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   10/28/2006
11/04/2006   11/11/2006

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

Small College Football
Week Ending Capsule for November 18, 2006

For teams in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, the President's Athletic Conference and the Middle Atlantic Conference, it was the first week of playoffs for several teams in the NCAA Division II and III playoffs, while others were involved in the ECAC Bowl games. If you are keeping score, the region came out on top by a 5-2 margin.

Here is how those games unfolded:

PSAC

West Chester 31, Bryant College 29: With Bryant driving for the go-ahead points in the final stages of the game, Tyler Downes picked off a pass with 1:22 left to preserve the narrow West Chester win. The Rams never trailed in the ball game, but the Bulldogs stayed close and hung around for most of the game. Bill Zwaan and Mike Washington hooked up for a 75-yard scoring play to open the scoring, but the Bulldogs answered right back when Ryan Buckley hauled in an 11-yard TD pass four minutes later. Brent Steinmetz, who rushed for 141 yards and pair of scores, put the Rams back on top with a 4-yard run to paydirt, but again Bryant tied the score at 14-all when Vince Norris scored on a 34-yard pass-and-run play. Brandan Hargross put West Chester ahead for the third time in the game with a 6-yard sprint to the end zone, and although Bryant countered with a touchdown, the PAT was no good and the Rams held a 21-20 lead. Alex Walsh made it 24-20 with a 25-yard field goal, but Bryant kicker answered Walsh's 3-pointer with a 26-yard effort of his own. Steinmetz upped the Ram lead to 31-23 just before the turn for home to set up the final-minute heroics by Downes. West Chester will now travel to PSAC rival Bloomsburg Saturday for a game with the Huskies. Bloomsburg had drawn a first-round bye.

PAC

Washington & Jefferson 27, Christopher Newport 23: W&J ripped its way to a seemingly commanding 27-0 lead before having to hang on for the 4-point win over CN. After the President offense did its work with the 27 unanswered points, it was up to the President defense to do its job and free safety Nick Cherish was the man on the spot as he came up with three interceptions. For the game, the President's forced a half dozen Christopher Newport turnovers. Statistically, Christopher Newport had a huge bulge in total offense at 454-181 margin, but the President's had the most important numbers, those on the scoreboard. Running back Ryan Mendel rushed for 120 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 23 carries. For Mendel, the 100-yard plus game was his eighth in a row. When Mendel wasn't running the ball, quarterback Bobby Swallow was completing 10 of 21 pass attempts, but for only 71 yards and one score. Senior cornerback Cory Walsh accumulated a career-high 14 tackles (10 solo shots), while senior strong safety Gabe McKee also racked up 10 solo hits, finishing with 13 total tackles. Cherish completed his outstanding all-around game with 11 tackles to go along with his trio of interceptions. For the Captains, Roland Hilliard led the way with 175 yards on 35 carries. Although suffering the three interceptions, quarterback Hudson Bryant completed 17 of 21 attempts for 188 yards and two scores in the second half. Now 10-1, W&J will tangle with Mary-Hardin Baylor in Texas Saturday.

MAC

Wilkes 42, Washington & Lee: The Colonels exploded for 21 points in the first period and added 21 more in the final three periods to dominate W&Lee with the 42-0 shutout. The Colonels, now 11-0, advance to the second round of the D-III tournament to face Rowan Saturday. The Wilkes defense played a major role in the win as Bryan Vivaldo returned an interception for the game's first score before Tyler Henninger came up with a big hit and John Darrah recovered the bobble to set up the second Wilkes score. The Colonels amassed 387 yards total offense, while Washington & Lee was held to just 141 by the Colonels. 284 of Wilkes yards came on the ground with Tom Andreopoulos going over the century mark for the fifth consecutive week with 169 yards on just 15 tries. Quarterback Al Karaffa finished his day with an 8-for-14 effort for 82 yards, Jim Jordan grabbing a team-best 3 passes for 29 yards. For Washington & Lee, R. J. Warner completed 22 of 32 attempts for 151 yards. Wilkes was led defensively by linebacker Kyle Follweiler with eight tackles and two of the Colonels' 14 tackles-for-loss. Keith Cavalotti had seven stops, two behind the line of scrimmage, while Jason Acquayve finished with five hits, three for loss, and 1.5 of his team's six sacks.

