Live Coverage
Live Stream | Live Audio | Live Stats

Radio: SKY 106.5 FM

Complete Game Notes
Fairmont State | East Stroudsburg

FSU Football Headlines
Falcon Football Notebook (By Duane Cochran for FightingFalcons.com)
Redmon Earns Preseason Honors from D2Football.com

Ticket Information
Single Game Tickets
$12 – General Admission (Adults)
$6 – Seniors (65+)
Free – FSU/Pierpont Students (with ID)
$6 - non-FSU and Pierpont students from visiting institutions (with valid college/university ID)

Student Promotion
Through the 2017-18 season, all secondary and elementary aged students will receive a free general admission ticket to Fairmont State football games. In addition, all parent or guardians that accompany any secondary or elementary aged children to the game will receive half-price admission when purchasing general admission tickets.

Quick Hitters
- Fairmont State will open the 2017 season with a non-conference battle with East Stroudsburg on Thursday, Aug. 31 under the lights of Duvall-Rosier Field. Thursday's game will be the first of five Thursday night games this season for the Falcons.
- After bring ranked as high as No. 17 in the AFCA Coaches' Poll during the 2016 season, the Falcons open up 2017 listed with "other teams" receiving votes in the poll.
- The Falcons return 14 starters and 46 letterwinners in 2017, including eight starters on the defensive side of the ball.
- Following Fairmont's historic run in 2016 that resulted in the school's first NCAA Division II Playoff berth, the Falcons had two players earn All-America honors, including cornerback Jacob Jean-Charles and defensive end Quincy Redmon. The duo became the first All-Americans for the program since 2012.
- Jean-Charles earned third team honors from the Don Hansen Gazette and Redmon was named an honorable mention All-American by D2Football.com.
- Redmon, the reining MEC Defensive Player of the Year, earned preseason All-American honors from D2Football.com.
- For the first time in Jason Woodman's tenure as head football coach at Fairmont State, the Falcons will have a new quarterback during week 1 of the season. Following the graduation of Cooper Hibbs, senior Alabama State transfer JuJuan Young-Battle will get the start at quarterback for the Falcons on Thursday night.
 
Scouting the Offense
- Perhaps the biggest storyline entering the 2017 season for Fairmont State was the competition at the quarterback position during fall camp.
- Getting the nod at quarterback this week is senior Alabama State transfer JuJuan Young-Battle. Young-Battle, a 6-2, 195-pounder from Orlando, Fla., was a junior college honorable mention All-America selection in 2015 at Ellsworth Community College in Iowa when he completed 234-of-367 passes for 3,118 yards and 26 touchdowns and suffered just 12 interceptions.
- Last fall at Alabama State he appeared in nine games and completed 43-of-86 passes for 449 yards and two scores. He was picked off twice.
- Young-Battle arrived at Fairmont State in the spring of 2017, participating in spring drills for the Falcons earlier this year.
- The only returning player at the quarterback position for FSU this fall is Takwan Crews-Naylor – the No. 2 quarterback for the Falcons last season. Crews-Naylor completed 7-of-9 pass attempts for 150 yards and a touchdown in limited action last season. Crews-Naylor is one again listed as the No. 2 quarterback for FSU this season.
- Despite the change at signal caller, the Falcons return second-team All-MEC selection Terrell Charles at the running back position in 2017. Last fall Charles enjoyed his most productive season in a Fairmont State uniform when he rushed for 887 yards and 12 touchdowns on 196 carries and caught 13 passes for 114 yards and one TD.
- In three seasons Charles has rushed for 1,435 yards and 16 touchdowns on 343 carries. He's also caught 19 passes for 179 yards and one score. He needs 671 yards to reach the Top 10 in FSU history in career rushing yards, four more rushing touchdowns to crack the Top 10 in school history in career rushing TDs and eight more touchdowns overall to put his name on the school's Top 10 list in all-time scoring.
- Fairmont also returns its second-leading rusher from a season ago, Rakeem Darden. Darden rushed for 250 yards on 48 carries and scored three touchdowns for FSU during the 2016 season.
- In addition to an experience backfield returning for the FSU offense, the Falcons also return four of their top five receivers from a season ago.
- Laurence King, the 2016 MEC Offensive Freshman of the Year, returns for his sophomore season after setting a single-season mark with 88 receptions for 973 yards and seven touchdowns on offense for the Falcons as a true freshman. However, that is just part of the story for King, as the speedster also racked up 715 yards and two touchdowns in the kick return game last season.
- Fellow sophomore Andre Hall will also help soften the blow of losing senior Fabian Guerra – the school's all-time leader in receptions. Hall hauled in 41 receptions for 552 yards and three touchdowns as a freshman in 2016.
- Perhaps the unit with the most change for the Falcons comes along the offensive front, as FSU will have new starters at left tackle, left guard and center in 2017. Lonnell McGuire and Garrett Kapstein-O'Brien both return on the right side of the offensive line.
- The 2016 offensive front paved the way for one of the most prolific offensive units in school history as the Falcons set single-season marks for passing first downs (154), total first downs (250), passing attempts (448), total offensive plays (858) and total offensive yards (4,690) during the season.
- The Falcons also ranked third in the league in sacks allowed (1.83) and cleared the way for a unit that averaged just under 30 points per game, including 267.5 yards through the air and 124.4 yards on the ground.
- The FSU offense also controlled the pace of the game by leading the league and ranking 39th in the country in time of possession (31:27).
 
Scouting the Defense
- On the defensive side of the ball, the Falcons return eight starters from 2016, including first team All-MEC defensive end Quincy Remond, middle linebacker Marcus Porter and safety Stephen Turner. The trio is joined by second team All-MEC outside linebacker Jerry Iweh and MEC honorable mention standouts Josh Ballard and Demonne Cox.
- The FSU defense suffered its biggest losses of the offseason in the defensive secondary, as All-American cover corner Jacob Jean-Charles and second team All-MEC safety Emanuel Ivey both graduated following the 2016 season. The duo will be replaced in the starting lineup by Rhode Island transfer Naiquan Thomas at safety and sophomore corner Michael Porter, brother of middle linebacker Marcus Porter.
- Fairmont State has won 16 of its last 20 games and one of the big reasons for that has been the squad's much improved play on the defensive side of the football.
- Last fall during its 10-2 season, FSU's defense ranked 29^th out of 170 teams in total defense (322.5), 31^st against the run (118.5), 22^nd in sacks (38), 17^th in points allowed (19.0) and 37^th in turnover margin (+0.50).
- FSU senior linebacker Marcus Porter needs just 55 more tackles to reach the Top 10 in school history in total tackles. Porter has led the Falcons in tackles every year since he entered the program in the fall of 2014. He had 69 stops as a true freshman, 72 tackles as a sophomore and 100 tackles last fall.
- As a unit, Fairmont's defensive line ranked second in the league and 22^nd in country in sacks during the 2016 season – averaging over three sacks per game (3.08). The FSU defense also locked down on opposing rushing attacks, as the Falcons allowed just 95.5 yards per game on the ground and gave up just 15.1 points per game during the regular season.
- Each of the eight defensive lineman listed on the FSU two-deep saw action last season. The unit will be led by 2016 D2Football.com All-American Quincy Redmon at defensive end and MEC honorable mention nose tackle Josh Ballard inside.
- FSU returns each of its three starters from 2016 at the linebacker position.
- Third-year linebackers coach Ron Rankin was promoted to Defensive Coordinator during the offseason after Zach Crissup departed for a position at Missouri Southern University.