Barnburners and upsets
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I still had an itch to see a football game. Before I left for the weekend I checked to if Salve Regina had a home game. They were scheduled to play Nichols at 6 p.m. It wouldn’t have been the caliber of football that I’m used to, but it was a D-III game nonetheless. On Saturday, I kept glancing at my watch and thinking that the Salve Regina campus was only about 3 miles away.
The campus is right on the ocean and set in between all those old mansions. These “summer homes” are where the wealthy East Coast industrialists like the Vanderbilt’s (railroad) and Berwyn (coal) would spend their Summer socializing and throwing lavish parties in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. These people were Bill Gates rich back then.
Anyway, just the suggestion of a football game and my better half shot me the “you must be crazy” look. As Yankee fan on the fringe of Red Sox territory there were was way too much Sox garb walking around. On the way to a winery for tasting, I saw a little girl of about 10 years old selling lemonade wearing a pink Yankee hat and blue and white jersey. A cup for was going for 25 cents. I asked her if she hated the Red Sox. She said yes, and told me her Dad was a Yankee fan originally from New Jersey. I gave her a five dollar bill and told her to keep the change. Gotta support the young fans, especially in enemy territory.
I know I said we’d start looking at the playoff favorites, but it is too early. The upsets this week have altered the landscape. With the conference schedules starting this week, things will start shaping up in the next few weeks. We’ll start taking a look then.
Montclair upsets Salisbury
Special teams mistakes have been costly for Salisbury this season. But those miscues were magnified Saturday afternoon for the No. 10 Sea Gulls as Montclair State used kickoff returns of 92 and 84 yards and a bad snap on a Sea Gull punt situation to turn them into 17 points in a 31-27 upset at Sea Gull Stadium.
"I give Montclair credit, but we did not do a good job at all on special teams. To me, that was the bottom line," SU coach Sherman Wood said in The Daily Times. "We have to take a long look at our special teams. We need to do a much better job, especially from the kickoff standpoint."
Salisbury outgained the Red Hawks 472-301, but it was Montclair State (1-2) that made its stats count. Despite rushing for only 121 yards as a team, senior quarterback Eric Ferriol completed 11 of 21 passes for 180 yards and a pair of scores. Fred Carter hauled in three aerials for 60 yards and a touchdown, while Brian Reitmeyer caught two for 24 and a score.
Sea Gull senior quarterback Dustin Johnson rushed for 178 yards on 14 carries, averaging 12.7 yards per rush. It was his third-highest rushing total of his carrier, but he left the game late in the fourth quarter with an ankle sprain. It was only the second time in his career that he rushed for more than 100 yards and SU lost. He has crossed the century mark 14 times in his college career, including every game this season. Johnson has rushed for 638 yards and averaged 8.5-yards per rush this season.
Senior running back Leroy Satchell also broke the century mark, running 20 times for 120 yards. He averaged 6.0-yards per rush and has totaled 497 yards and has averaged 6.2 yards per rush. Teddy Savage also had an outstanding effort in defeat, finishing with 96 yards on 12 carries, averaging 7.9 yards per play.
Ithaca holds off St. John Fisher
Ithaca had to rally from a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit and survived a Brett Kitenplon missed field goal from 36 yards out in the closing seconds to beat St. John Fisher 41-35 in overtime. The game ended in dramatic fashion as junior cornerback Bill Struzzi intercepted a St. John Fisher pass and returned it 91 yards for the winning touchdown.
“I saw the bubble route and it's my route to cover,” Struzzi told the Ithaca Journal. “I just jumped up on it and I was there for the ball and ran. Ran as hard as I could.”
St. John Fisher quarterback Nick Suchyna had thrown 107 consecutive passes without an interception. But the losses for St. John Fisher were more went beyond the win-loss column — All-America running back Mark Robinson separated his shoulder and is expected to be out a month.
