Playoff fever hits
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The Linfield bracket will host the semifinals if the seed coming from the Rowan bracket is equal or lower in seeding. If the Rowan bracket has the higher seed, it will host the semifinal. The Rowan bracket seeding is as follows:
1. Rowan
2. Delaware Valley
3. St. John Fisher
4. Hobart
5. Curry
6. Muhlenberg
7. Shenandoah
Experts feel that this is the lightest bracket in the playoffs, especially without Salisbury. Rowan with the bye should have an easy path to the bracket finals on Dec 4. Their second round game will be at a minimum No. 4 seed Hobart or lower. The quarterfinal game could be a Rowan vs. Delaware Valley or St. John Fisher, which could be a good competitive game.
Either Rowan, Delaware Valley, or St. John Fisher is capable of winning the bracket. Rowan should have the edge with the bye and fact that they seem to be finally hitting their stride as the playoffs begin. Whoever emerges from this bracket will only go as far as their defense will carry them. Tough offensive teams like Linfield, UW-La Crosse, and Concordia-Moorhead will be waiting.
In the ECAC, 12 teams, and five from our region were selected for ECAC bowl games: Ithaca (8-2), Alfred (7-3), Springfield (7-2), Albright (7-3), and Moravian (7-3). This tournament, made up of runners-up in the Northeast, East and Mid-Atlantic, elicited the most discussion on the two teams left out Union (6-3) and New Jersey (7-2).
Union has lost to two NCAA playoff teams (Muhlenberg and Hobart) and one ECAC team (Springfield) in close games. The College of New Jersey lost to one NCAA playoff team (Rowan) and another that could just as easily been 9-1 instead of 6-4 (Brockport).
I happen to agree. The ECAC was wrong for not picking Union and TCNJ, two teams that narrowly missed the NCAA playoffs. Anyone one of these teams could have been dropped in favor of Union and TCNJ: Mass-Dartmouth (7-3), Fitchburg (8-3), and Moravian (7-3). Rumors of old-boy networking taint some of the ECAC picks in fans’ eyes.
The ECAC playoff teams are as follows, all game Nov. 20:
ECAC Northwest Championship: UMass Dartmouth (7-3) at Ithaca (8-2) 12:30 p.m.
ECAC Northeast Championship: Norwich (7-3) at Alfred (7-3), Noon
ECAC North Atlantic Championship: Fitchburg (8-3) at Springfield (7-2), 1 p.m.
ECAC South Atlantic Championship: Albright (7-3) at McDaniel (6-3), Noon
ECAC Southwest Championship: Moravian (7-3) at Franklin & Marshall (7-3), 12:30
ECAC Southeast Championship: Waynesburg (7-3) at Johns Hopkins (8-2), Noon
Cardinals nab automatic NCAA bid
St. John Fisher defeated Alfred 30-20 to claim its first Empire 8 title and automatically advance to the field of 28 in the NCAA Division III playoffs. The Cardinals will host Muhlenberg on Nov. 27 at 12 p.m.
Fisher, who finishes its regular-season with a school-record nine wins and just one loss,
will find out on Sunday afternoon who and when it will play next.
“Our No. 1 goal from the end of last season was to come back and win our
conference and go to NCAAs,” says head coach Paul Vosburgh, now in his 14th year at the College. “We’re excited about what we’ve accomplished so far and we’re going to enjoy this win, but we still have other goals and one of those goals is to play football in December and that means winning a couple more games.”
Fisher, currently ranked No. 12 in the D3football.com national poll and No. 1 in the
Upstate New York poll, jumped out to a 7-0 lead on its first possession with Craig Fitzpatrick catching a four-yard pass from older brother Curt Fitzpatrick, capping a 13-play, 73-yard drive.
Alfred scored the next 10 points to take its first lead of the day, but the Cardinals scored
14 points over the final 4:54 of the second quarter to regain the lead for good.
Noah Fehrenbach caught a 33-yard pass to give Fisher a 13-10 lead. After the Saxons were stopped on fourth down at the Fisher 34, the Cardinals drove 66 yards on five plays in just over a minute and scored with 30 seconds left, as Curt Fitzpatrick and Fehrenbach hooked up from two yards out.
