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Loretto, Pa. – The Saint Francis football team (4-3, 2-1 NEC) welcomes the Sacred Heart Pioneers (3-4, 1-2 NEC) as part of its weekend homecoming activities as Saint Francis looks to move to 3-1 in league play and position itself for a run at the NEC Title over the last month of the season.

Scouting Sacred Heart

The Pioneers were a preseason contender to win the league after sharing the regular-season title with Duquesne in 2018. However, after opening the season 3-1, Sacred Heart has dropped three straight including conference losses to CCSU and Duquesne.

The Pioneers boast the league's top passing offense at 241.1 yards per game thanks to the play of fifth-year senior signal caller Logan Marchi. The Pioneers offense averaged 40.0 points per game during its three-game win streak but has been held to just 11.0 ppg in the last three games and nine combined total points in its last two league games.

Saint Francis owns the top pass defense in the nation according to the pass defense efficiency metric so the game will likely be decided by SHU's ability to duplicate its success through the air. Wide receiver Tyrese Chambers leads the NEC in receiving yards per game at 85.7 and has caught six touchdowns.

Sacred Heart isn't one dimensional as an offense. Sophomore running back Julius Chestnut is an explosive back who leads the league at 116.3 rush yards per game.

SHU's explosive offense has been combatted by its defense which ranks last in the NEC, allowing over 450 yards per game and over 287 yards per game through the air. Despite the big chunk yardage allowed, Sacred Heart only allows 26.9 ppg.

Series History

Sacred Heart leads the series 12-11 after last season's 13-7 win in Fairfield, Conn.

Stable of Running Backs

The Saint Francis offense features a stable of running backs who can be counted on to produce. Freshman Chris Wells (Philadelphia PA/Neumann-Goretti) leads the Red Flash with 202 rushing yards and two touchdowns but its been the emergence of four others who provide SFU with balance. Redshirt junior Avery Miliner (Clayton, Ohio/Northmont) is second on the team with 192 rushing yards, junior Joel Denley (Beaumont, Texas/West Brook) has run for 163 yards, including 100 in a win at Bryant, redshirt sophomore Derrick Wiley (Aberdeen, N.J./Matawan Regional) has averaged 4.5 yards per carry and a touchdown and redshirt sophomore Syaire Madden (Norristown,Pa./LaSalle College Prep) made his collegiate debut with 30 yards on six carries at LIU. SFU's five lead backs have combined to run for 686 yards, an average of 98.0 yards per game.

Big Play Jenkins

Redshirt sophomore E.J. Jenkins recorded his third touchdown reception of 70 yards or longer when he hauled in a season-long 79-yarder in the win at LIU. He also caught a 74-yard touchdown at Lehigh and a 75-yarder vs. Columbia. Jenkins is tied for the NEC lead in touchdown receptions with six and has caught touchdowns in six of seven games this season.

Dominant Defense

SFU's defense held LIU to -1 yards rushing on Saturday thanks to a season-high 14 tackles for a loss, its most since recording 14 vs. Richmond on Sept. 13, 2018. Da'Jon Lee (Falls Church, Va. /Robinson) led the charge with four tackles for a loss to take over the conference lead with 12 on the season. Saint Francis sacked LIU four times for a net loss of 33 yards. It was the first time holding an opponent to negative rushing yards since doing so to Bryant in 2016.

Recipe for Success

SFU's defense leads the NEC and ranks 12^th in the FCS in scoring defense at 18.3 points allowed by game. SFU also boasts the second-ranked total defense in the league and the 10^th-ranked overall defense nationally. What has been the recipe for its success? It starts with the front four's ability to stop the run as SFU ranks 17^th in rushing yards allowed. When opponents are in third and long, SFU has used its No. 1 ranked pass defense efficiency to get off the field. SFU's defense is No. 2 in the FCS in third down defense pct., allowing opponents to move the chains just 24.0% of the time.

The Drive

Saint Francis put together its best drive of the season at a critical time, driving 98 yards in 15 plays and covering 8:41 to dismantle the Sharks in the second half of Saturday's win. The Red Flash took over on its own two yard line leading 9-0 with 8:35 to play in the third quarter and milked the clock all the way into the fourth quarter before finishing with a 10-yard touchdown strike to redshirt junior Terell Johnson (Burlington, N.C./Cummings). The drive featured seven runs, eight passes and three third down conversions.