More upsets shake up region
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While I was momentarily stopped in traffic a 40-something man in a leprechaun outfit with a full mug of beer in hand, was going car-to-car taking his own personal survey.
“Who you for,” he slurred.
“Rowan,” I said.
“What’s a Rowan,” he said.
“My alma mater, it’s a D-III college football team in South Jersey,” I explained.
“Why would anyone in their right mind go there, when the real game is right here,” he said while pointing to Giants Stadium.
“Exactly,” I replied, leaving a confused drunken leprechaun as I started to pull away. Such is life as a Division III fan.
We are just past the midway point in the season. Two more upsets this week as St. John Fisher (6-1) falls to conference rival Norwich (5-2) and Brockport State (4-2) beat Ithaca (4-2). It was a deja vu moment for the Cardinal as they lost to the Cadets on a Hail Mary pass. St. John Fisher beat Brockport on a last second heave last week.The loss knocked the Cardinals from No. 14 to No. 24 on the D3football.com top 25.
Brockport (4-2) pulled out a last second win against Ithaca (4-2) by blocking a 42-yard field goal attempt. This week the Golden Eagles were able to prevent a winning score in the final seconds. No. 17 Ithaca dropped out of the Top 25 with the loss.
Hail Mary beat St. John Fisher
The longest winning streak in St. John Fisher football history ended on Saturday with a heart-breaking 39-34 loss at Norwich. The Cadets scored the winning touchdown on a 34-yard Hail Mary pass from Matt Meehan to Andreas Craig as time expired. Meehan, who returned after missing last week's game with a concussion, threw five touchdown passes and 320 yards.
The loss also snaps a nine-game winning streak, dating to last season, the second-longest active streak in NCAA Division III. Fisher (6-1, 2-1 Empire 8) entered the game ranked No. 14 in D3football.com’s national poll and No. 1 in Upstate New York.
"It's a disappointing loss, but we still control our own destiny," Fisher coach Paul Vosburgh said in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
Fisher faced a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter, but took a 34-33 lead when Curt Fitzpatrick found Dan Whelehan for a 31-yard touchdown pass with 8:21 left in the game. The two seniors also hooked up from 21 yards out four minutes earlier.
Fitzpatrick finished 17-for-32 for 205 yards and threw a career-high four touchdowns. Whelehan enjoyed his best day in a Fisher uniform and finished the game with four catches for 73 yards and one rush for 14 yards.
The Cardinals trailed 19-0 midway through the second quarter before scoring 14 points to close the half. Mark Robinson got Fisher on the scoreboard with a 9-yard run and Noah Fehrenbach followed with a 21-yard touchdown reception with seven seconds left in the half.
Norwich got a big game from freshman receiver Pierre Garcon, as his four TD grabs, one shy of the school record.
The Cadets rolled up a season-high 524 yards of total offense, which included a season-high 204 yards rushing. Senior running back Nate Long, who is back from injury, rushed for a season-high 122 yards.
Robinson, who entered the game leading NCAA Division III in rushing yards and points scored, tallied 192 yards and a touchdown on 35 carries and now has 1,251 yards and 19 touchdowns on the season. Fehrenbach finished with 48 receiving yards on four catches.
Mike Fox led the Fisher defense with 14 tackles, including three for losses. He also broke up a pass and forced a fumble, which was recovered by Adam Cappotelli. Cappotelli and Brad Ettinger each finished with 10 tackles.
Dan Luce recorded his fifth sack of the season and finished with five tackles, including three for losses. Luce now ranks as Fisher’s all-time sack-leader with 28½.
Craig Fitzpatrick, who had two catches for 29 yards, scored on a 15-yard reception in the third quarter. He also rushed for 20 yards on six carries.
Blocked field goal preserves win for Brockport
Senior defensive end Anthony W. Mariani blocked a field goal attempt with 40 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter for Brockport State in a 21-20 victory over No. 17 Ithaca at Special Olympics Stadium Saturday afternoon.
The Golden Eagles improved to 4-2 while the Bombers fell to 4-2 after the non-league contest.
Ithaca sophomore kicker Brett Kitenplon attempted a 42-yard field goal with 40 seconds left but Mariani blocked the kick to preserve the Golden Eagles' victory. Junior running back Jon Brown tied the game at 20-20 with 2:58 remaining in the third and sophomore Collin Hoffman gave Brockport the lead with the point after. The teams were scoreless in the fourth quarter.