Alfred cut the Fisher lead to 20-17 early in the third quarter, but Fehrenbach scored his
third touchdown of the day on a 15-yard pass with 2:47 remaining in the quarter, ending a 14-play, 80-yard drive. Alfred answered with a field goal with 12:45 left, but Fisher’s Will Bean closed out the scoring and extended Fisher’s lead back to 10 with 35-yard field goal with 6:50 left.
Alfred had two more drives, but both were ended by stellar plays by the Fisher defense.
Freshman Steve Stepnick broke up a pass, his fourth on the day on a fourth down play from the Fisher 24. The Saxons’ final possession finished with Brad Ettinger forcing a fumble and Shawn Crandall recovered.
Fehrenbach, who tied the Fisher single-game record for touchdown receptions with
three, finished with 11 catches for 157 yards, giving him 911 receiving yards on the year, a new Fisher single-season record.
Curt Fitzpatrick completed 17-of-21 passes for 197 yards and four touchdowns. Craig
Fitzpatrick finished with three catches for 18 yards, while Nick Weatherbee and Dan Whelehan combined for three catches for 22 yards.
Academic All-American Mark Robinson rushed for 145 yards on 37 carries, bringing his season total to a College-record 1,712 yards.
Alfred sophomore tailback Chaz Bruce ran 26 times for 154 yards. AU senior quarterback Ron Duliba completed 24 of 44 passes for 186 yards. Senior wide receiver Chris Sargent had nine catches for 70 yards, while Bruce added six catches for 47 yards.
Jay Schickling led the Fisher defense with 11 tackles, while Reynaldo Tajon made 10 stops. Stepnick finished with nine tackles to go with four pass break-ups. Mike Fox, Adam Cappotelli and Crandall each finished with seven tackles and combined to make eight tackles for losses. Crandall also broke up two passes and recorded one sack.
Senior end Bill Battaglia led the AU defense with seven tackles, including a pair of sacks. Brady finished with six to go with his interception. Sophomore linebacker Nick Gatto and sophomore strong safety Aaron Meyers has 12 and 11 tackles, respectively, while senior cornerback Ray Sawner had five solo tackles, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
Ithaca takes Jug back after two years
Sophomore running back Jamie Donovan ran for 203 yards and a touchdown on 34 carries and junior quarterback Josh Felicetti completed 21-of-37 passes for 302 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for a score as Ithaca reclaimed the Cortaca Jug with a 47-22 win at Cortland in front of an estimated 9,000 fans. The win is the first for the Bombers in the series since 2001. Ithaca improved to 8-2 while Cortland finished the season with a 5-4 record.
Ithaca led 23-22 late in the third quarter before scoring the final 24 points. The Bombers finished with 529 yards of total offense to 217 for Cortland. Junior linebacker Jose Colon led Ithaca with 10 tackles, 2.5 for lost yardage.
"We started out slowly, but we just wore down their defensive line. The holes started opening up and we just ran with it," Donovan said in the Ithaca Journal. "We had a lot of success in the second half on the ground.
Ithaca took a 7-0 lead on its first possession on a 13-yard pass from Felicetti to senior tight end Vince Dargush. The lead grew to 10 points 11 seconds into the second quarter when sophomore Brett Kittenplon hit a 39-yard field goal into the wind.
Cortland got on the board with 12:06 left in the half. Freshman Dustin Bowser blocked a punt, his first of two blocked punts in the game, and sophomore Matt Berman scooped up the ball and ran 32 yards for a touchdown. On the ensuing kickoff, Ithaca's Kelly Gordon returned the ball 71 yards, with only a diving tackle by Bowser saving a touchdown. The Bombers still capitalized four plays later when Felicetti again hooked up with Dargush, this time from five yards out, to put the Bombers up 17-7.
