READING, PA. – The 2023 Albright football season gets underway on Friday, September 1 on the road against nationally ranked #8 Hardin-Simmons. The Lions will open their season against a nationally ranked opponent for the second time in the last three years.
Friday's season opener marks the second straight season that Albright has started their season on the road. Friday's matchup marks the first time in either school's history that Albright and Hardin-Simmons will face each other on the gridiron.
ALBRIGHT 2-DEEP
HARDIN-SIMMONS 2-DEEP & ROSTER
D3FOOTBALL.COM PRESEASON TOP 25
Season Outlook
Head Coach
Isaac Collins enters his second season on the sidelines for the Albright football program. Collins enters the 2023 season with one of the strongest recruiting classes in Albright football history. With over 50 combined new first-year and graduate student-athletes, Coach Collins has the lions poised to return to Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) prominence.
The remainder of the coaching staff will all be in their first years on the sidelines for Albright.
Luis Figueroa Jr. ( Run Game, Offensive Line),
Blake Murray (Safeties), Jason Lindsley (Offensive Assistant), Michael Mish (Defensive Assistant), Rob Flowers (Co-Offensive Coordinator) and Jeff Knarr (Director of Player Personal and Assistant Director of Admissions). The coaches bring with them over 40 combined years of coaching experience and will look to make an immediate impact on the team this fall.
There will be a new quarterback under center for the Lions this season when play gets underway on Friday night. Throughout training camp, the quarterback position has been an open competition between newcomers,
Matt Remash,
Ty'Sean Helm,
Daniel Farley,
Logan Rothberg Vincenzo Scarola,
Kiani Freeman and
Ryan Bryson.
Albright returns leading rusher
Isaiah Shockley. Shockley was the feature back last season rushing for a team high 477 yards while also leading the team in receiving yards with 159 out of the backfield.
Dahlir Adams also returns to the Lions backfield after leading the rushing attack with three touchdowns and averaging 3.4 yards per carry.
Defensively, the Lions will be without their two top tacklers from a season ago in the form of
Sam Viera ((Albright's all-time leading tackler and
Daniel Vital who both recorded over 100 tackles last season.
CJ Partridge,
Josh Scurry and Sameul Moratori are all set to return for Albright. The trio of defenders combined for 29 games played last season while combining for 103 tackles, six tackles for loss,nine pass breakups and four fumble recoveries. Each player will step into a larger role defensively for the Lions in '23.
About Hardin-Simmons
The Hardin-Simmons Cowboys enter the 2023 season as the preseason No.8 team in the country, per D3football.com. Last season, Hardin-Simmons went 9-2 overall before bowing out in the NCAA playoffs to Trinity in the first round. Last year's playoff appearance was the first for the Cowboys since the 2018 season.
Hardin-Simmons returns 14 all-conference selections back to the field with six being on the defensive side, four on the offensive side and four special teams' student-athletes. In the American Southwest Conference preseason coaches' poll Hardin-Simmons was selected to finish behind traditional D3 powerhouse, Mary-Hardin Baylor.
Upcoming Albright Schedule
Sept. 9 vs Delaware Valley 12:00 p.m.
Sept. 16 at King's College (Pa.) 1:00 p.m.
Sept. 23 vs FDU-Florham 12:00 p.m. – Homecoming
