Alfred 37, Widener 0

ALFRED, NY — The Alfred University football team opened its 2010 season with a 37-0 shutout of visiting Widener University Saturday afternoon on Merrill Field.

The Saxons held Widener to 210 yards of offense and forced six turnovers. Junior quarterback Tom Secky threw for two touchdowns, both to junior tight end Adam Schutz), and ran for another as the Saxons produced 332 yards of offense and 15 first downs.

AU opened the scoring with a 38-yard field goal by junior Eric Rockwood with 9:44 left in the first quarter. Junior Nick Clark intercepted pass by Widener quarterback Colin Masterson just before the end of the opening quarter and returned the ball to the Pride 3-yard line. On fourth-and-one, freshman tailback Chuck Beckwith plunged in for the score, putting AU up 10-0 five seconds into the second period.

Secky connected with Schutz on a 37-yard scoring play midway through the second to cap a six-play 63-yard drive and AU went into intermission up 17-0. Alfred added 13 points in the third. Secky hit Schutz with a 35-yard TD pass 1:17 into the third period to end a four-play 85-yard drive. Freshman tailback Austin Dwyer provided a 50-yard run during the drive and finished his collegiate debut with 53 yards on five carries.

Secky put AU up 30-0 with a two-yard run with 4:08 left in the third and Clark closed out the scoring with a two-yard run 32 seconds into the fourth, capping a seven-play 30-yard drive that began after an interception by junior free safety Alec Currier. AU defenders had four interceptions on the day and forced two fumbles as the Saxons held the Pride to 63 yards passing.

Senior wide receiver Ryan Thon had a game-high eight catches for 73 yards for AU and Schutz had five receptions for 94 yards and two touchdowns. Dwyer added three receptions for 29 yards.

Masterson completed three passes for 40 yards and threw three interceptions. Backups Tevin Campbell and Chris Haupt (one interception) combined to complete two of six passed for 29 yards. Wideout Cedric Clayton caught three passes for 45 yards and Pride tailback Adam Smith finished with 70 yards on 17 carries.

Sophomore tackle Mike Raplee had a game-high 11 tackles, including two for loss, and broke up a pass to pace the Saxon defense. Clark had seven tackles (one for loss); junior linebacker Wes Smith had eight stops; and junior end Marcellus Jones had two sacks among his six tackles. Clark, Currier, freshman cornerback Chris Gibbs and junior cornerback Roland O'Brien each had interceptions and junior linebacker Brady Bonaquisti and junior cornerback Matt Mazur each forced a fumble.

Jon Natter and Joe Wojceichowski each had 10 tackles for Widener and end Shane Szumski had 1.5 sacks among his four tackles and also forced a fumble. Wes O'Kula had five tackles and an interception for the Pride.

AU is off next weekend and plays next on Saturday, Sept. 18, at 1 p.m. at St. Lawrence.