On its next possession, Ithaca drove 78 yards on six plays for a touchdown to take a 23-7 lead. Felicetti completed a 38-yard pass to Justin Esposito to the Cortand 25-yard line. Esposito had five catches for 93 yards in the contest. On the next play, senior fullback Jamie Free caught a short pass, spun away from a tackler and raced in for the touchdown. The extra point failed after a mishandled snap. Free finished with seven catches for 95 yards.
Cortland scored the next 15 points to pull within a point. Freshman Derek Ziders made a career-best 39-yard field goal with 3:36 left in the half. Midway through the third quarter, Bowser blocked another punt and Cortland took over at the Ithaca 12-yard line. On the second play of the series, freshman quarterback Alex Smith tossed a 12-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Anthony Morat. The PAT kick by Ziders, however, missed wide left.
The Red Dragons held on their next defensive series and regained the ball on their own 43-yard line. Smith's 15-yard timing pass to sophomore Paul DeSantis in the left corner of the end zone moved Cortland within 23-22 with 3:58 left in the third quarter. A bobbled snap on the PAT led to a failed two-point conversion pass.
Ithaca proceeded to go on touchdown drives of 74, 72 and 52 yards on its next three possessions to put the game out of reach. Felicetti hit Free on a 31-yard pass to the Cortland 3-yard line, then ran the ball in on the next play to give the Bombers a 30-22 lead with 1:08 left in the third. Freshman Ryan Terlecki's first career interception on the first play of the next series gave Ithaca the ball back on its own 28-yard line. On second-and-20, Donovan raced 56 yards on a draw play to the Cortland 16-yard line. Two plays later, his 13-yard run to paydirt put Ithaca ahead 37-22.
On Ithaca's next possession, Felicetti threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to senior Jeff Welch to complete a six-play scoring drive. Cortland was stopped on a fourth-and-2 run from its own 26-yard line, and Ithaca finished the scoring when Kitenplon made a 28-yard field goal with 4:51 remaining.
"We didn't have an answer for their defense," Cortland coach Dan McNeill told D3football.com. "We needed to attack them inside a little bit with our running game.
"The blocks got us back in it but we knew that our offense would have to keep us going. I have to credit their defense."
Donovan finishes the regular season with 1,054 yards in his first collegiate campaign. He's the fastest Bomber to reach 1,000 career yards. Felicetti, in three seasons, now holds the school record with 418 pass completions. Brian Young held the mark with 417. Ithaca has reached the eight-win mark in the regular season for the sixth time in head coach Mike Welch's 11 seasons. Dargush's 41 receptions this fall are a school single-season record for tight ends.
Sophomore Matt Rickert led Cortland with 46 yards rushing on five carries and four catches for 35 yards. Smith completed 14 of 32 passes for 137 yards and two touchdowns. Sophomore linebacker Matt Montpetit made nine tackles.
Profs grab No.1 seed with win
Quarterback Mike Orihel threw four touchdown passes and ran for two in Rowan’s 42-14 victory over host Montclair State University on Saturday afternoon at Sprague Field.
Orihel completed touchdown passes of 48, 26, 28 and 3 yards. His TD runs were both 1-yard carries. This season he has a total of 32 touchdown passes. Sakeen Wright led the receivers with three catches for 43 yards and one TD. Dustin Katcher contributed with 34 yards on two receptions and one touchdown.
"It feels good. They [Montclair] knocked us off last year. It's a good feeling going to the playoffs," said Orihel.
Pat Thompson and Joe D'Imperio each had one TD reception. Thompson was the rushing leader with 107 yards on 27 attempts. In 10 games, he has compiled 1,081 yards with 207 carries. Pat Davitt kicked six extra points in six attempts.
"The o-line is really blocking good for the running game and its opened up the pass," said Thompson.
Orihel and Thompson finish the regular No. 1 rated passer and rusher in the NJAC respectively.
"It's a big credit to the whole offense, it feels pretty damn good," said guard Justin George.
"Hell of a job by Coach [offensive line coach Brian] Wright and the whole team. They [Orihel and Thompson] make us look good," added center Mike Coghan.
