A case for the East being best
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Seven East teams are listed in the D3football.com Top 25 poll:
No. 5 Wesley
9 Rowan
14 Fisher
16 Cortland State
20 Hobart
22 Springfield
23 Ithaca
Union, despite a really close call against Worcester Polytech Saturday, is also receiving votes.
Out of those teams, three of the seven Empire 8 teams are in the Top 25. Could the E8 be the strongest conference this week in the East?
A game I would have loved to see
Union beat WPI 28-27 in a game that featured more than 900 yards of total offense and a nice amount of back-and-forth action. In the fourth quarter, Union kicker Ben Rapple kicked a 38-yard field goal to put the Dutchmen up 20-14, and the Engineers came back with a 9-play, 74-yard drive, capped off with a Rob Pantalone 5-yard TD run to go up 21-20.
With 3 minutes left, Union went 9 plays as well, capping a touchdown drive with a Tom Arcidiacono 6-yard touchdown run. A 2-point conversion pass to Ryan Twichell from Anthony Marotti to retake the lead, 28-20.
With 88 seconds left, WPI started at their own 33 and drove 67 yards in four plays, with quarterback Rob Pantalone throwing a 40-yard TD pass to Matt Burger to pull within two, 28-26.
On the two-point try, Union's Doug Davis intercepted Pantalone to preserve the win for the Dutchmen.
Another great ending
One East Region team may have snagged the biggest win in a long time on Saturday.
St. Lawrence was down 31-14 near the end of the third quarter against RPI. Saints quarterback Matt Bezio threw a touchdown pass less than a minute into the fourth to cut the lead to 10, 31-21. RPI came back two minutes later with a Brendan McGowan touchdown catch to increase the lead back to 38-21 with 12:09 left.
The Engineers would not reach the end zone again.
Bezio threw an 11-yard TD pass to Troy Lassial to cut the lead to 38-28 with 9:30 left.
Two plays later, Ryan McConville jumped the route and ran back a interception for a 24-yard "Pick Six" to cut the lead to three.
After holding RPI to a three-and-out on the next series, Mike O'Donnell caught another TD pass from Bezio to take the lead 42-38.
"I told the kids at halftime that we weren't out of this one," Phelps said in a news release after the game. "Sometimes when your down by that much, something like that is hard to believe, but these kids believed and because of that we won the game."
With 3:30 left, the Engineers had one more chance, working their way down to a first-and-goal at the 9-yard line, but on fourth down, Devaun McFarland broke up a pass attempt in the end zone to preserve the win for the Saints.
St. Lawrence moved to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the Liberty League while the Engineers moved to 0-2 in the conference.
Predictions? A mixed bag this week.
I predicted in last week's column a 24-17 Rochester win over Kings Point, and the Yellowjackets stung the Merchant Marine 28-24. That counts as one for me.
I predicted Rowan rolling over TCNJ 30-10, but the Profs snuck one away only winning 14-6.
The boys from Glassboro won, but not convincing enough, so I'll mark it as a loss.
I had Cortland winning 38-21 over Kean, and the Red Dragons solidified their spot as the best in the NJAC with a 24-14 win. Another W for the prognosticator, aka your most humble East Region columnist.
So with a 2-1 record for the weekend, I move to 6-3 on the week, a .667 winning percentage.
We bring you this public service announcement ...
A little off-topic here, but who else was really happy to see the Tigers beat the snot out of Steinbrenner's all-star team this week? I think the Yankees loafed and the Tigres wanted it more. Plain and simple. So George, will your payroll be at $300 million next year? (Hint: Get rid of A-Rod.)
And now back to our regularly scheduled program:
There were some great performances this week in the East Region.
1. Montclair State's Ryan McCoach ran 31 times for 178 yards in the Red Hawks' 22-14 win over Buffalo State.
2. Springfield fullback Andrew Jackson scored 3 touchdowns rushing in the Pride's 43-16 win over Husson. Jackson's touchdowns came from 3 yards, 6 yards, and 21 yards out, respectively. The Pride "rolled" up 467 yards of total offense in the win.
3. Ithaca's Kelly Gordon ran back the opening kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown in the Bombers 44-7 win over Norwich.
4. Utica's Alex Conlon, a quarterback converted to running back, ran for 100 yards and two touchdowns in the Pioneers' 21-9 win over Mount Ida. Also, Utica's Marcus Maroney had 16 tackles (nine solo), a sack and a forced fumble, helping to hold Mount Ida's star running back Antwan Harris to 77 yards rushing on the afternoon.
Team peering over the edge
The NJAC's Montclair State. They are 2-0 in the NJAC and 4-1 overall, with their only
loss to undefeated Springfield in a non-league contest in Week 2.
They've even beaten D-IAA Iona, though the Gaels are non-scholarship.
They beat New Jersey 27-7 and Buffalo State 22-14, but with games the next three weeks at Kean and home against Cortland and Rowan, they need to be careful. Wins in at least two of these games could make them an instant contender for the AQ in the NJAC.
Team that has fallen over the edge, smashing into trees on the way down
RPI. Talk about collapse. Up 17 with 10 minutes left only to lose in the final minutes is heartbreaking. Combining their loss with Hobart, RPI is now 3-2, but more importantly, 0-2 in conference, which unfortunately for Engineer fans may "kill" their playoff chances.
Around the East Top 10
1. St. John Fisher
2. Wesley
3. Springfield
4. Ithaca
5. Cortland State
6. Hobart
7. Rowan (They have been unimpressive despite winning their games)
8. Union
9. Alfred
10. Montclair State
Honorable mention: St. Lawrence, Rochester, RPI, Brockport.
Just a reminder that Around the East includes the Empire 8, Liberty League, New Jersey Athletic Conference and Atlantic Central Football Conference, not the New England schools.
Three more predictions (The Red edition)
Montclair State vs. Kean, RedHawks win 21-17
Cortland State vs. Western Connecticut, Red Dragons win 28-20
No. 20 Hobart vs. Merchant Marine, Statesmen end up red-faced when Kings Point pulls off the upset 24-21.