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 10/21/2006

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

Small College Football
Week Ending Capsule for October 28, 2006

It was another full week of games in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, the President's Athletic Conference and the Middle Atlantic Conference as the team's head down the home stretch of their 2006 regular season schedules.

Here is a closer look at how those games unfolded:

PSAC

Bloomsburg 28, Millersville 16: For the second week in a row, it was Bloomsburg quarterback Dan Latorre leading the Huskies to their win as he completed 14 of 21 passes for 168 yards and two touchdowns. Complementing Latorre's aerial attack was the running of Christian Allen who rushed for another 72 yards and a pair of scores as the Huskies won their eighth game in a row. Although they came out on the short end of the final, the Marauders struck first when quarterback Dan Csencsitz hit Derek Fry with an 18-yard scoring pass. Bloom answered the 'Ville score when Allen went in from three yards out following a 31-yard jaunt by Josh Heck. Millersville took a 10-7 lead at halftime on a 22-yard field goal, but the second half belonged to the Huskies as Bloom outscored their foes by a 21-6 margin for the win. Brahin Bilal led the Husky receivers with 85 yards good for a pair of scores, while Heck rushed 14 times for 86 yards. Defensively, Bloomsburg was paced by Matt Smith and Justin Colon with seven tackles each. Colon also came up with a sack of Csencsitz during the game.

Slippery Rock 24, Edinboro 21 (OT): Ryan Daniel kicked a 41-yard field goal in the first overtime and Clint Forsha recorded a sack, forced a fumble and recovered the fumble on the final play of the game to life SRU to its second win in a row and their sixth of the season. The game see-sawed back and forth all day long until the Fighting Scots tied the score with a touchdown in the final minute of regulation. In addition to his overtime heroics, Forsha finished with seven tackles (four for losses totaling 18 yards) and two quarterback sacks. In addition to his game-winning field goal, Daniel was perfect at 3-for-3 in the conversion department. Other strong efforts turned in by SRU players were by Travis Sarver who rushed for 72 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns, by quarterback Nate Crookshank who completed 16 of 28 passes for 214 yards and one score, by Colin Golden who caught eight passes for 57 yards, by Paul Favers who had three receptions, including a 42-yard effort for The Rock's first touchdown, and by Jared Palmer who recorded a team-best 11 stops, including two for losses. Corey Lacek completed the group of outstanding SRU performers with a half dozen tackles, and one quarterback sack. For the Scots, quarterback Trevor Harris completed 20 of 29 passes for 258 yards good for 3 touchdowns and no interceptions. Harris's effort moved him into the 10th spot on Edinboro's all-time list for passing yards in a single season. Harris's favorite target was once again Ryan Valasek as the wideout claimed seven catches for 142 yards for his third 100-yard plus outing of the season. He has caught at least one pass in 24 straight games. Defensively, the Scots were led by Jim Soltis with 16 tackles and a sack. Two of Soltis's tackles were for losses.

California 35, Shippensburg 20: After surrendering a pair of first-half touchdowns following turnovers, the Vulcans went back to work and methodically disposed of the Red Raiders. Nate Force caught a pair of long touchdown passes, linebacker Gary Butler returned an interception for a score and Brandon Lombardy rushed for two more scores to complete the Cal scoring. For the Red Raiders, the loss was their second in a row overall and third straight at home. Force finished the game with a season-high 140 yards on four grabs, scoring his first two touchdowns of the 2006 season. Lombardy, who had a career-best 40 carries, good for a career-high 178 yards. En route to winning the game, the Vulcans also showed a huge 427-244 advantage in total offense. Cal was led by Josh Zunic with 10 total tackles, including three solo shots, while linebacker Brian Mohr added seven stops to go along with a pass break-up. Although the Raiders came out on the short end of the stick on the scoreboard, Ship junior Gabe Maiocco threw for a career-high 164 yards. Maiocco, subbing for the injured Tony Gomez, completed 12 of 37 attempts for the 164 yards, but also had his pocket picked twice. Patrick Ferguson led the Raiders with five catches for 84 yards and one score. Ferguson has now caught at least one pass in all nine games this season and his consecutive-game streak now stands at 13 games. Defensively, the Redmen were led by Frank Duffy with a game-high 10 tackles, one short of his career-best of 11 against Edinboro last season. Red-shirt sophomore Jason Groller and soph Reggie Farrior also had had career-best days with seven stops each.