“Any time you go into a game, and you sell out and you lose, it's a letdown,” St. John Fisher coach Paul Vosburgh told the paper. “...They knew Ithaca wasn't going to lie down. They respect Ithaca, their program and what their coaches do. They knew they had to go out there (after halftime) and play hard for 30 more minutes and they did that. Ithaca just came up with one more play.”
Red Dragons flame out against Bengals, lose 27-20
Sophomore tailback James Perkins rushed 32 times for 123 yards and two touchdowns as Buffalo State rallied from a 13-0 deficit to defeat Cortland State 27-20 in a non-league contest. The Bengals (1-2) ran off 27 straight points to post their first victory of the season. The Red Dragons (3-1) lost their home opener after winning their first three games on the road.
Buffalo State rushed for 162 yards on 57 carries against a Cortland defense ranked third in Division III against the run at less than 30 yards per game. Senior quarterback Mike Mikolaichik completed 15 of 30 passes for 181 yards and two touchdowns. The Bengals finished with 343 total offensive yards to 229 for Cortland.
For Buffalo State, Allen caught four passes for 75 yards, while Justin Draper and Bill Kirsch each made six tackles and Michael Haynes recorded his team-high fourth interception.
Cortland was led by linebackers Bill Hauser and Matt Montpetit. They each recorded career highs of 17 tackles. Junior defensive end Rich Coyne finished with three sacks and a forced fumble and junior safety Chuck Eich made eight stops. Cortland registered five sacks in the game and has 21 in its first four games. Sophomore tailback Dustin Bowser, starting in place of injured Matt Rickert, rushed 18 times for 76 yards. Morat caught four passes for 78 yards and Smith completed 9-of-17 passes for 145 yards.
Rowan completes comeback against Robert Morris
Down 28-7 in early in the third quarter, the Profs began their comeback against D1-AA non-scholarship Robert Morris. The first of 21 unanswered points started with a nine-play, 99-yard drive late in the third quarter. Rob Richardson carried three times for 15 yards, and Ulysses Encarnacion added a 20-yard run. Sakeen Wright added a 24-yard reception and tight end Brian Jenkins grabbed a pass for 11 yards. Wide receiver Phil Silva capped the drive with a 9-yard touchdown reception.
"That first drive made the difference," said Rowan quarterback Mike Orihel in the (Camden, N.J.) Courier Post. Orihel went 22-for-38 for 327 yards and a pair of touchdowns. "We went 99 yards to score and I think that just put in our minds that we could win this game."
With about nine minutes left the Profs drove 78 yards culminating in a 1-yard touchdown run by Mike Orihel, making the score 28-21. On the game-tying drive Rowan 74 yards on 11 plays end with a nice over the shoulder grab by Silva for a 5-yard game tying score.
In overtime, Robert Morris won the coin toss and elected to play defense first. After a 19-yard diving grab by wide receiver Brad Stys, Encarnacion scored on a 3-yard touchdown run, making the score 35-28.
After one first down, the Prof was able to stop Robert Morris from tying the score, tackling wide out Tyjuan Massey on the 10 yard line to end the game.
"I think our guys thought they had the game won and they didn't play as hard as they did in the first half," Colonials coach Joe Walton told the paper.
Orihel threw for 327 yards and two touchdowns and ran for two more scores. Encarnacion rushed for 93 yards on 21 carries. Sakeen Wright had seven catches for 117 yards. Silva had four receptions for 43 yards and two touchdowns. Wideouts Joe D’Imperio and Brad Stys had three catches each for 57 and 44 yards respectively.
Linebackers Randy Tosh and Todd Trout led the Rowan defense with 10 tackles each. Tosh also had two sacks, a fumble recovery and a pass deflection. Defensive end Brian Bond added nine tackles, including two for a loss, and one sack. Linebacker Zach Garren garnered eight tackles, one interception and one pass deflection, while safety Eric Bailey had one pick.
Alfred edges Springfield 23-22
Alfred defeated visiting Springfield 23-22 in overtime Saturday afternoon at Merrill Field.
