Rematch possibilities abound
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The match ups could give us some interesting games the next few weeks. Rematch possibilities for the regional final could pair Delaware Valley vs. Wilkes (MAC), Hobart vs. Union (Liberty League), Cortland vs. Rowan (NJAC), Cortland vs. Ithaca (Cortaca Jug). I can see a few of these scenarios actually happening.
I don’t see a clear favorite in this bracket. Given the regular season performances of these teams. Cortland, Ithaca and Rowan are pretty close to each other team talentwise. Union might be a notch ahead of Hobart, but must get past Ithaca in round one.
In evaluating the MAC teams, I don’t think both No. 1 Delaware Valley and No. 6 Wilkes will survive to make it to the regional final. The Aggies and Colonels have not played against a defense in the top 35 nationally. Rowan is ranked 10th and Cortland is ranked 11th in the nation defensively. The fifth-seeded Red Dragons are in Delaware Valley’s half of the bracket and the third seeded Profs play Wilkes this Saturday in the other half of the bracket.
The Liberty League teams also have to navigate this gauntlet too, so it remains to be seen whether both can survive their half of the bracket. Cortland travels to Hobart and Ithaca travels to Union in week one. If Union survives they’ll probably host Rowan in week two.
If No. 8 Curry is more than scrimmage for the Aggies this week, then Delaware Valley is really in trouble. Curry got the NECF automatic bid, but never made into the top 10 of the previous NCAA regional polls. Competitively the Colonels don’t measure up to other teams in the bracket.
Wesley is the lone “southern” team that we cover in the NCAA playoffs is the No. 4 seed in the South region. The Wolverines will host the No. 7 seeded Ferrum Panthers.
A few of our other Eastern brethren received ECAC bid this week. These games probably mean the most to seniors, because it is one more chance to put on the pads. Just like the NCAA playoffs all ECAC games start at noon.
In the ECAC Division III Northwest Bowl Championship, RPI (7-2) will travel to Rochester, New York to face St. John Fisher (8-2). Also in the north region, Fitchburg State (8-2) will host Bridgewater State (8-1) in the ECAC Division III Northeast Bowl Championship game.
In the ECAC Division III North Atlantic Bowl Championship, Alfred (8-2) will host Maine Maritime (7-2).
Widener (7-3) will host Montclair State (5-4) in the ECAC Division III South Atlantic Bowl while Frostburg State (6-4) will host Moravian (6-4) in the ECAC Southwest Bowl.
Salisbury (7-3) will host Franklin and Marshall (5-5) in the ECAC Southeast Bowl
Union finds Shoes fit
Junior running back Tom Arcidiacono rushed for 205 yards and two touchdowns to lead Union College to a 49-42 victory over RPI Saturday afternoon in front of 4,247 at Frank Bailey Field.
"(Clinching an unbeaten season against RPI) definitely adds a little more flavor to it," Arcidiacono told reporters after the game. "10-0 is more important than anything I’ve done. … We’re not done yet. We want to go further."
Union clinched the Liberty League title and the NCAA automatic bid with a perfect 10-0 record and a 7-0 mark in the league. The Engineers fall to 7-2 overall and 5-2 in the league. Union also won the 103rd meeting in this series, New York State's oldest collegiate football rivalry, and took home the "Dutchman Shoes Trophy," awarded for the 56th time in the storied rivalry.
"I'm sure if you like offensive football, you probably enjoyed that one," RPI coach Joe King told the Albany Times Union. "Personally, I like to see a little bit of defense played. We played pretty good defense this year, but they were too much for us today. Bottom line, we never stopped them."
Arcidiacono, ranked fourth in NCAA Division III in rushing, had his fourth 200-yard game of the year, and also broke the single season record that includes playoff games, previously held by Vlad Telemaque (1,547 in 11 games in 1991). Arcidiacono now has 1,616 yards this season. Junior Anthony Marotti was 21-for-33 for 300 yards and three touchdowns, while two receivers had big days for the Dutchmen. Junior receiver Ryan Twitchell caught seven passes for 160 yards and a touchdown while classmate Steve Angiletta had 116 yards on 11 catches and two touchdowns.
