A near-miss ... or perhaps a near-hit
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And this past weekend in Glassboro, N.J., many fans had little reason to think much would come of Rowan’s second all-time meeting with their soon to be NJAC brothers. (Western Connecticut will be joining the New Jersey Athletic Conference as a football-only member in 2004.) However much of the Division III nation had a rather shocking installment headed their way.
The Profs were coming off of consecutive shutouts: 21-0 over Christopher Newport and 30-0 over Wesley. While the offense was hardly clicking at the 2001 pace, the Profs showed the ability to hit the big play when they had to and illustrated a bit more the demeanor of the 1999 Rowan team led by a strong defense that stiffened in the red zone and forced turnovers everywhere on the field. It was the 1999 squad that last posted consecutive shutouts 44-0 over Kean and 41-0 against William Paterson.
But instead of a thoroughly dominating defensive showing from Rowan, the 3,426 fans at John Page Field were greeted by just the opposite. The fifth-ranked Profs found themselves down 10-0 in the first quarter and 19-7 at halftime on their home turf. However, depth proved to be the deciding factor along with a bit of help from Mother Nature as Rowan persevered in the still lingering summer heat.
“Our whole offense knew that we were wearing them down,” Rowan QB Mike Orihel told the Gloucester County Times. “Our offensive line pounded them. In the second half, I said to the guys 'turn around and look. They're on their knees. The defensive end is puking.' That's why we came through, because we were so well-conditioned and we wanted it bad.”
Western Connecticut seemed to agree.
“We had a real issue with the heat,” Western Connecticut coach John Burrell told the Gloucester County Times. “I'm not sure what the answer was. We had a lot of backups in and we're not as deep as Rowan. We definitely wore down.”
While Orihel and company rallied for a come from behind victory, this game sends a clear message. Eastern Region football is considerably more competitive than it was only two years ago. Granted there are many reasons for the bridging of the gap, greatly revolving around the extreme youth of this Rowan squad jammed with underclassmen. But teams throughout the East are building programs that can compete at a very high level and they can get those programs up to speed in a short period of time.
The Rowan contest illustrates this point in the strongest fashion due to the recent comparative history noted above, but it is not the only game of its type worthy of note.
The Cortland State Red Dragons posted their first victory of 2003 last Saturday, rallying for two fourth-quarter touchdowns to defeat Kean University, 23-20. Kean led 7-3 at halftime and 13-3 in the third quarter. But Cortland’s J.J. Tutwiler threw one touchdown and ran for another to cut the deficit to 20-16.
Late in the game, the Red Dragons faced a third-and-18 at their own 21-yard line. Neal Heaton Jr.'s 67-yard run on a reverse, combined with a face mask penalty, move the ball to the Kean 6-yard line. Three plays later, Steve Davis scored from 2 yards out for the winning touchdown with 3:40 remaining. For those of you unfamiliar with Kean, the Cougars’ total number of wins since and including 1999? Seven.
For the second consecutive season quarterback Josh Felicetti rallied Ithaca to a fourth-quarter comeback 19-18 win over Hartwick. It was an identical score and similar circumstances last year, although this time around Felicetti threw for a career-high 271 yards.
And those were the “near-misses.” Though as comedian George Carlin postulated, “wouldn’t a near-miss mean they actually hit?” It was a collision of large proportions for the Hobart Statesmen two weeks back…
Dear John,
That is how quite a few e-mails started just after my original column this season. Some of them asked for specific predictions on that fan or parent’s favorite team. Others were from those I’ve worked with in the past asking how things were in general. However, quite a few of them were page upon page testimonials of alumni complaining about why their team should be considered a favorite in the region.
And while some claims certainly had validity to different degrees, some were just outright ridiculous. Fortunately, the ridiculous ones often resulted in a chuckle. (This means you New Jersey City fans! I will most certainly “watch out” for those Gothic Knights in 2003.)
