GAME NOTES (PDF)
 
Albright (2-1, 1-0) vs. Widener (3-0, 1-0)
• When: Saturday, Sept. 25, 2021
• Where: Reading, Pa.
• Stadium: Shirk Stadium (5,000)
• Kickoff: 12 p.m.
• Live Video: VIDEO
• Live Stats: STATS
 
 
SERIES BREAKDOWN
• All-Time Series: Widener leads 45-21
• First Meeting: `1916 – Widener won 24-7
• Last Meeting: Oct. 26, 2019 @ Albright – Widener won 59-34
• Streak: Widener +2
 
The Albright Lions football team will host Widener on Saturday at noon in MAC play for their annual homecoming contest.
 
The Lions earned their second-straight win after defeating Alvernia on the road last week, 31-21. Sophomore running back Isaiah Shockley jumpstarted the Lions offense by scoring on a 44-yard touchdown on the second offensive play of the game. Senior quarterback Todd Shelley responded to an Alvernia touchdown by finding classmate Kevin Zehner for a 77-yard touchdown to put Albright up 14-7. The Lions never trailed in the contest as they responded to every Alvernia score. Albright ultimately put the game away in the fourth quarter when senior running back Tony Thorpe scored his first touchdown of the season.
 
The Pride earned a convincing 24-3 win at home over Lebanon Valley last Saturday. Widener never trailed in the contest and scored one touchdown in three of the four quarters. The Pride held the Dutchmen to just 163 total yards on offense, and just 79 passing yards. Widener held a sizable 211-84 advantage on the ground.


THE LAST MATCHUP
In the teams last meeting in 2019, the Pride overwhelmed the Lions with their passing attack as they amassed 453 passing yards in a 59-34 win at Shirk Stadium. Widener raced out to a 24-7 lead in the second quarter, and built a lead as big as 52-14 in the fourth quarter. Former Widener quarterback Sean McGaughey racked up seven touchdown passes with his 453 yards through the air, while a pair of Pride receivers tallied over 100 yards receiving. Zehner led the Lions with career-highs of 12 catches and 190 yards along with three touchdowns, and former Lions quarterback Jimmy Lahay threw for 409 yards in the air and four touchdowns.
 

A STAR IS BORN
Sophomore Isaiah Shockley continued his breakout start to the 2021 season after registering 171 rushing yards on 20 carries and scored his first collegiate touchdown against Alvernia. Shockley averaged 8.6 yards per carry on the ground, and recorded his second 100-yard game of the season following his 123-yard performance against Salisbury in the season opener. Shockley leads the MAC in rushing with 389 total yards on the ground, and ranks ninth in all of Division III with that rushing number. He also leads the conference by averaging 128.7 yards in the first three contests of the season.
 

ALL I DO IS SCORE
Senior Malik Bootman extended his touchdown streak to three games this season, and five games overall since the Lions last full regular season in 2019. Bootman tallied his third receiving touchdown of the season in the second quarter against Alvernia. Bootman currently leads the team in scoring with five touchdowns on the season between three through the air, and two on the ground. He also leads the team in receiving touchdowns, and ranks second on the team with 165 receiving yards on 14 catches. Bootman earned MAC offensive player of the week honors following his three-touchdown performance against Western Connecticut State.
 

TACKLE MACHINE
Senior linebacker Daniel Vital registered a career-high 15 tackles (seven solo) in the Lions win over Alvernia. Vital has posted two double-digit tackle performances on the season, and leads the conference with 34 total tackles. He is currently averaging 11.3 tackles per game which ranks him second in the MAC.
 

HALL OF FAME
The Albright Athletics department will be inducting four new members into its Hall of Fame this weekend. The four new members are: swimmer Cindy Barner '05 (Ikeler), swimmer Eric Daney '06, football player Nate Romig '10, and football and baseball player Steve Simon '64. The four will be officially inducted at a dinner ceremony on Friday night before being honored on the field at halftime on Saturday afternoon.
 

WHO'S BACK OF THE WEEK
Senior running back Tony Thorpe made his first appearance of the season against Alvernia after missing the first two games due to an injury suffered in the Lions scrimmage against Lackawanna College. Thorpe finished the game with 57 yards on 13 carries and scored one touchdown in the fourth quarter. He helped the Lions close out the Golden Wolves by tallying 49 of his yards in the two drives Albright had in the fourth quarter. Thorpe has led the Lions in rushing in 2018 and 2019, and set a career-high with 604 yards and six touchdowns in 2019. Combined with Shockley's 171 rushing yards, the duo churned out 228 yards on the ground.
 

HOUSE CALL
Senior wide receiver Kevin Zehner hauled in a 77-yard touchdown pass in the the first quarter in the Lions win over Alvernia last Saturday. It was the longest reception of his career and the longest reception by any Lions player since former Lion wide receiver Kyle Dickerson caught an 84-yard touchdown pass against FDU-Florham in 2018. It is also currently the longest reception so far in the MAC this season. Zehner ranks fourth in the MAC in receving yards per game with 71.7, and third with 215 total receiving yards. His career-highs of 12 catches for 190 yards and three touchdowns came against Widener in 2019.
 

ABOUT WIDENER
The Pride feature many skilled weapons on offense led by the wide receiver duo of senior James Gillespie and junior Ty Holbert. Gillespie has been an integral part in the Pride's offense since his arrival on campus in 2016, earning D3Football.com Third Team All-American, MAC Offensive Player of the Year, and All-MAC First Team honors in 2019. Gillespie also has been a thorn in the Lions side over the past few seasons as he has registered 358 receiving yards on 18 receptions and six touchdowns in three games against Albright. Holbert currently leads the team with 175 receiving yards on 15 catches and has scored two touchdowns. Holbert set his career-high of 184 receiving yards and two touchdowns against the Lions in 2019. Sophomore running back Shawn Thompson leads the team in rushing through three games with 234 yards on 48 carries and one touchdown. On defense, senior defensive lineman Mario Scotese is tied for the MAC lead with three sacks, and is tied for sixth in the conference with 6.0 tackle for loss. Scotese earned MAC defensive player of the week honors two weeks ago after his two-sack performance against Hampden-Sydney.