Skipping The Sidelines by Bill Albright

Don Hansen's Football Gazette
Covering...
NCAA 1-AA - 1-AA Mid-Major - Division II - Division III - NAIA - NCCAA

"Skipping The Sidelines"
By Bill Albright

Archives: 09/09/2006

Small College Football
Week Ending Capsule for September 16, 2006

It was another interesting week for non-conference action in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference as well as in the President's Athletic Conference.

In the PSAC, it was a full week of crossover games with teams from the Eastern Division tangling with those from the Western Division. If you are keeping score, the final tally had it West 4, East 3.

In the PAC, five of the seven teams continued with non-conference games, while Thomas More and Grove City kicked off play with a conference matchup won in the final seconds by Thomas More.

Here is how those games unfolded:

PAC

Thomas More 21, Grove City 20: Trevor Stellman and Chase Weber continue to turn magic for the Saints. For the second straight week, the Stellman-Weber duo hooked up on a scoring pass that pulled TM to win. This time the victim was Grove City. Thomas More held an early 14-0 lead, but the Wolverines came roaring back to tally 20 unanswered points to set the stage for the Stellman-Weber heroics. For Thomas More, running back Lawrence Colbert rushed for 89 yards on a dozen totes, while quarterback Stellman added another 183 yards on 12-of-21 passing and a pair of touchdowns. For Grove City, freshman quarterback Andrew DiDonato completed 15 of 24 attempts for 188 yards, Stephen Mercer on the receiving end of five of those passes for 71 yards and a score. GC junior tailback Matt Weil chipped in with another 56 yards on 21 carries.

Shenandoah 20, Waynesburg 10: After holding a 10-0 lead at halftime, the Yellow Jackets self-destructed in the final 30 minutes as four second-half interceptions led to 14 points by the Hornets. For Waynesburg, junior wide receiver Luke Hill posted team highs in receptions with three and in yards with 39. Overland, Ryan Abels led the Jackets 73 yards, Abels scoring the long Waynesburg touchdown in the game. Even though they won the game, the Hornets could only muster a total of 31 net yards rushing on 32 tries. With his four points in the game, Waynesburg kicker Ben Popson is now a dozen points away from tying the career points record of 233 held by Rich Dahar. There were also a lot of yellow flags flying around Wiley Stadium as the two clubs combined for 19 infractions totaling 155 yards.

Bethany 34, Ohio Wesleyan 28: Don't tell Ohio Wesleyan that one second doesn't seem like an eternity. With one tick of the clock left, Bethany quarterback Brent Owens tossed a 9-yard scoring strike to wideout Matt Cruse to turn an apparent Bison loss into a thrilling win. OW held what seemed to be a comfortable 21-0 lead at the break before being outscored 34-7 in the second half for the frustrating loss. The win marks the first time since 2002 that the Bison have won more than one game in a season. With the loss, the Bishops remain winless at 0-3. The Bison used a secret weapon in their win as they unleashed their version of Williams "The Refrigerator" Perry to the Bishops. For their third touchdown of the game, the Bison sent Quinn Taylor, a 6-7, 350-pound tackle onto the field and Taylor lined up in the backfield. Taylor didn't disappoint the Bethany coaching staff and his teammates as he barreled into the end zone for the score. Leading the Bison offense was T. J. Parker, who set career-highs with 12 receptions for 156 yards. The career day moved Parker into a tie with Troy Costain (1985-88) for second place at Bethany in career receptions with 126. He is now just 24 away from surpassing Zack Merz's (2001-04) mark of 149 for the all-time record. Parker is still fourth on the all-time receiving yards list with 1,756.

Washington & Jefferson 35, Hanover 0: The President's became the first team since 1983 to shut out a Hanover squad. The last time Hanover was blanked was 232 games ago when they lost 28-0 to Findlay University of Ohio. W&J quarterback led the President's to the lopsided win as he tossed a career-high four touchdowns. Swallow completed 18 of 20 passes for 210 yards, while Ryan Mendel led all rushers in the game with 92 yards on 24 lugs. Kevin Matthews led the President's in receiving with a half dozen catches for 42 yards, while fellow wideout Tom McCafferty caught four balls for another 53 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Defensively, linebacker David Gitlitz led the way with seven stops and a fumble recovery, while senior cornerback Cory Walsh posted five tackles and also had a pair of pass break-ups.

