RINDGE, N.H. (September 25, 2018) – 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.

***UPDATE (Sept. 26, 10 a.m.) -- The scheduled game at Army on Saturday, Oct. 27 has been canceled as well.

***UPDATE (Oct. 1, 10:30 a.m.) -- The scheduled games against St. Thomas Aquinas on Oct. 13 and Pennsylvania on Nov. 3 have been canceled. The Ravens have added games at Dartmouth on Oct. 7 and at home against Nichols on Oct. 15.

“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 10:30 a.m. on Oct. 1, is as follows (home games in bold): 

Sunday, Oct. 7 at Dartmouth - 1 p.m.
Monday, Oct. 15 vs. Nichols - 4 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 20 at Mansfield – 1 p.m.

Further changes to the schedule will be communicated, and added to this page as well, as they become available.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics’ official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce football apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics’ online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).