Hatters Picked 6th in Preseason Pioneer Football League Poll
For the fourth consecutive year, the University of San Diego has been picked to win the Pioneer Football League regular-season race in a preseason vote of the league’s coaches.
Stetson, which finished the 2014 season in a tie for sixth place, was picked to finish sixth in 2015, just the third for the Hatters program since bringing the sport back in 2013.
The PFL will announce its preseason All-PFL teams, Wednesday, followed by a preseason coaches teleconference on Thursday.
The upcoming 2015 season marks the 23rd year for the Pioneer Football League – the nation’s only non-scholarship, football-only NCAA Football Championship Subdivision conference. The league will feature 11 teams each playing an eight-game schedule to determine the league champion and recipient of the automatic bid to the 2015 NCAA FCS Championship.
Defending champion San Diego again received the coaches’ nod to win the 2015 PFL title, but the coaches also predicted an exciting race. The top three teams in the preseason poll were separated by just three points.
The bottom half of the poll begins with third-year program Stetson (6th, 54 points). The Hatters were followed by Marist (7th, 50), Morehead State (8th, 40), Valparaiso (9th, 37) and Davidson (10th, 22). Jacksonville was not ranked in the preseason poll and will not be eligible for the PFL regular season title while serving its league penalty.
Preseason All-American and returning PFL Defensive Player of the Year Donald Payne highlights the 2015 Stetson football squad. The redshirt junior safety set the PFL record and led all FCS tacklers with 175 stops last season and returns to anchor the Hatters defensive unit. The third-year Stetson program is not a one-man show as junior quarterback Ryan Tentler (152.8 yards per game, 17 TDs) and junior running back Cole Mazza (10 TDs, second-team All-PFL) returning on the offensive side. In addition, junior defensive back Chris Atkins returns to join Payne in the secondary after ranking second among PFL defenders with 18 passes defended last season.
The Stetson players will report back to campus for the start of training camp next Tuesday, Aug. 4, with the first practice scheduled for Wednesday night, Aug. 5, at 7 p.m.
The Hatters will open the 2015 season on Saturday, Sept. 5, against Webber International at Spec Martin Memorial Stadium in DeLand. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start. For information on tickets for the 2015 season contact the Stetson Athletics Ticket Office at 386-738-HATS or visit GoHatters.com/tix.
