ABOVE: Senior defensive stalwart #C.O. Prime# (middle) discusses the upcoming season with cornerbacks coach Stefen Gage (left) and team trainer Javier Jiminez.

Staten Island, NY – The 2012 Wagner College football team descended upon Grymes Hill on Sunday as 125 Seahawks reported in at the Spiro Sports Center to begin preparations for the upcoming 11-game schedule with the season opener slated to take place on August 31 at Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) member Florida Atlantic.
 
The squad will hold its first practice of preseason camp on Monday at 2:45 pm. On Saturday, August 18, Wagner will hold its annual Green & White Scrimmage. Nearly two weeks later, the Seahawk and Owls will hold their own version of Friday Night Lights with kickoff slated at 7:00 pm at FAU Stadium in Boca Raton, FL, a 30,000-seat facility opened in 2011. This tilt will mark also mark just the second time a Northeast Conference (NEC) program has ever faced an NCAA FCS opponent as Central Connecticut played at Western Michigan in 2007.
 
The Wagner 125-man roster features a blend of 76 returners and 49 newcomers. On offense, The Seahawks returns eight starters, headlined by junior running back Dominique Williams (Bridgeton, NJ/ Bridgeton), who rushed for 1,338 yards last season and senior quarterback Nick Doscher (Staten Island, NY/ Moore Catholic). Doscher enters the 2012 season having already secured the No. 1 spot in Wagner history with 6,037 yards of total offense. He is also third all-time in completions (324) and touchdown passes (31).  Another returning big-play performer is  6-4, 215-pound wide receiver David Crawford (Carrollton, TX/ Hebron). A Second-Team All-NEC selection in 2010, Crawford will be a fifth-year senior in 2012 after receiving a medical redshirt after suffering a season-ending injury in week three of the 2011 campaign.
 
Junior tight end Joe Sidaras (Mastic Beach NY/ William Floyd) is another post-season honors candidate who snared 20 receptions for 293 yards in his first season as a Seahawk in 2011 after transferring from Hofstra. Anchoring Wagner's offensive line will be fifth-year senior right tackle Steve Ciocci ((Royersford, PA / Spring-Ford) who last week was named to the All-NEC Preseason Team.
 
Defensively, Wagner returns seven starters, including its top two tacklers from a year ago in seniors #C.O. Prime# (Laval, Quebec / The Kent School) and Mike Lombardo (Jupiter, FL/ Jupiter Christian). Lombardo was the team-leader in tackles with 82 from his linebacker position while Prime checked in with 80. A linebacker throughout his career, Prime has been shifted to nose tackle while Lombardo will remain as an inside linebacker in the Seahawks' 3-4 scheme.
 
The Seahawks return a veteran stable of defensive backs in senior strong safety Sidiq Soulemana (Bronx, NY / DeWittt Clinton), junior free safety Patrick O'Connor (Leominster, MA/ Leominster) and the talented cornerback tandem of senior Torian Phillips (Staten Island, NY/ Port Richmond), a transfer from Syracuse, as well as redshirt sophomore Jarrett Dieudonne (Fort Lauderdale, FL/ Dillard), who began his career at Purdue.
 
In the special teams department, senior David Lopez (Plantation, FL/ American Heritage) is back healthy after an injury sidelined him for the final eight games last season. Lopez is back healthy and hoping to return to the form that allowed him to earn Second-Team All-NEC honors in 2010. Expected to handle the punting duties is redshirt sophomore #A.J. Firestone# (Mercersburg, PA / Mercersburg Academy), averaged 38.1 yards per punt last season.
 
Following the opener at FAU, Wagner travels to Georgetown on Saturday, September 8 for a 1:00 pm contest. The 2012 home opener will take place on Saturday, September 15 when the Seahawks host local NEC rival Monmouth in what promises to be a particularly festive day. The day kicks off with the field at Wagner College Stadium being named Hameline Field as a pre-game ceremony will be held in honor of long-time Athletic Director and Head Football Coach Walt Hameline. On this same day, members of the 1987 Wagner College NCAA Division III National Championship team will be honored at halftime, recognizing the 25th anniversary of that championship season.
 
When Hameline led Wagner to the 1987 Division III title, he was in his seventh season while 2012 will mark his 32nd year at as head coach of the Seahawks. Hameline is one of eighth active Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) coaches to win 200 ranks 16th all-time among FCS coaches and 18th among active NCAA coaches.  He enters the 2012 season with an overall record of 204-123-2 (.622) over his 31-year head coaching career at Wagner.