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 09/30/2006

Small College Football
Week Ending Capsule for October 7, 2006

It was a full day of action for the teams Saturday in the President's Athletic Conference, the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference as well as in the Middle Atlantic Conference.

Here are how those games unfolded:

PAC

Bethany 34, Grove City 28: Bethany quarterback Brent Owens tossed a pair of touchdown passes to freshman wideout Matt Cruse as the Bison defeated the Grove City Wolverines, 34-28, in a PAC offensive shootout. The win was the first for the Bison in PAC outings since the 2002 season, while it also ended a drought against the Wolverines that spanned nine years. The last time Bethany won the meeting was in 1996 by a 17-13 final. In addition to winning the game, Bethany held a 361-295 edge in total yards, including a wide 219-109 through the airways. Owens was 12-for-20 for 145 yards and the pair of scores. Although Cruse finished with five catches for 71 yards and his pair of scores, the leading receiver for the Bison was T. J. Parker with seen grabs for 64 yards. Parker now shows 142 receptions, just three shy of the all-time Bethany mark of 145. After showing minus yardage one week ago in a loss to Thiel, the Bison ground had six runners with positive yardage led by Alex Bota with 10 carries for 50 yards. For Grove City, Andrew DiDonato completed 15 of 25 passes for 109 yards and a touchdown while also running for another score, while Matt Weaver led the Wolverine ground game with 67 yards on nine tries. GCC junior linebacker Bill Waugh topped the Wolverine list with 14 tackles. On the other side of the ledger, Bethany boasted three players with double-figure totals in tackles led by senior linebacker Cliff Anderson with 14, while freshman defensive back Michael Salters and senior linebacker Brian Wineberg each counted 10 stops.

Washington & Jefferson 27, Thiel 23: The President's rallied from a 23-14 deficit in the third period to down the defending PAC champions. Despite coming out on the short end of the final score, the Tomcats held slight advantages in both total yards (387-354) and passing yards (272-215). Senior quarterback Billy Blankenship finished his day with 22 completions on 29 attempts for 236 yards and a touchdown while also carrying the mail overland 11 times for another 46 yards and a pair of scores. The W&J defense was stingy as it held Steve Minton to just 45 yards on 13 carries. Minton also caught a pair of passes for 24 yards and one of the Tomcat's touchdowns. For W&J, quarterback Bobby Swallow also enjoyed a good day through the airlanes as he connected on 19 of 25 tries for 215 yards and two scores. Ryan Mendel led the President's on the ground as he eclipsed the century mark with 105 yards on 23 lugs while scoring a touchdown. Dan Brodland led the Presidents defensively with eight tackles (3.5 for losses), a pair of sacks and a forced fumble. Ryan Mullen and Aaron Bane each added seven stops. For Thiel, senior linebacker Jeff Wagner finished with a game-high 12 tackles and a forced fumble, while Wagner's teammates -- Chris Hlinka and Robert Hughes -- each added seven stops and a forced fumble to the Tomcat defensive effort. With his team trailing 23-21, W&J place-kicker Kyle Sidebotham gave the Presidents a 24-23 lead with a 20-yard field goal before giving his team a little more breathing room with a 25-yarder with 2:07 left on the clock. Thiel, a.k.a. the "Cardiac Kids", managed to drive 64 yards on a dozen plays in the final minutes, before the President's defense stiffened at their own 7-yard line to seal the deal.

Thomas More 42, Westminster 14: The Saints were perfect on their first seven possessions as they scored each time they touched the ball en route to their lopsided win. Thomas More literally ran over the Titans as they racked up 288 of their total of 451 yards on the ground, led by freshman Monty Collier with 142 yards on 16 carries and three touchdowns, all career high's for the "puppy". Sophomore Zach Martin also had a career-best with 55 yards on a dozen totes. Saint quarterback Trevor Stellman finished with 12 completions on 16 attempts for 140 yards and three scores. While the Saints were marching on overland, their defensive unit was holding the Titans to just 27 rushing yards for the game. Senior Mark Carlisle, who entered the game averaging double figures in tackles, finished with a half dozen as no less than 31 TM players had at least one stop in the game. For the Titans, their biggest noise was made by quarterback Kevin Franz who threw for 243 yards on a 23-of-37 day. Franz's favorite target was Brett Ziegler with eight catches for 44 yards. Sophomore linebacker Jordan Blinn led the weary Titan defense with nine tackles and a forced fumble. while freshman linebacker Brad Meehan and freshman defensive back Tyler Kelley each totaled eight stops.

