Complete Game Notes; Listen Online

SETTING THE SCENE: The American International College football team looks to win its first-ever NCAA playoff game Saturday when they third-seeded Yellow Jackets host sixth-seeded Seton Hill at John Homer Miller Field.

ON THE AIR: Fans in the greater Springfield area can tune in to 91.9 FM WAIC to catch the live play-by-play coverage of today's game. The pregame show airs at 11:20 a.m. and kickoff is set for 12:05 p.m. Fans can also listen to the game online by CLICKING HERE.

ABOUT AIC: The Yellow Jackets, who are ranked 19th in the latest AFCA Coaches' Poll, enter today's contest with an overall record of 9-1 after falling to Southern Connecticut, 27-17, last Saturday. Sophomore quarterback Rob Parent has completed 153-of-258 passes this season for 2,102 yards and a school-record 27 touchdowns. Senior wide receiver Travis Poole leads the team with 60 catches, 1,119 yards and 14 receiving TDs and junior wide receiver Kertis Hussey ranks second with 44 catches for 597 yards and 11 receiving touchdowns. He has two additional scores as a kick returner. Freshman running back Mike Mayo has carried the ball 123 times for 722 yards and five touchdowns. Junior linebacker Rich Reichert leads the team with 70 tackles and is third with 10 tackles for loss. Classmate Nick Abraham ranks second on the team with 56 tackles and leads the team with 11 tackles for loss. Senior Jean Simeon has 41 tackles and leads the team with 5.5 sacks. Senior place kicker Marek Przybylek has converted 11-of-14 field goals and has converted 42-of-44 PATs on the season.

AIC'S LAST TIME OUT: The Yellow Jackets held a 17-6 lead after the first quarter, but it was all Southern Connecticut after that as the Owls rallied to record a 27-17 win. The loss snapped three school-record winning streaks for AIC - consecutive wins (15), consecutive home wins (13) and consecutive wins to start a season (9). Parent completed 13-of-33 passes for 155 yards and one touchdown. He also gained 39 yards on the ground. Poole caught three passes for 67 yards and one touchdown. He also took a reverse 40 yards for a score. The Owls opened the scoring on the first drive of the game when Jarom Freeman punched the ball in from one-yard out on the third offensive play of the game. The PAT was blocked, giving SCSU a 6-0 lead. The Yellow Jackets answered by scoring three times in the first period, a run that started with a 52-yard scoring pass from Parent to Poole 8:21 into the game. Przybylek converted the PAT to give AIC a 7-6 lead. The Yellow Jackets drove down to the Owls' 15-yard line on their next possession before settling for a 32-yard Przybylek field goal and Poole capped the first quarter scoring after taking the ball 40-yards down on a reverse down the AIC sideline with 50 seconds left in the period. SCSU then scored each of the next 21 points to record the win. AIC appeared to have pulled back with one score when Parent tossed a 47-yard scoring pass to Poole on fourth and 17, but the Yellow Jackets were called for holding on the play and the touchdown was taken off the board. Sophomore linebacker George Hudson had a game-high 11 tackles with one sack, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery for the Yellow Jackets. Simeon had 10 tackles and junior defensive lineman Terrence Mercer had seven tackles and two sacks.

ABOUT SETON HILL: The Griffins enter today's contest with a record of 9-2 for the season after dropping a 35-32 decision to West Liberty State last Saturday. Senior quarterback David Wess has completed 182-of-274 passes for 2,307 yards and 20 touchdowns. Junior running back Antwarn Jones has carried the ball 246 times for 1,225 yards and 15 TDs. Junior wide receiver Sammy Tranks leads the team with 56 catches for 743 yards and is second with seven touchdowns. Senior wide out Derek Thompson has 32 catches for 499 yards and a team-best eight TDs. Sophomore linebacker Steve Trent leads the team with 72 tackles to go along with seven tackles for loss and two sacks. Senior defensive back Matt Johnson is second with 64 tackles and is one of six players with two or more fumble recoveries. Junior defensive lineman Matt Galadyk has 41 tackles and leads the team with 17 tackles for loss and six sacks. The Griffins' place kickers, senior Ray Wilkins and freshman Steve Padilla, have combined to make just five of 12 field goals and have converted 37-of-42 PATs.

