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
10/07/2006 10/14/2006

Other Feature Articles by Bill : Persistence Pays Off For Tim Devanney

Small College Football
Week Ending Capsule for October 21, 2006

It was another busy week for teams in the President's Athletic Conference, the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference and the Middle Atlantic Conference.

There were the usual expected results, but there were also some surprises that might have gone a long way in determining the regular season champions of the three leagues.

Here is those games unfolded this past weekend:

PSAC

Bloomsburg 31, Mansfield 7: Bloomsburg quarterback Dan Latorre led the Huskies to their win as he threw for 153 yards and one score. For the Huskies, the victory was their seventh in a row. Bloomsburg built up a 28-0 lead before the Mountaineers scored their only points of the game on a 6-yard run by Kevon Calhoun. With the game well in hand, Latorre played less than a half to finish with his 153 yards on a 7-for-11 effort. Leading 28-7 the Huskies set the final when Jon Koenig kicked a career-best 40-yard field goal. With All-American Jamar Brittingham on the shelf with an injury, Josh Heck led the Bloomsburg ground game with 77 yards on 19 tries, while Stefan Adams scored his first collegiate touchdown en route to rushing for 62 yards. Defensively, Bloomsburg was led by Darnell Hayes and Jermaine Booker with seven tackles each. Mansfield, held to just 37 yards total offense in the first half, finished with 139 total yards, including 122 on the ground. Calhoun finished with a game-high 79 yards, while MU quarterback Tyler Blakeslee only attempted seven passes, completing three of his tries for 17 yards. Defensively for Mansfield, Andrew Turner led the way with 11 tackles, freshman Greg Hopkins one behind Turner with his 10 stops and an interception. Freshman Mike Gardier and sophomore Tom Duer each added eight more tackles to the Mountie effort.

IUP 20, Shippensburg 16: For IUP, the defense set it up and the offense took care of the rest as the Indians came from behind in the fourth quarter to pull this one out of the fire. Mike Reid intercepted a Shippensburg pass and Kareem Dutrieuille scored from two yards out following the "pick" to give the Indians the win. IUP, ranked seventh in the Northeast region and 24th nationally, improved to 6-1 overall, 4-0 in the conference. For Shippensburg, the tough loss was its second in a row as IUP tailback Chris Morgan scored with 15 seconds left in 2005 for a 20-15 IUP win. In the most recent win, Morgan rushed 24 times for 106 yards to move his career total versus Shippensburg to 443 yards in three games. IUP quarterback Kevin Weidl complemented Morgan's overland effort by completing 11 of 24 passes for 148 yards that included a 42-yard scoring strike to Dan Pickens.For Ship, quarterback Tony Gomez finished at 18-for-31 for a career-best 312 yards, but was intercepted twice. Gomez is the first Shippensburg quarterback to pass for more than 300 yards since Chris Gicking turned the trick in 1999. Ship running back Walter Crump enjoyed a good day as he hauled in six of Gomez's passes for 165 yards while using his legs to rush for 41 more. Crump became the first Shippensburg player to total more than 100 yards receiving in a game in the past 21 games. Defensively, IUP was led by Quinton Cobb with 10 tackles, Terrence Jackson finishing one behind Cobb with nine. Rob Plowman also came up with a pair of sacks of Gomez in the win. Shippensburg finished with a 424-273 bulge in total offense, but the Red Raiders shot themselves in the foot with four costly turnovers. Shippensburg ventured into the red zone five times, coming away with four scores. However, three of the Raider scores were field goals. With his three field goals, Raider place-kicker Jamie Reder now shows 34 three-pointers in his career, one short of second place on the all-time Ship list. Reder also moved into fourth-place on SU's all-time scoring list with 179 points.

