The Lock Haven University football team returns home after three straight road trips to open the 2012 season. Saturday marks LHU's 2012 home-opener (3 p.m. kickoff vs. Edinboro) as the Bald Eagles will host their second annual “Community Day.”

Full Game Notes (PDF)

Edinboro's Game Notes

Week 4: Edinboro at Lock Haven (PSAC West) / Community Day
3 p.m. kickoff / Hubert Jack Stadium (3,000, Artificial FieldTurf) / Lock Haven, Pa.

Setting the stage:
Lock Haven (0-3, 0-1 PSAC West) dropped its PSAC West opener last Saturday (Sept. 15) at No. 17 IUP, 42-0. Thanks to a sensational defensive effort in the first half, LHU trailed just 7-0 at the break. After scoring on its first possession of the game, IUP was forced to punt on four of its next five possessions of the first half. Lock Haven also forced and recovered a fumble late in the second quarter.

The Crimson Hawks responded in a big way in the second half, taking the opening kick 81-yards for a TD and they went on to post 35-second half points.

Edinboro also enters the game winless on the season (0-2, 0-1 PSAC West). The Fighting Scots dropped their home-opener last weekend to No. 6 California (Pa.), 24-14. Edinboro was idle in Week 1, but fell at nationally-ranked Bloomsburg, 36-14 in Week 2.

The series:
Edinboro controls the all-time series 37-14-1. Lock Haven won the first-ever meeting in 1958, 33-26, but the Bald Eagles haven't beaten Edinboro since 2000 (20-16), dropping 11 straight games to the Fighting Scots.

Last year (Sat., Oct. 29, 2011), Edinboro won 42-7 in Edinboro thanks to a 14-0 halftime lead.

Brandon Brader rushed for a career-best 168 yards on 33 carries, but it wasn't enough to get LHU the road-win.

With 2:02 left in the first half, the Bald Eagles prevented the shutout on a Jarrett Kratzer one-yard touchdown run. The touchdown made it 21-7 in favor of Edinboro. It was Kratzer's second consecutive start at QB last year and the only rushing TD LHU scored in 2011.

Jesse Hoover made three catches for 40 yards. Derrick Watkins and Ryan Good both made eight tackles for Lock Haven while Tyrail Morgan added seven.

Listen/Watch:

The game will be streamed live (live video & audio), free of charge at the following link.

http://mediasite.lhup.edu/Mediasite51/Viewer/?peid=8419720355954189a797a025bcac72411d

Bald Eagle fans can listen to the game in several formats.

AM 1230 WBPZ will broadcast the game locally as well as online at http://tunein.com/radio/WSQV-921-s22900/
- John Lipez (play-by-play) & Tom Elling (analyst).

ESPN Williamsport will broad cast the game on Y106.9 in the Lock Haven area as well as online at www.espnwilliamspot.com (stream 6). The game will be joined in progress on ESPN 104.1/ESPN 1050 (Williamsport).
- Joe Putnam (play-by-play) and Doug Byerly (analyst).

Bald Eagles at glance:

- Senior QB Jarrett Kratzer (Lewistown, Pa./Indian Valley) made his 16th career start under center at IUP. On the year, he's 32-for-67 with two interceptions and 308 total yards. Kratzer averages 102.7 yds./game.

- Redshirt-junior tailback Bradon Brader (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty) carried the ball 19 times for 46 yards at IUP. The 46 yards put him at 1,362 for his career, which is 10th best in school history. He's yet to score a TD, however.  Brader has 178 yards on the year (59.3 yds./game).

- Starting safety George Christas (Dallastown, Pa./Dallastown) had a game-high 10 tackles (six solo) at IUP and the sophomore now leads the team with 21 (13 solo) on the year.

- Sophomore LB Matt Kirchner (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) had eight tackles at IUP and has 20 on the season.

- Sophomore WR Frankie Probst (Lock Haven, Pa./Robert Morris Univ.) enjoyed his breakout game at IUP. The Lock Haven native made three catches for 66 yards.

- The loss to IUP marked the third straight game this year where LHU has failed to score.

- 2012 marks the first time since 2005, where LHU started the season with three straight road games.

Community Day:
Saturday's game marks the second annual Community Day. Thanks to the generosity of our loyal sponsors, parking and admission will be free for all.

As part of the pregame ceremonies, Lock Haven City Mayor Richard P. Vilello, Jr. will be on hand for the ceremonial coin toss.
The Bald Eagles are also calling for a “WHITE OUT.”

The 2012 Community Day sponsors are Bill Macintrye Chevrolet Buick, Nittany Travel, the LHU Bookstore, 92.1 WSQV / AM 1230 WBPZ and The Express.

