Lebanon Valley Trounces FDU-Florham 51-7
ANNVILLE, Pa. - Colt Zarilla threw for three touchdowns and Ben Guiles became LVC's all-time touchdowns leader with a pair of scores and 148 yards rushing as Lebanon Valley rolled FDU-Florham 51-7 on Oktoberfest Saturday at Arnold Field.
The Dutchmen (5-1, 3-1 MAC) racked up 497 yards of offense as they blew out to a 30-7 halftime lead on the winless Devils (0-6, 0-4 MAC). Lebanon Valley improved to 5-1 for the second time in three years and just the third time since 1979; the senior class also becomes the first since the Class of 1977 to win all four of their homecoming games.
Guiles surpassed Adam Brossman '08 as the all-time combined touchdowns leader with his 42nd and 43rd career scores as he recorded his 15th career 100+ yard rushing day. Zarilla ended up 18-of-26 for 219 yards and three touchdowns, two of them going to Tim Picerno.
"Colt did a great job managing the game again and I thought we played a heck of a team football game," said head coach Jim Monos as his team prepares for a showdown at Widener next week in a clash of 5-1 teams. "I told them if they thought this game was big, next week's game is the biggest. We're looking forward to being in the mix and playing such a big game."
With the starters playing just under three quarters of action, Lebanon Valley had plenty of chances to spread the ball around as seven different backs had a carry and nine different receivers caught a pass. Blair Ransom racked up 50 yards on six carries behind Guiles with Conrad Heisey rushing for 25 yards on eight totes; Picerno led all receivers with 56 yards and his two scores, while Jake Zeigler (2-44), Yahya McIntyre (3-29), and Jake Zeigler (2-44 with a touchdown) led the way.
The Dutchmen defense held FDU's spread offense to just 76 yards passing, led by an eight-tackle day by Cory Homer and five tackles - two for a loss - by cornerback Jerome Duncan.
LVC scored on its opening drive as Guiles hit a seam for a 37-yard gain to the FDU 1-yard line, then punched it in two plays later before most fans had found their seat. The defense generated the second score moments later as a fumbled hand-off to Sean Norton fell into Macke Hall's hands for a 10-yard touchdown return.
Guiles struck again later in the quarter, needing just one play - a 45-yard run - to score and put LVC up 20-0. Sean Fakete hit from 31 yards to go up 23-0 in the second quarter before Zarilla found Picerno at the back post late in the quarter for a 30-0 lead.
FDU-Florham's lone score came just before halftime as Mike Larson broke multiple tackles and danced 58 yards up the sideline.
Despite finding some of their momentum gone, the Dutchmen came out of the locker room firing, scoring on their first two drives of the second half with a 15-yard Picerno catch and Jake Zeigler's eight-yard grab to go up 44-7, and with the starters out, Leo Kyte hooked up with fullback Evan Fink for his first career score to start the fourth quarter on a 14-yard catch and run.
Game Notes
LVC ran their winning streak over FDU-Florham to seven, dating back to 2005 ... Jim Monos is 8-1 against the Devils ... Guiles became the touchdowns leader but not the scoring leader; Brossman had 42 touchdowns and seven two-point conversions in his career (266 points) while Guiles has 43 touchdowns (258 points) ... Zarilla has now thrown 13 touchdowns this year and has not thrown an interception since Week 3 at Delaware Valley ... LVC's offense has not committed a turnover since that Delaware Valley game ... Cornerback Ryan Melley bailed the Dutchmen out of a first-quarter jam with an interception in the end zone after a muffed punt return - LVC's second in two weeks - gave FDU possession deep in LVC territory ... Fakete did well kicking despite a brutal crosswind that gusted over 30 miles per hour at times, hitting a 31-yard field goal and going 6-for-7 on PATs ... Wes Rockwell, Kevin Smith, and Todd Mika each had five tackles while Andrew Hurst, Kyle Wenger, Mika, Duncan, and Homer had stops for losses ... Andrew Burkholder had three tackles to go with a pass bust-up and a hurry ... Dave Hallinan and Duncan got in double coverage to bust up a potential Devils touchdown in the first half ... An emotional moment came in the fourth quarter as defensive coordiator Vince Pantalone joined the team on the sideline after missing the last two games to be with his son Nick, an LVC freshman, who is recovery from successful surgery to remove cancer in his abdomen ... The homecoming king was LVC swimmer Ryan Humphries, and the queen was women's basketball team member Caitlin Murphy.
