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West Liberty Photo Gallery

Central Connecticut State Photo Gallery

CONFERENCE PLAY KICKS OFF
A three-game road swing to start the 2011 season concludes on Saturday for the Southern Connecticut State University football team as the Owls travel to Saint Anselm for their 2011 Northeast-10 Conference opener. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Grappone Stadium. Fans can follow all of the action with Don Boyle on the call at www.sportingnewsct.com.

A LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK'S CONTEST
The Owls forced eight West Liberty turnovers, including six interceptions, and rallied from a 10-0 first quarter deficit in a 27-19 win over the Hilltoppers on Saturday. Trailing 10-7 in the second quarter, defensive back Steven Teague intercepted a pass and returned it 40 yards for a touchdown. The Owls didn't trail again in the contest. Rashaad Slowley rushed for 114 yards on 25 carries and added a touchdown in the win.

TWO TABBED FOR NE-10 WEEKLY HONOR ROLL
Steven Teague and Rashaad Slowley were both selected to the Northeast-10 weekly honor roll for their play at West Liberty.

PICK 'EM
Southern Connecticut has already recorded eight interceptions in the first two games of the 2011 season. The Owls had 11 interceptions all of last year. Steven Teague and Michael Escobar have each recorded two interceptions thus far to lead the club in that department.

THE PICK SIX TREND
The Owls have returned an interception for a touchdown twice in the last five games dating back to last season. Steven Teague did the honors on Saturday against West Liberty. Josh McWilliams accomplished the feat against Stonehill on Oct. 30, 2010. Prior to that, however, SCSU had not returned an interception for a touchdown since the 2007 season.

WEST VIRGINIA'S GOOD FOR WINS
Southern Connecticut has ventured to West Virginia twice in the last four years and has returned with wins on both occasions. In 2008, the Owls defeated West Virginia Wesleyan, while this year, SCSU defeated West Liberty.

A GREAT SHOWING, BUT NOT THE RECORD
It may be hard to believe, but the Owls six interceptions against West Liberty did not set a new school record. SCSU has twice tallied eight interceptions in a game - against Brooklyn in 1951 and Fordham in 1980. Four of those interceptions in the 1980 Fordham game were recorded by Steve Bush, currently a member of the Miami Dolphins coaching staff.

SLOWLEY STRONG AGAINST SAINT ANSELM
Running back Rashaad Slowley will look to continue his strong showings against Saint Anselm once again in 2011. Two years ago, he rushed for a career-high 221 yards and scored three touchdowns in an Owls' win. Last year, he followed that up with 187 yards on the ground and three more touchdowns. Over the last two years, Slowley has rushed for 408 yards on 31 carries and six touchdowns against St. Anselm.

ALL-TIME AGAINST SAINT ANSELM
Southern Connecticut leads the all-time series with Saint Anselm by a 9-2 margin.

SLOWLEY ECLIPSES 2,000 YARD MARK
Thanks to his effort against West Liberty last time out, senior tailback Rashaad Slowley went over the 2,000 yard mark for his career. He now has 2,040 yards heading into this weekend.

SPREADING THE WEALTH
Eight different receivers tallied receptions in the win at West Liberty, including the first collegiate catch for Vito Fornarelli. Seven different receivers caught passes in the opener at CCSU.

ZACH ATTACK
Redshirt freshman Zachary Williams made a key impact in Saturday's win at West Liberty. He tallied both his first collegiate sack and first collegiate interception in the contest.

WELCOME TO THE CLUB
Graduate studente Dy'onne Crudup made his presence felt in his Owls' debut on Saturday. He totaled 77 yards on returns as well as one catch for 15 yards. Crudup, a New Haven native, played his first three years at Temple.

HAZELTON MOVING UP THE CHARTS
Senior Christopher Hazelton has moved into third place on the all-time list at Southern Connecticut with 96 career extra points. Next up on the list is Dale Goodknight, who registered 106 PAT's in his career. Paul Boulanger is the all-time leader with 114.

HOLT STEPPING UP
Wide receiver Jayson Holt is currently second on the club with seven receptions so far this year.

PRIVOTT CONSISTENT THUS FAR
Senior Andre Privott posted nearly identical performances in the first two games of the 2011 season. He had six catches for 61 yards in the opener at CCSU and followed that up with six catches for 63 yards against West Liberty. The reception and yardage figures were team-highs in both contests.

SLOWLEY SETS TWO NEW HIGHS IN OPENER
Senior tailback Rashaad Slowley set a new career-high with 27 carries in the season opener. His old best was 22 carries against New Haven last year. Slowley also matched a career-high with 34 receiving yards in the game.

FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING
Sophomore defensive back Mustaqiim Plair recorded his first collegiate interception in the opener at CCSU.

IN SEASON OPENERS
The Owls are now 35-28-1 all-time in season openers. The 2011 season opener was the 64th in program history.

HIT THE ROAD
The opener marks the first of three straight games on the road for the Owls, who will not play at home until Sept. 23. Southern Connecticut has six road games in 2011 and just four home games.

SCSU PICKED SECOND IN NE-10 PRESEASON POLL
The Owls were selected second in the Northeast-10 Conference preseason poll, one point out of the top spot. SCSU had been picked as the preseason favorite in each of the previous four seasons.

