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LORETTO, Pa. (Oct. 10, 2012) – The Saint Francis University football team returns to the road Saturday to battle Northeast Conference foe No. 24 Albany for the final time as NEC foes.
 
JUST THE FACTS
Saint Francis (3-3, 2-1) at UAlbany (5-1, 3-0)
Kickoff – Noon
All-Time – Albany leads 13-0
Last Time They Met – SFU 20, Albany 41
 
SETTING THE STAGE
The Red Flash enter their final NEC meeting with Albany with a running attack ranked 11th in the nation and first in the NEC. The Flash feature the fourth best scoring offense in the NEC averaging 25.2 points per game and the second-best defense in the NEC in turning teams over. The SFU rush offense ranks first in the NEC averaging nearly 240-yards per game. Saint Francis enters Saturday's contest with the second fewest passing yards in the NEC but the Flash have been efficient ranking fourth in the league in pass efficiency. The Red Flash offense has also generated the second most first downs in the NEC with 80 via the run. SFU ranks third in the NEC in red zone offense scoring 82.4-percent of the time it enters the red zone.
 
The Saint Francis offense is led by seniors Keion Wade (East Orange, N.J./East Orange) and John Kelly (Frederick, Md./Tuscarora) who both rank in the top six in the NEC in rushing. Kelly also ranks fifth in the NEC in total offense and fourth in pass efficiency. The Flash feature one of the top deep threats in the Northeast Conference in A.J. Alexander (Altoona, Pa./Altoona Area), who ranks seventh in the NEC in scoring but the senior from Altoona, Pa. has not found the end zone since scoring twice against Morehead State.
 
Grant Price (Fort Wayne, Ind./Carroll) continues to lead the NEC in punting averaging 42.5-yards per kick a number that currently has him 18th nationally in punting.
 
The Great Danes enter the weekend as the NEC's top ranked team in total offense and scoring offense while ranking second in rushing offense, rushing defense, scoring defense, punt returns, kick returns and sacks allowed. Albany claimed the Northeast Conference title a season ago and currently sits a top the standings in their final season in the NEC. The Great Danes will be headed to Colonial Athletics Association next season after 13 seasons in the NEC.
 
Drew Smith leads the Great Dane offense in rushing averaging 100.83-yards on the ground a game, a mark, which currently ranks him second in the NEC and 25th nationally. Will Fiacchi spearheads the passing attack for Albany by ranking second in the NEC in passing efficiency and third in total offense. Ryan Kirchner stands as one of the top receivers in the NEC averaging 56-yards through the air a game. Cole King is close behind averaging 52.83-yards a game which ranks him and Kirchner both in the Top 10 in the league in receiving. Kirchner is also a threat in the return game ranking first in the NEC in punt returns.
 
Saturday's contest will be the 14th consecutive season the Great Danes and the Red Flash have met with Albany winning every game between the two schools. The Red Flash have struggled on the road at Albany never scoring more than 21 points in New York's state capital. The Great Danes have done their best against SFU offensively on their home field averaging a little over 43 points a game in six all-time meetings at University Field.
 
NUMBERS TO KNOW
1 – The Red Flash rank first in the NEC in rushing offense averaging a little over 238.8 yards a game on the ground.
 
2 – Albany ranks second in the NEC in rushing offense averaging 212.7 yards per game in the running game but the Great Danes also feature the second best rushing defense in the NEC allowing just 112.8 yards a game.
 
3 – The Red Flash will be playing in their third road homecoming game of the season Saturday. SFU also played Towson and Duquesne in their homecoming contests. Following their contest with the Danes the Red Flash return home for their homecoming contest against Wagner.
 
5 – Josh Thiel (Leesburg, Va./Heritage) has connected on five consecutive field goals from 40 or more yards including makes from 46 and 43 yards this season.
 
7 – The seven point game between SFU and RMU ranks tied for the closest game ever between the two rivals. The Flash also played their tightest game ever against Duquesne earlier in the season.
 
9 – Grant Price (Fort Wayne, Ind./Carroll) has pinned SFU opponents inside the 20-yard line nine times this season and SFU as a team has done it 10 times with John Kelly (Frederick, Md./Tuscarora) doing it once.
 
22 – The 10 points for the Flash are the fewest for an SFU squad in a win in 22 years.
 
THE STABLE
The Saint Francis backfield has been one of the top rushing-backfield in the Northeast Conference so far this season. The Red Flash feature three runners with 300 or more yards this season on the ground. John Kelly (Frederick, Md./Tuscarora) stands as the top rushing quarterback in NEC with 419-yards on the ground. Keion Wade (East Orange, N.J./East Orange) enters the weekend as the leading rusher for the Flash with 560-yards on the ground with a 5.6-yards per game average. Khairi Dickson (Cleveland, Ohio/Cleveland Central Catholic) made a name for himself early in the season racking up a pair of NEC Rookie of the Week honors before suffering from an injury. William Ingram (Linden, N.J./Linden) holds just 85-yards on the season but the sophomore does have a 6.5-yards per carry average and a pair of touchdowns. The newest breakout player to the SFU stable of running backs is freshman rusher Anthony Abeid (Youngstown, Ohio/Youngstown Christian), who picked up NEC Rookie of the Week honors after posting 116-yards receiving in SFU's, 10-3, win against Robert Morris.
 
The stable has done an excellent job filling in for injured SFU running back Kyle Harbridge (Easton, Pa./Easton Area). An All-American in 2011, Harbridge set school records for rushing, rushing touchdowns and points.
 
BEND BUT DON'T BREAK
The Saint Francis defense has seen a dramatic improvement in 2012. Last season through six games, the Red Flash defense was allowing 45.0 points per game while this season teams are scoring just 29.8 points a game against SFU. The Flash are allowing nearly the same amount of yards, giving up just 65-yards fewer yards a contest, but they have stopped opponents late in drives. Last week against the Colonials of Robert Morris the Flash defense allowed RMU inside the SFU 30-yard line five times but in those trips the Colonials walked away with just three points. Saint Francis ended a pair of RMU drives via the turnover including a dramatic interception in the end zone by Ter'Shaudney Phillips (Deland, Fla./Deland).   
 
TURNOVER CENTRAL
The Red Flash defense has done an excellent job turning teams over in 2012. Through six games this season the Red Flash have intercepted their opponents nine times while throwing an INT just three times. The area SFU has struggled has been with fumbles. The Flash have fumbled the ball 10 times this season losing eight of those while the defense has forced just five fumbles this season and picked up only four of those lose balls.   
 
UP NEXT
The Red Flash returns home for their homecoming contest against NEC rival Wagner Oct. 20, kickoff is set for noon.