GAME NOTES
 
Albright (0-5, 0-3) vs. Stevenson (3-2, 2-1)
• When: Saturday, Oct. 19, 2019
• Where: Owings Mills, Md.
• Stadium: Mustang Stadium (3,500)
• Kickoff: 1 p.m.
• Live Video: VIDEO
• Live Stats: STATS
 
 
SERIES BREAKDOWN
• All-Time Series: Stevenson leads 5-3
• First Meeting: 2011 – Albright won 57-21
• Last Meeting: Sept. 15, 2018 @ Albright – Stevenson won 50-21
• Streak: Stevenson +3

The Albright Lions will head across the Mason-Dixon Line to face Stevenson in MAC play at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
 
Albright suffered a 42-40 loss to Wilkes last Saturday at Shirk Stadium. The Lions were involved in a high-scoring affair for the second-straight week as they built a 34-21 lead before halftime. Wilkes ran the ensuing kickoff back for a touchdown to make it 34-28 at half before taking a 35-34 lead in the third quarter. The Lions struck back to go up 40-35, but a Colonels touchdown with 5:55 left in the fourth quarter proved to be the difference. Albright had first down from the Colonels 12-yard line with just under two minutes left in regulation before senior quarterback Jimmy Lahay was intercepted in the end zone by Wilkes.
 
Stevenson had its scheduled bye week last Saturday. The Mustangs are coming off a dominant 36-10 win over Widener two weeks ago on October 5^th. Following a scoreless first quarter, Stevenson built a 26-3 lead in the third quarter before pulling away in the 4^th quarter to win 36-10. The Mustang defense forced four turnovers in the win.
 
LAST SEASON'S MATCHUP
The Mustangs defeated the Lions in Reading last season by a final score of 50-21 in the 68^th annual Rajah Shrine Pretzel Bowl. The game went back and forth to start as the Lions took a 21-13 lead with 4:17 left in the second quarter on a 22-yard touchdown reception from senior wide receiver Zack Miller off a deflected pass. The tide turned when Stevenson scored nine points in the final 1:47 of the second quarter to take a one-point lead at halftime.  The Mustangs continued the run into the second half with 28 unanswered points to ultimately pull away from the Lions.
 
HAVE A DAY
Freshman cornerback Chris Holbrook turned in a historic performance for Albright last Saturday against Wilkes. Holbrook ran two kickoffs back for a touchdown in the Lions 42-40 loss to the Colonels. The Washington D.C. native ran the opening kickoff back 91 yards for a touchdown before running a 93-yard return back late in the second quarter. For his efforts, Holbrook was named MAC Special Teams Player of the Week, and earned a spot on the national D3football.com Team of the Week at the returner position.
 
It was the first time a Lion had run a kickoff back for a touchdown since Kyler Dickerson ran the opening kickoff back for a touchdown against Delaware Valley in 2016. Holbrook also made his first career start at cornerback for the Lions against the Colonels.
 
HOT STREAK
Sophomore wide receiver Kevin Zehner posted his second-straight 100-yard game versus Wilkes last Saturday. He caught nine passes for 106 yards, and scored a career-high three touchdowns. Over the last two games, Zehner has caught 19 passes for 287 yards and five touchdowns. The numbers have vaulted him to the team lead in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. His one-handed six-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter was also named MAC Play of the Week.
 
TURN IT OVER
Albright tallied its second-straight multi-interception against Wilkes after having just one interception in its first three games. The Lions picked off Wilkes quarterback Jose Tabora twice on Saturday. Junior safety Armon Jefferson grabbed his first interception of the season before senior cornerback Kamaal Stewart tallied his first of the season as well. For Jefferson and Stewart, it was both their first interception since the 2018 Wilkes contest.
 
NUMBER BUILDER
Sophomore running back Tony Thorpe ran for a career-high 97 yards on 16 carries, and scored one touchdown against Wilkes last Saturday. The New Jersey native topped his career-high mark set against FDU-Florham, and has now scored three rushing touchdowns in the last two games. Thorpe also set a career-best mark of averaging 6.1 yards per carry Saturday. He leads the team with 331 rushing yards and is averaging 66.2 yards per game.
 
NO PUNTS
The Lions did not attempt a punt against Wilkes on Saturday. It marked the first time in a game that the Lions did not attempt a punt since September 3, 2011 in a 24-17 win over Ursinus. Albright has just punted once in the last two games. Lahay now serves as the team's primary punter after sophomore kicker/punter Chris Knop was lost for the season with an injury. The Lions also received their first punt return of the season on Saturday on a 22-yard return from Zehner.
 
CONSISTENCY
Sophomore linebacker Sam Viera notched his third double-digit tackle performance against Wilkes on Saturday. Viera led the Lions with a team-high 10 tackles (six solo), and 1.5 TFL. Viera leads the team and ranks second in the MAC with 9.8 tackles per game. He also ranks fourth in the conference with 49 total tackles. Viera has also led the team in tackles in all but one game this season.
 
ABOUT STEVENSON
The Mustangs have won back-to-back games since starting the season 1-2. They currently sit in fourth in the MAC behind Delaware Valley, Wilkes, and Misericordia. Defense has been the strength of the team thus far as they currently rank second in the MAC for scoring defense at 18.0 points allowed per game. They rank third in yards allowed at 305.6 and in passing defense at 200.6. Not to be outdone, the Mustangs also featured a balanced offense that ranks fourth in the MAC in scoring offense at 32.4. Stevenson leads the MAC in passing offensive efficiency as they have 12 touchdown passes to two interceptions, and have completed 67.6 percent of their passes.
 
Behind that strong pass efficiency mark is sophomore quarterback Ryan Sedgwick. In his first year as starter for the Mustangs, Sedgwick has thrown for 1,244 yards thus far along with accounting for all 12 Stevenson passing touchdowns. He leads the conference in completion percentage at 67.1 percent, and ranks fourth in both passing yards and touchdown passes. Sedgwick has a pair of dynamic targets on offense in senior wide receivers Chaz Lyles and Keenan Franz. They both rank top-10 in the MAC for receiving yards with Lyles leading the way at 445 yards, while Franz leads the team with five receiving touchdowns. On defense, senior defensive back Hanif Jones leads the team with 21 tackles, 5.0 TFL, and two sacks. Senior linebacker Izaiha Pitts paces the Mustangs with a pair of interceptions so far this season. Junior defensive lineman Mario McIntyre leads the team with 5.5 TFL.