A PRESENCE IN THE AFCA POLL AGAIN
Southern Connecticut received 14 votes in the first American Football Coaches Association poll of 2011.

ALL-AMERICA HONORS COMING ALREADY
Two Owls - senior Kevin Lynch and junior Willie Epps - were named preseason All-Americans by various media organizations. Both took home honors from Consensus Draft Services, while Lynch was also recognized by www.d2football.com.

FIVE OWLS NAMED ALL-ECAC
The Owls had five student-athletes - William Chaffin, Willie Epps, Sam-uel Johnson, Richard Kirkland and John Wiechman - recognized with year-end honors from the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference as Division II Football All-Stars in 2010.

SEVEN NAMED ALL-CONFERENCE; FOUR RETURN
Seven members of the Southern Connecticut State University football team - Daniel Allen, William Chaffin, Willie Epps, Sam-uel Johnson, Richard Kirkland, Andre Privott and John Wiechman - were tabbed for the All-Northeast-10 Conference team at the conclusion of the season.

OWLS FINISH STRONG
The Owls won their final three games of the 2010 season and scored at least 45 points in each of the three contests.

CHARETTE TABBED FOR ACADEMIC ALL-CONFERENCE
Junior offensive lineman Spencer Charette was named to the Northeast-10 Conference Football All-Academic Team for his work in the classroom. It was the second year in a row that he earned the honor.

OWLS FARE WELL IN THE CLASSROOM
Twenty-five student-athletes were named to the Northeast-10 Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll for their work in the classroom during the fall, 2010 semester.

LYNCH BACK UNDER CENTER
Kevin Lynch fared well in his first full season under center in the fall. As a junior in 2010, he threw for 2,468 yards and 24 touchdowns while completing 59.7 percent of his passes.

NOTHING BULLISH ABOUT THIS DEFENDER
Sam-uel Johnson enjoyed a breakout campaign in 2010 that saw him earn All-ECAC and All-Conference honors. He led the club with 76 tackles (40 solo), while also posting three sacks, three fumble recoveries and two interceptions.

YOU THROW IT...THEY'LL CATCH IT
The Owls have their top five receivers, and six of the top seven from a year ago, coming back for 2011. Willie Epps was second in the league in receiving yards (970) and touchdown receptions (nine) and led the league with an average of 26.9 yards per catch. Andre Privott tallied 35 catches for 561 yards. Jerome Cunningham, Nick Mandich and Sean Donelly all had at least 14 receptions last year.

SLOW (LEY) AND STEADY WINS THE RACE
Tailback Rashaad Slowley has led the Owls in rushing in each of the past two seasons. An All-Conference pick in 2009, Slowley finished with 871 yards in 2010. He entered the 2011 season with 1,876 career rushing yards.

A RECORD SETTING DAY AGAINST MERRIMACK
The Owls' record book underwent a bit of a transformation on Nov. 6 thanks to several outstanding individual efforts against Merrimack. Junior quarterback Kevin Lynch threw for a school record 443 yards and matched a school mark with six touchdowns. Steve Armstrong had held the mark of 436 yards, set back in 2005 against Bryant. Armstrong and Mike Abate both also previously tossed six touchdowns. Sophomore wide receiver Willie Epps tallied 254 receiving yards in the contest as well, which broke the old mark of 241 yards set by Jeff Cupe in 2003. The duo also hooked up on a 97-yard touchdown reception, which broke the old mark of 92 yards set earlier this year.

DONNELLY COLLECTS FIRST COLLEGIATE SCORES
Sophomore wide receiver Sean Donelly posted his first two touchdowns as an Owl in the win over Merrimack.

OH SO CLOSE
Prior to the 23-22 loss to New Haven on Oct. 9, the last time that the Owls dropped a one-point decision was in 2008, a 13-12 loss to AIC. The last time that the Owls won a one-point decision was in 1995 when they had three such wins - consecutive wins over Montclair State (15-14) and Rowan (21-20) followed by a 24-23 win over C.W. Post later in the year.

THAT TIME OF YEAR
SCSU has now posted a 32-4 mark in its last 36 regular season games that take place on or after Oct. 1.

AERIAL ASSAULT BY LYNCH
Junior quarterback Kevin Lynch etched his name in the Owls' record books against West Liberty. He set a new Southern Connecticut single-game record with 30 completions in the game. Lynch finished the day with 376 passing yards and three touchdowns on the day. Steve Armstrong held the old mark of 28 completions, set against Merrimack in 2007.

A DYNAMIC DUO
Wide receivers Andre Privott and Willie Epps both reached the 100-yard plateau against West Liberty last year. Epps had four catches for 151 yards and three touchdowns. Privott hauled in seven passes for 100 yards. It marked the first time that two Owls' receivers hit the 100 yard mark in the same game since Chris Bergeski and Privott did it against West Chester in a 2008 first round NCAA playoff game.

TRIFECTA
Epps became the first Owl to secure three touchdown passes in the same game since Jim Lukowiak did so against Pace during the 2004 season.

ON DECK
The Owls return to action on Sept. 23 for their home opener against Pace.