Two big clashes highlight region's weekend
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After playing a close but high-scoring affair in the first half, Delaware Valley held Salisbury and their vaunted ground attack to six points in the second half.
Del Val got two huge plays, one before and one after, halftime to put Salisbury behind the eight-ball.
Right before the half, the Aggies’ Brandon Fox caught a 53-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Mike Isgro to go up one at the half and on the first drive in the second half, Fox got behind the Salisbury defense for a 50-yard touchdown catch to go up eight over the Sea Gulls.
After the Aggies’ Butch Whiteside caught a touchdown pass to put his team up 34-20, Salisbury came back to make it a one-score game again, but running back Matt Cook ran the ball in from 3 yards out for the final score.
Cook had a career day, rushing 34 times for 161 yards and two touchdowns. Isgro completed 17-of-29 for 297 yards and four touchdowns, a career high for him.
Delaware Valley racked up 487 yards of total offense in the win, and now faces conference rival King’s next.
In a game that should have been closer than the score shows, St. John Fisher asserted its dominance as a national power as they scored 31 unanswered points to beat Ithaca 37-6. The game is considered to be the de facto Empire 8 championship game because the winner of the game has gone on to win the league title five years in a row.
The teams traded field goals in the first half, playing to a 6-all tie. Whatever St. John Fisher coach Paul Vosburgh told his team in the locker room must have worked, as the Cardinals scored on four possessions in the second half to put the game away.
Cardinal sophomore quarterback Tim Bailey threw for a career-high 315 passing yards and senior receiver and captain Jimmy Smith caught seven passes for 191 yards and a touchdown in the rout. Fisher running back Brad Carlton had a career day, rushing 17 times for 129 yards and a touchdown.
One week after a record-breaking win over Hartwick at Butterfield, Growney Stadium was unkind to Ithaca, holding the injured Dan Juvan to 130 yards on 11-of-19 passing. Brian Grastorf relieved in the third quarter, throwing for 95 yards and an interception.
St. John Fisher’s defense kept Ithaca out of the end zone, a monumental feat. Kenny Bostick helped lead the charge, making a career-high 10 tackles in the blowout win.
Next week, Ithaca has a bye week, but St. John Fisher takes on 2007 co-Empire 8 champ Hartwick at home.
Great performances
Morrisville’s Eddie Hall had one of the best days statistically in the Mustangs’ short history as a four-year program. Hall caught 10 passes from quarterback Billy Poling, totaling 186 yards and two scores.
In a game that went back and forth at Frank Bailey Field in Schenectady, the Rochester Yellowjackets took a major step forward in the Liberty League with a 29-25 victory over the Union Dutchmen. Rochester’s Braezen Subick went 28-for-38 for 281 yards and three touchdowns and an interception, and he had to be good because the Yellowjackets only got one rushing first down on the day.
Pedro Sosa caught 11 balls for 113 yards and two touchdowns, including the game winner in the fourth quarter, as special teams failed to do the job for either squad.
For Union, Chris Coney continued his terrific season, rushing 23 times for 136 yards and four touchdowns in the loss. On defense, Tim Romano had 10 tackles, 4 for loss and two sacks.
Cortland’s Anthony Giuliano carried the Red Dragons to their win against Kean on Saturday. He blocked a punt late in the game to give Cortland good field position and caught the game-winning touchdown as Cortland scored 22 points in the fourth quarter to overtake the Cougars.
In the annual Transit Trophy game, RPI’s Jimmy Robertson had an efficient day against WPI. The senior went 27-for-33 for 285 yards and three touchdowns, all to senior Eren Savasli, who had 174 yards receiving from 10 catches.
Wide receiver Patrick McCarthy had 12 catches for 82 yards and one pass -- for a 29-yard touchdown for RPI in the 35-21 win.
Rowan quarterback Frank Wilczynski accounted for all five of his team’s touchdowns Saturday against NJAC foe William Paterson. The Profs' signalcaller had three touchdowns through the air and two on the ground as Rowan got past the Pioneers 39-24 in Glassboro.
