Thomas More headlines PAC preseason football poll 8/3/2016 3:00:04 PM 2016 PAC Players to Watch 2016 Media Day Q&A Videos 2016 Composite Schedule LATROBE, Pa. (pacathletics.org) – For the sixth time since joining the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) in 2005, the Thomas More College football program has been tabbed the favorite in the league, according to Wednesday's 2016 PAC Preseason Football Poll. The league’s preseason poll, as voted on by PAC head coaches, sports information directors, and media panel in attendance, was announced this afternoon at PAC Football Media Day, hosted for the 10th-straight year by Saint Vincent College at the Sis and Herman Dupré Science Pavilion in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Thomas More collected 24 first-place votes while totaling 351 points to headline the poll. Washington & Jefferson College was second with three first-place votes and 303 points, followed by Case Western Reserve University in third place with four first-place votes and 292 points. The Saints and second-year head coach Regis Scafe finished the 2015 season with a 11-1 overall record and an 8-0 mark in conference play, the first program to claim the league title outright since they won the conference crown in 2011. Their unblemished league mark in 2015 was the first in the PAC since finishing the 2011 season 7-0. With last year's conference title, Thomas More secured the league’s automatic qualifying bid and earned the program's seventh NCAA Division III Championship Playoff appearance, picking up a 51-21 opening-round win over Washington & Lee University on November 21. "It is a privilege and a honor to be the preseason favorite in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference. It is a credit to our past and present players and coaches’ hard work to get the Thomas More football program to this point. We still have to go out and compete hard every Saturday, as every game in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference is a battle," said Scafe. Joining Scafe at PAC Media Day Wednesday was junior running back C.T. Tarrant (Hamilton, Ohio / Hamilton). Tarrant, a Honorable Mention All-PAC selection in 2014 and 2015, finished the 2015 season fourth among league counterparts in rushing yards (1,168) and rushing touchdowns (13), fifth in rushing attempts (198) and scoring (84 pts.), and sixth in yards per rush (5.9) and all-purpose yards (1,252). “Being voted the preseason favorite is a great honor for the team, but we have to go out and work hard every day to have the chance to finish atop the conference standings in November.," said Tarrant. Thomas More also claimed the top spot on the league's preseason poll from 2009-2012 and in 2014 and has won at least a share of the conference title in four of those seasons (2009-2011, 2014). The 2016 PAC football season opens on Saturday, September 3 with all 11 programs slated for non-conference competition. Highlighting the opening-week games is 11th-ranked Thomas More traveling to Franklin College's Faught Stadium for a 6 p.m. matchup with the Grizzlies, who earned 33 points on this year's D3football.com preseason top 25. 