MAC

Wilkes 37, Lycoming 7: The Colonels were all over the Warriors in a battle of teams battling for MAC honors. The handwriting might have been put on the wall on Lyco's first possession when the Warriors coughed up the ball on the opening kickoff. From there, Wilkes needed only two plays to put the game's first points on the board. The two teams could only muster 123 total yards in the first half, but the Colonels extended their halftime lead to 10-0 with a field goal. Following the break, Wilkes went three-and-out, but on their next four possessions, they found the end zone to blow the game wide open. The only Lycoming score came at the end of a sustained drive when halfback John Seese hit freshman wideout Bradley Shellenberger for a 14-yard scoring strike, completing a 6-play, 61-yard drive. The Colonels racked up a total of 352 yards in the game, 151 on the ground and 201 through the air. Quarterback Al Karaffa completed half (13-of-26) of his pass attempts for 168 yards, Jim Jordan led the Colonels with four catches for 47 yards, while Stephon Burgette added 67 yards on just two grabs. On the ground, Wilkes was led by Tom Andreopoulos with 58 yards on 16 carries, while Jason Nabba added 54 yards on 18 tries. Lycoming was limited to just 120 total yards, only 14 of those coming on the ground. Quarterback Glenn Smith hit on 10 of 22 passing attempts for 92 yards, Jeremy Ebert catching three balls from Smith for 41 yards and Tony Kopp adding another 39 yards on three touches. Keith Cavallotti, Tyler Henninger and Kyle Follweiler had five tackles apiece to lead the Colonels, Valallotti finishing with four tackles for loss and three sacks. For Lycoming, leading the way on defense were Mike DiPlacido, Ryan Repko and Dustin Heintzleman with eight stops each.

Lebanon Valley 29, FDU-Florham 19: Adam Brossman caught three TD passes and broke Lebanon Valley's record for career touchdowns in the win. Lebanon Valley, which withstood a late rally by FDU, won for the first time on the road. Quarterback Dan Kelly completed 16-of-22 passes for a season high 287 yards, Kelly surpassing the 5,000-yard plateau for his career. While completing his 3-TD game, Brossman finished with nine catches for 180 yards, just 11 yards shy of his career-best. Brossman now has 2,231 yards, just 133 yards shy of the LV all-time record. Sophomore receiver Sean Donovan added another 104 yards through the airways on five catches, Donovan scoring his first career receiving touchdown. Making his 2006 debut, senior tailback David Ochoa rushed 15 times for 45 yards. FDU cut their deficit to just four points when they turned a blocked punt into a field goal. Linebacker Brian Cottone led the Flying Dutchmen on defense with a game-high 10 tackles, four of his stops resulting in lost yardage for FDU. Cottone also had a pair of sacks and one pass break-up.

Widener 33, Albright 12: Junior Mike Schmidt caught a pair of touchdown passes and running back Khalee Prothro rushed for 164 yards on 21 tries to lead Widener to its win. Widener built up a 30-0 lead before Albright dented the scoring column on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Tanner Kelly to Justin West on the final play of the third period. Widener quarterback Matt Campbell completed eight of 12 attempts for 116 yards before leaving the game with an injury. Schmidt ended the contest with five catches for 79 yards. Tod Fairlie and Mike McFadden led the Widener defense that limited Albright to just 96 yards rushing with 10 tackles apiece, both Fairlie and McFadden registering seven solo stops in their total. For Albright, Kelly finished his strong day throwing the football with 32 completions on 47 attempts for 334 yards. With Kelly's big day, the Lions, although they lost the game, held a 430-389 edge in total offense. Nate Romig was Kelly's favorite target, Romig coming up with 11 balls for 117 yards.

