We're still here, and here's where we stand
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St. John Fisher
Things ain’t what they used to be. Just four years ago, in 1999, St. John Fisher labored through a 1-8 season. The Cardinals only win came against 0-10 St. Lawrence. In 2000 Fisher added Rochester and another loss to their schedule as they struggled to a 1-9 finish. Once again their only win notched against an 0-10 St. Lawrence squad. Skies began to brighten in recent time as the Cardinals jumped to a 3-7 campaign in 2001 and 6-4 last season. And after a 3-0 start this year, the day of their big test had finally come. The measuring stick of their season and their program stood directly in front of Coach Paul Vosburgh’s squad — Ithaca.
History was decidedly not on the Cardinals’ side. Ithaca entered the game with an unblemished 5-0 mark in the all-time series. The Bombers average margin of victory? 43.2 to 8.8. On top of that, Fisher had not scored a point in Butterfield Stadium ... ever. losing both meetings in Ithaca 44-0 in 1999 and 52-0 in 2001. And it gets worse. Besides not scoring a point in Ithaca, St. John Fisher has totaled just 130 yards of total offense on 107 plays in those two games combined, while running only one play in Ithaca territory. But the 2002 contest proved much closer than any of the prior meetings with Ithaca, a hard fought game and a quite respectable 30-20 defeat at home.
But two weeks ago Ithaca found themselves scraping away at a lead. D3football.com’s 12th ranked squad was forced to rally from down 13-0 at halftime and 19-7 in the fourth quarter. However, rally they did. The Bombers held Fisher to 51 yards on their final three drives of the game and stopped them on fourth down twice. On the offensive side of the ball, running back Pete Celebre notched 96 second half rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns while Josh Felicetti completed 14 of 21 passes for 169 yards and a game winning touchdown as history repeated itself in a much less than usual fashion. And in that grand twist of life, this loss hurt Fisher more than any 52-0 beating ever could.
“They’re heartbroken,” Fisher coach Paul Vosburgh told the Democrat and Chronicle of his team. “They’re very disappointed and they should be. When you play as hard as they did and have come this far it’s tough, but you can only brood on it for so long and that’s 24 hours. (Sunday) night we have to start getting ready for our next game.”
That they did as the Cardinals pasted conference foe Hartwick 44-18. Numbers abound in their bounceback victory. Fisher amassed 472 total yards of offense while the defense recorded eight sacks. But to paraphrase Winston Churchill, curse ruthless time and curse a football team’s mortality. How cruelly short is the allotted span for all we must cram into it. Little is the time they have to put into an afterglow. Barely but one breath does a revived Fisher team breathe before they face perhaps an even larger test — No. 12 Brockport State. See “Games of the Week” below for more information.
Ithaca
Well, this is an easy transition. Following their near-loss to St. John Fisher, the Bombers faced the Freedom Football Conference’s elite in Springfield. Although don’t think FFC for too long, this game is a preview of what could be the Empire 8’s title game for years to come as SC will join the E8 next season. The Pride is a team with a tremendous strength at home. And the initial gut reaction would give the Pride some form of homefield advantage. Not necessarily making them the favorite mind you, but giving them a quite realistic shot, especially after Ithaca’s second straight come from behind one point win.
But then you examine the numbers. Ithaca led the all-time series 22-7 including with three straight wins in Springfield, Mass. Last year in Butterfield Stadium the Bombers went up 20-0 before coasting to a 44-20 victory. It was the only match-up between these regional powers in the last six years where the home team won. And that turf? No problem — Ithaca had won 11 of its last 12 games on turf including their victory over Hartwick earlier this season. So what’s there to be worried about? Actually, based upon the numbers above you might as well have given Ithaca the win before the opening kickoff, right?
Well, I suppose that’s why they play the games. It wasn’t exactly an Ithaca 44-20 blowout again. And it also didn’t quite match the low-scoring, deep into the fourth quarter battle at Benedum Field in 2001 with Ithaca pulling out a 17-16 win. Instead a close game in the second quarter was straight blown up with the Pride scoring 17 points over the final 6:56 of the opening half and hammering home its last four touchdowns over the last 12:33. Springfield amassed 399 yards rushing. No, that’s not a typo when writing about the three-time national rushing champions (1996, 1999, 2000).
