Skipping The Sidelines by Bill Albright

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"Skipping The Sidelines"
By Bill Albright

Archives: 09/09/2006 09/16/2006 09/23/2006

Small College Football
Week Ending Capsule for September 30, 2006

It was the first full week of conference action in the President's Athletic Conference where six of the seven teams were involved in PAC games.

Thiel, Waynesburg and Grove City came out on top, while the seventh team in the conference, Washington & Jefferson, had the day off.

In the PSAC, a dozen teams opened up conference play, while Bloomsburg and Shippensburg found themselves involved in a key non-conference battle.

Here is a closer look at how those games unfolded:

PAC

Grove City 21, Westminster 20: For the Grove City Wolverines, it was the thrill of victory, while for the Westminster Titans, it was the agony of defeat as the Wolverines defeated the Titans for the first time in the last 11 meetings between the two schools.

Westminster scored on its first possession for a 7-0 lead, but the Wolverines came back to take a 14-7 lead with a pair of touchdowns. The Titans tied the game at 14-all midway through the fourth quarter, but then the fireworks exploded.

With slightly more than three minutes left and the Titans owning the football inside their own 10-yard line, quarterback Kevin Franz was sacked by GCC defensive tackle Justin Fowler. When Kranz coughed up the ball, Wolverine linebacker Bill Waugh pounced on the loose ball at the Titan 6-yard stripe.

"I was just dropping back into pass coverage and Jordan Johnston and Ryan Rylands both nailed the quarterback and the ball came out," explained Waugh about the play. "I just went over, jumped on it and held on for my life."

On the third play following the turnover, GCC quarterback Andrew DiDonato called his own number from two yards out for the go-ahead touchdown before Greg Collins' third PAT of the game made it Grove City 21, Westminster 14.

"It was supposed to be a swing pass to Matt (Weaver), but I saw the 'D' back come up and jump on it so I decided that I was just going to take it myself."

For the game, DiDonato completed 10 of 22 attempts for 100 yards and a pair of scores while also adding another 34 yards on the ground.

Doing just about everything but coaching the special teams, Weaver had an outstanding day at the office.

A freshman like his teammate DiDonato, Weaver rushed five times for 28 yards, caught six passes for another 75 yards and a score before capping his performance with a punt return for 22 yards and three kickoff returns for another 49 yards. For the game, Weaver finished with 174 all-purpose yards, and he did all that despite spending some time on the sideline in the first half.

"I take my opportunities as they come to me," said a modest Weaver. "I feel real confident with the guys who are in front of me and when I get the ball, I just run to green. I got hit on the side of the head in the first half and felt a little nauseas, but I was able to come back in the second half. They (the linemen did a great job for us today."

Down, but not completely out, the Titans marched down the field in the final two minutes of the game to get within a point of the Wolverines on a Franz to Brian Becker 5-yard toss for the score with 24 seconds on the clock. A big play in the march was a Franz pass that was tipped in the air by a GCC defender before falling into the hands of Titan receiver Jason Discello on a fourth-and-13 play from the Westminster 29.

However, as fate would have it for the Titans following the touchdown, the conversion attempt from placement was wide to the right, and the Wolverines dodged the final bullet to preserve the win.

For the Titans, Franz completed 28 of 36 passes for 295 yards and all three Westminster scores. Leading tacklers in the game for the Titans were Josh Weese and Jordan Blinn with 10 stops each, while Ian Minster and Waugh led the Wolverines, each posting eight tackles.

Thiel 49, Bethany 7: After escaping with an overtime win last week against Thomas More, the Tomcats put it all together to pound the Bison to move to 2-0 in PAC outings. The Tomcats rolled up 494 yards of total offense led by sophomore tailback Dan Hess who rushed for a season high 121 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The Thiel defensive unit was also tough on the Bison as it held Bethany to just 204 total yards, only one on the ground on 21 attempts. In addition to Hess's game, Thiel's junior tailback Steve Minton added 85 yards and a pair of scores. With the pair of touchdowns, Minton tied Ron Leuschen (1982) as the school's all-time rushing touchdown leader with 31. Senior quarterback Billy Blankenship had a solid day, completing 16 of 22 attempts for 184 yards and one touchdown. Blankenship's favorite target was Marc LaScola with eight catches for 67 yards, one of LaScola's receptions for 28 yards and a touchdown. Senior cornerback Steve Boyle led the Tomcat defense with five tackles and a pair of interceptions, while defensive end Chris Lorber chipped in with four stops and a pair of sacks. For Bethany, Brett Owens finished at 16-for-28 for 153 yards and a touchdown. Owens was intercepted three times. T. J. Parker was Owens' favorite target with nine catches for 73 yards. Leading the Bison defense was Cliff Anderson with 10 tackles and a fumble recovery.

