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The Malone University football team will renew its annual rivalry matchup with Walsh University this Saturday, October 22nd at North Canton Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is set for 6:00 pm.

Media Information
Live Audio: ESPN 990 AM (Massillon) and online at:www.espn990.com/listen.php
Live Stats: walsh.prestosports.com/sports/fball/2016-17/boxscores/20161022_q0do.xml
Tape Delay Video: Big Time Sports TV will air the game on October 23rd at 2:00 pm and on October 25th at 8:00 pm on Time Warner Cable 989 and Massillon Cable 128. The game will uploaded to www.bigtimesportsohio.com/ within 48 hours of the last TV broadcast.
Twitter: @Malone_Football , @maloneathletics

Gameday Storylines
Bankert-Gallagher Trophy Up For Grabs
Malone and Walsh will meet for the 22nd time this Saturday as they battle for the John Bankert-Dick Gallagher Memorial Trophy. Named after two former Directors of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, where the two teams would usually meet for their longstanding rivalry, the trophy has been in Walsh's possession since 2009. Since Malone won three of the first four meetings from 1995-98, Walsh has won 14 of the last 17 over Malone, including the last seven in a row. Sandwiched between a separate seven-game Walsh winning streak from 1999-2005 were three Malone wins from 2006-08. Those three wins coincided with the first three seasons of Malone offensive coordinator Dustin Miller whose record-setting offense put up 29 points a game against a traditionally stingy Walsh defense. After departing from Malone in 2009, Miller has returned to the Pioneer coaching staff in 2015 for another chance at beating Walsh.
 
Thomas to Coach against His Former Team
For 16 years, that traditionally stingy Walsh defense was guided by defensive coordinator Fred Thomas, who has since taken over the Malone head coaching duties. Thomas was given the reins to the defense by legendary head coach Jim Dennison, whose PMA (positive mental attitude) approach to life and football has been instilled at Malone. Under Thomas' tutelage, Walsh was 13-3 against Malone during his tenure as defensive coordinator. This Saturday's contest will be his first against his former team as a head coach after serving as a defensive assistant in 2015. Two current Malone assistants, defensive coordinator Alex Gray and strength and conditioning coordinator Ryan Hardie, are Walsh grads and former players under Thomas. Gray was an all-conference safety and kick returner at Walsh from 2001-2004. He and Hardie both previously served on Walsh coaching staffs.
 
Stark County Rivalry Features Stark County Products
Close to 20 players on the two rosters are graduates of Stark County high schools. When Thomas took over the program at Malone, he and his staff made a concerted effort to recruit local talents from Stark County and the surrounding areas, as seen by the initial recruiting class that is filled with Northeast Ohio products. In total, the Pioneer roster includes 62 players from the state of Ohio and 10 from Stark County. One of those Stark County alums is sophomore slotback and special teamer Tyler Howell who returns to North Canton Memorial Stadium where he prepped at Hoover High School.
 
Pioneers Handled Haywood in Week Seven
After leaving the GLIAC following the 2015 season, the 2016 Malone schedule featured Walsh as its only common opponent with 10 new spots to fill. After a brutal stretch of games to start the season, the Pioneers brought in Haywood, a start-up team from Tennessee, for a pre-Walsh tuneup in week seven. Malone dispatched the Crusaders 50-0 on the strength of three non-offensive touchdowns. The Pioneers were able to rest their starters by the middle of the second quarter, allowing the reserves a chance to get some much-deserved reps. Special teamer and backup running back Calerb D'Haiti scored a pair of touchdowns and totaled a team-high 76 yards rushing.
 
Pioneers to Watch
Offense: Quarterback John Iacucci and wide receiver Ashton Dulin connected on a 60-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter against Haywood. The duo have developed quite the deep-ball threat over the past six weeks, connecting on 13 passes of 20 yards or longer and eight passes of 35 yards or longer. Iacucci, who made just his second career start against Walsh last season, has quietly become a consistent offensive threat, averaging over 215 yards of total offense this season. Matt Blasiole, one of the Stark County products, ran the ball 35 times for 86 yards last season vs. Walsh. He has yet to run for more than 44 yards since running for 161 against Notre Dame.
 
Defense: Cornerback Jordan Johnson, who returned an interception for a 38-yard score against Alderson Broaddus, added two more touchdowns vs. Haywood with an 84-yard kickoff return and a 48-yard punt return. He and safety Daniel Tepe have combined for Malone's five interceptions. Middle linebacker Ryan Weber set a career-high with 15 tackles against Alderson Broaddus and scored on a 31-yard fumble recovery last week vs. Haywood. He led Malone with nine tackles vs. Walsh in 2015. Defensive end Austin Cary recorded a sack last week to add to his team-leading total.

2016 Malone Pioneers: Roster | Schedule | Stats | Staff

The Word on Walsh
Since defeating Malone 24-7 in last year's contest, the Cavaliers are losers of 10 straight games overall. This season, Walsh is averaging less than 10 points per game, scoring just seven offensive touchdowns. In contrast to the sometimes explosive Malone offense that has 27 plays of 20 yards or more, the Cavaliers have only 12 plays of more than 20 yards and only three plays of 30 yards or longer. Walsh is last in the nation in yards per completion, 165th (out of 170) in scoring offense, and 166th in rushing.
 
The Cavaliers' ineptitude on offense is compounded by their GLIAC-high 19 turnovers (11 interceptions, eight fumbles lost) and their GLIAC-low 57% red zone scoring conversion rate. Walsh does, however, lead the GLIAC in punt return average. The Cavaliers have also played the third-toughest in the GLIAC including two trips to Michigan's Upper Peninsula and a home meeting with #2 ranked Grand Valley State in which they lost 38-0. Last week, Walsh lost 47-14 to #22 ranked Wayne State.
 
Since taking over the program in 2013, head coach Ted Karras is 8-31 (20.5%). Prior to coming to Walsh, Karras was the head coach at Marian (IN) and won an NAIA National Championship in 2012.
 
Cavaliers to Watch
Offense: Senior running back Aaron Male who ran for 96 yards in last season's rivalry showdown is once again Walsh's leading rusher but has missed three of the last four games and is questionable for Saturday. True freshman quarterback Mitchell Ault has completed 64.1% of his passes in Walsh's short passing game. Antonio Tate leads the team in receiving and has a punt return for a touchdown.
 
Defense: Linebacker Nick King leads the GLIAC in and total tackles and has one of Walsh's two defensive touchdowns. King finished with seven tackles, an interception, and a fumble recovery against Malone last year. Defensive end Alex Jones collected five tackles, a sack, and a forced fumble last week. Against Malone last season, Jones recorded two sacks and three tackles for loss.

2016 Walsh Cavaliers: Roster | Schedule | Stats | Staff

By the Numbers
0:00 - Time in minutes and seconds that Walsh has held a lead in the last 10 games since beating Malone in 2015
2 - Teams in the NCAA DII top-5 in both fewest turnovers and fewest penalties per game. Hillsdale leads the country in both categories while Malone is 5th in each.
4 - Teams, among 41 football-playing schools in the state of Ohio, that are still winless in 2015. Walsh joins Lake Erie in DII and Wilmington and Oberlin in DIII
17.4 - Points per game scored by Malone in its 13 losses to Walsh during Thomas' tenure as defensive coordinator
2926 - Days since Malone last beat Walsh in 2008. The Pioneers went 2940 days between their wins in 1998 and 2006

Looking Ahead
The Pioneers will celebrate Senior Day next Saturday, October 29th at 2:00 pm when they host the University of God's Chosen at GlenOak High School.