Lock Haven 14, Clarion 7: This was the battle to escape the cellar in the Western Division of the PSAC and the Bald Eagles made the most of the opportunity. In posting their first conference win of the season, the Bald Eagles handed head coach John Klacik his first-ever conference victory. LHU combined strong defense with a big play on special teams to hold a 7-0 halftime lead. Eddie Emanuel, Clarion's fine running back, finished with 122 yards for the game, while Chris Hawkins led the Bald Eagles overland with 56 yards and one score. Clarion quarterback Tyler Huther completed 10 of 26 attempts for 137 yards and one score, while Huther's counterpart, Ilio DiPaolo, finished with only 117 yards through the airlanes, but didn't throw a single interception for the first time in six games. The Golden Eagles held distinct advantage in total yards (281-186) and first downs (17-10), but four turnovers proved costly in the loss. Defensively, Clarion was led by Jimmy Simmons with eight tackles, three for losses, while Zach Gourley had nine stops and a pair of tackles for loss and Kevin Rigby was also credited with nine stops. For LHU, senior linebacker Jonathan Nalewak led all defenders with 10 tackles, including a 9-yard sack in the opening period. David Show and Dean Tortorice each chipped in with a half dozen stops.

IUP 42, Mansfield 6: The Indians scored on both sides of the ball as tailback Chris Morgan rushed for 122 yards and three touchdowns, while the IUP defense scored twice on fumble returns by Mike Reid and Akwasi Owusu-Ansah. For IUP, the victory was its fifth in a row, moving them to 7-1, while Mansfield continues to look for its first win at 0-8. With his game total, Morgan eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark for the second straight year with his current total of 1,112 yards. Rodney Davis led the Mountaineer rushing attack with 162 yards, one of Davis's efforts an 80-yard bolt early in the second period for MU's only score of the day. Davis finished the game with a total of 233 all-purpose yards. The two teams only attempted a combined total of 15 passes in the windy conditions, IUP's Kevin Weidl showing a 4-for-9 effort for 53 yards, while Xavier Thomas was 3-for-6 for Mansfield. Defensively, IUP was led by Chad Swearinger with a dozen stops, while James Carson chipped in with nine, including five behind the line of scrimmage. For the Mountaineers, Andrew Turner led the way for the sixth week in a row with nine tackles, Josh Miller one stop behind Turner with eight stops. Troy Godinet posted a half dozen stops and also recovered an IUP fumble.

Kutztown 28, Cheyney 6: Joe Strauss ripped off a 54-yard touchdown jaunt and Kyle Spotts tossed a pair of touchdown passes to lift the Golden Bears to their win. Cheyney scored first after an unsuccessful onside kick by Kutztown, but after that it was all Bears. Strauss ran for 109 yards on just 9 carries for his one score, while Cory McFadden added another 71 yards on 22 totes and a score. Spotts completed 12 of his 23 pass attempts for 158 yards. Brett Harbach snared four balls for 55 yards, Jason Henley coming up with three catches for 54 yards and Elfren Quiles added 28 more yards on three catches. Scott Smith led the KU defense with seven tackles, one for a loss. Sam McKeller had six hits and Dan Chominski chipped in with five stops. For Cheyney, Ronald Thompson completed eight of 25 attempts, while Donald King ran for 28 yards on 11 tries and Dominique Curry caught five passes for 60 yards.

West Chester 49, East Stroudsburg 28: No details submitted by either school.

