DSU Hornets look for repeat title

DOVER -- The Delaware State University football team has shown steady improvement in each of coach Al Lavan's four seasons. And that is all Lavan asks of the Hornets. Coming off a year in which DSU won its first Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football title since 1991 and earned its first bid to the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs, Lavan is not expecting anything less as his team prepares for the 2008 season.

Delaware State University has a two-head football monster in defensive coordinator Ray Petty (former head coach at Howard University) and head coach Al Lavan. Coach Lavan has a 29-16 record in four years of resurrection of the DSU Hornets.

Delaware State's players will arrive on campus for preseason practice on Friday morning. Their MEAC title defense begins when the Hornets face Florida A&M at Alumni Stadium on Sept. 4 at 7:30 p.m. Lavan knows it is in the heat of preseason camp that the foundation will be laid for his team's ultimate level of success. "Each year that we have been here, we've been able to improve our talent," Lavan said. "I think the players that are in our program have taken a step forward each year."