West Chester 49, Kutztown 47: After 59 minutes of frantic offensive explosions, it took a defensive play by Ram cornerback Maurice Garlic to determine the final. Garlic knocked down a 2-point conversion attempt by the Golden Bears in the final minute to set the final. Trailing by 49-41 with less than two minutes remaining, KU marched 80 yards for a score when Kyle Spotts hit Brett Harbach from 19 yards out for the score to set up Garlic's final-second heroics. Senior tailback Brent Steinmetz led the Rams overland with four rushing touchdowns as he compiled 282 all-purpose yards. Steinmetz rushed for 136 yards, caught four passes for 52 yards and returned four kicks for another 32 yards. Steinmetz has now scored eight touchdowns in his last two games. When Steinmetz wasn't running with the ball, quarterback Bill Zwaan was completing 13 of 15 pass attempts for 192 yards and a pair of scores. On the receiving end of the scoring passes were Cody Clark and Mike Washington who finished with a half dozen catches for 85 yards. Leading the WC defense was Lateef Fergusen with 14 total stops, while Jimmy Lewis added nine tackles, including a pair for loss. Although the Golden Bears came out on the short end of the final, Spotts experienced a career day as he passed for 345 yards and four scores. Spotts, whose four touchdown tosses went to four different receivers, also rushed for a 6-pointer. Spotts favorite target was Harbach who caught 11 balls for 136 yards, while Jason Henley and Elfren Quiles each had seven catches for 86 and 78 yards respectively. The two teams only combined for one punt in the game as they scored touchdowns on 14 of the 19 collective possessions. The 901 yards total offense and 96 points were the most in one game at University Field since Slippery Rock beat the Bears 68-38 in 1999.

Edinboro 13, Clarion 0: Needing to give his team a boost, Edinboro tailback Houston Brown rushed for 157 yards and scored the game's only touchdown in the Fighting Scots shutout victory. What makes Brown's effort even more remarkable is that during the first week of the 2006 season, he was named the PSAC Western Division Defensive Player of the Week. However, with injuries and a sluggish offense, Brown made his move to the other side of the football a good one. When Brown scored his touchdown, it broke an Edinboro scoreless streak that spanned nine quarters. The remaining of the scoring was done by Scot place-kicker Kody Robertson with a pair of field goals from 39 and 24 yards away. For Edinboro, the shutout was its second of the season and the second time the Scots have not allowed Clarion a single point, limiting the Golden Eagles to just 167 total yards. Clarion quarterback Tyler Huether was limited to just nine completions on 26 attempts, while the Golden Eagles could only manage 48 yards rushing as Eddie Emanuel, who entered the game as the third-ranked rusher in the PSAC, was held to 23 yards on eight tries. Leading the swarming defensive effort by the Scots was Ben Stroup with nine tackles, three for losses, while Damion Malott had seven tackles, a sack and a fumble recovery. The Scots finished with 286 total yards, 168 on the ground. Trevor Harris completed with 11 completions on 21 attempts for 118 yards, Harris's favorite target Ryan Valasek hauling in a half dozen balls for 79 yards. Valasek has now caught at least one pass in 23 straight games. Pierre Odom led Clarion's receiving ranks with five grabs for 85 yards. Clarion's defense was led by Matt Morris who had 15 tackles, while defensive tackle Jimmy Simmons had five more hits with five tackles for loss.

Slippery Rock 35, Lock Haven 0: The game stats in this one were just as dominating as the 35-0 final score. The Rock outgained LHU by a 420-45 margin, they held a 22-3 edge in first downs and the time of possession was also huge in favor of SRU at 36:09-23:51. The win snapped a 2-game losing skid by The Rock, while the loss extended the Bald Eagles' losing skid to four games. For SRU, quarterback Nate Crookshank completed 16 of 21 attempts for 171 yards and a pair of scores, while Crookshank enjoyed a good supporting cast led by Travis Sarver who rushed for 98 yards and the game's first score. Complementing Sarver's effort was A. J. Saunders with a pair of touchdowns, while Colin Golden caught five passes for another 57 yards and one score. Leading the SRU defense that limited the Bald Eagles to minus 11 yards rushing was Jerome Whiting with four tackles, one for loss, while Jared Palmers made the most of his three tackles as two of them were for losses. Lock Haven's only scoring threat of the game came after SRU mishandled a punt on the SRU 21-yard line. However, four plays netted the Eagles nine yards and that was as close as they got to the end zone. The shutout was the second of the year for defensive coordinator Shawn Lutz and his crew. The last time The Rock posted a pair of foes was in 1973. With the victory, SRU head coach Dr. George Mihalik is one win shy of tying N. Kerr Thompson for the most wins as a SRU head football coach. LHU head coach John Klacik used a two-quarterback approach in the game, starter Ilio DiPaolo finishing with an 8-for-12 day for only 12 yards, while reserve Jason Eby completed five of 12 attempts for 44 yards. Rafael Smith caught five balls for 30 yards for LHU. Leading the Bald Eagle defense that spent most of the day on the field was Derek Harsch with 13 tackles, while Shane Barie and Corey Gildea came up with eight and 6.5 tackles respectively.

