From staff reports

LOCK HAVEN — Having won the PSAC West Division title last season and returning nine defensive starters from that squad has Indiana (Pa.) in the driver’s seat again.

At least, that’s how the league’s coaches see it.

The Crimson Hawks, 10-2 last season and 24-21 winners over Shepherd in the PSAC Championship game, received six of eight possible first-place votes to repeat as West Division champs. Slippery Rock received the other two votes.

“IUP deserves to be voted No. 1 in the West,” SRU coach Shawn Lutz said. “They won it last year and they have a lot of starters back.”

Only Penn State has a higher winning percentage than IUP among Pennsylvania college football teams since 1950. IUP has a .697 winning rate over the past 73 years. Paul Tortorella is 48-11 in six years as the Crimson Hawks’ head coach.

Four starting defensive backs return, as do two linebackers and two defensive linemen. Only four starters return to IUP offensively, including running back Dayjure Stewart and receiver Hilton Ridley.

After Slippery Rock, the remainder of the predicted PSAC West standings are California (Pa.), Gannon, Edinboro, Seton Hill, Clarion and Mercyhurst.

“I’m at the top of the list in the West now in terns of (coaching) tenure,” Lutz said. “Gary Dunn (California) and I are in our eighth year, Torts is in his sixth ... Everyone else is fairly new to the league.”

Dunn does return for his eighth season at California, which went 6-5 last season. Wyatt Hirt, a junior, is the only quarterback on the Vulcans roster who has any game experience. No starting offensive linemen return for Cal.

Senior linebacker Matt Tobey led the team with 12.5 tackles for loss last year. He was second on the team with 66 tackles and 5.5 quarterback sacks.

Gannon is coming off an 8-3 season under fourth-year coach Erik Raeburn. But the Golden Knights return only four starters on both sides of the ball.

Defensive back Chris Farnsworth was first team All-PSAC West in 2022 and had 53 solo tackles to go with four interceptions. Receiver Ke’John Baptiste had 64 catches for a school-record 957 yards a year ago.

Jake Nulph is back for his fourth season at Edinboro. The Fighting Scots were 5-6 a year ago and have five total starters returning. They do bring back two stellar receivers in junior Thaddeus Standfield (65 catches-790 yards) and redshirt freshman Nico Mrvos (37-359).

Linebacker Clay Cunningham ranked fourth in the nation with 11.4 tackles per game last season.

Seton Hill was only 2-9 in 2022, but seventh-year coach Dan Day has nine starters back on offense and seven on defense. The Griffins do lose their top three tacklers from last season.

Seton Hill has won the NCAA playoff appearance (2008) in program history and has an all-time football won-loss record of 42-144.

Clarion was 3-8 last season in Raymond Monica’s first year. Only two starters return on both sides of the ball for the Golden Eagles. Running back Khalil Owens is one of the returnees, becoming the first Clarion player to combine for 1,000 yards rushing and receiving since 2015.

Ryan Riemedio begins his second season at Mercyhurst, the Lakers coming off a 2-9 campaign. Mercyhurst lost its entire starting defense from a year ago and returns standout running back Dustin Shoaf and receiver Cameron Barmore.

While Lutz figurdes his team will have to defeat IUP to win the West, he dioesn’t discount the opther competition.

“Those trips up to Erie for noon kickoffs can be trap games,” he said. “The thing is, everyone wants to beat you. We get IUP and California at home this year and that’s a good thing.

“If we don’t beat those teams, we’re not going to win the West. All of the games are important, but that’s just the way it is.”