The six-year wait for a second Northeast Conference football championship in Loretto came to an end last season when head coach Chris Villarrial’s Red Flash defeated Merrimack, 52-23, to clinch the league’s title last November.
Now the Saint Francis squad looks to add a third banner in the Villarrial Era with a much younger squad (59 new players and 52 true freshmen) in 2023.
SFU opens the new season on Thursday, Aug. 31, at Western Michigan. You can tune into the game at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.
The football team may have lost some talent from last year due to graduation and the Transfer Portal, but their offensive backfield remains very similar to 2022. Four of the top five rushers and star quarterback Cole Doyle all return in 2023.
Doyle was one of the best quarterbacks in all of FCS Football last season, finishing with 21 passing touchdowns and only 3 interceptions while throwing for 1,931 yards. The redshirt junior from Glendale, California, added 364 yards and 3 touchdowns on the ground en route to winning the NEC’s Offensive Player-of-the-Year Award. He was also a Walter Payton Award finalist.
The Saint Francis offense averaged 36 points per game in 2022, while their defense allowed just 13 ppg to NEC opponents and 21.5 in all games, which was tops in the conference.
The SFU defense was stingy against the pass in 2022, finishing ninth in the FCS in pass yards allowed at 177 per game.
When asked about the challenges of going up against a great offense in practice each day, defensive back Desmond Harrod said “it definitely helps our defense get prepared.”
“We need the younger guys to step up, the older guys to lead, and all of us need to stay humble,” said the redshirt senior from Waldorf, Maryland.