Waynesburg 23, Thomas More 16: The Yellow Jackets converted a pair of Thomas More turnovers into two touchdowns early in this game before cruising to the win. Thomas More lost a pair of fumbles deep in its own territory, setting up a short field for Waynesburg that led to touchdown drives of eight and 25 yards. Saints quarterback Trevor Stellman completed 15 of 23 attempts for 188 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while his favorite receiver was Chase Weber with five catches good for 85 yards. Defensively for TM, Bo Allen, Brad Steinmetz and Mark Carlisle each recorded eight tackles, six of those solo shots. Waynesburg running back Ryan Abels scored the 36th touchdown of his career, one short of the Yellow Jacket record of 37 held by Rich Dahar. Jacket linebacker Brendon Steele posted a game-high nine tackles, Steele followed by Mike Czerwien with seven, including three stops for loss. Waynesburg didn't draw a single flag in the win, and both teams converted on all five of their red zone opportunities.

PSAC

California 51, Lock Haven 7: The Vulcans took care of establishing the winner in this game early as they erupted for 37 points in just the first quarter. Sophomore running back Brandon Lombardy rushed for a pair of touchdowns on runs of eight and 89 yards. He finished with 119 yards on just 10 carries, moving into a tie for 15th place on the Vulcan's all-time touchdown list with Pete Gialames who scored 17 from 1955-58. While the offense was dominating in the first period, so was the Cal defense as Willie Walker returned an interception 15 yards for a score before the Vulcans blocked a punt out of the end zone for a safety. In the second half, the Cal defense kept the pressure on when cornerback Josh Kemp added a 50-yard interception run for a score before scooting into the end zone with a 24-yard fumble return for another six points. Lock Haven was led by freshman quarterback Ilio DiPaolo who finished with 174 yards passing on a 21-for-37 effort, but the LHU running game was almost nonexistent with only four net yards for the game. DiPaolo's 7-yard scoring toss to Andrew Breiner was the only score the Bald Eagles could muster in the loss. Adam Lawrence was LHU's leading receiver with seven catches for 80 yards. Shane Barie led the Bald Eagles with four tackles, senior linebacker Derek Harsch following with three stops, one for a loss.

Bloomsburg 35, Shippensburg 14: Leading by a 28-14 count, the Huskies salted away this win when quarterback Dan Latorre hit Brahin Bilal with a 53-yard scoring hookup inside the 10-minute mark of the fourth period. The Red Raiders had cut their deficit to just 10 points minutes earlier when Gave Maiocco hit Patrick Ferguson for a touchdown followed by a Walter Crump 2-point conversion. The touchdown by Ferguson was the 15th of his career, moving him into the ninth spot on Ship's all-time receiving list. The Ferguson six-pointer also snapped a touchdown drought by the Red Raiders that spanned nine quarters. For the day, Brittingham rushed for 154 yards and three touchdowns. With his three rushing touchdowns, Husky running back Brittingham moved into second place on Bloomsburg all-time list with his total of 57. Although Husky quarterback completed only nine of 16 attempts for 123 yards, he did rush for a 48-yard touchdown to give the Huskies a 21-6 lead just before halftime. The rushing TD for Latorre was the first of his young career. Defensively for Bloomsburg, Rob Biernat led the way with eight tackles and one interception, while Matt Smith added seven stops including a sack. For Bloomsburg coach Danny Hale, the victory was his 150th of his outstanding career, giving him a mark of 150-53-1 in his career spanning 19 years. Hale's mark at Bloomsburg now stands at 110-40-1.

East Stroudsburg 61, Mansfield 7: The Warrior defense dominated this game from the opening kickoff as they held the Mountaineers without a first down until 11 minutes remained in the third period. Mansfield could only show a total of 38 rushing yards for the game. Senior tailback Matt Brunetti tied his career-high with 92 yards overland while scoring three touchdowns, but the big noise was made by All-American quarterback Jimmy Terwilliger and senior wideout Evan Prall. Terwilliger passed for a pair of touchdowns, while he also ran for another two scores. For the game, Terwilliger wound up with 16 completions on 26 attempts for 237 yards and two scores, while Prall hauled in seven balls for 106 yards and one touchdown. When Prall caught a 28-yard aerial from Terwilliger in the second period, he passed Tim Strenfel for the top spot in career receptions. Terwilliger tied the NCAA Division II mark for the number of games throwing at least one TD pass at 41. Stroudsburg racked up 507 total yards in the win, while the defense only allowed Mansfield 151. For the Mountaineers, quarterback Tyler Blakeslee completed 16 of 33 attempts for 113 yards and one score. Rodney Davis was Blakeslee's favorite target with six catches for 36 yards.