Carnegie Mellon 33, Westminster 6: The Titans (0-2) continue to suffer growing pains as they were handled by the unbeaten Tartans (3-0). After neither team dented the score column in the first period, the Tartans exploded for 26 unanswered points in the second quarter. CM was in complete control of the game from the first play of the second period when they recorded a safety, a short 5-yard TD drive and a return for an interception for another score. Robert Gimson led CMU's rushing attack with 111 yards on 13 carries, all coming in the first half. For the game, the Tartans ran all over the Titans, accumulating 313 yards on 58 tries. For Westminster, Jason Nagy led the way with 43 yards on eight carries, while reserve quarterback Kevin Franz chipped in with 41 yards on four attempts, Franz scoring Westminster's lone touchdown of the game when he scooted up the middle for 21 yards on a keeper. Franz was 5-for-6 passing for 24 yards in relief of starter Brett Myers who completed seven of 13 attempts for 36 yards.

Albion 24, Thiel 20: Holding a 20-10 lead heading into the final period, it appeared as though the Tomcats were in good shape to post their second win in three starts over Albion. However, during the final 15 minutes of action, the Britons scored 14 unanswered points to pull out the 24-20 win over the Tomcats. For Albion, Bill Bacarella gained 76 yards on 11 carries, while Adam House made the most of his three carries, House racking up 40 yards while taking a pair of his carries to "the house". Jake Wilson completed 10-of-21 passes for 112 yards and one touchdown. Wilson was intercepted one and sacked three times by the Thiel defense. For Thiel, Steve Minton led all rusher in the game with 102 yards on 20 carries and a pair of six-pointers, while Minton's backup, Dan Hess, chipped in with 13 yards on just three tries. Quarterback Billy Blankenship completed 18-of-34 pass attempts for 176 yards and one score. Blankenship's favorite target was Brett Halman who hauled in seven passes for 76 yards.

PSAC

California 43, Cheyney 8: Sophomore Brandon Lombardy rushed for a career-best three touchdowns in the first half to lead the Vulcans to their decisive win. Adding to Lombardy's scoring efforts was place-kicker Tyler Lorenz who drilled three field goals. It was California's 12th straight win over the Wolves and extended their home winning streak to seven games. Cheyney has now lost its last 11 games in a row. Lombardy, who only saw action in the first half, finished with 95 yards on 10 carries. He scored on a pair of 4-yard runs and added a third covering 22 yards. While Lombardy was carrying the mail over land, quarterback Joe Ruggiero was busy filling the airways with passes. Ruggiero tossed a pair of first-half touchdowns in the opening 30 minutes to help the Vulcans open a commanding 40-0 lead at the break. Ruggiero was 16-of-22 for 156 yards. With that total, he moved over the 3,500-yard mark for career passing yards with a total of 3,538. Cheyney's offense only managed 215 yards total offense. Leading the Wolves was quarterback Derrick Murry who completed 12-of-25 passes for 183 yards. The win also moved Cal coach John "Lucky" Luckhardt into a tie for sixth place on the Vulcan career win list.

IUP 35, East Stroudsburg 20: IUP tailback Chris Morgan set a new single-game rushing mark to spark the Indians to their win. Morgan rushed for 286 yards, breaking his own mark of 266 set against Lock Haven in 2004. The Indians racked up a total of 511 yards total offense, including a massive 433 on the ground. Morgan scored on runs of 62, 26 and 51 yards in the first half to allow IUP to open up a 28-20 lead at halftime. Although the Warriors came out on the short end of the final score, their All-American quarterback Jimmy Terwilliger continued his personal assault on the NCAA record books. For the game, Terwilliger finished with 17 completions on 26 attempts for 256 yards, finished the night with 12,066 career yards, edging past Joey Conrad of Glenville State for the division record in that category. Although Terwilliger moved up the ladder in the record books, he was held without a touchdown pass in a game for the first time in his 40-game collegiate career. Four of Terwilliger's passes went to Evan Prall for a total of 126 yards.

