Power shifting
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What will be interesting is whether losing early in the season and winning late in the season means more than winning early and losing late. Typically, it seems teams are penalized more for losses late in the season when being considered for a playoff bid. If that is the case, then the slimmest of at-large possibilities exist for Brockport State, Montclair State, and New Jersey. If any of these teams lose another game, they’ll have to make sure to win their conference title. Montclair State and New Jersey must win the NJAC to nab the Pool A. Brockport will need help after already losing to ACFC conference favorite Salisbury 35-30 on Sept. 10.
In the Empire 8, both Ithaca (2-0) and St. John Fisher (3-0) have sprung out of the gate while the rest of the league has at least one loss. There will be only one undefeated team left at the end of the day Saturday after these two teams tangle.
We will start looking more deeply in the conference races in the coming weeks as most teams enter the conference portions of their schedules next week.
CNU runs out of options
The Captains could not stop the Sea Gulls’ option rushing attack as Salisbury rushed for 404 yards on 53 attempts.
Dustin Johnson started the scoring for the Gulls with 12:47 left in the first quarter when he broke free for a 73-yard touchdown run. CNU cut into the lead on a Jay Graham 32-yard field goal with 9:10 left in the first quarter to cut the lead to 7-3. Jamar Garner then scored two consecutive touchdowns. The first was a 40-yard run with 13:29 left and followed that up with a 4-yard score 10:59 left in the half to take a 21-3 lead.
"I think it's a combination of many things," Kelchner told the (Newport News, Va.) Daily Press. "Offensively we didn't move the ball and keep (Salisbury) off the field, and defensively we just didn't stop them.”
Dustin Johnson told the paper, "they were slamming hard on Leroy (Satchell) in the first half. I think we had them running around a little bit."
Salisbury's Dustin Johnson rushed for 197 yards on 20 carries and one score to lead the Gulls. Leroy Satchell finished with 107 yards on 16 rushes and one score and Garner added 42 yards on three carries and two scores.
Coast Guard toasts from the Mug for the final time
Senior Cory Anderson threw a pair of touchdown passes to Christian George. The also Bears blocked a pair of punts, one that was recovered for a touchdown as Coast Guard beat Norwich 30-12 to win The Mug for the first time since 2001 and improved to 2-0 for the first time since 1997 in front of a Parent’s Weekend crowd.
The Bears lost to Norwich the last three years but from the opening drive it was clear this was a different Bears team. Senior quarterback Cory Anderson completed five of seven passes for 70 yards and drove the team to a field goal.
"It set the tone for the game," Anderson said in the Hartford Courant.
This was the 71st meeting between the two schools, who have played every year since 1954, but the series came to an end as Coast Guard joins the New England Football Conference in 2006. The Bears have a 38-32-1 winning record over the Cadets.
Coast Guard coach Bill George handed off the trophy to an athletic department official after the game. "I don't want to lose it," George told the paper. "… that's a big deal here, the Mug is worth showing around.".
Coast Guard had 310 yards of total offense, 150 of those in the first quarter while Norwich finished with 217 yards on the day.
Dutchmen grab victory from Mules
Anthony Marotti threw for 240 yards and two fourth-quarter touchdowns to lead Union to a 22-14 win at Muhlenberg, spoiling the Mules’ first-ever night game at Scotty Wood Stadium.
The Dutchmen rolled up 453 total yards on a Muhlenberg defense that led Division III last year. Tom Arcidiacono rushed for 190 yards on 25 carries, including a 45-yard touchdown run four minutes into the game. Marotti completed 17 of 33 attempts without an interception or a sack, and Steve Angiletta caught six passes for 130 yards.
Kelleher (141) and Matt Johnson (113) combined to throw for 254 yards for the Mules. Kelleher hit Kyle Douglass with a 41-yard touchdown pass on Muhlenberg’s third play from scrimmage. Douglass caught five passes for 87 yards. Ross Tanner rushed for 56 yards and a 4-yard third-quarter touchdown that gave the Mules the 14-9 lead.
Up by five points, Muhlenberg coach Mike Donnelly called for an onside kick. Union recovered and scored the 13 points.
''It was a great opportunity; it just didn't work this time,'' Donnelly said in Allentown’s The Morning Call of the gamble, which led to a Union touchdown 80 seconds later. ''That's the way we are, the way we have to play. We have to be aggressive.''
''I told the kids to be ready for the onside kick, but I don't know if they believed me,'' Union coach John Audino told the paper. ''But we got lucky, got field position, and it took a little bit of wind out of their sails.''
Montclair upset by Frostburg
Frostburg State senior defensive end Kevin Culbert blocked a 31-yard field goal try by Montclair State’s Vin Doffont with five seconds left as the Bobcats held on for a thrilling 17-14 win over the visiting Red Hawks on Saturday afternoon at Bobcat Stadium.
Frostburg State evened its record at 1-1 with its first win over Montclair State in five tries. The Red Hawks fell to 0-2 on the year.
FSU, which trailed 14-0 midway through the second quarter, rallied to take a 17-14 lead on a seven-yard scoring run by sophomore Shanorm Young with 12:26 left in the game.
Culbert, who also had eight tackles, including four for loss and two sacks, then came through with the game-saving play, as he blocked Doffont’s low kick and FSU recovered as time ran out.
Notes
Salisbury is 12-1 when quarterback Dustin Johnson runs for 100 yards or more. He notched a career-high 197 in the Sea Gulls’ win at Christopher Newport. Johnson leads the ACFC in rushing through three games with 460 yards.
The 100 points combined put up by Ithaca and Hartwick in Ithaca’s 59-41 win are an Ithaca school record. “I've been in a lot of football games, and I don't know if I've ever been in a game where we've scored so many points and not feel like we were in control,” Ithaca coach Mike Welch told The Ithaca Journal. “Hartwick never quit. They have a good quarterback and a good set of receivers.”
Frostburg State’s freshman punter Tom Vanik takes the rookie of the week honor after averaging 46.4 yards per punt on five punts, including an ACFC-record 76-yarder. Two of his punts landed inside the 20 in Frostburg’s win against Montclair.
Alfred’s Paul Keeley completed 17 of 26 passes for 312 yards and four touchdowns in a 42-7 victory over St. Lawrence. He threw scoring passes of 21, 23, 53, and 66 yards as the Saxons evened their record at 1-1.
Rowan’s Mike Orihel earns NJAC Offensive Player of the Week after playing a part in all seven touchdowns scored during the Profs' 49-3 NJAC-opening victory against Western Connecticut. Through the air, he completed 23 of 26 passes for 298 yards and five touchdowns including scoring strikes of 22, 47, 17, 16 and nine yards. On the ground he rushed for two scores to help the Profs improve to 2-0 overall on the season. Orihel currently leads the NJAC in passing yards per game (356.0), total offense per game (345.0) and passer efficiency rating (171.5).
Kings Point’s Geoff Troy remains perfect on his career in field goal attempts (9-for-9). On Saturday he connected from 22, 26 and 35 yards, including the game-tying field goal with 23 seconds left to force overtime and the game-winner. He notched 12 points on the afternoon and after three games is just six shy of breaking the all-time record for field goals in a season.