This was the Profs' last game of the regular season. Rowan has an overall record of 8-2. The Profs ended their conference schedule with a 6-0 mark and they clinched their 14th conference title last week with a 61-6 victory over William Paterson. As the NJAC champion, Rowan receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament. Rowan has received the No. 1 seed in the bracket and will host this Saturday's winner of the first round matchup between Curry/Hobart on Saturday, Nov. 27.
"We wanted to come and play well against Montclair because of last year's loss. This time of the year you need to play well in all phases of the game. I think we are doing that right now," said head coach Jay Accorsi.
For the Red Hawks, quarterback Mike Passero totaled 277 yards passing with 19 completions (39 attempts) and two touchdowns. Eric Ferriol recorded a game high 135 yards receiving with 11 receptions. Wide receiver Steve Armstrong followed with three catches for 101 yards and one touchdown. Eugene Vick was MSU's leader on the ground with 104 yards on 19 carries.
Montclair ends the regular season with a 4-4 overall record and a 3-3 conference mark. It was the 44th meeting between Rowan and MSU. The Red Hawks lead the series, 24-20.
Linebackers Mike McClain and Mike Seidenberg led the Profs' defense with seven and five tackles respectively. McClain also recorded a sack and forced a fumble and Seidenberg recovered a fumble.
The Red Hawks were led by outside linebacker Sal Fama with 13 tackles followed by inside linebacker Morgan Burklow with 12. Nose tackle Darnell Webster contributed with 10 tackles.
Rowan scored on its first drive of the game, it lasted six plays and covered 79 yards. Orihel connected with Tyree Jackson for a 20-yard pass to put the Profs on the MSU one-yard line. Orihel scored the touchdown with a one yard run at 12:49. The Red Hawks tied the score on their first drive with a 4-yard pass from Passero to fullback Chris Becker (5:46). The Profs went up 14-7 on their second drive with another one-yard TD run by Orihel with 5:57 left in the quarter. In the drive, Thompson had six carries for 36 yards, including one for 20 yards to give Rowan a first down on the Montclair 1-yard line.
The Profs scored three unanswered touchdowns in the second quarter to lead at the half, 35-7. Orihel completed touchdown passes to Thompson, 48 yards (14:39); Wright, 26 yards (9:31); and Katcher, 28 yards (1:24). Thompson's touchdown drive was six plays and spanned 88 yards. Seidenberg recovered a fumble which started the drive for Wright's TD. Wright started the drive with a 43-yard reception and he also had one for 10 yards. Katcher's touchdown drive only took three plays, 31 yards.
Montclair's second touchdown came in the third quarter and the Red Hawks trailed, 35-14. Armstrong scored on the second play of the drive with a 76-yard pass from Passero. The Profs ended the scoring with a three yard pass from Orihel to D'Imperio in the fourth quarter. D'Imperio had a 23-yard punt return to put the Profs on the MSU 10 yard line. Wright had a 7-yard reception on the second play and D'Imperio scored on the third.
"We have already reached two goals [NJAC Championship and playoff bye], if we stay together anything is possible," said Sakeen Wright.
"There's a lot of great teams in the playoffs, we need to stay focused and not get too far ahead of ourselves. We can go far if we keep playing up to our capabilities," said Orihel.
Union takes back the shoes
A Brian Griffin interception late in the fourth quarter set up the game-winning touchdown pass from Anthony Marotti to Ryan Twitchell with 1:27 left in the fourth quarter to give Union an 18-13 victory over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the Dutchman Shoes Trophy Game at ’86 Field in Troy. The game was the 102nd meeting between the two teams — it is the oldest college football rivalry in New York State, and possession of the Shoes has now alternated in each of the last eight years.
With the victory, the Dutchmen conclude the regular season with a 6-3 overall record and a 6-1 mark in the Liberty League. The Dutchmen finish in second place. Rensselaer falls to 5-4 and 4-3.
Union jumped on top 6-0 with a touchdown on its first possession. Sophomore running back Tom Arcidiacano capped an eight-play, 57-yard drive with a 10-yard run over the right side 3:50 into the opening quarter. The extra point was missed. The Dutchmen, who forced two turnovers in the opening half, also attempted a field goal during the second quarter but missed it wide right.