2016 PAC Football Preseason Poll (Predicted order of finish) School (first-place votes) Points 2015 Record (PAC) 1. Thomas More College (24) 351 11-1 (8-0) 2. Washington & Jefferson College (3) 303 8-2 (6-2) 3. Case Western Reserve University (4) 292 7-3 (6-2) 4. Westminster College (1) 280 9-2 (7-1) 5. Carnegie Mellon University (1) 252 8-3 (6-2) 6. Bethany College 167 5-5 (4-4) 7. Saint Vincent College 156 4-6 (3-5) 8. Waynesburg University 145 3-7 (2-6) 9. Geneva College 96 2-8 (1-7) 10. Thiel College 75 2-8 (1-7) 11. Grove City College 61 0-10 (0-8) 2016 PAC Football Players to Watch Bethany Name Yr. Pos. Hometown / High School Tyler Ambush Sr. WR Germantown, Md. / Northwest Aaron Frye Sr. DB/P Vandergrift, Pa. / Kiski Area Daniel Gibson So. DT Pittsburgh, Pa. / Woodland Hills Donavan Hayden Sr. LB Gaithersburg, Md. / Northwestern Jalen Holmes Sr. RB New Castle, Pa. / New Castle Carnegie Mellon Name Yr. Pos. Hometown / High School Samer Abdelmoty Sr. S McLean, Va. / McLean Sam Benger Jr. RB Hingham, Mass. / Hingham Drew Fitzmorris Jr. S Omaha, Neb. / Westside Brian Khoury Sr. DE Davenport, Iowa / Bettendorf John Prather Jr. WR Olney, Md. / Our Lady of Good Counsel Case Western Reserve Name Yr. Pos. Hometown / High School Jacob Burke Jr. FB/P Johnstown, Ohio / Northridge Cody Calhoun Jr. S/KR Columbus, Ohio / Bishop Watterson Rob Cuda Jr. QB Bartlett, Ill. / South Elgin Nick Kwon SR CB Kaneohe, Hawaii / Mid-Pacific Institute Zech Medved Sr. TE Imperial, Pa. / West Allegheny Geneva Name Yr. Pos. Hometown / High School Javid Ellis So. QB Port St. Lucie, Fla. / St. Lucie West Centennial Jared Hogue Jr. CB Freedom, Pa. / Freedom Devin Kelosky Sr. WR Ellwood City, Pa. / Riverside Jimmy Quinlan Sr. LB Brookfield, Ohio / Brookfield Grove City Name Yr. Pos. Hometown / High School Jacob Armbrecht Jr. DE Streetsboro, Ohio / Streetsboro Kyle Beyer Jr. FS Perry, Ohio / Perry Brett Pinson Sr. WR Canton, Ohio / Jackson Andrew Seifert Jr. SS Kettering, Ohio / Archbishop Alter Saint Vincent Name Yr. Pos. Hometown / High School Shavonta Craft Sr. RB Jeannette, Pa. / Jeannette Ryan Crawford Sr. H-Back New Wilmington, Pa. / Wilmington Matt Jenkins Sr. LB Bellwood, Pa. / Bellwood-Antis Matt McCarthy Sr. LB Twinsburg, Ohio / Benedictine DJ Oceant-Kelly Sr. WR Fort Myers, Fla. / Bishop Verot Thiel Name Yr. Pos. Hometown / High School Jake Elk Jr. LB Pittsburgh, Pa. / Baldwin Alex Horvatits Sr. WR Lancaster, N.Y. / Saint Mary's Trevor Martin Sr. DB Meadville, Pa. / Meadville Ryan Radke Sr. QB Lancaster, N.Y. / Lancaster Central Doak Walker Jr. So. LB Canton, Ohio / Canton McKinley Thomas More Name Yr. Pos. Hometown / High School Roderick Darden Sr. DL Denver, Ga. / Heritage Brenan Kuntz Jr. QB Independence, Ky. / Simon Kenton Johnny Lammers Jr. DB Cincinnati, Ohio / Elder Trevor Meyer Sr. OL West Harrison, Ind. / East Central C.T. Tarrant Jr. RB Hamilton, Ohio / Hamilton Washington & Jefferson Name Yr. Pos. Hometown / High School Tim Blair Jr. Sr. DB Pittsburgh, Pa. / Seton LaSalle Pete Coughlin Sr. QB Pittsburgh, Pa. / Upper Saint Clair Brandon Martuccio Sr. OL Girard, Ohio / Girard Jesse Zubik Jr. WR Sewickley, Pa. / Avonworth Ryan Snedeker Sr. DL Chagrin Falls, Ohio / Kenston Waynesburg Name Yr. Pos. Hometown / High School Kevin Barnes, Jr. Sr. WR Kittanning, Pa. / Kittanning Jake Dougherty So. QB Fairmount, Pa. / Redbank Valley Zach Machuga Sr. DL Youngstown, Ohio / Boardman Tristin Sandrosky Jr. LB Dunbar, Pa. / Uniontown Brennan Sefick Fr. DB Pittsburgh, Pa. / North Catholic Westminster Name Yr. Pos. Hometown / High School Jametrius Bentley Jr. RB Lake Worth, Fla. / Park Vista Community Todd Jeter So. CB Monroeville, Pa. / Gateway Bryn Kaufman Sr. OT New Wilmington, Pa. / Wilimington Dominique McKinley Jr. RB Greensburg, Pa. / Greensburg Salem Mac Quinn Sr. LB Pittsburgh, Pa. / Northgate