I always enjoy feedback and tidbits of history from those who have been associated with their school’s program for more years than I’ve been walking. But no one school was more upset than Hobart. The Statesmen stated their case and then some over and over again. Unfortunately, Hobart came up short of the fans expectations on the field in allowing Dickinson to rally for a 17-16 upset victory. Dickinson certainly doesn’t field a bad squad. However, the Red Devils were supposed to be the victims of a fearful Hobart lashing. Such a thorough defeat that few would question Hobart’s rightful place as one of THE teams to beat in the East. Instead it opened up many more questions and slightly closed the opening in the playoff window for the Geneva, NY unit.
But as the old adage goes, “if you’re going to lose, lose early.” And with that in mind Hobart certainly has enough time to right the ship for Destination: NCAA Playoffs 2003.
Extra points
Jason Meyers of St. John Fisher leads Division III in rushing with 221.7 ypg.
RPI’s Dan Cole set the school's all-time record for touchdowns in a career following his five touchdown performance in the Engineers’ 44-7 win over Coast Guard.
Cortland’s Tutwiler has 4,964 passing yards — second on Cortland's career charts and 402 yards shy of tying the school record. Also, Tutwiler's 5,262 yards of total offense stand second-best in school history and are just 39 yards away from the record. Tutwiler and former Red Dragon Dick Puccio are tied for the career lead at Cortland with 40 TD passes following last week’s action.
TCNJ’s Bob Schurtz’s first pass last week, a 34-yard completion to Joe Franzone made him the school's all-time leading passer breaking Pete Harteveld’s mark of 281 career completions.
Games of the Week
Union (2-0) at Hobart (0-1), 1 p.m., Geneva, N.Y.: The Dutchmen are looking for a return to glory from years gone by. The Statesmen are looking for glory that left town a few weeks ago. Hobart needs to show a strong rebound on the home field if they plan to contend for an East Region title. This is far from the toughest game remaining on their schedule that includes a three week finish of Ithaca, St. John Fisher and RPI with the bookends of those match-ups on the road. But this week’s contest could be the tempo setting game that propels Hobart to the great things expected in 2003.
St. John Fisher (3-0) at No. 12 Ithaca, 1 p.m., Ithaca, N.Y.: Be on the lookout here for Rowan/WestConn II. In 2001 Ithaca routed Fisher 52-0. But the Cardinals of 2003 are far from that 3-7 squad. In a matchup of great New York quarterbacks, watch out for Greg Roland to play upset specialist against Felicetti. This could be the season St. John Fisher goes from good to great with a big statement game on the road. However, keep in mind these pass defenses are tough. The Bombers sport the nation’s 8th best pass efficiency defense with a 65.5 rating while the Cardinals rank 30th in Division III at 77.1.
Buffalo State (1-2) at Cortland State (1-2), 1 p.m., Cortland, N.Y.: These teams share more than general geographic proximity. These teams have shared coaches, players and whole lot of great football games. Cortland and Buffalo State have played every year since 1984, with Cortland holding a slight 11-8 edge. Terry Bitka, a 1986 Cortland alumnus and former Red Dragon offensive lineman, is in his 18th season as an assistant coach with the Bengals. Buffalo State College sophomore quarterback Mike Mikolaichik is a Cortland transfer. Both teams enter after suffering losses in tough games. Buff State fell to Division I-AA Robert Morris and D-2 Mansfield. While Cortland has suffered set-backs to regional and national power Brockport State and strong NJAC league foe TCNJ. Okay, okay so maybe my choice of Buff State as a Dark Horse plays a “minor role” in my choice of this game. But it should be some good football nonetheless
No. 7 Rowan (3-0) at The Bye (0-0), All Day, Glassboro, N.J.: Traditionally Rowan does well coming off a bye week. However, this year the Brown and Gold don’t get two weeks to get worked up for Homecoming against Kean. Instead, they get to think long and hard about the WestConn “near-miss” while preparing for their biggest rival, New Jersey. I don’t care what anyone says. Rowan-Montclair State is good and had its days in the sun years ago, Rowan-Mount Union is better, but no game gets the crowd more fired up than Rowan-TCNJ. It will be quite interesting to see how Rowan handles this extra time and walks the line between “pumped up from time off” and “overly excited from Team House Fever.”