California 41, Millersville 0: The Vulcans never allowed the Marauders to get into the game as they tossed their second shutout in the last three games. Cal quarterback Joe Ruggiero threw for a season-best 282 yards and three touchdowns before departing late in the third period. In the first meeting between the two schools since 1988, the Vulcan dominance was evident in the final numbers as Cal amassed a huge total of 640 yards (315 rushing, 325 passing), while the Vulcan defense was just as impressive as the offense, holding the Ville offense to just 75 total yards, 64 on the ground and just 11 through the air. When Ruggiero was not busy completing 21 of his 29 attempts en route to his career day, the Cal ground game was in the very capable hands of Brandon Lombardy who led the way with 164 yards on just 19 lugs. Lombardy, who now shows 1,058 yards for the season, became the fourth player in CU history to rush for 1,000 yards in a single season. So dominant was the Cal defense that Marauder running back Brad Lentz was held to 36 yards on 10 tries, while quarterback Dan Csencsitz could only complete two of 11 attempts for a meager 11 yards. California scored on seven of the first eight times it touched the ball. Senior wideout Marc Huddleston, who posted just the second 100-yard kickoff return for a score last week against Slippery Rock, caught five balls for 94 yards in the win. Leading the dominating Cal defense were Josh Zunic and Brian Mohr, each with five total stops (four solos each). Completing Cal's total dominance in the win was their huge advantage in time of possession (36:41-22:23).

East Stroudsburg 48, Cheyney 7: The Warriors scored 38 unanswered points in the second half to pull away for the win. ESU quarterback Jimmy Terwilliger completed 18 of 27 passes for 197 yards and three touchdowns, while the Warrior defense was all over Cheyney, holding the Wolves to just 137 yards passing and minus 34 yards on the ground. East Stroudsburg racked up 320 yards of total offense in winning for the fifth straight time. Evan Prall caught five of Terwilliger's passes for 58 yards and one score, while Matt Brunetti added four receptions for 45 yards in addition to rushing nine times for another 63 yards.

PAC

Westminster 49, Bethany 13: The Titans rolled over the Bison, posting their biggest margin of victory since they defeated Urbana 55-7 in 1997 as a member of the NAIA. While rolling up 508 yards of total offense, seven different Titans scored touchdowns. Coming into the game, the Westminster defense had been allowing more than 400 yards of total offense to their opponents, but in this win, the Titan defenders held the Bison to just 209 total yards. Leading the offensive assault by the Titans was quarterback Kevin Franz as he completed 18 of 28 pass attempts for 212 yards and a pair of scores while also rushing six times for another 25 yards, including a late touchdown. When Franz wasn't busy filling the air with footballs, Nick McKolosky and Joshua Kutzner were handling the overland duties, McKolosky rushing for 61 yards on 10 totes, while Kutzner also had 61 yards rushing on just six touches. Defensively, Westminster was treated to a defensive touchdown when Josh Weese picked off a Bethany pass and returned the theft 64 yards to "the house". Jake Buzard, who came into the game with 77 career receptions, scored his first career touchdown on a 15-yard hookup with Franz. Buzard finished with three catches for 50 yards. Titan reserve quarterback Brett Myers only completed a pair of passes, but one of those was a shovel pass to Chad Rosatelli good for 80 yards and a touchdown. Weese and Mike Cacchione led the Titans with four tackles each as no less than 25 Westminster defenders were credited with at least one stop in the lopsided win.

Waynesburg 34, Thiel 24: Waynesburg jumped out to a 21-0 first-quarter lead, but then had to hold off the defending PAC champion Tomcats for the 10-point win. The Yellow Jackets extended their lead to 28-3 in the third period on a quarterback sneak by Tres Cobb, but from that point on, the Tomcats went on a 21-3 scoring spurt to get back into the game. The Tomcats had a chance to tie the game, but a Billy Blankenship pass was intercepted by Anthony Taylor and returned the theft inside the Thiel 20-yard line. While racking up their 28-3 lead, the Jackets outgained Thiel 206-79, 129 of their yards coming overland. Leading the assault was the tandem of Ryan Abels and Eric Daniels. Abels rushed for 103 yards and a pair of scores, while Daniels lugged 16 times for 88 yards. The Yellow Jackets converted on seven of 12 third-down situations and reached the red zone a half dozen times, coming away with points each time. Trailing by the 28-3 margin, the Thiel comeback was spearheaded by Blankenship with a pair of touchdown tosses of 47 yards to Tim Van Horn and eight yards on Marc LaScola. With Waynesburg leading 31-24, Jacket place-kicker Ben Popson sealed the deal when he drilled a 24-yard field goal with less than three minutes on the clock. The Popson 3-pointer was set up by an interception of a Blankenship pass by Anthony Taylor who had a pair of "picks" totaling 83 interception return yards. Tailback Dan Hess led Thiel's ground game with 59 yards on nine tries.

