April 27, 1999

The 1999 Lafayette College Spring Football Game will be played this coming Saturday, May 1, at 1:00 p.m. There will be no admission charged at Fisher Field for this first-hand look at the 1999 Leopards.

Lafayette returns nine starters on defense and six on offense, including one Academic All-American and four All-Patriot League players. The Leopards' nine returning defensive starters include the top five and nine of the team's top 10 tacklers in 1998.

Junior split end Phil Yarberough (Lebanon, PA/Lebanon), a 1998 GTE/CoSIDA District II Academic All-American, returns with a host of Leopard receivers that should anchor that position. The move of Mike Palos (Bethlehem, PA/Bethlehem Catholic) from quarterback to tight end brings forth the debut of junior Brian Buczek (Bloomingdale, NJ/Depaul) as the regular starter.

Another interesting change being experimented with on offense is the move of Brian Tuma (Lebanon Township, NJ/Voorhees) from strong safety to tailback. A star tailback in high school, Tuma has excelled in the Leopards' defensive backfield as a two-year starter.

The defense returns second-team All-Patriot League players Elijah Beamon (CB, Middletown, NY/Middletown), Angel Colon (FS, Garfield, NJ/St. Joseph's Regional), and Ryan Hiles (ILB, Connellsville, PA/Connellsville), as well as Patriot League Rookie of the Year Kenya Allen (CB, Imperial, PA/West Allegheny).

Lafayette concluded its 117th season of college football in 1998 with a 3-8 overall record, and improved to 3-3 and third place in Patriot League play. For the 10th time in 13 seasons of Patriot League football, the Leopards entered the month of November with a shot at the conference championship.