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The recently-released 2015 Middle Atlantic Conference Preseason Coach’s Poll ranks three local schools, King’s, Wilkes and Misericordia, seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively in the 10-school conference.

King’s, under the leadership of sixth-year head coach Jeff Knarr, finished sixth a year ago after going, 4-6, overall and, 4-5, in the MAC. The Monarchs will need to fill some holes in their roster as they recently graduated a pair of record-setting quarterbacks, Tyler Hartranft and Dan Kempa, as well as starting tailback Kyle McGrath, who finished his career fourth all-time at King’s with 2,347 rushing yards.

The Wilkes Colonels, who finished with a record of, 2-8, last season, enter into their second season under Head Coach Trey Brown. Wilkes welcomes back All-MAC linebacker Tanner Stengel and defensive end Jason Ugwu. In 2014, the Colonels scored their only two victories over Misercordia and FDU-Florham.

Entering their fourth-ever season, Misericordia, under the helm of Mark Ross, are coming off a, 1-9, season. In the last three seasons of play, the Cougars have just two wins, both of which came against FDU-Florham. In 2013, they won on the road, 64-40, and in 2014 they again defeated FDU-Florham, 35-0, for the first home win in school history.

Defending MAC champion Widener University was the favorite in the poll, earning nine first-place votes to total 81 points.

Delaware Valley received 67 points to rank second in the poll. The Aggies finished second in the 2014 season standings with its lone conference loss coming in the regular-season finale to Widener.

Lycoming received 62 points, Albright had 58 points and Stevenson received 56 points to round out the preseason poll’s top-five. The remainder of the poll included: Lebanon Valley (39 points), King’s (32 points), Wilkes (29 points), Misericordia (16 points) and Fairleigh Dickinson-Florham (10 points).

2015 Middle Atlantic Conference Football Preseason Poll

Rank`Team`Points

1`Widener`81

2`Delaware Valley`67

3`Lycoming`62

4`Albright`58

5`Stevenson`56

6`Lebanon Valley`39

7`King’s`32

8`Wilkes`29

9`Misericordia`16

10`FDU-Florham`10

2014 MAC Football Final Standings

Finish`Team`Conf.`Overall

1`Widener`9-0`12-1

2`Delaware Valley`8-1`9-2

3`Lycoming`7-2`8-2

4`Stevenson`6-3`8-3

5`Albright`5-4`6-5

6`King’s`4-5`4-6

7`Lebanon Valley`3-6`3-7

8`Wilkes`2-7`2-8

9`Misericordia`1-8`1-9

10`FDU-Florham`0-9`0-10

Times Leader

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