The Engineers went ahead on a 2-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Frank Catellier to senior wide receiver Dan Stephens early in the fourth quarter. RPI’s drive, which covered 21 yards on four plays, was set up by an outstanding interception from senior Jimmy Motzkin late in the third quarter. Brett Kebea’s extra point made it 7-6 in favor of the Engineers with 14:15 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Dutchmen came right back to regain the lead on their next possession on a 31-yard touchdown pass from Marotti to Steve Angiletti with 12:02 left in the fourth quarter. RPI then returned the ensuing kickoff 25 yards, leading to a 9-yard touchdown pass from Catellier to sophomore tight end Jon Branche with 9:25 left, putting the Engineers ahead 13-12. The highlight of the drive was a 36-yard pass from Catellier to Drew Utschig.
Union then turned the ball over on downs, Rensselaer was forced to punt and Marotti lost a fumble, giving the Engineers the ball with three minutes left. However, Griffin intercepted Catellier on a third-and-6 play, giving the Dutchmen possession at the RPI 43-yard line with 2:06 remaining. Marotti completed three straight passes, including the TD to Twitchell, to give the visitors an 18-13 lead. Rensselaer turned the ball over on downs, giving Union the opportunity to run out the clock.
Marotti, a sophomore, completed 21 of 40 passes for a school single-game record 418 yards. He had two touchdown passes and two interceptions. Angiletta led all receivers with nine catches for 173 yards and a score while Twitchell finished with eight catches for 162 yards and a touchdown. Arcidiacono carried the ball 30 times for 101 yards before leaving in the fourth quarter with an injury. Defensively, Alex Smith made ten tackles, including an eight-yard sack, while James Baron had eight tackles, including five unassisted, a forced fumble and a pass breakup.
For Rensselaer, Catellier completed 12-of-27 passes for 131 yards and two touchdowns. He was intercepted twice. Branche had six catches for 64 yards and a touchdown while senior Otis Williams rushed 19 times for 89 yards. Motzkin finished with 13 tackles, including seven unassisted, one for lost yards (5), an interception with a 10-yard return and six pass breakups. Junior Tim Frame (five solos) and senior Sean Doran (three solos) each had a game-high 14 tackles.
Notes
Wesley free safety Rocky Myers recorded 15 tackles, six solos and three pass breakups in Wesley's 63-19 win over Southern Virginia on senior day.
Linebacker Jose Colon led Ithaca with 11 tackles, tying a career-high with six tackles for loss, as 19th-ranked Ithaca routed Cortland 47-22 to regain the "Cortaca Jug" traveling trophy. Colon picked up a sack and helped the Bombers limit the Red Dragons to 12 first downs and 218 yards of total offense.
For the third consecutive week, Kings Point running back Jason Hardwick broke the 250-yard rushing barrier. The league's leading rusher ran 45 times for 271 yards and a touchdown, and scored the game-winning touchdown late in the third quarter on a career-long 72-yard reception (4 rec., 84 yards on day). Hardwick ran 147 times for 823 yards and 8 touchdowns in the team's final three games, and set four school single-game records in the process (55 carries; 300 yards; five TDs; 30 points).
Rowan’s Mike Orihel earns NJAC Offensive honors for the fifth time this season and the third consecutive week after leading the Profs to a 42-14 NJAC road win over Montclair State to wrap up an undefeated conference season for the Profs. In the victory, he completed 12 of 28 pass attempts for 217 yards and four touchdowns. On the ground, he produced five carries for 16 yards and two touchdowns as the Profs finished the regular season with an 8-2 mark. Orihel currently leads all NJAC quarterbacks with a passer efficiency rating of 155.5.
Predictions
ECAC Northwest Champion: Ithaca
ECAC Northeast Champion: Alfred
ECAC North Atlantic Champion: Springfield
ECAC Southwest Champion: Franklin and Marshall
ECAC South Atlantic Champion: McDaniel
ECAC Southeast Champion: Johns Hopkins
NCAA Bracket winner: Rowan over St. John Fisher