Delaware Valley 39, Moravian 0: Although you might not know who let the 'Dogs out, it was easy to see who was responsible for keeping the 'Dogs penned in. It was the DV defensive unit. While his defensive counterparts were tossing the shutout at the Greyhounds, freshman quarterback Mike Isgro threw for 302 yards and three touchdowns. When the final seconds ticked off the clock, the DV defenders had only allowed Moravian 84 yards total offense. Isgro, who has been the Aggie starter from the get go, completed 20 of 31 passes that included scoring strikes of 21, 15 and 52 yards. Isgro also put his legs to good use as he rushed eight times for another 67 yards, almost twice as many yards as Moravian had (34). The senior wideout tandem of David Carmon and Don Marshall led the Aggies through the airlanes as they combined for a dozen catches for 244 yards and four touchdowns. Individually, Carmon hauled in eight balls for 169 yards and one score, while Marshall caught four passes for 75 yards and three scores. With his eight receptions, Carmon became Del Valley's all-time leading receiver with 198 career receptions. For the dominating Del Valley defensive unit, Anthony Silver led the way with seven tackles and a sack, while Justin Porter added a half dozen stops and half a sack. Kevin Bliss had a pair of "picks" and two pass breakups, while Matt Murphy had one interception and one sack. For Moravian, Alex Smith-Constantine and Erik Brinkerhoff led the way with 10 and eight tackles respectively. Carl Robinson picked off a DV pass in the end zone to end yet another potential scoring opportunity.

Juniata 34, Susquehanna 9: With the win, the Eagles snapped a 17-game losing streak. Leading the Juniata offense was Duane Ehredt, Jr. who rushed for 119 yards and three first-half touchdowns. Ehredt scored on runs of 5, 4 and 2 yards as the Eagles built up a 27-0 lead in the second period and they never looked back. Freshman quarterback Keith Howell debuted for Susquehanna in the second quarter and ran for 172 yards, the third-highest rushing total for a quarterback in Susquehanna history. However, on the down side, the Crusader quarterbacks tossed four interceptions and their special teams were guilty of two roughing-the-kicker infractions to keep drives alive. Complementing Ehredt's rushing effort was Jay Leonard who completed 12 of 21 attempts for 156 yards and a pair of touchdowns. On the other side of the field, Crusader signalcaller Derek Pope could only show a 3-for-8 effort for a meager 29 yards before leaving the game in the second period with an injury. In addition to his running, Howell finished with 5-for-18 through the airways for 36 yards. He also tossed one interception. Freshman Dave Paveletz led the Crusaders with 86 yards on 21 carries. As a team, Susquehanna rushed 41 times for 287 yards.

PSAC

Shippensburg 28, Slippery Rock 21: The two teams took turns holding the lead with ties at 7-7, 14-14 and 21-all until the Red Raiders scored the game-winner on a 9-yard scoring pass from quarterback Tony Gomez to Pat Ferguson with 1:40 left in the game. Slippery Rock was guilty of five turnovers to help the Red Raider cause and with the loss, The Rock its 4-game winning streak snapped. The victory was also the 100th for head coach Rocky Rees at Shippensburg, but that was only part of the story. "It is nice to get the 100th win here, but it is even nice to get (win) number three for the season," said Rees after addressing and thanking the Raider band for its support. Leading the Rock with a career-night was running back Travis Sarver who rushed for 121 yards. SRU quarterback Nate Crookshank completed 18 of 23 passes for 141 yards and a touchdown. Crookshank also rushed for a pair of scores, but on the down side, he also tossed three interceptions and coughed up the ball deep in his own territory to set up the winning score by Ferguson. Colin Golden caught seven passes for 48 yards, while Luke Wetzel hauled in four balls for another 51 yards to lead The Rock receiving corp. Defensively, SRU was led by Jared Palmer's 8.5 tackles, while Corey Lacek added 2.5 tackles for loss. For Shippensburg, Aaron Dykes led the balanced attack with 96 yards rushing on 25 totes and a pair of scores, while Gomez finished with an 11-for-18 night for 120 yards and one score. Gomez spread his wealth around as Howard Chavous (3-29), Ferguson (3-29), Walter Crump (2-22) and Pat Devanney (2-22) each caught at least two passes.

