Complete Game Notes; Audio Webcast

SETTING THE SCENE: The American International College football team travels to Brookville, N.Y. to take on the C.W. Post Pioneers in the season-opener for both teams.

ON THE AIR: Fans in the greater Springfield area can tune in to 91.9 FM WAIC to catch the live play-by-play converage of today's game. The pregame show airs at 11:30 a.m. and kickoff is set for 12 p.m. Fans can also listen to the game online at www.aicyelleyjackets.com.

2008 AIC OUTLOOK: AIC has tremendous depth at nearly every position on the field and will once again be a threat to win the Northeast-10 title. The most interesting position battle heading into preseason camp will be at quarterback, where Rob Parent is coming off a stellar freshman campaign and senior Shane Murphy is healthy once again after being injured in the Yellow Jackets' 2007 season-opener at Bryant.

2007 RECAP: AIC is coming off a 7-3 showing in 2007, its best record since posting an 8-2 record in 2001, and tied for second in the Northeast-10 standings with a 7-2 mark in league play. The Yellow Jackets finished the season on a six –game winning streak and was 7-1 after a tough 0-2 start to the season, saw Parent named the Northeast-10 Co-Freshman of the Year and placed five players on the all-conference team. The Yellow Jackets' biggest win of the season was a 36-35 thriller against Southern Connecticut on September 22 at John Homer Miller Field. The game was decided by a 34-yard field goal off the foot of Marek Prezbylek with 10 seconds left in the game.

KEY LOSSES: AIC lost a pair of second-team all-conference selections in running back Calvin Hall, who rushed for 831 yards and five touchdowns on 181 carries, and center Johnathan Kellogg, who started all 10 games in the middle of the offensive line. Also gone off the offensive line are Jovani Valdes and Lavon Ward, each of which started each of their nine games played. Defensive lineman Michael Daley was second on the team in tackles last season with 55 and led the team with five sacks. Ed Pierre was the team's third-leading tackler with 47 and had a team-high four interceptions.

QUARTERBACK: In a season in which he was supposed to redshirt, Parent stepped in after Murphy was injured in game-one and led the Yellow Jackets to a record of 7-2 as a starter. He was named the NE-10 Freshman of the Week in four of the last five weeks of the season and received the Division II/III Gold Helmet Award October 10 after torching Merrimack for 420 yards and four touchdowns. Murphy entered the 2007 season as AIC's starting QB after starting each of his eight games the year before, in which he completed 62 passes for 704 yards and five touchdowns while splitting time under center.

RUNNING BACK: Senior Marcus Cameron, a first-team all-conference selection last year, returns at fullback and will likely get more carries with the loss of Hall. The two-time NE-10 all-star had 40 carried for 183 yards and two TDs last season. Also returning in the backfield is senior Adeboyega Akingba, who ran for 340 yards and a team-best seven touchdowns on 47 carries in 2007. He's also a threat to roll out as a receiver and led the team in scoring with nine touchdowns and 54 points.
WIDE RECEIVER: Each of the Yellow Jackets' starting wide outs from last year, seniors Travis Poole and Tyler Scaccia and junior Kertis Hussey return for 2008. Scaccia was AIC's leading receiver with 50 catches for 846 yards and five touchdowns, while Hussey was second with 29 catches for 450 yards. Poole had 27 catches for 401 yards and three scores. Junior Jake Macleay and sophomore Davon LaGrier add depth at the passing game.

TIGHT END: Senior Mario Avocato is projected to start at tight end in 2008, while senior Andy Fresia and sophomore Aaron Lewis, a former defensive lineman, will also see time in the tight end slot.

OFFENSIVE LINE: The offensive line holds the most question marks for the Yellow Jackets entering the season after losing three starters from a year ago. Senior Tony Dilello will move to center this season in place of Kellogg, with senior Tyke Spaulding and sophomore Collin James if you plan on cutting people and don't want them in there filling the guard spots and sophomores Paul Skarka and Harold Vandermark at the tackles. Depth will come in the form of juniors Durrell Harris and Rich Page, who was on the defensive line last year, and sophomore John Galley.

DEFENSIVE LINE: AIC returns all four starters on the defensive line from last season – seniors Brian DeStephano, Jean Simeon and Nathaniel Thompson and junior Jashawn Williams. Simeon and Thompson tied for fifth on the team in tackles with 34 each and Williams tied for seventh with 31 tackles. Seniors James Bridges and Kwataill Patterson and juniors Isaiah Bridges, Lee-Austin Johnson and Terrance Mercer were also key contributors a year ago.

LINEBACKERS: Arguably the best linebacker in the conference, junior Terrence Holley led the Yellow Jackets with 75 tackles and four forced fumbles and was named a first-team Northeast-10 all-star for the second straight season in 2007. Classmate Nick Abraham started nine of his 10 games played, recording 27 tackles and 1.5 sacks. Junior Rich Reichert tied for second on the team with 4.5 sacks and was sixth on the team with 32 tackles. Sophomores Darius Evans, George Hudson and Matthew Johnson add to AIC's depth at the linebacker positions.

DEFENSIVE BACKS: Junior Allen Bush was fourth on the team in tackles and led the team with two blocked kicks. Classmates Deron Doles and Lawrence Johnson started six games each and registered 31 and 27 tackles, respectively. Senior Brian Kelly will return to the lineup after missing the 2007 season due to injury and classmate Charles Revis and junior Nathaniel Ricks add to AIC's depth.

KICKING: Senior Marek Prezbylek returns as the Yellow Jackets place kicker after converting 11 of 18 field goals and 20 of 25 PATs. Classmate John Thorpe will once again handle the punting duties after averaging 34.8 yards per punt last season.

NE-10 PICTURE: With Bryant's elevation to Division I, the Northeast-10 title is up for grabs. AIC is one of three teams, along with Bentley and Southern Connecticut, that figure to contend for the title, with a potential fourth in Stonehill. The NE-10 will be an eight-team league this season (C.W. Post is now a member of the PSAC) and will return to nine in 2009 with the addition of New Haven, which is bringing back football after joining the Northeast-10 in all other sports for the 2008-09 season.

ABOUT C.W. POST: The Pioneers stuggled in 2007, posting a 4-6 overall record after going 7-3 in 2006 and 10-3 in 2005. C.W. Post was picked to finish fifth of eight teams in the PSAC's East Division in the conference's preseason coaches' poll.

Last Time They Met: AIC defeated C.W. Post, 23-14, on October 27, 2007 at John Homer Miller Field to snap a six-game losing streak to the Pioneers. Akingba scored a pair of rushing touchdowns while Parent and Hussey connected on a 42-yard scoring play. Nick Georgetti found the endzone twice for C.W. Post in the loss.