LATROBE, Pa. – The signal that the fall sports season is upon on us occurred on Tuesday afternoon when the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) hosted its annual football media day at Saint Vincent College.  Junior linebacker Reed Gordon, along with 32nd-year Head Coach Geno DeMarco, represented the Golden Tornadoes at the event.  The PAC capped off the day with a release of the preseason football poll, as voted on by the coaches and media at the event.  Geneva was picked seventh out of eleven teams.  Reigning PAC champion Grove City was named the preseason favorite.

Geneva is coming off a 4-6 season in 2023 that placed the Golden Tornadoes sixth overall in the final regular season PAC standings, and Geneva has a number of starters to replace on the offensive side of the ball for the upcoming fall season.  Despite those losses, DeMarco remains optimistic about the potential of the offense.

"On offense, we've lost a lot of starters," said DeMarco, "but I'm very excited about the kids that we've got.  They want to play ball.  They want to put the work in.  They understand it's going to be difficult, but they're prepared for adversity.  That's what we do at Geneva.  We're preparing our kids for adversity, because that's what happens in life."

Gordon is one of several veterans returning on the defensive side of the ball, though, along with senior All-PAC linebacker Gabe Trexler, who finished second in the league in tackles.  Gordon, a part-time starter last year, talked about the increased role he'll need to fill this year, and how he's prepared himself for that. 

"In our exit meetings at the end of last year," said Gordon, "the coaches brought me in and told me its my time to step up.  They told me I needed to get out of the box and be the vocal leader I know I can be.  So, in our winter workouts, I got the opportunity to step up and lead in the weight room.  In the spring, I got the opportunity to step up and be a leader on the defensive side of the ball, and in our linebacker group.

"This offseason," continued Gordon, "I really tried to mentally challenge myself with working out and getting ready for this football season.  Anything that will allow me to get through four quarters of football this year so that we can go and secure the win."

In addition to the preseason poll, the PAC also named six players from Geneva as Players to Watch.  On the offensive side of the ball, senior TE/QB Darin Myers and junior RB David Reid were listed, while on the defensive side of the ball, in addition to Gordon and Trexler, senior DL Alex Gonzalez and senior DB Cameron Smith were listed.

The Golden Tornadoes have their work cut out for them to open the season as Geneva begins the year with the toughest two-game stretch of anyone in the conference.  The Golden Tornadoes travel to Grove City to open the season on September 7, and the following week Geneva travels to Carnegie Mellon, who finished second in the PAC last year, right behind Grove City.  The Golden Tornadoes open the home portion of their schedule on September 21, at 7:00 p.m., with a game on Reeves Field against Thiel.

This will be the last year the conference plays a full round robin schedule.  Next season, with the addition of Hiram College to the PAC, the conference will have 12 schools.  The league will be split into two divisions, with Geneva joining Case Western Reserve, Grove City, Hiram, Thiel and Westminster in the North Division.  Each team will play the other five teams in its division once, and then will play three crossover games with the other division.