QUINCY, Ill. – The wait for Quincy University football comes to an end Thursday night as the Hawks open the 2026 season on the road against Concordia University, St. Paul. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 PM at Sea Foam Stadium in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Quincy enters its third season under head coach Jason Killday after finishing the 2025 campaign 6-5 overall and 4-4 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play. The Hawks were selected fifth in the 2026 GLVC Preseason Coaches' Poll.

Concordia-St. Paul enters the season following a 2-9 campaign in 2025, including a 2-8 mark in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action. The Golden Bears were picked 12th in the NSIC preseason poll and begin a new era under first-year head coach Joshua Schumacher.

Thursday marks just the second meeting between the two programs after the Hawks claimed a convincing 38-7 victory in the inaugural matchup last season at QU Stadium.

A Memorable First Meeting

The first meeting between Quincy and Concordia-St. Paul also marked the beginning of quarterback Bradyn Little's collegiate career.

Little made an immediate impact in front of his hometown crowd, accounting for five touchdowns in the 38-7 victory. The performance earned the Quincy native GLVC Offensive Player of the Week honors following his first collegiate game.

That outing served as the start of a strong freshman season for Little, who went on to earn GLVC Freshman of the Year honors. He finished the season with 2,492 passing yards, 17 touchdowns and just six interceptions while starting all 11 games for the Hawks.

Little returns to lead an offense that features several familiar faces in 2026.

Wide receiver Jackson Burnett is back after leading Quincy with 402 receiving yards and tying for the team lead with 38 receptions and four receiving touchdowns last season. Owen Hampton and Troy TW Crozier also return as experienced options in the passing game, while Collin Parsons is back after leading the Hawks with 420 rushing yards and four touchdowns.

The offensive continuity extends to the coaching staff, where offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Kade Warner is the lone returning assistant from the 2025 staff.

New Faces on the Quincy Sideline

While the Hawks return 73 letterwinners from last year's roster, Killday enters his third season with a substantially different coaching staff.

Warner enters his second year directing the Quincy offense, while Elijah Shaah takes over as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. Damani Neal joins the program as special teams coordinator and defensive backs coach, Jesse Sosebee takes over the offensive line and Carson Picheco leads the defensive line.

August Nieberle joins the staff as an offensive graduate assistant, while Mayo Bola will serve as a defensive graduate assistant.

Killday enters Thursday with a 12-9 record through his first two seasons leading the Hawks. Quincy has also shown an ability to win away from home during that stretch. The Hawks are 6-5 in road contests under Killday, including a 3-3 mark during the 2025 season.

Wiley Leads the Defense

On the defensive side, linebacker Brock Wiley returns after putting together one of the top tackling seasons in the GLVC in 2025.

Wiley finished with 106 tackles, ranking second in the conference and 18th in NCAA Division II. He also recorded 8.0 tackles for loss, 3.0 sacks and six pass breakups on his way to Second Team All-GLVC honors. Cornerback Kendrick Adimado is another key returner after recording 11 pass breakups last season.

The Hawks will have plenty of new faces surrounding their returning leaders, making Thursday the first look at Shaah's new defensive unit.

Discipline Remains a Strength

One area in which Quincy has established consistency under Killday has been its ability to limit penalties.

The Hawks averaged just 5.09 penalties per game in 2025, the second-fewest in the GLVC and 22nd-fewest among 157 NCAA Division II programs.

Quincy was even better in penalty yardage, averaging only 43.64 penalty yards per game. That figure led the GLVC and ranked 15th nationally.

Maintaining that discipline could prove particularly important in a season opener where both teams will be breaking in several new coaches and personnel.

Looking for Another Step Offensively

While Quincy brings back its starting quarterback and several proven offensive weapons, there are areas where the Hawks will look to improve from last season.

Quincy averaged 91.6 rushing yards per game in 2025, finishing ninth in the GLVC and 142nd nationally. The Hawks also averaged 9.84 yards per completion, ranking ninth in the conference and 152nd in Division II.

With Little entering his sophomore season, Parsons back in the backfield and several experienced targets returning, the Hawks will look to create more explosive plays in year two of Warner's offense.

A New Era in St. Paul

Quincy will face a Concordia-St. Paul team that could look significantly different from the one it saw last August.

Schumacher takes over the Golden Bears after spending eight seasons as the head coach at Concordia University Ann Arbor, where he compiled a 59-25 record.