PAC

Washington & Jefferson 30, Waynesburg 3: This game was billed as a PAC shootout, but when the air cleared, the President's had all of the ammunition as they rolled to the convincing win in a battle of PAC unbeatens. The President defensive unit stood tall as it only allowed the Yellow Jackets a total of 171 yards while also returning a pair of "picks" for touchdowns. Doing the favors for the Prexie defenders were Dan Brodland and Jeff Ernst. Senior running back Ryan Mendel raced to his fifth straight 100-yard game with 154 yards on 35 carries. Using a bruising running game, the Presidents only threw two passes during the second half, Bobby Swallow finishing with 7-for-10 for 73 yards and one score. Senior linebacker Aaron Bane notched a team-best nine tackles (eight solos), three of Bane's stops resulting in lost yardage. Linebacker David Fitlitz racked up eight more stops for W&J, while Cory Walsh added five tackles to go along with an interception. For Waynesburg, Tres Cobb was limited to just 53 yards on a 7-for-15 effort. The usually potent running tandem of the Jackets -- Ryan Abels and Eric Daniels -- were held to a total of 109 yards. Abels led the way with 57 yards on 14 tries, while Daniels showed a game total of 52 yards on 14 totes. Extremely busy during the afternoon, the Yellow Jacket defensive unit was paced by junior linebacker Brendon Steele who had a game-high 15 tackles, Dan Andreassi and Aaron Wood each finishing with 10 stops apiece.

Bethany 21, Thomas More 17: Down by three points with time running out and their backs to the wall, the Bison scored the game-winner in the final minutes of play when quarterback Brent Owens hit Matt Cruse with a 14-yard scoring aerial. For Thomas More, converted wide receiver Austin Vogt ran for 92 yards on 16 carries in his first-ever game as a collegiate running back, soph running back Zach Martin rushed for another 71 yards on 17 tries. Quarterback Trevor Stellman had a rough day throwing the ball, completing only six of 18 attempts for 76 yards while suffering a pair of interceptions. Senior Mark Carlisle led the Saint defensive unit with a game-high 14 tackles. When T. J. Parker scored the Bison's first touchdown in the game, it was the 18th of his career, breaking the tie with Brian Dickman for career touchdown receptions at Bethany. It is the third career mark Parker has set in the last three weeks to go along with career marks for receptions and receiving yards. Owens led the Bison offense by completing 21 of 35 pass attempts for 228 yards and three touchdowns, equaling his career-high set earlier this season in a win over Hiram. Bethany's defense was led by Kellen Lieb and Cliff Anderson with 10 stops apiece. For Anderson, the double-digit tackle total was his fifth in a row and his sixth of the campaign.

Frostburg State 14, Westminster 6: On the heels of a huge 49-13 victory over Bethany one week ago, the Titans ventured outside the PAC and came up short in the loss to the Bobcats. Westminster scored its lone touchdown of the game in the opening period when Josh Weese picked up a Bobcat fumble and returned the bobble 23 yards to paydirt. Frostburg outgained the Titans 338-226, a margin that included a huge 246-51 advantage overland. The Bobcats took a 7-6 lead later in the first period before they scored in the second period for the winning margin. Frostburg running back Antoine Lewis rushed for a game-high 121 yards on 17 carries, while Westminster quarterback Kevin Franz led his team with 18 yards rushing on five attempts while completing 14 of 33 pass attempts for 175 yards. Sophomore wideout Jordan Belosh caught a team-high four passes for 68 yards. Defensively, the Titans were led by Jordan Blinn who had a game-high 17 tackles.

Rochester 38, Grove City 21: Not even Mother Nature could stop Rochester from posting this win over the Wolverines. In addition to many other factors, the game realized a 36-minute stoppage of play in the third period when a vicious storm moved through the Grove City area and Robert E. Thorn Field. The Yellow Jackets, who jumped out to a 17-0 halftime lead, led by as many as 24 points before Scott Fichter hauled in a pass from quarterback Andrew DiDonato in the final seconds of the game to set the final. Fichter caught a half dozen balls for 83 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Sophomore Stephen Mercer also caught another six DiDonato aerials for 47 yards. The Wolverines cut the Rochester lead to 24-14 early in the fourth period, but that was as close as they would be for the remainder of the afternoon. In addition to Fichter and Mercer, DiDonato spread his wealth around as he also found Matt Weil four times for 54 yards and Ian Tobin three times for another 25 yards. Defensively, Bill Waugh, as he has done many times this season, led GCC with a dozen tackles, strong safety Shane Coughlin one behind Waugh with 11 stops. For the game, DiDonato, just a freshman, sew new program records for completions (27) and attempts (47) while throwing for 268 yards and all three Wolverine scores. The 268-yard aerial effort is the sixth-best in GCC history.