Widener 14, Ursinus 7: For Widener, it was a case of the defense stepping up big in the win as they captured the ECAC Southwest Bowl. The Pioneers only permitted the Bears a mere 29 yards in the second half, forcing all 10 of Ursinus's passes in the fourth quarter into incompletions. Ursinus could only complete one of 13 second-half attempts through the airlanes. For Widener, the win is the fourth post-season triumph in the 126-year history and the first since the Pioneers defeated Montclair State, 27-18, just last year in the ECAC South Atlantic Bowl. Widener has captured two NCAA Division III titles in 1977 and 1981. Freshman Marc Patricelli was named the game's Most Valuable Player, Patricelli rushing 32 times for 85 yards to help Widener to garner 100 yards on the ground. Through the airlanes, Matt Campbell completed 10 of 17 attempts for 128 yards and one score. While winning the game, Widener dominated time of possession, holding onto the ball for nearly 37 of the 60 minutes of the game.

Kean 37, King's 0: Durrell Dukes netted 257 all-purpose yards and Kean College raked up 505 yards of total offense as Kean tossed the shutout at the Monarchs in the ECAC Southeast Bowl. With the results, King's finishes at 6-5, while Kean concludes its campaign at 7-4. The Monarchs were hampered on defense, having to go without the services of all-MAC performers Craig Haywood (safety) and George Montras (defensive end). A. J. Roque completed 8-for-14 passes for 225 yards and three scores, while Dukes added 84 yards on just six carries. Jared Chunn and Anthony Stewart completed the well-balanced ground attack with 53 and 51 yards respectively. King's meanwhile, managed only 163 yards of total offense, 75 on the ground. John Ortiz rushed for 40 yards on 13 totes to pace the Monarch attack. King's starting QB Jeff Searfass completed 3-of-7 passes for 25 yards and one interception, while Searfass's backup, Nick Strom, was 5-for-7 for 63 yards. Strom was also intercepted once. Senior safety Matt McGovern led the King's defense with eight tackles, an interception and two fumble recoveries. Matt Little and Tom Tulaney each added seven stops.

Salisbury State 15, Delaware Valley 9: Salisbury rallied in the fourth period to down the Aggies in the ECAC South Atlantic Bowl. The game brought to an end the careers of 23 Aggie seniors, the winningest class in school history that posted a mark of 41-7 for their four seasons. They won an E C AC championship in 2003 and also captured back-to-back MAC titles in 2004 (12-1) and 2005 (12-5).Salisbury senior linebacker Billy Leinemann (six tackles) was named the game's MVP as his sack of Aggie quarterback Mike Isgro on third-and-two at midfield to force the Aggies to go for the first down. Isgro's fourth down pass fell incomplete to preserve the win for Salisbury. Isgro finished with 18-for-28 for 166 yards, but with two interceptions. He also rushed for 51 yards. Senior David Carmon hauled in seven balls for 56 yards in his final game. Defensively, lineman Anthony Silver paced the Aggies with 11 tackles, including three behind the line of scrimmage. Silver holds the school's all-time sack mark with 26 while finishing third in total tackles with 314.

OTHERS

Carnegie Mellon 21, Millsaps College 0: The Tartans broke open a scoreless game with 21 unanswered points in the second half, then held their opponent scoreless for their third shutout of the campaign. For CMU, the playoff win was its first since 1979. CMU's all-time leading rusher Travis Sivek scored a pair of touchdowns while rushing for 108 yards. Robert Gimson totaled 142 yards to go over the 1,000-yard mark for the season. "The great thing about this football team is they are totally unselfish, they don't care who runs the ball or who scores the touchdowns," said CMU coach Rich Lackner. "They care about one thing and one thing only and that's winning football games. They are the most unselfish group of young men I've ever coached in my life." When the issued was finally decided, it was the Tartan defense that stood tall. Senior linebacker James Rogers came up with CMU's first "pick" of the day, while the second interception by the Tartans was by Steve Curran. Also making big defensive plays for CMU were senior linebacker Trent Sission who forced two fumbles, recovered one and finished with 10 tackles. When asked about the win, Lackner said, "When you're able to shut out a playoff team, that's pretty special." With the win, the Tartans will face Wesley, a 49-21 winner over Dickinson. The game will be played in Dover, Delaware.