West Chester 53, Cheyney 12: West Chester junior running back Osagie Osunde had a career day against the Wolves as he rushed for 205 yards and four touchdowns in the win. For Osunde, who amassed his 205 yards on just 18 totes, the total put him in the 14th spot on the WC all-time single-game rushing list. Despite facing a huge deficit, the Wolves managed to snap West Chester's streak of not having allowed a single point in seven straight quarters when quarterback Derrick Murry hit Dominique Curry with a 5-yard scoring toss in the first half. Curry finished with 10 catches for 169 yards and one score, while Murry completed 21 of his 35 passes for 191 yards and the one touchdown. With the Ram running game in high gear en route to racking up 408 yards and seven scores, quarterback Bill Zwaan only threw seven passes, but he completed five of them for 89 yards and one score. Michael Washington was the leading receiver for WC with a pair of grabs for 39 yards. For the Rams, the defense picked off four passes for the second straight game, led by redshirt freshman cornerback Devon Johnson with a pair of "picks". Senior strong safety also picked off a Cheyney pass to go along with his forced fumble, a pass defense and three tackles.

IUP 23, Edinboro 20: The Indians literally put the foot into football to win this game as place-kicker Nick Wallace nailed a 25-yard field goal as time ran out in regulation to tie the game before he tallied the game-winner from 37 yards out in the first overtime period. The win by IUP snaps a 3-game losing streak to the Fighting Scots. IUP seemed to be in a position to cruise to the win in regulation with a 17-6 lead, but Edinboro battled back to go on top by a 20-17 count with a pair of touchdowns in less than six minutes in the fourth period. After a tough outing in a loss to Millersville last week, IUP quarterback Kevin Weidl bounced back to complete 14 of 28 pass attempts for 174 yards, while Chris Morgan rushed 24 times for another 116 yards to lead the Indians. For Morgan, topping the century mark was the fourth time in as many games he has turned that trick this season, pushing his total of eclipsing the century mark to 18 games. Rob Plowman came up with a pair of sacks to push his season total to 5.5, while Anthony Guerra returned to the lineup to lead IUP with 10 tackles. Mike Reid recovered two Scot fumbles, returning one for a touchdown, while he also intercepted a pass. Terrence Jackson led the Indians with 11 tackles. For the Scots, Trevor Harris completed 15 of 25 attempts for 272 yards and two scores. He was intercepted once. Harris's favorite target was Ryan Valasek who caught four passes for 115 yards. For Valasek, it was his second straight 100-plus receiving game and the third of his career.

Millersville 45, Kutztown 17: Darnell Johnson rushed for a career-high 244 yards and two scores and Dan Csencsitz passed for four more touchdowns to lead the Marauders to their easy win. John scored on runs of one and 5 yards, carrying the mail 27 times during his career day. Csencsitz only threw 16 passes, but he made the most of the opportunities by completed 13 of them for 192 yards. His scoring passes of 37, 21 and 39 yards were distributed among three different receivers. Kutztown was led by tight end Jason Henley who caught three passes for 75 yards and one score, while quarterback Kyle Spotts completed 16 of 26 attempts for 190 yards. Spotts was intercepted twice. Brett Harbach was Spotts' favorite receiver for 56 yards, while Maurice Adams led the Golden Bears overland with 60 yards on 20 tries. Despite losing by the 28-point margin, Kutztown only trailed by seven (17-10) at halftime. Defensively, Millersville was led by Matt Buck with 11 stops, while Dan Chominski led all defenders for the Golden Bears with a dozen tackles, including one for loss. Brian Bingnear added nine tackles to the KU defensive effort.

Slippery Rock 31, Clarion 7: Nate Crookshank passed for a pair of touchdowns and ran for a third as he led The Rock to its fourth straight win of the season. Crookshank, who completed 12 of 19 attempts for 155 yards and the two scores, also had a good supporting cast en route to the win. Damarcus Cleckley rushed for 91 yards and one score, while Colin Golden caught six of Crookshank's aerials for 69 yards and one score. Clarion struck first in the game when Eddie Emanuel scored from two yards out. Emanuel finished the game with 170 yards rushing on 25 tries. Defensively, the Rock was led by Tyler Boudreau and Jared Palmer with a half dozen stops each, while Boudreau and Cory Lacek each recovered a Clarion bobble. Lacek was also credited with a forced fumble and Mike White came up with a quarterback sack. For Clarion, Kevin Rigby had a career night on defense as he came up with 13 tackles (4 for loss), two forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery and one interception.