Rensselaer was led by freshman quarterback Jimmy Robertson, who was 20-for-35 for 214 yards and two touchdowns. Junior running back Jay Bernardo, the seventh-ranked rusher in Division III, had 94 yards and scored two touchdowns. Sophomore WR Brendan McGowan had 100 yards on eight catches.
Cortland tops Ithaca, handles Jug
The 13th-ranked Ithaca Bombers (8-2) battled back from a 17-point deficit to force overtime, but the visiting Cortland State Red Dragons (7-2) regained the Cortaca Jug trophy by posting a 37-30 victory in the first overtime game ever played between the two rivals.
Junior defensive back Stef Sair intercepted two passes for Cortland; he ran the first back 70 yards for a touchdown and his second ended the game, coming on a fourth-down play on Ithaca’s overtime possession. Sair scored on a defensive extra-point attempt, returning a blocked extra-point attempt for two points.
"I was going to try to run it back for a score," Sair said of his final interception in The Post Standard. "Then I heard someone say, 'Slide, slide,' so I went down instead."
Junior Anthony Morat caught the game-winning touchdown in overtime, wrestling an eight-yard pass thrown by sophomore quarterback Alex Smith away from a Bomber defender in the end zone.
The Red Dragon faithful rushed the field after the game-winning play.
"This is by far the best Cortland-Ithaca football game I've ever played in," wide receiver Anthony Morat said among the crowd on the field, according to the paper. "This was just crazy."
Alfred upends St. John Fisher
Alfred scored 10 unanswered points in the fourth quarter and rallied to defeat host St. John Fisher 13-7 today in an Empire 8 Conference football contest. With the loss, Fisher, ranked No. 12 in the nation, falls to 8-2 overall and 4-2 in the Empire 8 Conference, while Alfred improves to 8-2, 5-1. The loss ended a 12-game winning streak for the Cardinals at Growney Stadium, dating back to the 2003 season.
Alfred scored the only points of the first half on a 37-yard field goal from Chris Reynolds with 5:32 left. Fisher scored its lone points of the game on the final play of the third quarter, as junior All-American Mark Robinson scored on a five-yard run.
Rowan shuts down Montclair
Linebacker Randy Tosh recorded 15 tackles and five sacks to lead Rowan over Montclair State, 31-14 on Saturday. With the win, Rowan clinches its 15th New Jersey Athletic Conference championship and receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III playoffs. The Profs held the Red Hawks to a net of 5 yards rushing.
“We knew to beat them we’d have to stop the run. Then we would have to run the football and mix it up with some passing to win the game.” Getting up a couple of scores got us into our type of football game,” said Rowan coach Jay Accorsi.
Tosh led a defense that recorded 11 sacks and caused three turnovers. His five sacks accounted for a loss of 45 yards. End Keith Heimerl posted 10 tackles, including four and half for a loss and one sack. Linebacker Zach Garren added nine tackles and one sack. Safety Brandon Tolbert and linebacker Todd Trout had eight stops and one sack apiece. Tolbert also forced a fumble and Trout had an interception. Cornerback Dawaine Whetstone also had an interception, while linebacker Robert Niszczak recovered a fumble.
The Rowan offense was ignited by wide receiver Sakeen Wright with five catches for 61 yards and one touchdown. Wideout Phil Silva added four receptions for 54 yards and one touchdown and tight end Brian Jenkins had a 17-yard touchdown reception. Quarterback Joe Rankin completed 11 of 23 passes for 142 yards and two touchdowns. Wide receiver Joe D’Imperio had a 27-yard touchdown pass as well on a fake end around pass to Silva. Super back Ulysses Encarnacion totaled 65 yards on 16 carries.
“Being small in stature, I kinda get lost in the mix by the other team. I try to take advantage of those opportunities,” said the 5-7 D’Imperio.