Senior quarterback Bob Darnley was 14-for-25 for 167 yards and two touchdowns, and broke the career completions record (393) in the first quarter. Brown had 12 carries for 57 yards and the touchdown. John Walther led the Golden Eagles with 12 tackles, two for losses, an interception and a sack. He intercepted Josh Felicetti at the Ithaca 47 with 9:44 remaining in the fourth quarter to stop a Bombers' drive. Joe Toombs had two interceptions for Brockport.
Jamie Donovan led the Bombers with a career high 28 yards on 37 carries with a touchdown. He is the first 200-yard Bomber back since 1992 and first Ithaca runner over 100 yards against Brockport since 1998. Felicetti was 16-for-34 with two touchdowns and 187 yards, and had four passes intercepted. Vince Dargush led Ithaca with five catches for 62 yards and a touchdown.
Ithaca took over at the Bombers' 32 with 4:42 left, and Donovan rushed for 17 yards on a nine-play drive. Felicetti kept it alive with a 12-yard run on third-and-16 to the Brockport 25, to set up the winning field goal attempt.
Ithaca took a 7-0 lead in the first when Jeff Welch caught a nine-yard touchdown from Felicetti with 3:11 left in the period. It capped a 16-play, 80-yard drive that took 6:13. Dargush made it 13-0 (the kick was blocked) just 35 seconds into the second quarter. He caught a 30-yard pass from Felicetti to finish a four-play, 58-yard drive that consumed 1:38.
Mike Bond put Brockport on the board at 10:18 of the third when he caught a 15-yard scoring strike from Darnley. But Donovan ran for a 17 yard score at 7:22 for a 20-7 Ithaca lead with 7:22 left in the first half. Brown closed out the second quarter scoring at 5:22, catching a 27-yard touchdown pass from Darnley to pull the Golden Eagles to within six at 20-14. Brown then scored the final points of the game with his third quarter touchdown run.
Charlie Stephens and Bryan Steele led the Bombers with 12 tackles each, while Dustin Ross had three tackles for losses for Ithaca. Walther was joined by solid Brockport defensive efforts by Chris Beh, who had 11 tackles, and Mark Ferry with 10 tackles.
Blocked extra point ignites game winning drive
Quarterback Mike Orihel passed for 310 yards and four touchdowns to lead Rowan over conference opponent Cortland State, 34-33 at John Page Field on Homecoming.
Orihel threw a 41-yard TD pass to Joe D’Imperio who slipped through two Cortland defenders and raced into the end zone untouched with 2:15 left to tie the score at 33. Damian Shaddow kicked the extra point for the win. Cortland advanced to the Rowan 27-yard line on the next drive. An errant shotgun snap was fumbled by Red Dragons’ quarterback Alex Smith. Rowan linebacker Mike Seidenberg recovered the fumble. Orihel was able to down the ball four times to end the game.
“We had a lot of motivation on that last drive. Every conference game from now on is a championship game, so we didn’t want to let the offense down,” said Seidenberg.
Orihel made 22 completions in 43 attempts. Phil Silva led the receivers with eight catches for 112 yards and one touchdown. D’Imperio ended the game with 81 yards with seven receptions. Pat Thompson rushed for 92 yards on 16 carries.
“It’s big and (the win) means a lot. We are in the driver’s seat, and we need to take it from here,” said Silva.
Rowan has an overall record of 4-2 and is undefeated in the New Jersey Athletic Conference with a 3-0 mark. The Profs are in first place in the conference standings. Cortland is 3-3 overall and 2-2 in the conference.
For Cortland, Smith totaled 237 yards with 17 completions in 35 attempts and one touchdown. Tailback Steve Davis compiled 153 yards in 33 attempts and three touchdowns. Paul DeSantis totaled 77 receiving yards with five catches.
On the Profs’ defense, cornerback Tim Harrison compiled 13 tackles with 12 solo stops, one interception and two pass breakups. Linebacker Mike Seidenberg followed with 11 tackles (9-2). Linebackers Randy Tosh and Mike McClain each added nine tackles.
Safety Josh Jablonski led the Cortland defense with 12 tackles (four solo) and one interception. Linebacker Matt Montpetit and safety Stef Sair contributed with eight (five solo) and seven (four solo) tackles respectively.
At the half, Rowan had a 20-7 advantage. Cortland came back with two touchdowns in the third and one in the fourth to lead 27-20. In the third, Smith threw a 22-yard TD pass to Anthony Morat (3:42) and safety Dave Aurelio had a 12-yard interception return (3:26). Morat’s TD drive was only five plays, 32 yards. It started when lineman Bryan Murphy recovered Orihel’s fumble after he was sacked by Montpetit. On the Profs’ next drive, Aurelio intercepted Orihel’s pass on the first play after a Rowan penalty of 5 yards for false start.