MAC

Wilkes 30, Albright 6: The nationally-ranked Colonels combined a well-balanced offense with a tough defense to post the win. The Colonels, who improved to 8-0 overall and 7-0 in the conference, can wrap up the conference crown and a bid to the NCAA Division III playoffs next weekend with a victory over Susquehanna. The good news for Albright was that the Lions scored the first points of the game on their initial possession. However, the bad news soon to come their way as Wilkes outscored them 30-3 for the remainder of the game to win going away. Wilkes, who amassed 383 yards of total offense, rushed for 192 and passed for 191. Tailback Tom Andreopoulos led the ground attack for Wilkes with 118 yards on 22 lugs, while quarterback Al Karaffa took care of the duties through the airlanes by completing 12 of 20 attempts for 179 yards, including a half dozen passes to Jim Jordan for 107 yards. For Albright, Tanner Kelly was the leading rusher with 31 yards on 10 carries. In addition to his rushing effort, Kelly completed 12 of 29 passes for 100 yards while suffering a pair of interceptions. Stephan Asay was Kelly's favorite target with three catches for 35 yards. Defensively for Wilkes, Kyle Follweiler led the way with eight tackles and one sack, two of Follweiler's stops behind the line of scrimmage. Anthony Serafin and Mike Ferriero each had five tackles, Serafin also showing a pair of sacks, while Ferriero picked off a Kelly pass. For Albright, Brett Gaul and Andrew Kibler each had nine tackles, Gaul also blocking a pair of Wilkes kicks. Josh Kosinski also had eight tackles and one sack for the Lions.

FDU-Florham 21, Susquehanna 16: For the Devils, Dan Harrison carried 30 times for 148 yards while scoring the go-ahead touchdown late in the third period. In addition to Harrison's heroics, the Devil defensive unit made things rough on the Crusaders by forcing four turnovers. Justin Wutti led the Crusaders by completing 15 of 31 pass attempts for 186 yards, while FDU quarterback Dan Huff was held to just three completions on 8 attempts for 42 yards. Huff also rushed nine times for another 57 yards. Joe Wassink led Susquehanna with five catches for 46 yards while Ravi Kantha posted four catches for 82 yards. For SU, running back Dave Paveletz rushed for 134 yards, increasing his season total of 672 yards, surpassing the previous Crusader mark of 669 by a freshman running back set by Tim Lawlor in 1973.

Moravian 22, Lycoming 3: For the Warriors, turnovers in the red zone was the difference as they failed to score a touchdown for the second straight week in dropping their third straight contest. The Warriors threatened on their first possession on a steady diet of short passes by quarterback Glenn Smith and rushes by John Seese, but on the ninth play of the march, Smith coughed up the ball when he was sacked. Taking over on their own 24-yard line, the Greyhounds put together a crunching ground game, not throwing a single pass while covering for the game's first score. The 'Hounds only completed three passes during the game, but Tyler McCambridge carried the pigskin 33 times. With two games remaining, the Warriors need to win both contests to avoid a losing season. If they can win those two outings, it would give legendary Lycoming coach Frank Girardi 255 wins, tying him with Nebraska legend Tom Osborne who retired with 255 wins under his belt.

Delaware Valley 10, King's 0: Jake Sheffield rushed for 178 yards on a school-record 44 carries to lead the Aggies to their shutout over the Monarchs. Del Valley held a huge 246-0141 edge in total yards as Sheffield outrushed the entire King's squad. Aggie quarterback Mike Isgro only completed two of 10 pass attempts, Don Marshall on the receiving end of both of Isgro's aerials. Defensively, the Aggie defensive unit held King's to just 55 yards rushing and 141 yards of total offense.

Widener 35, Juniata 13: No details provided by either school.