His arrival has brought major changes to the program.

Only three members of last year's coaching staff remain with the Golden Bears in 2026, and less than 30 percent of CSP's 2025 roster returned for the new season.

Concordia-St. Paul brings back just 35 players, including 12 on offense, 21 on defense and two specialists.

Of those returners, the Golden Bears have just one quarterback, two running backs, five wide receivers, one tight end and three offensive linemen back on offense. Defensively, CSP returns seven defensive linemen, nine defensive backs and five linebackers.

The significant roster and coaching turnover makes Thursday's opponent difficult to project based solely on last year's results.

Golden Bears Looking for a Turnaround

Schumacher takes over a program looking to reverse a difficult stretch.

CSP has not finished above .500 since going 6-5 in 2019 and has posted a 9-46 record in the five seasons since.

The Golden Bears also enter Thursday searching for their first home victory in nearly three years.

CSP went 0-5 at Sea Foam Stadium last season and has dropped 11 consecutive home games. Its last victory at home came on October 28, 2023, against Northern State.

Last year's Golden Bears averaged 13.9 points per game, ranking 148th nationally and 12th in the NSIC. Defensively, CSP surrendered 35.2 points per game, ranking 134th in Division II and 12th in the conference.

Opponents also converted 50 percent of their third-down opportunities against CSP, a mark that ranked 150th nationally.

Those numbers come with an important caveat heading into Thursday. With a new head coach, new schemes and a heavily reconstructed roster, the 2026 version of Concordia-St. Paul could bear little resemblance to last year's team.

Graf Provides Experience at Quarterback

One familiar face for the Golden Bears will be sophomore quarterback Lincoln Graf.

The Boca Raton, Florida, native is CSP's lone returning quarterback after appearing in four games and making three starts last season.

Graf completed 52-of-82 passes for 671 yards and five touchdowns while connecting on 63.4 percent of his attempts.

Perhaps his most impressive number was zero.

Graf did not throw an interception in any of his 82 attempts, and Concordia-St. Paul did not commit a turnover in any of the four games in which he appeared.

That continued what was one of the Golden Bears' biggest strengths in 2025. CSP lost just 11 turnovers all season, the fewest in the NSIC and 14th-fewest in Division II.

Weapons to Watch

Senior wide receiver Carter Zezulka headlines CSP's returning pass catchers after leading all Golden Bear wide receivers with 23 receptions last season. He finished with 224 receiving yards and two touchdowns.

CSP also brings back EJ Previlma, Tony Edwards III and Vinny Churchwell at wide receiver.

Previlma caught nine passes for 160 yards and averaged 17.8 yards per reception, including a long of 59 yards. Edwards III added 10 catches for 99 yards and a touchdown.

In the backfield, fifth-year running back Joel Lacy returns after finishing second on the team with 271 rushing yards and leading CSP with six total touchdowns.

Lacy produced his biggest performance late in the season against Southwest Minnesota State, carrying the ball 17 times for 143 yards and three touchdowns. That outing included a 91-yard touchdown run, the second-longest rushing play in program history.

Experience Returns on Defense

Junior linebacker Jonas Barros leads the returning group on the other side of the ball.

Barros recorded 43 tackles and an interception last season, making him CSP's leading returning tackler entering 2026.

Fifth-year defensive back Hudson Jean adds experience in the secondary after finishing with 40 tackles last season. Jean has appeared in 30 games during his Concordia-St. Paul career.

The defense brings back significantly more players than the offense, with 21 defensive returners compared to just 12 on the offensive side.

Still, with a new staff installing new systems, Thursday night will provide the first true look at the identity of Schumacher's Golden Bears.

Opening Night

There will be familiarity on one sideline and plenty of uncertainty on the other when the teams take the field Thursday.

Quincy enters with an established starting quarterback, 73 returning letterwinners and several key contributors back from a team that won six games last season. The Hawks will also look to continue the disciplined style that has become a trademark under Killday while improving an offense that is searching for more production on the ground and more explosive plays.

Concordia-St. Paul, meanwhile, opens a completely new chapter with a new head coach, a reconstructed coaching staff and a roster featuring only 35 returners.

The Hawks will look to spoil the start of that new era, extend CSP's home losing streak and move to 2-0 all-time against the Golden Bears.

Kickoff from Sea Foam Stadium in St. Paul is scheduled for 6:30 PM Thursday, August 27.

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