“We had some opportunities that we didn’t take advantage of early in the game,” Ithaca coach Mike Welch told The Ithaca Journal on Sunday. “We weren’t getting a lot of yards on the ground (Ithaca was held to 27 rushing yards in the first half) and that’s (the Springfield offense’s) forte. That’s what they do best.”
The victory holds great importance for Springfield as they stand 5-0 for the first time since 1970. The 29-point victory is also the largest win margin over Ithaca for the Pride in 30 meetings since 1973. It also gives Springfield a ton of momentum heading into their last real test of the conference season this weekend against Western Connecticut. See “Games of the Week” below for more information.
Rowan
There’s just something different about this game. Rowan University vs. The College of New Jersey. Glassboro State College against Trenton State. For those of you unfamiliar with the geography of New Jersey and its dynamic, there’s a rather large emphasis placed on the labels “North Jersey” and “South Jersey.” While individual definitions differ greatly on the interpretations of just where each of the aforementioned sit on a map, everyone knows the two theoretical regions are quite real and quite different. In NJAC football, “South Jersey” means only two things — The College of NJ and Rowan University.
While many would argue Rowan is the only true “South Jersey” school location wise, the rosters of both schools feature an abundance of talent south of Trenton, NJ. Both schools routinely recruit the same kids and ironically can wind up picking the backyard pockets of their player soliciting rivals. Also, over the last decade or so no two schools in the NJAC have routinely competed with the same breadth and depth in all sports as TCNJ and Rowan have.
The rivalry can at times border on hatred. These schools can lock horns in such a fashion that would truly do the Hatfields and McCoys proud. In fact, the rivalry was so strong in recent years that a Web site was created exclusively devoted to it. I would hyperlink the address for you, but sadly due to some egalay roublestay it is no longer online. Last year in Ewing, NJ fans adorned t-shirts reading, “I don’t root for TCNJ, I boo Rowan.” Such is the dynamic between these league foes, and those same hard sentiments pierced through the cool night air in Glassboro, N.J., last Friday night in front of 3,891 fans.
In typical fashion of the recent Rowan/TCNJ matchups the game was incredibly close as TCNJ upended the seventh-ranked Profs 22-20 in an emotional rollercoaster. The teams combined for 28 fourth quarter points as TCNJ pulled off the narrow victory – their first in the series since a 1998 regular season win in overtime 28-27. The Gus Ornstein-led Profs lost that game due to a missed extra point.
Ironically, the kicking game showed great weakness in the 2003 installment for both squads. TCNJ’s Blake Abbot was only 1-for-3 on field goal attempts and 1-for-3 on extra points with two of his EPs blocked. Rowan’s Damian Shaddow didn’t fair much better missing a 25 yard attempt with 8:09 left in the game. Originally, Shaddow’s attempt was supposed to be a 20-yard kick, which he made, but an illegal formation penalty pushed the attempt back 5 yards and forced Shaddow to kick it over. After a high snap, however, it was Rowan’s Wide Left II.
“We didn’t have an illegal formation,” Rowan head coach Jay Accorsi told the Gloucester County Times. “The side judge thought we had a six-man line, but we had two men on the left side and four on the right and with the center that made seven. I explained it to him and he realized he made a mistake, but the head official wouldn’t listen to me. He told me I would have to take a timeout, which I didn’t want to do, and then we miss the next kick.”
Don’t think the Profs blame the loss on one bad penalty call. And don’t think this younger Rowan squad didn’t realize the significance of this game both in the context of this season and the rivalry.
“This hurts a lot, it’s a big sting,” Prof linebacker Domenic Tomeo told the paper. “No excuses. They made the big plays. We know we have to win out.”
But while John Page Field became the Heartbreak Hotel for Rowan, TCNJ finally got the monkey off their back and beat Rowan at Rowan. Last season the Lions let Rowan sneak back into a game TCNJ led 19-0. The Profs picked up the victory off a wide receiver option pass to garner a 30-25 win. In 2001, TCNJ nearly rallied down 21-0 at halftime with a chance to win on a two-point conversion try late in the 4th quarter down only one point. Lions’ quarterback Bob Schurtz remembers both games well.
“Two years ago I got stopped a yard short and we lose, 28-27,” Schurtz told the Trenton Times. Last year, down at our place, fourth-and-2 from the 6-yard line, we got stopped again. It seems like they were two yards better than us each year. Two yards. That’s all we kept saying. Get two more yards.”
