P Faro with St Francis head football coach Chris Valerio the red flash travel to Kent Ohio this Saturday September 7th to take on the golden flashes tfu opened the 2024 season last week dropping an 18 to 10 decision at Dayton and Chris what did you find out about your team in that game last week against the flyers I found out that we we have the talent you know we have a lot of talent I found out that uh we have some work to do obviously uh turnovers uh killed us turnovers killed us in critical uh times it really really hurt us but I what I did find out was the team uh the the great effort I mean I thought we gave great effort uh I thought our team stood up at times when we needed to stand up and that's all good traits and I think what I really found out what the most important thing about a team is after the game you know after the game there can be a lot of finger pointing there can be a lot of negative things that that happen but the team stood up and said listen we have to do better as a team and when you have guys buying into the system guys you know vesting themselves into the program like that you know you have you you have a very good possibility of of being a good football program defensively some good numbers fans uh the defense all lowed dating just 196 total yards only 40 on the ground in the game we sacked Flyers quarterbacks five times and forced a couple fumbles just a few individual folks that I want to mention Rich Shir Jr outside linebacker Paul tangal from gaitherburg Maryland he was the Northeast conference's co-defensive player of the week was really all over the field seven tackles two sacks forced two fumbles uh both of those were recovered by Eddie barrels and then your defensive backs Pierre Royster Demario Crawford out of Erie uh they both had six stops and looked good last week your thoughts specifically on the defense which from start to finish was pretty consistent yeah the defense gave us a chance to St in the game we had some turnovers early defense created some turnovers got us the ball back uh I I really L the effort of our defense you know other than the second half we broke a little coverage there uh I thought our our defense played tremendous I thought they played hard aggressive um so you know we have to learn how to play complimentary football I think that's one of the biggest things that we've we we've learned out of that game uh you know it's not just an offense defense you got to add special teams in there and we have to be able to complement each other in each phase of the game and you know when we have the opportunities capitalize one of his opportunities you only have so many opportunities in a game so uh one of the things that we have to get better at is playing complimentary football but those efforts that you just mentioned great efforts and we need we're going to need those efforts throughout the year and offensively struggled at times but also showed some glimpses of how good uh we could be the running back spot it was a question mark uh going into camp but some players stepped up last week Demarcus alroy the red shirt sophomore transfer from Marshall he ran for 69 yards on nine carries uh Marco hullman who came from lacana we've gotten some good players out of there including Paul he ran for 48 yards and a score and Chris it looks like we have some Talent at that position that was uncertain going into the season yeah I was very happy with our offense line and blocking up front um and our running backs I they're Gamers they were running hard during the game breaking tackles um you know I was very very happy with that and so that is something we have to continue to build with with a with a Young quarterback to take the pressure off him so that is something that we're looking to continue to keep building and and hopefully you know these guys can can handle the load for us for most of the game and carry us early as you know until our quarterback gets adjusted and gets his feet a little more comfortable in that pocket let's talk about this weekend's matchup first ever game against Kent State fourth in school history against a Mid-American Conference School uh and this will be a challenge Ken State opened the season last week at pit they lost 55 to 24 but but head coach Kenny Burns team they moved the ball against the Panthers yes they did and not only did they move the ball but they scored points uh played exceptionally well uh they got two backs that can take it can break it on you at any time uh they have a quarterback that you know he's their he's their General and he does a great job and they got a ton of speed at receiver the quarterback Devin Carman threw for 181 yards and two touchdowns and his favorite Target last weekend was Luke Floria who caught six passes for 104 yards in a score they're a very well balanced team and it's going to take a tremendous effort for us to really uh stay in the game with them