LORETTO, Pa. – The Saint Francis football team is coming off perhaps its biggest win ever with its victory at No. 22/24 Sacred Heart, marking the program's first win against a ranked opponent. While the Flash had just two trips to the red zone against the Pioneers, Saint Francis converted both opportunities for 10 points. The second trip resulted in Lance Geesey (Harrisburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley)'s 35-yard field goal with 5:28 remaining to give the Flash a 30-27 lead.
 
Scoring in the red zone has been nothing new for Saint Francis this season. The Red Flash has scored on 24 of 25 trips to the red zone, a 96 percent scoring rate. Saint Francis is second in the nation with that number, just one percentage point behind Northern Iowa's 97 percent. Saint Francis is just one of three teams in the country to have just one missed opportunity in the red zone this season. Northern Iowa (32-of-33) and Princeton (22-of-23) are the other two.
 
Players of the Week
The Red Flash was honored by the NEC with two Player of the Week awards earlier this week. Wide receiver Anthony Abeid (Youngstown, Ohio/Youngstown Christian) was Offensive Player of the Week with three catches for 86 yards and two touchdowns. He also threw for a touchdown on a halfback pass to quarterback Zack Drayer (Hershey, Pa./Hershey ).
 
Freshman defensive back Delondo Boyd (Indian Head, Md./Henry E. Lackey) was the Rookie of the Week after making two huge plays in the win. He had a sack and forced fumble on Sacred Heart quarterback RJ Noel in the second quarter that led to a Pioneer punt. On the ensuing drive, the Flash took a 14-10 lead. Then in the fourth quarter with the Flash ahead 30-27 with just over a minute to play, Boyd deflected a Noel pass that was intercepted by Dave Coleman (Montclair, Pa./Montclair) to seal the victory.
 
Dickson's Spot in SFU History
Running back Khairi Dickson (Cleveland, Ohio/Cleveland Central Catholic) rushed for 95 yards at Sacred Heart, his first game of the season held to less than 100 yards. Dickson now has 1,323 yards this season, placing him just seven yards out of third place on the school's single season list. His 1,323 yards are the most in NCAA Div. I football. Dickson now has 1,884 career yards, fifth on the school's all-time list.
 

Saint Francis Career Rushing Leaders	Yards	Years at SFU
Kyle Harbridge (Easton, Pa./Easton Area)	4,126	2009-13
Todd Harris	3,414	2003-06
Michael Hall	2,330	2000-03
Ted Helsel	2,015	1978-79
Khairi Dickson (Cleveland, Ohio/Cleveland Central Catholic)	1,884	2012-Present

 
Villarrial Win Total
Head coach Chris Villarrial won his 16th game at Saint Francis. With one more win, Villarrial would move into a tie for fourth place with "Big Jim" Leonard (1938-41, 1947) and Dave Opfar (2002-09).
 
SFU-Duquesne Connection
The Flash and Dukes share some connections. Former Flash standout quarterback Anthony Doria is on the Duquesne staff as the quarterbacks coach, along with former Red Flash head coach Dave Opfar, the Dukes' defensive coordinator. On the SFU side, defensive coordinator Michael Craig served on the Duquesne staff prior to returning to Loretto for the 2014 season.
 
Homecoming Book Signing 
Pat Farabaugh, the play-by-play announcer for Red Flash football and a faculty member at Saint Francis, will be signing copies of his book, "An Unbreakable Bond: The Brotherhood of Maurice Stokes and Jack Twyman," at the Saint Francis Bookstore from 10 a.m. – noon on Saturday.  The bookstore is adjacent to DeGol Field.
 
Farabaugh's book, which was released in the spring, details the relationship between Saint Francis basketball legend Maurice Stokes and Jack Twyman.  Stokes attended Saint Francis from 1951-55 before entering the NBA. The book also looks closely at the rivalry between the Saint Francis and Duquesne basketball programs during the first half of the 1950s and the two teams' successes in the 1954 and 1955 National Invitation Tournaments.
 
He said it…
"My passer rating is probably ridiculous right now."
-wide receiver Anthony Abeid (Youngstown, Ohio/Youngstown Christian) following the win over Sacred Heart, a game in which he completed his lone pass for 33 yards and a touchdown on a trick play