With the score tied at 16 after regulation, Alfred got the ball first in overtime, starting at the Springfield 35-yard line. Four plays later, senior linebacker Brenton Brady scored from 2 yards out. The extra point by sophomore Chris Reynolds was good and the Saxons led 23-16.
Reynolds PAT proved to be the difference in the game, as Pride kicker Ryan Boyd’s extra point after a Derron Walker touchdown run was no good. Earlier, Boyd’s PAT after Springfield tied the contest as time expired in the fourth was blocked, sending the game to overtime.
Springfield tallied 297 yards of offense, all on the ground. Williams and fullback Andre Clayton ran for 129 and 105 yards, respectively. Quarterback Joe Deptula threw only twice, with each pass falling incomplete.
Junior linebacker Nick Gatto, the Saxons’ leading tackler coming into the contest, had a game-high 19 stops. Brady finished with 15 tackles and a forced fumble. Junior strong safety Aaron Meyers had 11 tackles and junior defensive end Andy Rantz had 10 stops, including two for loss. Freshman cornerback Brian Nitsche, making his first career start, had eight tackles. In addition to his blocked kick, Fuller notched Alfred’s only quarterback sack.
Cornerback Lucas Maciarello led the Springfield defense with eight tackles (six solo) and an interception. Linebackers Seth Trunko and Andrew Madigan each had 11 tackles, while safety Mitch Dupuis and cornerback Kevin Fessette each had interceptions.
Statesmen win a shootout over Engineers in 3 Ots
Hobart outlasted visiting RPI 56-48 in triple overtime in the longest game in Hobart history. Junior quarterback Shawn Mizro threw for 290 yards and tied his own single game record with five touchdown passes, a mark he set established in another overtime contest against Union last season.
In the third overtime, the Statesmen, who played offense first, scored on fourth and goal from the 1-yard line on a run over left tackle by junior Doug Blakowski and then converted a two-point pass from Mizro to junior tight end Kyle Martin. Blakowski finished with 125 yards rushing and two touchdowns.
When RPI (2-1, 0-1 Liberty) tried to answer, Hobart (3-0, 1-0) came with intense pressure, hurrying first-year quarterback Jimmy Robertson on three of the Engineers four plays, all incompletions. Robertson finished the day 28-of-54 for 394 yards and five touchdowns and one interception.
Games of the Week
New Jersey at No. 5 Rowan, Friday 7 p.m., Glassboro, N.J.: The Lions (1-2) have lost a lot to graduation. Depending upon whom you talk to TCNJ is either rebuilding or reloading. In 2003, TCNJ upset Rowan 22-20 in Glassboro, the Lions’ last victory over the Profs. Can the Lions bring enough emotion to Glassboro to hang tough with the Profs?
Montclair State at Cortland State, 1 p.m., Cortland, N.Y.: Both teams have good defenses with many new players on offense. Given the results of the past week, this could be a good game.
Notes
Since become the head coach of Rowan in 2002, Jay Accorsi has a perfect 3-0 record in overtime games.
RPI’s Jon Branche caught 12 passes for 217 yards and a school record five touchdowns — all game-highs and career-highs — in the loss at Hobart. He scored on receptions of 48, 12, 29, 26 and seven yards. Jon had one touchdown catch in the second quarter, three in the third and one in the overtime as he led Rensselaer back from a 24-point deficit to force the extra session. His five TD receptions broke the school single game record while his five scores and 30 points tied the school single game records.
Hartwick’s Lindy Crea rushed 25 times for 225 yards and five touchdowns in a 54-28 non-conference win against Husson. Crea, who entered the game ranked seventh in the nation in all-purpose yards, finished with 269 all-purpose yards.
Wesley junior Chris Warrick earns a share of his second award of the year after a wild performance in Saturday’s 49-19 win over Kean. He threw for 352 yards completing 28-of-35 passes with four touchdowns. He also ran for another score in the Wolverines’ third straight game of at least 45 points scored. On the year he has thrown for more than 1,200 yards in four games and 13 touchdowns.