Home sweet home:
Lock Haven finally returns home after logging nearly 1,000 miles of travel during the first three weeks of the season. It marked the first time since 2005 that the Bald Eagles would open a season with three straight games away from the friendly confines of Hubert Jack Stadium.

Did you know?
Brandon Brader's single-game career high of 168 rushing yards came last year vs. Edinboro.

Allen's second year:
2012 marks the second season for head coach John Allen. The 1996 James Madison graduate was no stranger to LHU when he took over the program in March 2011, as he was previously on the Bald Eagle coaching staff as an assistant from 1996-2003. While at LHU, he assisted in all phases of the game including wide receivers and special teams' coordinator (1996-99), defensive backs coach and recruiting coordinator (1999), offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach (2000-03). Allen served as the head coach of NFL Europes Berlin Thunder in 2007 and prior to coming to LHU he was the coordinator for player development at Penn State.

Lock Haven vs. Division I opponents:
Lock Haven's 2012 season-opener marked the 10th time since 2002 where Lock Haven has taken on a Division I team and sixth time it had come in a season-opener. Fordham is a Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) team. The FCS was formerly known as DI-AA from 1978-2005.  Lock Haven's only wins against Division I opponents came in 1970 and '71 when The Haven beat Delaware State in back-to-back seasons.
2010 vs. VMI (season-opener) L, 48-6
2007 vs. VMI (season-opener) L, 20-0
2007 vs. Youngstown State (week 4) L, 35-3
2006 vs. #17 Southern Illinois (season-opener) L, 49-0
2005 vs. JMU (week 2) L, 56-0
2005 vs. Towson (week 3) L, 70-0
2004 vs. JMU (week 2) L, 62-7
2003 vs. Towson (season-opener) L, 50-19
2002 vs. Northeastern (season-opener) L, 48-0

*all games were played on the road
*Northeastern cut the program in 2009

Trio of All-PSAC selections:
Redshirt-junior Brandon Brader returns to carry the load for Lock Haven's running game. Last year he rushed for 942 yards on 253 carries. His 94.2 yards/game were the fifth-best in the PSAC and his 942 total yards were the most of any Bald Eagle since the 1999 season. Brader was a second-team All-PSAC selection last year.  His 253 carries was the most by an individual back in the PSAC.

Along with Brader, two other All-Conference selections from a year ago return including junior guard Anthony Herko and senior defensive tackle Skyler Wool.

Herko was the leader on the offensive line last year for LHU as he started all 10 games.

Wool, who was nominated for the Gene Upshaw Division II Linemen of the Year award last year returns after a breakout 2011 season. Wool got the starting nod in week two and never looked back last year; making 31 tackles (22 solo), 5.5 TFL, one sack and he added a fumble recovery.

Experienced O-Line:
A huge key for LHU up front is the experience on the offensive line. Lock Haven's five returning linemen combined for 40 starts. This year the offensive line averages 6-2, 274 pounds.

After making 10 starts at tackle last year, Jonathan Engroff (senior) will move to guard this year.

Center Kurt Ledebur (senior) made all 10 starts last year

D-FENCE:
Lock Haven returns 10 starters on defense in 2012.
LHU returns nine of its 10 tackle leaders from a year ago including starting safety Mark Olivo (junior), who made 47 stops last year (30 solo).
Lock Haven's three starting linebackers (Matt Kirchner, James Goins & Ryan Good) combined for 99 tackles last year.
Ryan Good, a returning captain and starter at linebacker made 43 tackles last season. He started the first eight games of the year before an injury forced him out the last two contests. Good was credited with three tackles-for-a-loss, two forced fumbles and one sack in those eight games.

Heimer on Fred Mitchell Award watch list:
Senior-kicker Noah Heimer has been placed on the 2012 Fred Mitch Award watch list after a strong 2011 season. The Fred Mitchell Award honors collegiate place kickers in Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), Division II, III, National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) that were nominated by their colleges for excellence on the football field and in the community.

All streaks must end:
The loss to IUP marked the 45th straight for Lock Haven, who hasn't won since the 2007 season-finale at Clarion (17-14 OT). Lock Haven is winless in each of the last four season (2008, '09, '10 & '11). LHU, 1-55 over the last six season (including 2012) is in search of its first winning season since 1981 (6-5, *note, LHU was 5-5 in 1982). The all-time DII record for consecutive losses is 46 - Minnesota-Morris Cougars, 46 games (1998-2003).

The road ahead:
Lock Haven makes it two straight home games as they play host to Shippensburg on Saturday, September 29 (Week 5) at noon.
Shippensburg (3-0) hosts Millersville this weekend and is coming off a 63-21win at East Stroudsburg.
The Bald Eagles Week 6 opponent is Mercyhurst. LHU will hit the road on Saturday, October 6 to take on the Lakers at noon.