Davis scored with a 1-yard run in the fourth (10:27) which was his second TD of the game. The play before the touchdown, Davis carried the ball 45 yards. The drive covered 53 yards in three plays, the first was a 7-yard pass from Smith to tight end Tony Romano. At 9:49, Tyree Jackson had a 55-yard touchdown reception and Shaddow’s kick tied the game. Jackson had a 20-yard kickoff return to the Rowan 34 to start the drive and a 4-yard catch the play before the TD. His touchdown drive only took four plays, 66 yards.
Davis put Cortland up 33-27 with a two yard run with 3:52 left. Chinedu Njoku blocked the PAT. The drive covered 64 yards in seven plays. In the drive, DeSantis had two receptions of 21 and 35 yards.
“You have to give them credit, they did a great job adjusting to us,” said Phil Silva.
“We expected (Cortland) to be very disciplined coming in. We knew they were gonna play us hard like they usually do,” said Seidenberg.
In the first quarter, Rowan and Cortland exchanged touchdowns. Jackson had the Profs’ first TD with a 10-yard catch while Davis scored with a 17-yard carry. Rowan scored on its first drive that spanned 86 yards in six plays. Thompson contributed with two carries for 30 yards and tight end Brian Jenkins added a 24-yard reception. Cortland would score on its third drive of eight plays, 72 yards. Neal Heaton’s 32-yard catch gave the Red Dragons a first down on the Rowan 40. In the drive, Davis also had an 11-yard run.
End Keith Heimerl put the Profs up 14-7 in the second quarter (4:34) with a 45-yard interception return and Silva had a 20-yard TD catch (0:32). Silva totaled 45 yards with three catches in the drive.
Cortland had 12 penalties for 110 yards in the contest, including 35 yards in one second-quarter series that cost the Red Dragons a scoring opportunity. A 28-yard pass from Smith to freshman tight end Kevin McGuigan moved the ball to the Rowan 13-yard line. After a 1-yard Davis run, however, Cortland was assessed a 15-yard personal foul penalty, followed by a 5-yard false start and, two plays later, a 15-yard clipping penalty to move the Red Dragons out of field goal range.
“It’s a disappointment because we just got all the penalties. We have to play a cleaner game against a good team like Rowan. If anything we’ve certainly shown that we’ve grown substantially, however it’s the third loss this season and it hurts,” said Cortland head coach Dan MacNeill.
“It’s the NJAC, and we beat each other up. That’s the problem, its one of the strongest leagues in the country. I know it, I live it from week-to-week.” Two warriors going at it today, and when you play a big game like this you have to play it clean without major penalties,” Mac Neill continued.
“What hurt [Cortland] was the personal fouls and frustration on their part. They had 15 yard penalties at crucial points in the game,” agreed Rowan head coach Jay Accorsi.
“In the end it was a great job of our players’ fighting through adversity, offensively having Michael (Orihel back from injury), it took him a while to adjust and he did. We made the big plays when we had to,” Accorsi said.
Second half a better Homecoming story
New Jersey came from behind after trailing 26-14 at the half to record 34-26 victory against Western Connecticut as part of the festivities on the campus in conjunction with the school’s Sesquicentennial Homecoming.
"We did more of a joker in the second half, where we'd fake the blitz and then pull back, dropping more guys into coverage," TCNJ defensive coordinator Jay Hoffman said in the Trenton Times. We’d show one coverage in the secondary, then go to another. That forced them to waste their timeouts and just generally confused them, and that was the big thing."
TCNJ, now 5-1 overall and 3-1 in the NJAC, was led by senior defensive back Steve Andrews who had a 92-yard rushing touchdown on an end around to cap the Lions' scoring. Andrews, who added an interception as well, tied a score-record for the longest rushing play for a touchdown. Andrews tied the mark set in 1983 by Dan Rogers in the Lions' matchup against Jersey City State.
WCSU drops its second straight contest to fall to 4-3 on the season overall and 1-2 in the NJAC. The 2004 contest between these two squads in the first since the 1988 season and with Saturday's victory, the Lions hold a 5-1 edge in the series history.