IUP 23, Lock Haven 14: The Indians methodically worked their way to a 20-0 lead before the young Eagles rallied to cut their deficit to 20-14 with seven minutes left to play. With the pressure on, the Indians marched down the field to where place-kicker Nick Wallace nailed a33-yard field goal, his third of the game, to put the Indians on top 23-14. LHU tried to move the ball down the field, but their efforts were quickly stopped when Terrence Jackson intercepted an Ilio DiPaolo pass in the final seconds of the game. "I think we are starting to play hard for 60 minutes," said LHU head coach John Klacik. "We just need to start playing smarter. The team didn't give up and when we were down 20-0 at IUP, we were still fighting." For IUP, quarterback Kevin Weidl completed 13 of 28 attempts for 184 yards and one score, while tailback Chris Morgan also topped the century mark for the Indians with 102 yards rushing on 19 tries. Jackson finished with seven tackles for the Indians, while Mike Reid, who recovered a LHU fumble, also posted seven stops. For LHU, David Show led all tacklers with 15 stops, while defensive back Dean Tortorice picked off a Weidl aerial to set up LHU's second touchdown that resulted when DiPaolo hit wideout Rafael Smith from 19 yards out. Corey Gildea also had double figures in tackles with 10, while freshman defensive end Demetrius Wilson had seven tackles, three for loss. The loss marked the 27th time in a row that IUP has defeated the Bald Eagles.

Clarion 21, Cheyney 18: Matt Foradora grabbed a 38-yard scoring pass to end the first half and Dwaon Woodard picked off three Cheyney passes to lead the Golden Eagles to their first win of the season. The victory was also the first for Jay Foster, a long-time defensive coordinator for Slippery Rock before taking over the reins at Clarion. The Eagles delighted a homecoming crowd by blitzing out to a 21-6 halftime lead, but the Wolves battled back to make things interesting down the stretch. Cheney put "MO" on their side when they recovered a fumble on their own 37-yard line at the end of the third period. From there, they drove 67 yards to cut the Clarion lead to 21-12. On Clarion's next possession, they coughed up the ball and the Wolves recovered on the Golden Eagle 28. Four plays later, Cheyney found the end zone to make it Clarion 21, Cheyney 18 before Clarion hung on for the win. For Clarion, Eddie Emanuel rushed 25 times for 150 yards and one score, while quarterback Tyler Heuther completed five of 11 passes for 65 yards and one touchdown. Foradora grabbed four balls for 75 yards and one score. Cheyney amassed 328 yards total offense, 96 overland and 232 in the air. Quarterback Derrick Murry was 16-of-33 for 185 yards and two touchdowns. Murry also ran for another 45 yards and one score. Murry's favorite target was Billy Mitchell who hauled in 10 passes for 47 yards and one 6-pointer. Woodard had a career game for the Clarion defenders with three interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown. He was also credited with defending five passes. Matt Morris had 8 tackles, one for a loss, and Jimmy Simmons posted seven stops, a sack and one tackle-for-loss.

East Stroudsburg 30, Millersville 19: The loss ended Millersville's modest 3-game winning streak. The Marauders cut the ESU lead to 23-19 with 12 minutes left in the fourth period, but the 'Ville defensive unit couldn't do anything to stop the Warrior offense that racked up a total of 559 yards in the game. The potent aerial combination of Jimmy Terwilliger-to-Evan Prall hooked up for the game's first two scores and a 13-0 ESU lead. The Marauders answered back with a little aerial magic of their own when quarterback Dan Csencsitz tossed a 24-yard scoring pass to Derek Fry. Csencsitz finished with 17 completions on 28 attempts good for 263 yards and three touchdowns. After Csencsitz found Andrew Tischbein for a 19-yard scoring effort early in the third period, he hooked up with Isiah Ray early in the fourth quarter to cut the East Stroudsburg lead to 23-19. However, that was as close as Millersville would get as the Terwilliger-to-Prall combination struck one more time. Leading Millersville's offense were Omar Sanders with six catches for 89 yards and Isiah Ray with two catches for 59 yards. Matt Buck led the 'Ville defense with a game-high 13 tackles and a sack, while Marcus Banks also hit double figures with 10 stops. As expected, the Warriors were led by Terwilliger who completed 16 of 36 attempts for 274 yards and three scores. He also rushed 14 times for another 118 yards. Prall wound up with 10 catches for 109 yards and three touchdowns.