Instead of two yards it came down to just two points in 2003. But the breaks that normally went Rowan’s way instead slid over to their rivals from Ewing, NJ. And TCNJ head coach Eric Hamilton relished the victory made sweeter through the sour taste of recent games.
“It seems like it has always been close but no cigar,” Hamilton told the paper. “Tonight, we get to have a couple of cigars.”
Extra Points
Following the St. John Fisher game, Ithaca running back Pete Celebre became the first Bomber to record three consecutive 100-yard rushing efforts since Tommy Giorgio against Mansfield, St. John Fisher and Springfield during the 2000 season
Union’s Cliff Eisenhut kicks more field goals per game than any other kicker in Division III (2.3)
Jason Meyers of St. John Fisher set a school record with 48 carries in Fisher’s 20-19 loss against Ithaca. Meyers finished with 189 yards rushing.
RPI quarterback Dan Cole’s 35 completions and 474 yard passing last weekend are school records. The team’s 645 yards of total offense also set a school high in RPI’s 47-26 win against Rochester.
TCNJ’s win over Rowan snapped a five-game losing streak to the Brown and Gold.
Four players set career highs in tackles during the Ithaca-St. John Fisher game: Ithaca’s sophomore linebacker Dustin Ross (15) . senior strong safety Jon Edgcomb (14) and junior cornerback Matt Tosh (14) and St. John Fisher linebacker Mike Fox (20).
Hobart ranks second in all of Division III in perhaps football’s most important statistic: turnover margin (+3.0 per game).
Completely Useless Fact of the Week
With Springfield on everyone’s mind following their 29-point win over Ithaca we head to Springfield, Mass. Did you know? One of the more famous residents in Springfield’s history — Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss), author and illustrator. Oh the places the Pride can go! They will not lose at home, they will not lose on foam, the Pride have made a season setting tone.
Okay, okay I’m sorry. You’ve got to do something though, for the kids, you know?
Games of the Week
Springfield (5-0) at Western Connecticut (3-1), Danbury, Conn., 1 p.m.: Okay, so by the definitions listed on this page I’m covering the E8, UCAA, NJAC and regional independents. But with nobody else covering the FFC at this time, this game has to be mentioned. Since 1998, the winner of this game has gone onto win at least a share of the Freedom Football Conference championship and has earned the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament. And this is the last year that can happen for either squad. Springfield is leaving to join Ithacan, St. John Fisher and company in the Empire Fiv… uh… Eight. And Western Connecticut heads southbound for the New Jers.. wait check that, no, that is right, New Jersey Athletic Conference. Both teams are coming off of resounding victories (Springfield see above, WestConn a 43-0 shellacking of Plymouth State. Last season, the Pride rallied for an 18-15 win over the Colonials in the driving rain on Benedum Field on Oct. 11, 2002. Plus, it's the D3football.com Game of the Week.
Brockport State (5-0) at St. John Fisher (4-1), 7 p.m., Rochester: Last year Brockport’s Adam Webster ran all over the Cardinals with 203 yards on 31 carries in a 41-14 victory for the Golden Eagles. Brockport has won all 13 games played against St. John Fisher in a series that began in 1989. But Fisher has a big-time running back of its own. If the Cardinals will do any damage they must do so on the ground with the nation’s third-best rusher, Jason Meyers (192.4 yards per game). A victory for Fisher could propel them into the NCAA playoffs. A loss and even winning out might not be enough.
Kean (1-4) at Montclair State (3-1), 3 p.m., Upper Montclair, N.J.: So this game doesn’t exactly have everyone in the region on the edge of their seats, in the football sense. MSU has won 25 of the 28 previous meetings, including the last seven by lopsided scores (an average of 40.3 to 4.4). But storyline wise this matchup is a great one. It’s Homecoming in Upper Montclair, but for the Kean head coach? That’s right, the Cougars’ first year top dog Charlie Cocuzza spent 27 years roaming the MSU sidelines as the offensive coordinator, including 20 side-by-side with MSU head coach Rick Giancola. Kean defensive coordinator Dan Garrett spent six seasons on Giancola’s staff as well. Garrett is a former RedHawk co-captain and collected more than 200 tackles while wearing the Scarlet and White. Plus of the other nine coaches on the Kean staff, seven are former Red Hawks. Let’s get ready to rumble!