The William Penn football team opens its home schedule on Saturday by hosting fifth ranked St. Francis of Indiana. Penn will have the edge in terms of game experience. The Statesmen opened the season on August 31st with a surprisingly easy 34-8 win at ninth ranked Bethel of Tennessee while this will be the season opener for St. Francis.

William Penn coach Todd Hafner says that first game anxiety sometimes gives a team emotion they don’t have in other games. The game will match the Statesmen’s triple option attack against a balanced St. Francis offense that averaged nearly 35 points per game last season.

“They have skill running around all over the place and their guys up front are good. It’s just a good football team,” Hafner says. It will be a rare home game for the Statesmen who spent most of the first month of the season on the road.

Penn is ranked 1th in the NAIA.