Morrisville gets its signature win
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That attitude paid off for SUNY-Morrisville, who after going 1-14 in their first season and a half, upset Brockport State 20-19 at Drake Field in Morrisville on Saturday.
“When we started this two years ago, I knew we needed a signature win and the question was when we were going to get it,” said Morrisville head coach Terry Dow on Monday. “I told them team we’re capable of playing with anyone – we played a 7-7 first half with Cortland, but we hadn’t played up to our ability for four quarters, until Saturday.”
The Mustangs withstood a Brockport 1-yard touchdown run by Gary Bohl with 43 seconds left. A missed extra point by Brockport’s kicker proved to be the difference.
“I think every extra point at that end of the stadium missed,” Dow said. “On the last extra point, I called a timeout – that’s the ‘fashion statement’ in college football now – but I was still shocked when he missed. Even at this level, an extra point is usually automatic, but I had a hope and a prayer.”
Morrisville also caught a huge break about four minutes into the fourth quarter when Brockport’s punter had the ball go over his head on a snap, forcing him to fall on the ball to prevent it from getting it into the end zone. On the second play from scrimmage for Morrisville, Billy Poling scored on a one-yard run to give the Mustangs a 20-13 lead.
The rest, for Dow and his Mustangs at least, is history.
“We tried to teach these guys about getting through the hard times, after being 1-8 last season and 1-6 before this game this season, and they deserve what they got after winning on Saturday,” Dow said.
In the loss, Brockport’s Matt McCormick ran 27 times for 173 and two touchdowns.
Both teams join the New Jersey Athletic Conference next year, and Dow said this win gives his team confidence going into 2008.
“This is everything. It’s a big win, our signature win,” Dow said. “We beat a really good program in Brockport. We know we can hang with the best.”
If nothing else, the win proves that what Dow has been telling his team is working.
“Patience and perseverance can pay off,” Dow said.
Dow and the Mustangs travel to Mount Ida next week, looking for their next win.
I say congratulations to Dow and his team for sticking through it. Like I’ve said in past columns, it’s really hard to keep going when you are getting beat up week in and week out, but when you win, it’s a feeling you don’t soon forgot. You get the taste of winning, and guys want that every week.
Wesley-Salisbury Pool B battle
The fight for one of the three Pool B bids nationwide went down Saturday with two heavyweights of the Division III world going punch for punch. In the end, Wesley got the last shot, taking down the previously undefeated Salisbury Sea Gulls 20-13 in Dover, Del.
Up 20-13 late in the fourth quarter and with Salisbury driving, Wesley defensive back Chet Turner intercepted a Ronnie Curley pass in the end zone to seal the deal for the Wolverines.
Wesley’s Mike Pennewell ran 28 times for 105 yards against a tough Salisbury defense, the seventh straight time he has rushed for more than 100 yards this season.
Salisbury ran for 285 yards as a team, 124 by Curley leading the option attack.
Jamar Garner ran for 95 yards, including a 80-yard touchdown run.
Wesley clinches the Atlantic Central Football Conference title with the victory, but since there is no automatic qualifier in that five-team conference, it doesn’t automatically clinch a playoff bid, but with only one loss so far, it should be a foregone conclusion, but that’s the thing about Pool B. You never know until all the games are played and the selection committee has made their decision on who’s in or out.
I believe that both teams could be in, but it’s going to depend on a lot of the other conferences and how their title races play out.
Saxons’ spotless season sunk
The Statesmen took a little air out of the Saxons’ sails as they won 41-22 at Boswell Field in Geneva.
Senior quarterback Andrew Strom continues his terrific season, throwing and completing 23 passes for 229 yards and four touchdowns against a decent Alfred defense. He set a record against Alfred, as he raised his all-purpose yards total to 2,365, breaking Shaun Mizro’s 3-year-old record.
Ryan LiDrazzah had a good day too, catching 10 passes for 90 yards and two of Strom’s four touchdowns.
Alfred quarterback Paul Keeley went 18-of-34 for 222 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, and sophomore running back Vinson Hendrix picked up right where he left off, rushing for 143 yards on 19 carries, including a 46-yard touchdown run on the second play from scrimmage.
But all is not lost in Alfred’s camp. They are still undefeated in conference, as the Hobart game is non-conference. If the Saxons can win out against Ithaca at Butterfield Stadium and St. John Fisher at Growney Stadium (a very difficult task), they would go 6-0 in conference and 9-1 overall. They would win the automatic qualifier in the Empire 8, as St. John Fisher would have two conference losses, and Hartwick would lose the head-to-head tiebreaker with Alfred.