SETON HILL'S LAST TIME OUT: The Griffins' shot at a WVIAC Championship came up two yards short when Wess' pass was intercepted on the game's final play to seal the 35-32 win for West Liberty last Saturday. West Liberty scored on the game's first possession on a Brandon Ore 11 yard touchdown run. Seton Hill answered when Calvin Stephens hauled in a 63-yard touchdown pass from Wess to tie the score at 7-7. West Liberty responded by scoring a pair of touchdowns to make the score 21-7 before Thompson scored on a 32-yard touchdown reception before the half. The Griffins took their first and only lead of the game, 24-21, after Jones six-yard touchdown run and a Wilkins 26-yard field goal. West Liberty regained the lead at 35-24 after scoring back-to-back touchdowns before Jones took a 14-yard catch to the end zone and a successful 2-point conversion pulled Seton Hill to within three points. Ore fumbled with 2:16 to play to give the Griffins a shot at the win. Seton Hill moved the ball to the two yard line with 10 seconds to play and elected to go for the win on fourth and goal. Wess was hit as he threw the ball and the pass was picked off by Paul Kallevig. Wess finished the game completing 24-of-35 for 312 yard and three touchdowns. Tranks led the Griffins with eight catches for 62 yards while Jones carried the ball 24 times for 51 yards and a touchdown. He also caught a pass for another score.

FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING: This marks the first-ever NCAA playoff game for the Yellow Jackets and the Griffins. In fact, this is the first NCAA playoff appearance for Seton Hill in any sport. The Griffins were members of the NAIA until 2005, which was also when their football program started. This will also mark the first-ever meeting between the two teams.

IN THE POLLS: AIC is ranked 19th in the latest AFCA Coaches' Poll and Seton Hill is three spots out of the top-25. Both teams fell out of the D2Football.com Media Poll after losing last week.

HOME SWEET HOME: AIC had won a school-record 13 consecutive games at John Homer Miller Field prior to last week's 27-17 loss to Southern Connecticut. That streak started with a 51-28 victory over Saint Anselm on November 5, 2005. Prior to last week, the last time the Yellow Jackets lost at home was when C.W. Post recorded a 38-7 win in Springfield October 22, 2005. Since the start of the 2004 season, AIC is 17-3 at home.

REGIONAL MATCHUPS: The winner of today's contest will advance to the regional semifinal and face second-seeded California (Pa.), which finished the season 10-1 and won the PSAC championship. On the other side of the regional bracket, fourth-seeded West Chester is hosting fifth-seeded Southern Connecticut and the winner of that game will advance to play top-seeded Bloomsburg next week. The regional final will be hosted November 29 at the highest remaining seed.

NORTHEAST-10 HONORS 13 YELLOW JACKETS: Senior wide receiver Travis Poole was named the 2008 Northeast-10 Football Most Valuable Player and earned first-team all-conference honors, headlining a list of 13 players that were named to the 2008 all-conference team. Senior Jean Simeon was named the Defensive Lineman of the Year and head coach Art Wilkins was named the Co-Coach of the Year. Poole, senior place kicker Marek Przybylek, Simeon, senior offensive lineman Tyke Spaulding, junior defensive back Allan Bush, sophomore linebacker Nick Abraham and sophomore quarterback Rob Parent were first-team all-conference selections. Senior fullback Marcus Cameron, senior defensive lineman Brian DeStephano, senior offensive lineman Tony Dilello, junior wide receiver Kertis Hussey, junior linebacker Rich Reichert and sophomore defensive lineman Jashawn Williams were second-team selections.