Rowan had to get past a herculean effort on the other side of the ball, as William Paterson’s Joel Rivera caught 16 passes for 226 yards and a touchdown, while quarterback Matt Marshall threw for 353 yards.
The Profs’ Drew Yezzi had a nice day on defense, making 12 tackles, 3.5 for loss, and getting a sack and forcing a fumble.
Record breakers/milestones
Kean quarterback Thomas D'Ambrisi set or came close to three school records in the Cougars’ heartbreaking loss to Cortland on Saturday. He went 34-for-48 for 352 yards and three touchdowns in a 32-28 defeat.
The 34 completions were a Cougar record and the 352 yards passing is second on the Kean all time list. The 48 attempts is fourth highest ever.
Another Kean Cougar set a school record Saturday. Senior receiver Durell Dukes caught 14 passes for 155 yards and two touchdowns. The 14 catches are a record. He’s now second in school history with 2,174 career receiving yards.
Montclair State’s Cornell Hunt racked up 18 tackles on Saturday against Brockport State. The great day on defense gives Hunt 304 for his career. Only three others have as many: Len Kruk (1986-1989), Paul Cioffi (1987-1990) and a guy you might have heard about – Sam Mills (1978-1980).
Kickers have to stay together
The sometimes-forgotten members of a football team, the kickers, had a good day throughout the East Region on Saturday.
• TCNJ junior kicker Marc Zucconi kicked a career-long 37-yard field goal against Morrisville.
• Another kicker, Montclair State’s Marco Capozzoli, kicked a game-winning 37-yard field goal with 16 seconds left in the Rams 16-14 win over Brockport State.
• Susquehanna freshman punter Bobby Eppelman kept Hobart pinned back in their end of the field for most of the game, with half of his eight punts going inside the 20-yard line. But long drives for Hobart gave the Statesmen a 27-14 win over the Crusaders as Liberty League play starts.
• Alfred kicker Eric Rockwood kicked the game-winning 35-yard field goal with five minutes left as the Saxons got the upper hand in Empire 8 play with a 17-14 win over Springfield. In a tight game throughout, Alfred made the most of their six-hour trip to central Massachusetts, but the game was in doubt until Pride kicker Gordie Barr missed from 41 with 17 seconds left. Not a chip shot by any stretch of the imagination.
Other minutiae
Buffalo State’s Scott Forster was all over the field for the Bengals in their loss against Western Connecticut in a New Jersey Athletic Conference matchup.
On defense, Forster made five tackles, got an interception and broke up a pass. He also punted six times, pinning WestConn behind its 20 twice and also returned three punts. Maybe he can ask the coach to play offense next week.
The College of New Jersey is 2-0 in NJAC play after a 41-31 win over new conference foe Morrisville State. TCNJ looks to improve on their second-round playoff exit against Mount Union one year ago.
A nod to Terry Dow and his Mustangs, despite the bad record, his team has been in every game this season. Good things are right around the corner for them.
The Merchant Marine Academy and St. Lawrence battled it out Saturday for the Hoffman Cup with the Merchant Marine winning a close one, 23-17. Mariner senior J.J. Watson was named the team MVP after carrying the ball 32 times for 155 yards. Quarterback Derrick Ventre completed only 14 passes but they were good for 268 yards as the Mariners earned their second win of the year, surpassing their total from all of 2007.
For St. Lawrence, wide receiver Ryan Cooney was named the Saints’ MVP with eight catches for 187 yards and a touchdown. Gerard Bryant also had a good game with 11 tackles, four for loss and two sacks.
Correction: One of the members of Ithaca’s offensive line, Shawn Mirkov, had his named spelled incorrectly in last week’s column.
Around the East Top 10
1. Cortland State
2. Delaware Valley
3. St. John Fisher
4. RPI
5. Hobart
6. Ithaca
7. Albright
8. Montclair State
9. Hartwick
10. Rowan