Washington & Jefferson 52, Grove City 18: W&J running back Ryan Mendel had a career day as he rushed for a career-best five touchdowns to lead the President's to their win. He finished with 130 yards on 24 totes. For the game, the Prexies rolled up 483 yards of total offense. Mendel wasn't the only big noise for the President's as place-kicker Kyle Sidebotham because the school's all-time leader in kick scoring with 261 points and 28 field goals during his outstanding career. For W&J, it was the eighth straight win over GCC. The Wolverines only trailed 14-12 as a result of a pair of touchdown passes by freshman signalcaller Andrew DiDonato, but when quarterback Bobby Swallow found wideout David Ravida open for a 12-yard scoring strike in the second period, it marked the start of a 38-6 W&J scoring spree and the President's never looked back. Swallow completed 12 of 17 passes for 200 yards and the pair of scores, while reserve running backs Josh Linton and Kevin Mathews added respective totals of 80 and 61 yards to the President total. Junior wideout Tom McCafferty caught three of Swallow's throws for 83 yards. Defensively, the Presidents were led by Cory Walsh with 10 tackles (7 solos), while linebacker Aaron Bane chipped in with seven more stops and a quarterback sack. So suffocating was the W&J defense that it only allowed the Wolverines 15 snaps in the second half. DiDonato finished with a good game at 17-of-24 for 193 yards and one score, but the GCC ground game was held in check as Matt Weil could only muster 34 yards on eight attempts. Freshman wideout Matt Weaver caught a team-best six passes for 39 yards, while split end Scott Fichter pulled down five balls from DiDonato for 84 years. Defensively, the Wolverines were paced by Shane Coughlin with 14 stops, junior linebacker Bill Waugh adding another 10 tackles and one sack to the GCC effort. Chris Schwamberger also intercepted a pass for the Wolverines.

Thomas More 20, Huntington 9: For TM, quarter back Trevor Stellman threw for 384 yards, one shy of the school record for passing yards in a single game. Stellman was 24-for 39 with two touchdowns and one interception. His primary target was Chase Weber who snared seven passes for 164 yards and one touchdown, while junior John Resch hit the century mark with 100 yards on four grabs. Senior Mark Carlisle had a team-high 11 tackles for the Saints, eight of Carlisle's stops of the solo variety. Chris Willis added six tackles and had three pass break-ups and Terence Toone picked off a Huntington pass.

MAC

Wilkes 17, Moravian 0: With the win, the Colonels take over sole possession of the top spot in the conference standings. Junior quarterback Al Karaffa and wideout Jim Jordan made a lot of noise as they hooked up on a pair scoring passes for the only touchdowns in the game. Moravian wasted its best scoring opportunity of the game when they took over following a turnover on the Colonel 38 and moved to the 6-yard line where the drive stalled when a Brian Reckenbeil field goal was blocked. Behind a 16-yard connection from Karaffa to Stephon Burgette and a 53-yard run by Tom Andreopoulos, the Colonels maneuvered their way into the end zone for the game's first score and they never looked back. For the game, Karaffa completed 13 of 20 passes for 203 yards. Burgette caught six of Karaffa's passes for 61 yards and Jordan was on the receiving end of five tosses for 134 yards and both scores. Andreopoulos led the Wilkes ground game with 128 yards on 20 attempts. Kyle Follweiler led Wilkes with 10 tackles, Tyler Henning adding nine stops, three for losses and a pair of sacks. Cliff Garr had eight tackles and a fumble recovery to pace the Greyhound defensive effort. Jayson Williams was close behind Garr with seven tackles and a pair of sacks.