California 10, Edinboro 0: For the Vulcans, it was their first shutout since coach John Luckhardt's first game at Cal when the Vulcans tossed a 45-0 shutout at Division III Geneva. For the Fighting Scots, the shutout was the first time since the 2000 campaign when they dropped a 7-0 verdict to Clarion. Cal also snapped a 9-game losing streak at Sox Harrison Stadium dating back to the 1987 season. Edinboro only penetrated Cal territory four times during the 60 minutes and only made it to the red zone once when Brian Mohr stole the ball from the Edinboro running back at the Cal 13. The Vulcan line of Andre Williams, Kirby Griffin and Willie Walker combined to knock down four passes and come up with a pair of sacks. The workhorse of the Cal offense was Brandon Lombardy who rushed 30 times for 126 yards against the best rushing defense in the conference. When Lombardy was running with the ball, quarterback Joe Ruggiero kept the Fighting Scots off balance by completing 22 of 32 passes for 197 yards. Ruggiero spread the wealth around by completing at least one pass to nine different receivers. Senior wideouts Nate Forse and Marc Huddleston each had five receptions for the Vulcans. The best scoring opportunity for Edinboro came on the Scots first possession of the second half when they moved the ball to the Cal 21 where the drive stalled. However, a 38-yard field goal attempt was no good and Edinboro only found themselves in Cal territory one more time in the game.

Bloomsburg 30, West Chester 27: The Huskies built up leads of 17-3, 24-6 and 30-14 before holding off the Rams for the win. Bloomsburg appeared to have the game pretty well under control when Jamar Brittingham scored on a 3-yard run on the first play of the fourth period. However, the Rams were not about to pack it in as they came back with two scores in the final six minutes, largely due to the arm of quarterback Bill Zwaan who tossed touchdown passes of 21 and 48 yards down the stretch, the final score coming with 1:23 showing on the clock. The Rams attempted an onside kick, but Bloomsburg's Phil Riccardi was "Johnny on the spot" as he recovered the attempt and the Huskies ran out the clock. For Bloom, quarterback Dan Latorre finished with 16 completions on 20 attempts for a career-high 273 yards, a pair of touchdowns and no interceptions. Latorre, a Southern Columbia product who knows what a tough ground game is, also ran for a score from 9 yards out. Brittingham also had a solid game by rushing 30 times for 108 yards and his one score. Defensively, the Huskies were led by Tyler Trettin with seven tackles (five solo) and a pass interception. For the Rams, quarterback Zwaan wound up with 21 completions on 34 tries for 264 yards and three scores.

Kutztown 51, Mansfield 7: Quarterback Kyle Spotts passed for three touchdowns and ran for another to lead the Golden Bears to their decisive win. Spotts passed for 205 yards, including TD tosses covering 23, 30 and 23 yards. Elfren Quiles caught both of the TD aerials covering 23 yards, Quiles finishing with five catches for 64 yards. Jason Henley had four grabs for 52 yards and one score, while Brett Harbach caught five passes for 63 yards and returned a Mountaineer punt for a touchdown. On the ground, Maurice Adams rushed for 107 yards on 21 totes, leading the Golden Bears to a game-total of 249 yards. Reserve quarterback Shane Martin scored on a 53-yard run, while fullback Joe Strauss also crossed the goal line for six points. The win was the 12th for KU in its last 13 meetings with Mansfield, and the 51 points was the most scored by a Kutztown team since they posted a 51-14 win over the Mountaineers in 1999. For Mansfield, Kevon Calhoun rushed for 106 yards and scored the Mounties lone TD on a 7-yard run late in the fourth period after Tyler Blakeslee relieved starter Justin Athans and moved the Mounties 76 yards on eight plays. Defensively for the Bears, Cory Porrino had seven tackles and a pair of pass break-ups. Mike Grossi was credited with a half dozen stops, including one for loss and Brent Howard picked off a Mansfield pass. Andrew Turner had a dozen tackles for the Mountaineers.