Montclair State found the end zone first at 6:51 in the first quarter. McCoach had a nine-yard touchdown run to cap a nine-play, 67-yard drive. Ferriol completed three passes for 50 yards and ran for seven more to help set up the touchdown. Rowan tied the game at 6:49 in the second quarter on a 4-yard run by Albri. Rankin completed six of seven passes for 72 yards in the 11 play, 83-yard drive. On their next possession, the Profs found the end zone again on an 8-yard pass from Rankin to Wright to put them up 14-7 at the half. Rowan started the drive on the Montclair State 40 yard line after a short punt and a 15-yard return by wide receiver Jim Migliore. Rankin had a 28-yard pass and Encarnacion had a four-yard run to set up the touchdown.
“Montclair came in fired up, watching the film of William Paterson. I knew it would be a matter of time before we could weather that emotion, then get into our game and turn it around. We struggled in the first quarter (offensively), but started taking control in the second quarter. It’s a tribute to the players and the coaches, they didn’t give up and fought through it,” said Accorsi.
For the Red Hawks, quarterback Eric Ferriol completed 19 of 33 passes for 292 yards and one touchdown. Wide receiver A.J. Lettizia made five catches for 111 yards and Rashon Walker had four grabs for 72 yards. Tight end Rob Domke recorded two receptions for 25 yards and one touchdown. Running back Ryan McCoach carried the ball 27 times for 64 yards and one touchdown.
Linebacker Morgan Burklow and safety Troy Bishop posted 11 tackles apiece. Bishop also forced a fumble. Linebacker Sal Fama made 10 stops, recovered a fumble and had one sack (minus-9 yards).
Kings Point nabs Secretaries Cup
Sophomore fullback Davey May carried 16 times for a career-high 127 yards and two touchdowns and the Mariners held Coast Guard to negative 32 yards rushing as Kings Point beat the Bears 21-5 in a Liberty League game and the annual battle for the Secretaries’ Cup.
"This is the reason why I came back to the Academy to win this game," remarked first year Kings Point head coach Mike Toop. "The guys put forth a great effort tonight."
Kings Point (3-7, 2-5) has now won the Secretaries’ Cup for the second straight season and the Mariners have now won seven of the last eight meetings with the Bears (2-7, 0-7), who dropped seven straight to end the season.
Entering the game, May had carried just nine times for 25 yards all season, but he broke a scoreless tie with a 40-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-two with 6:59 left in the first quarter.
Coast Guard cut the lead to 7-3 on a 36-yard field goal with 6:15 left in the second quarter.
Backup quarterback Preston Morgan came on for one play in the first half and that was a 32-yard touchdown pass to Cameron Amigo, his only catch of the game, with 3:39 left in the first half as the Mariners took a 14-3 lead into halftime.
Coast Guard got a safety early in the third quarter as Amigo fumbled and teammate Jake Miller recovered in the endzone as the Bears cut the lead to 14-5 with 12:27 left in the third quarter.
May closed the scoring on a 33-yard touchdown run with 9:57 left.
Kings Point sacked Coast Guard quarterback Conner Elms (15 of 29 for 174 yards, 2 INT) eight times and allowed just 142 yards of total offense. Coast Guard had 30 carries for negative 32 yards on the ground.
Mariner quarterback Ryan Perruquet was 11 of 21 for 80 yards with an interception.
Kings Point had 297 yards of total offense.
Notes
Randy Tosh becomes the second Prof to earn NJAC Defensive Player of the Week honors after playing a key role in the Profs' 31-14 win over Montclair State, which clinched the NJAC Championship. In the championship-clinching victory, he collected 15 total tackles including six solo stops. He also registered five sacks for a loss of 43 yards in the game in which the Prof defense produced 11 sacks on the day. As champions of the NJAC, Rowan also earned the league's automatic qualification to the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament. Tosh currently ranks third in the NJAC in both tackles and sacks with respective per game averages of 8.2 and 1.11.
Hartwick running back Lindy Crea finished with 360 all-purpose yards in a 42-40 loss to Utica. The national leader in all-purpose yardage caught four passes for 204 yards and two touchdowns, rushed 20 times for 94 yards and another score, and returned two kickoffs for 62 yards.
In earning his first ACFC Defensive Player of the Week award, Dale Buck had a monster game in Brockport's 25-19 win at Buffalo State. He had 13 tackles, five for a loss of 20 yards, and three sacks for 15 yards and also blocked an extra point.