Susquehanna 17, Delaware Valley 10: Dave Paveletz rushed for 110 yards and one score, while Eddie Jones picked off three passes as the Crusaders upset the two-time defending champion Aggies. Paveletz, who rushed 32 times en route to the win, helped the Crusaders hold onto the pigskin for nearly 39 minutes of the game. For DV, starting quarterback Mike Isgro left the game with an injury, but when he returned he was intercepted by Shawn Rafferty as the Aggies suffered their fifth turnover of the game. For SU, quarterback Justin Wutti finished with 14 completions on 22 attempts for 133 yards, while Wutti's favorite target was Jim Owen who made six catches for 52 yards, Wutti also finding Ravi Kantha four times for another 42 yards. Defensively, the Crusaders were led by Rob Hauke and Damian Buggy with a half dozen stops each. Isgro and his backup, Joe McGonagle combined for a 12-for-30 passing effort good for 112 yards and four interceptions. Three of the four interceptions were turned in by Eddie Jones who became the first Crusader to turn the "hat trick" since Jeremy Zeisloft had three "picks" against Lycoming in 1996. David Carmon and Don Marshall each caught four passes, but for only a combined total of 88 yards. Jake Sheffield had a dozen totes for 59 yards and one score. Travis Albanesisu led the DV defensive effort with 10 tackles, one sack and a forced fumble. Anthony Silver also had 10 stops and a forced fumble for the Aggies.

Lebanon Valley 15, Lycoming 9: Freshman safety Jeff Ochoa and junior defensive tackle Kevin Krause led a host of LV tacklers to stop Lyco quarterback Glenn Smith short of the goal line on the final play of the game to preserve the win. For the Dutchmen, the win was their first-ever against the Warriors, snapping a 21-game loss to the charges of coach Frank Girardi. Lycoming, who scored all of its points on three Mike Monastra field goals, has now failed to score an offensive touchdown against LV in the last two games between the schools. Trailing 15-9 with time running out, Smith completed five passes that moved the Warriors to the LV 7-yard line. A pass interference call against LV moved the ball to a first-and-goal at the 2-yard line with three seconds left. That is when Smith and Company ran a quarterback draw that was stuffed by Ochoa, Krause and others as time ran out. For Lycoming, John Seese rushed for 96 tough yards on 23 carries. Smith threw for 201 yards and ran for another 30 as the Warriors doubled up on LV in total offense by a 342-171 margin. Smith's favorite targets in the game were Tony Kopp who caught five passes for 58 yards, while freshman wideout Brad Shellenberger was close behind Kopp with four catches for 45 yards. Mistakes, particular in the red zone, hampered the Warriors all day. A holding penalty negated an apparent Smith score on Lyco's opening possession before an interception in the end zone halted yet another Warrior potential scoring effort. The third major miscue occurred when Lyco lost a fumble at the Dutchmen's 35-yard line when Brian Drew recovered his second fumble of the contest. Junior linebacker, who transferred from Lycoming since last season, led all players with 14 tackles. Brian Cottone added nine to the Dutchmen effort.

Widener 25, King's 20: Matt Campbell tossed four touchdown passes, two to Mike Schmidt, as Widener stayed within striking distance of Wilkes for conference honors with its fifth straight win. For King's, the setback was its first after posting five straight wins. Campbell completed 14 of 24 pass attempts for 250 yards, Schmidt his favorite target with five receptions for 129 yards. Widener held a 302-249 edge in total offense. Defensively, Widener was led by Mike McFadden with a dozen stops, while senior Shawn Wister chipped in with 11 stops. For King's, Jeff Searfass completed 17 of 32 pass attempts for 149 yards and one touchdown. When Searfass was throwing the football, John Ortiz was running with it was he rushed for 98 yards on 20 tries and one 6-pointer.

FDU-Florham 39, Albright 35: This was an old-fashioned shootout, and when the last shot was fired, the Devils came from behind to down the Lions as Dan Huff found Mike Smeja for a 17-yard touchdown pass with 24 seconds left in the fourth quarter. FDU-Florham racked up 217 yards of offense in the first half, 192 of that total coming overland. While FDU was being downright devilish, the Lions weren't far behind as they also had good first-half numbers with 211 total yards, rushing for 82 and throwing for another 129. In the big first half, Dan Harrison led the way with 152 of the 192 yards for FDU, while quarterback Tanner Kelly led the Lions by completing 12 of 15 attempts for 129 yards. The net result of all of the offense in the opening two periods was a 20-14 FDU lead at the break. Kelly finished the day with a 22-for-29 effort good for 282 yards and three touchdowns. Nate Romig led the receivers with six catches for 55 yards, while Stephen Asay caught five balls for 90 yards and a pair of scores. Vince Andrews led the Albright ground game with 89 yards on 14 tries, while the Lions were led defensively by Brett Gaul with 10 tackles and Jim Rowland with nine stops. Huff finished the game with 11 completions on 19 attempts for 124 yards and the biggest touchdown of the game. Huff also ran for 86 yards and two scores.