobcats posted some of the most impressive numbers last fall. The FSU defense finished ninth nationally in total defense after holding opponents to just 240.6 yards per game. The Bobcats also led the nation in tackles for loss per game (10.7), and allowed just 13 points per game, good for the sixth-best scoring defense in Division III.

Fitzgerald also placed an emphasis in special teams since the day of his arrival at Frostburg. Following the '14 season, the Bobcats finished 17th in the nation in blocked kicks (6) and they finished 18th following the '15 campaign (6). FSU finished the 2015 season ranked 11th in the country in punt returns (15.63) and 15th in kickoff return defense (14.95). Last season, the Bobcats finished first in the NJAC and 12th nationally in blocked kicks.

Through seven games this fall, the Bobcats are fifth in DIII in rushing defense (52.6), fourth in blocked punts (3) and third in kickoff returns (30.00). The Bobcats are also fourth in the nation in team tackles for loss (10.3) and ninth in sacks (3.71).

Fitzgerald's Weekly Quotes
"Momentum is such a key to college athletics and our football program has a lot of momentum right now. Our players must continue to understand that momentum is caused by hard work, energy and enthusiasm!" "

On Southern Virginia ...
"Who says you can't go home again? For coach Hiatt, myself, and several of our players from Virginia, Friday night is a homecoming of sorts. Our entire football program is aware that SVU is joining the ODAC conference in 2019 and this will be our last trip to Buena Vista, Va. to play a game."

"Our players are excited to play on a Friday night under the lights. With only having five days to prepare for this week means that our coaches/player's preparation and focus will be key to our success. We've had a good week of preparation, now we need to go focus and execute on Friday night."

"SVU runs a midline triple option offense, led by #4 QB Ty Jones, #8 FB Simi Moala, and #3 Slot Back John Harris. Our players must stay focused and tackle their assignments for three hours on Friday. If we run to the football and tackle our assignments we will be fine on defense."

"SVU runs a 4-3 defense and is led by #24 DB Mitch Orme, #7 DB Neil Davis, and #51 DE Skyler Coward. Their defense is very similar to the Montclair St. defense we faced last week. Facing similar defenses back to back weeks has helped our preparation on a short week."

A Win Would ...
- Lift the Bobcats to 262-280-8 overall in 56 seasons
- Land Fitzgerald his 27th victory at the helm of Frostburg
- Be the fourth-straight win over Southern Virginia
- Improve Fitzgerald's record to 3-0 against his former team
- Improve Fitzgerald's record to 7-0 in night games at the helm of Frostburg
- Be Frostburg's seventh-straight win away from Bobcat Stadium
- Hand the Bobcats' their fifth-straight win in the state of Virginia

Speaking of the NJAC
All 10 NJAC schools are in action this weekend and Frostburg and Southern Virginia open the weekend on Friday night.

Friday, October 27
Frostburg at Southern Virginia - 7:00 pm
Saturday, October 28
Christopher Newport at Kean – 12:00 pm
Rowan at Salisbury – 1:00 pm
TCNJ at William Paterson – 1:00 pm
Wesley at Montclair State – 1:00 pm

Oh Captain, My Captain
A foursome of Frostburg players will serve as team captains for Friday's matchup with Southern Virginia: senior offensive linemen Jake Townsend and Christian Walsh, senior defensive back Dante Chinnery and senior defensive tackle Niles Scott.

NJAC Preseason Poll
The NJAC released the 2017 Preseason Coaches Poll in early August and Frostburg State was picked to finish second in the 10-team league. The Bobcats received two first-place votes after being selected as the league's dark horse prior to both the 2015 and 2016 seasons.

Wesley was selected to finish a top the league standings after receiving eight first-place votes. Salisbury sits one spot behind Frostburg in third, followed by Rowan.

Kean, the 2017 dark horse selection, is projected fifth. Christopher Newport, Montclair State, Southern Virginia, William Paterson and TCNJ round out the poll, slotted at the six through ten spots.

Frostburg Football History
Frostburg is in its 57th year of collegiate football in 2017 and the Bobcats have an overall record of 261-280-8. The Bobcats appeared in the 1993 NCAA Playoffs and have played in eight ECAC Bowl Games. The Bobcats capped their 2016 campaign with a 10-1 overall record that included a lopsided 38-14 win over then 22nd-ranked St. John Fisher in the ECAC's Asa S. Bushnell Bowl Game.

The '17 season marks the third year for the Bobcats as a member of the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC). It was announced in March 2014 that Frostburg, along with Christopher Newport, Salisbury and Wesley, would become associate members of the NJAC beginning with the 2015 season. Southern Virginia joined the conference a year earlier in 2014.

The NJAC also contains Rowan, Montclair State, The College of New Jersey (TCNJ), William Paterson and Kean.

Prior to the NJAC, the Bobcats competed in the Empire 8 from 2011-14 and the Atlantic Central Football Conference for 12 seasons from 1999-2010, capturing league titles in 1999, 2003 and 2004.

Versatility in the Backfield
Frostburg has proven that its backfield isn't short on talent or depth, as a different player seemingly steps up to pace the team every week.

In wins over Stevenson and TCNJ, junior Grayson Boyce ran the ball 24 times for 159 yards and five touchdowns. He averaged 6.6 yards per carry in the two contests and was the NJAC Offensive Player of the Week after running for 122 yards and two TDs against TCNJ.

In wins over Christopher Newport and Rowan, junior Jamal Morant stepped up to rush for 197 yards and two touchdowns while adding four receptions for 85 yards. He was named the NJAC Offenisve Player of the Week following CNU as he totaled 191 yards in total offense and two scores.

Sophomore Gavin Lavat has eclipsed 100 yards in two of the last three games. Two weeks ago against nationally-ranked Wesley, he averaged over 17 yards per carry after running for 155 yards on nine attempts. Last Saturday, Lavat ran the ball nine times for 101 yards and one score in a lopsided win over Montclair.

Against William Paterson, first-year tailback Malcolm Facey carried the ball nine times for 72 yards and his first career touchdown in the fourth quarter of Frostburg's 59-7 win. For his efforts, Facey was named the NJAC Offenisve Rookie of the Week.

Preseason All-American
Bobcat senior defensive tackle Niles Scott has racked up the preseason awards heading into his final season in a Bobcat uniform. Scott received preseason All-American honors from D3football.com, HERO Sports, Street & Smith's and Lindy's Sports. He capped his junior campaign ranked 47th in the country in TFLs (1.6) and 49th in sacks (0.82).

Through seven games this season, Scott is ninth in the nation in sacks (1.21) and 16th in DIII in tackles for loss (1.9).

Scott is third on the roster with 34 total tackles to go along with 13 TFL's, 8.5 sacks and a blocked kick.

On the Defensive
Through seven games this season, Frostburg has held its opponents to 368 rushing yards on 202 carries, a 1.8 yard per carry average. The Bobcats have held two opponents to negative yardage this fall and have allowed just one rushing touchdown on 202 rushing attempts. Aside from Wesley rushing for 195 yards, the Bobcats have held the other six opponents to under 100 yards per game.