Keith Lemke

The 117th year of intercollegiate football at The College of Wooster, and the third under the leadership of head coach Frank Colaprete, officially begins this Saturday afternoon, Sept. 5, at 4,500-seat John P. Papp Stadium, where the Fighting Scots will face a test against No. 15 ranked Washington & Jefferson College. The Presidents, who have appeared in 13 of the previous 16 NCAA Div. III Championship fields, including last season when they reached the second round with a decisive 41-25 victory over Wittenberg University, welcome back 18 returning starters (9 on offense, 9 on defense). Wooster, on the other hand, is breaking in a mostly-new group of starters, including at every skill position on offense. Saturday's kickoff is set for 1 p.m. EDT.

On the Air: Wooster's football games are broadcast each week by commercial radio station WKVX 960 AM and are streamed live on wkvx.com.

Also, for all five home games, the audio and video from local cable provider MCTV, Inc., will be broadcast live over the web at http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/wooster.portal#.

All-Time Series: Washington & Jefferson and Wooster matched up in the last two openers – 58-21 and 51-17 decisions for the Presidents – but had met just eight times previously, despite the schools being less than a three-hour drive from each other. Overall, Washington & Jefferson owns a 7-2-1 lead in the series, which was primarily contested between 1934-39 (the other games were in 1890 and 1985).

Lid-Lifters: Wooster hopes to return to the run of success it experienced in season openers from 1997-2006 when the Scots won nine of 10. Since then, they've gone 1-7 in such games, including six losses in a row.

Offensive Outlook: At quarterback, running back, all three wide receiver spots, and tight end, Wooster has players making their first collegiate starts at those respective positions. Under center, senior David Smith (Upper Arlington, Ohio / Upper Arlington) edged out sophomore Gary Muntean (Poland, Ohio / Struthers), who started the last three games in 2014, and Smith's backfield mate will be a combination of freshmen running backs Antonio Bailey (Duluth, Ga. / Meadowcreek) and Russell Boston (Renton, Wash. / Liberty). The Scots do have some experience at receiver in the form of senior Dan Gorzynski (Kendall Park, N.J. / South Brunswick) and junior Tyson Vogel (Ashland, Ohio / Ashland). Gorzynski started a handful of games at the end of last year, primarily lining up at tight end, and now he'll be on the outside, while Vogel has moved over from defense, where he started 10 games at safety. The remaining receivers will consist of first-years, including starter Jack Reider (Canfield, Ohio / Cardinal Mooney), and junior Nate Huwar (Cheswick, Pa. / Fox Chapel Area) is expected to get the bulk of the work at tight end.

Leading the way for Wooster's offense, as always, will be the offensive line, which includes three returning starters in senior center Nick Flannery (Dayton, Ohio / Chaminade-Julienne), senior left guard Paul Kelbly (Marshallville, Ohio / Smithville), and sophomore left tackle Drake Schwenke (Trabuco Canyon, Calif. / Santa Margarita Catholic). On the right will be sophomores Clayton Geib (London, Ohio / London) at guard and Patrick Mohorcic (Highland Hts., Ohio / Gilmour Academy) at tackle.

Defensive Outlook: The Scots have a bit more experience on the defensive side of the field, and they'll look to control the line of scrimmage with the likes of returning starters Stephen McKinney (Lampasas, Texas / Lampasas), a senior defensive end, and Aaron Roberson (Southfield, Mich. / Detroit Country Day), a sophomore defensive tackle. McKinney has twice been selected to the All-North Coast Athletic Conference Team as he's totaled 20.5 career tackles for loss (9.0 sacks), while Roberson looks to build off a strong freshman campaign in the middle. Aiding them will be junior Kevin Komara (Wooster, Ohio / Wooster), who has shuffled between linebacker and defensive end, and junior defensive tackle Riley Markko (South Salem, Ohio / Paint Valley), plus several others as the coaching staff likes to rotate eight defensive linemen.

Wooster's other two returning starters lineup in the secondary, where junior Christian Golden (Aurora, Ohio / Bedford) and sophomore Patirck Johnson (Homewood, Ill. / Homewood-Flossmoor) are back. Golden, after being a cornerback last fall, will be the safety in the Scots' 4-2-5 defensive alignment this year, and Johnson is shifting to one of the strong safety positions. Senior Keith Lemke (Loudonville, Ohio / Loudonville), coming back from a season lost to injury, will be the other strong safety, while seniors Adam Coppock (Columbiana, Ohio / Crestview), formerly a wide receiver, and Ethan Nichol (Delaware, Ohio / Hayes) will start out at corner.

Rounding out the Scots' starters will be linebackers Troy Brown (Copley, Ohio / Copley), a junior, and Jake Vellucci (Massillon, Ohio / Jackson), a senior.

Team Captains: Wooster's team captains for the 2015 season, as elected by their teammates, are Nick Flannery (Dayton, Ohio / Chaminade-Julienne), Paul Kelbly (Marshallville, Ohio / Smithville), Keith Lemke (Loudonville, Ohio / Loudonville), and Stephen McKinney (Lampasas, Texas / Lampasas).

This and That: In addition to so many players taking on new roles, Wooster also has a pair of first-year coordinators in Zach Dennis (offense) and Sam Bauman (defense). They do have plenty of experience, though, as this is Dennis's sixth season with the Fighting Scots' coaching staff, and Bauman worked closely with head coach Frank Colaprete, who previously served as defensive coordinator, the last two years ... Wooster is sporting new logos on each side of its helmet and new addidas® uniforms this season.