A Pool C would probably be pretty unlikely in that scenario, as St. John Fisher, the next closest competition in the conference, would have the two losses, and Hartwick has a in-region loss to Western New England.
We have to wait for at least one or two more weeks to really see what’s going on.
NJAC clears up more
The College of New Jersey reinforced on Saturday they are a force to be reckoned with in the New Jersey Athletic Conference with a 30-0 shut out of Cortland State.
TCNJ forced five turnovers, four of them interceptions of Cortland quarterback Ray Miles. That number becomes all the more impressive when you also throw in the fact that Miles only threw three interceptions in his first seven games of the season.
The Lions had two players rush for more than 100 yards, with Chase Misiura carrying 23 times for 108 yards and Dan Dornacker 18 times for 101 yards.
The shutout was the first for Cortland in the NJAC since 2000, and the first for TCNJ in any game since 2004. At 7-1 overall and 5-0 in the NJAC, TCNJ is in control of its own destiny. A win in either one of their last two games against either Buffalo State or Kean gives TCNJ the NJAC automatic bid.
Liberty League nailbiter
RPI snuck out of Worcester, Mass., with a 21-14 double-overtime win against Worcester Polytech. In the 101st Transit Trophy game, WPI was up 14-7 late into the fourth quarter with 1:30 left when RPI quarterback Jimmy Robertson led the Engineers down the field 73 yards in three plays in just 29 seconds to tie the game at 14 and get to overtime.
In the first overtime, WPI was intercepted on 4th down, but RPI missed a 22-yard field goal at the other end.
In the second overtime, RPI scored on a 4-yard touchdown run by Nick Costa, and then Nick Casale stopped a reverse on fourth down to secure the win for RPI.
RPI’s Tim Acker led the team with 15 tackles and had three interceptions.
Great performances
Rochester freshman Clarence Onyiriuka took over for Matt Bielecki and played very well in his steed, carrying 33 times for 219 yards and four total touchdowns (three rushing and one receiving) in the Yellowjackets’ 38-20 win over Liberty League opponent Susquehanna.
William Paterson squeaked by Kean 30-27 on Saturday as Ricky Krautman kicked a 21-yard field goal as time expired to give the Pioneers the win. For his efforts, Krautman earned a New Jersey Athletic Conference Special Teams player of the week award. He has also booted 18 punts inside the 20-yard line, a Pioneers school record for a single season.
William Paterson’s Shawn Puluse ran for 146 yards in the game as well.
Record breakers/milestones
St. John Fisher’s James Reile scored two touchdowns in the Cardinals 38-0 blanking of Utica College. The 12 points give Reile 234 for his career, third on St. John Fisher’s all-time list.
Also in the St. John Fisher-Utica game, senior cornerback Steve Stepnick intercepted his fourth pass of the season, giving his 18 for his career, which is a St. John Fisher record.
Wesley’s Larry Beavers continues living up to his preseason hype, returning a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown against Salisbury. It was Beavers’ third kick return for a score this season, which sets a school record.
Ithaca’s Dan Juvan threw for 308 yards and four touchdown passes in the Bombers’ 48-21 win over Springfield. The four touchdown tosses tied a career high for touchdown passes for Juvan. The win secured Ithaca’s 37th consecutive winning season, the second such longest streak in Division III, behind Linfield, who have 52 winning seasons in a row.
Springfield’s Chris Sharpe ran and passed his way to another Springfield College record. He had 108 total yards against Ithaca, giving him 4,957 total and breaking the Pride record of 4,950 set by Ryan Sylvia from 2001-2004.
Newport News’ Sam Arnold is rewriting the Apprentice School’s record books this season, and he’s only a sophomore. In a 45-14 win over non-Division III Southern Virginia, Arnold carried 43 times for 249 yards and a touchdown, setting school and Atlantic Central Football Conference records in both categories. Both records were held by the Builders’ Thurm Gibson, who ran the ball 41 times for 232 yards against Bridgewater (Va.) in 1985.
Arnold, who was awarded the ACFC’s Offensive player of the week award for his efforts, is the first player in Newport News history to rush for 200 yards or more in back-to-back games, after he rushed for 202 yards against SUNY-Maritime.
East Region Top 10 Ranking
1. Wesley
2. RPI
3. Salisbury
4. St. John Fisher
5. Alfred
6. New Jersey
7. Hobart
8. Ithaca
9. Rochester
10. Cortland State
I’m probably going to catch a lot of flack for having Alfred ranked above Hobart, even though Hobart won the head-to-head, but based on where the teams have been in the rankings, it was hard to move them higher.
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