Franklin Pierce statement
By: CSFL Staff | Collegiate Sprint Football League | September 25, 2018
The below statement was produced by the Franklin Pierce athletic department and details their planned changes for the 2018 schedule and beyond. Franklin Pierce will make the move to NCAA Division II football in 2019 and will not be a member of the CSFL following this season.
With that move in mind and an inability to field a full roster within the weight limits of the CSFL rules, Franklin Pierce will alter its schedule and its games will no longer be counted towards league standings.
CSFL teams can elect to cancel their games against FPU with no penalty from the league, or they can work with FPU to agree on an acceptable roster for the games and continue to play the games as scheduled with the results only counting towards the overall season record and having no bearing on the CSFL standings or postseason possibilities. Franklin Pierce will be listed in the league standings with a 0-0 divisional record this season and will be ineligible for consideration for the championship game and weekly honors. As of Sept. 25, Cornell and Army West Point have canceled their scheduled games against FPU.
STATEMENT FROM FRANKLIN PIERCE ATHLETICS
With the transition to NCAA Division II sport sponsorship coming next season, the Franklin Pierce University football program has announced changes to the remainder of its 2018 schedule, in conjunction with the Collegiate Sprint Football League. The changes include the removal of some CSFL opponents from the schedule, to be replaced by games against Division III and junior college opponents.
The schedule changes have been made with multiple goals in mind. For Franklin Pierce, the changes allow the team of largely freshmen student-athletes – who will compete for the majority of their career at the Division II level – to gain valuable experience in games which mimic the level of competition it will see moving forward. For the CSFL, the moves allow for Franklin Pierce to continue providing quality competition to league members as the Ravens transition out of the league.
“These changes allow us to begin the challenging road of building a competitive Division II football program on the right foot,” said head coach Rashad Watson. “The moves grant all of our student-athletes the opportunity to see valuable snaps in situations which will resemble those they will see next year in the Northeast-10 Conference.”
For now, the only concrete change is the scheduled game for the Ravens at Cornell on Friday, Sept. 28 has been canceled. The team is currently in the process of pursuing an alternate opponent to fill the slot either this weekend of next, when Franklin Pierce had a scheduled off day.
“We are incredibly grateful for the time we have spent in the Collegiate Sprint Football League,” said Rachel Burleson, Director of Athletics. “We are appreciative of the league and its members allowing us this opportunity to begin to prepare our student-athletes for the future, while we continue to finish out our commitments to the CSFL.”
The remainder of the 2018 football schedule, as of Sept. 25, is as follows:
Saturday, Oct. 13 vs. St. Thomas Aquinas – Noon
Saturday, Oct. 20 at Mansfield – 1 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 3 vs. Pennsylvania – Noon
