The 2019 college football season will be a year-long celebration marking the 150^th year of the college game. The Stetson Hatters, coming off their first winning season in almost 60 years, will be attempting to make the season meaningful to their fans as they search for their first conference title.
 
The Hatters, who tied for second place in the Pioneer Football League in their sixth season of competition since bringing the program back, will take to Watson Field at the ATC on Tuesday morning to open five weeks of spring practice in preparation for the coming year.
 
Tuesday practices throughout the five weeks of spring drills will be held early in the morning, starting between 6 nd 6:30 a.m. Practices will also be held on Friday and Saturday afternoons starting at 2 p.m. The annual spring game is scheduled for April 13 at Spec Martin Memorial Stadium. That event will begin at 6:30 p.m.
 
Stetson returns seven starters on the offensive side of the ball from a squad that posted its best season in terms of rushing yards, passing yards and scoring. The Hatters averaged more than 320 yards per game through the air last year while also rushing for 163.2 yards per game. The result was a program record 37.3 points per game during an 8-2 campaign.
 
However, gone from that team is record -breaking quarterback Colin McGovern, All-American tight end Donald Parham and a pair of veteran starting linemen in center Jim McCammon and tackle Andrew Rogalski.
 
Despite the losses, the Hatters do have graduate quarterback Gaven DeFilippo returning for a sixth season. He missed the entire 2017 season with injuries suffered during the 2016 campaign. He served as the backup last year, and is the heir apparent to take over the offense this fall. DeFelippo threw for 1,272 yards and nine touhdowns in seven games during the 2016 season.
 
DeFilippo is not the only quarterback in the hunt to fill McGovern's shoes. Redshirt sophomore Alex Piccirilli also returns after serving as an apprentice for the last two years. Redshirt freshman John Donegan and sophomore Colin Wray, who served as the teams' long snapper last year, also will be in the mix this spring.
 
Offensively, the Hatters will also return running back Jareem Westcott from a freshman season that included 774 rush yards and 13 touchdowns while sharing time in the backfield. He will be joined by twins Bryce and Chase Blackmon in the run game.
 
Filling the large shoes of Parham will be a challenge, but the quartet of senior Steven Burdette (52 receptions for 769 yards and 10 touchdowns), juniors Justin Jordan (22, 377, 1), Jeremiah Nails (3, 22, 0) and Bensley Bornelus (12, 138, 2) along with redshirt sophomore Jack Bowen (15, 164, 0) all return as top targets for the quarterbacks.
 
On the offensive line veterans Brad Alexander, Alex Brown, Peter Greubel, Jacob Sullivan and Nick Plunkett all return with starting experience.
 
On the defensive side of the ball, nine players return with starting experience from a unit that struggled with injuries last fall. The healthy return of defensive tackle Shane Parton and Jamieson Craske, who both missed most of the season in 2018 while also serving as team captains, will be a boost. Senior linebacker Colby Duncan, who led the team with 88 tackles, returns, as does each of the other top nine tacklers from last fall.
 
With Parton joining sophomore returners Fermon Reid and Greg Moore on the inside of the defensive line and ends Collintino Andrews, Bryson Richards, Jason Winston and George Tsiouklas on the outside, the Hatters have a solid returning rotation up front on defense.
 
Craske and Duncan will be joined at linebacker by returners Tyler Mirabella, Tarren Smith and Hunter Stephens.
 
Returners in the secondary include safeties Reggie Gantt (58 tackles), Peter Katz (44) and corners Jalon Scott (35), Dwight Lawrence (32) and JJ Henderson (33).
 
Stetson also returns all of its specialists from last fall. Joining Wray are kickers Brady Lawrence (kickoffs) and Jonny Messina (FG/PAT) along with punter Matias Gasc.
 
The work the Hatters will put in this spring will be in preparation of a 12-game schedule this fall, a slate that includes a record eight home games.
 
Stetson will open the 2019 season at home against future PFL opponent Presbyterian (2-8) on August 31. The teams were supposed to play for the first time in 2018, but Hurricane Florence had other ideas and forced the cancellation of that game.
 
The Hatters will play at home again on September 7 against Louisiana College (5-5) before opening PFL play on September 14 at Marist (5-6) in Poughkeepsie, NY.
 
Stetson will to Spec Martin Stadium on September 21 to open a four-game home stands against Western New England (8-3) before hosting North Carolina Wesleyan (5-5) in the final non-conference game on September 28.
 
The Hatters will host Butler (4-7) on October 5 and Dayton (6-5) on October 19. Stetson will close October with a road trip to Valparaiso (2-9) on October 26 before opening November at Jacksonville (2-8) on November 2.
 
Seven-time PFL champion San Diego (9-3) will visit DeLand on November 9 for Homecoming before the Hatters host Davidson (6-5) on November 16 for Senior Day. The Hatters will close out the 2019 season on November 23 at Morehead State (3-8).
 
Fans interested in securing season tickets for the 2019 Hatters football season can contact the Stetson Athletics Ticket Office at 386-738-HATS (4287) for information.
 
About Stetson University Athletics: Stetson University's Athletics Program has a vision of developing a culture of champions athletically, academically and within the community. This vision is accomplished through a mission of recruiting and developing student-athletes, coaches and staff, creating a culture of champions, within and outside of competition. The department operates with five core values: Championship Culture, Integrity, Excellence, Pride/Tradition and Leadership. To learn more about the Vision, Mission and Core Values for Stetson Athletics, visit GoHatters.com and click on Mission Statement under the Inside Athletics tab.