WCSU scored back-to back touchdowns as junior tailback Jason Adamson rushed in for a 2-yard score at 11:59 in the first quarter. Junior quarterback Joe DiMeglio found sophomore wide receiver Adamis Gonzalez from 23 yards out to spot the Colonials to a 14-0 lead.
TCNJ got on the scoreboard with 3:25 left in the first when freshman quarterback Jeff Struble found senior tight end Jeff Lebb from 7 yards out to cap a 62-yard drive. TCNJ tied the game with 10:14 left in the second quarter as sophomore running back Cory Schoonover rushed in from 5 yards out.
The Lions' lead was short-lived as DiMeglio hit junior wide receiver Vincent Sheperis on back –to-back scoring drives to end the half. The first was a 24-yard pass to put WCSU up 20-14 and the other an 18-yard pass to give the Colonials a 26-14 lead with one second before the half.
In the second half, the Lions took control of the ball and Struble hit senior Tony Sorrentino with a 13-yard pass to pull the Lions within five, down 26-21. Struble would tie the game on a keeper with 2:41 left in the third from one yard out before junior kicker Blake Abbot gave the Lions their first lead on the PAT, 27-26.
Andrew added the final score of the game at 13:35 in the fourth on a 92-yard run to cap a two-play, 96-yard drive. Andrew finished with a touchdown, an interception, and 167 all-purpose yards. The school record-holder in the 55 meter dash after taking third at the 2004 NCAA Division III Indoor Track Championships, Andrews added a pair of tackles and pass breakups in the win.
"We used to run that (end around) play all the time, but Western Connecticut never got to see it, so we figured we'd throw it in there," Andrews said in the Trenton Times. "I had some great blocking and we really needed it."
WCSU's DiMeglio finished with 364 passing yards with three touchdowns on a 29-for-59 effort. Ranked No. 8 in Division III in total offense, DiMeglio was picked off once on the day and hit Sheperis 16 times for 166 of his passing yards.
TCNJ's rookie signal caller, Struble finished with 207 passing yards marking the second time on his career he has surpassed 200 passing yards. He was intercepted for the first time all year as Rocco Antoniello picked him off in the third quarter after the Lions had held WCSU on fourth down deep in Lion territory. Antoniello led the Colonials on defense with nine tackles, while senior tackle Andrew Delva added eight stops and half a sack.
TCNJ's senior linebacker Ray Bateman had a game-high 11 tackles with three pass breakups and 1½ hits for a loss (minus-4 yards). Senior Steve Vogt recorded nine tackles as well for the Lions.
For the day, WCSU racked 440 yards of total offense on 85 plays and held a 31:47 margin in time of possession, while TCNJ had 407 yards of total offense on 59 plays and had 28:13 in time of possession.
Notes
St. John Fisher sophomore Mark Robinson rushed 35 times for 192 yards and one touchdown in the loss to Norwich. Robinson leads Division III in rushing yards and scoring with season totals of 1,251 yards and 19 touchdowns.
Hobart’s Eric Ampuja hit all five of his PATs on Saturday to remain perfect on the season. For the season, he is 28-for-28 and has hit a Hobart-record 37 in a row dating back to last season. Ampuja ranks sixth in the conference in scoring (6.7 ppg) and is first among kickers.
Salisbury junior fullback Leroy Satchell averaged 12.7 yards per carry as he registered a career-high 229 yards in Salisbury's 44-0 win against Kean. He scored on TD runs of 6 and 56 yards in the opening quarter as Salisbury built a 21-0 lead. Satchell also had back-to-back runs of 37 and 42 yards on Salisbury's third scoring drive which covered 97 yards.
In his first career start for the Profs, cornerback Tim Harrison earns NJAC Defensive honors after helping Rowan remain unbeaten in the NJAC with a 34-33 come-from-behind victory over Cortland. He notched 13 tackles, including 12 solo stops in the win. He also recorded one tackle for a loss, an interception, and two pass deflections from his defensive back position. Harrison currently ranks 40th in the NJAC in tackles with an average of 3.5 per game.
Games of the Week
No. 5 Springfield (5-0) at No. 24 St. John Fisher (6-1), 1 p.m., Pittsford, N.Y.: This game is a measuring stick for both teams. Winner has the inside track to the E8 championship and an automatic bid to the playoffs.
Brockport State (4-2) at Wesley (5-1), 1 p.m., Dover, Del.: Wesley still has hopes of an NCAA Pool B bid, as does Brockport with one of its losses non-region, but they are slim indeed. Wesley has Brockport and No. 18 Salisbury back-to-back. ECAC bids are more likely.