West Chester 49, Clarion 21: Holding onto a slim 27-21 lead in the second half, the Rams exploded for 22 unanswered points to pull away for the victory. Although the Eagles came out on the short end of the stick, wide receiver Pierre Odom had a career receiving night with six receptions for a whopping 246 yards. Odom's touchdown came on a 64-yard connection with quarterback Mark Rupert in the second period that gave Clarion a 14-6 lead at the time. Clarion totaled 378 yards offense, 75 on the ground and 303 in the air. Rupert hit on 14 of 29 attempts for 302 yards and a pair of touchdowns. It was the first 300-yard passing game of the freshman's young career. While the Eagles nearly reached the 400-yard mark in total offense, the Rams eclipsed the 500-yard plateau, showing 512 yards on 312 rushing and an even 200 passing. Osagie Osunde (Central Columbia) rushed 14 times for 130 yards and one touchdown, while Dean Millard added another 89 yards and pair of scores. Quarterback Bill Zwann completed 11 of 17 passes for 195 yards and two touchdowns.

Millersville 35, Lock Haven 0: The Marauders spoiled the Bald Eagles home opener with the 35-0 shutout. The Marauders piled up 360 yards of total offense, 145 on the ground and 215 in the air. Lock Haven had its best opportunity to score in the game when the Bald Eagles drove to the Millersville 7-yard line. However, LHU quarterback Ilio DiPaolo was sacked and the Marauders maintained their 21-0 lead at the break. DiPaolo finished with 164 yards on 21-of-32 passing. His main targets were Adam Lawrence with seven catches for 54 yards and Troy Wile with five receptions for 48 yards. For Millersville, Dan Csencsitz passed for 215 yards, while the Marauders were led in rushing by Brad Lantz who carried the mail for 118 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Shippensburg 42, Kutztown 27: The Red Raiders got off to a fast start by scoring touchdowns on their first five possessions before cruising to the win. The Raiders totaled 330 yards offense, but also added another 223 in return yardage to bolster their efforts. Howard Chavous startled the Golden Bears with the opening kickoff when he hauled in the ball on his own 4-yard line and 96 yards later, crossed the goal line. The KOR for a score was the third longest in school history and the first since Brent Grimes returned one for 99 yards against Shepherd.

Bloomsburg 27, Edinboro 10: For three quarters, this game was anybody's for the taking. In the end, it was a stubborn, opportunistic Bloomsburg defense and some determined running by tailback Jamar Brittingham that allowed the Huskies to score the final 21 points for the come-from-behind victory. Two of the biggest plays came in the fourth period when Husky quarterback Dan Latorre was intercepted by Damion Malott at the Husky 27, but on the next play, Scott Keating pounced on the loose ball at the Edinboro 30 for the quick turnaround. Edinboro finished with 253 yards in total offense, while the Huskies were 50 better than that at 303. The toughness of the Bloomsburg defense was evidenced by the fact that it held the Scots to just 42 yards on the ground, the lowest total by an Edinboro team since Slippery Rock held EUP to just 18 in 1999. Edinboro quarterback Trevor Harris finished with a career-high 211 yards on 23 completions of 37 attempts. Ryan Valasek was his favorite target with six catches for 83 yards. Ulysee "Spud" Davis was held to just 42 yards on 19 carries. For Bloomsburg, Latorre completed 12 of 22 attempts for 183 yards, but he was intercepted three times. Brittingham, who finished third in the Harlon Hill Award voting last year, finished with 78 touch yards on 23 carries. Although held under the century mark, Brittingham scored the final three touchdowns of the game with some tough clutch running.

Slippery Rock 46, Mansfield 0: Nate Crookshank passed for a career-high 336 yards and a pair of touchdowns to lead the Rock to a 46-0 shutout over Mansfield. The Mounties have yet to score in two games after absorbing a 35-0 shutout at the hands of Shippensburg last week. Crookshank spread the wealth around his receivers as Paul Favers caught four passes for 127 yards, including a school-record 95-yard touchdown reception, while Luke Wetzel had a team-high seven catches for another 120 yards and one score. Redshirt freshman A. J. Saunders led the Rock overland with 101 yards on 11 carries. Saunders came off the bench to score on runs of one and 22 yards. For Mansfield, backup quarterback Tyler Blakeslee passed for 101 yards with a 6-for-15 effort, while reserve running back Tucker Berry added another 85 yards on 19 carries to the Mountaineer offensive effort.