Chiarolanza, Kleinfelter and Marascio sweep MAC Weekly Awards for Lycoming
WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – Thanks in large part
to their roles in the final three-minute comeback in the Lycoming
College football team's 26-24 upset of No. 13 Ithaca College,
senior T.J.
Chiarolanza (Warminster, Pa./William Tenant), senior
Josh
Kleinfelter (Bellwood, Pa./Bellwood-Antis) and junior
Anthony
Marascio (Philadelphia, Pa./Father Judge) earned Middle
Atlantic Conference Special Teams, Offensive and Defensive Player
of the Week honors, respectively, the conference office in
Annville, Pa., announced on Sunday, Sept. 26.
Chiarolanza hit the game-winning field goal from 23 yards out with
seven seconds left to give the Warriors the 26-24 upset of Ithaca,
ranked 13th in the AFCA poll, making up for a missed extra point in
the first quarter that to that point was the difference in the
game. He also hit a 19-yard field goal in the third quarter, as he
improved to 5-for-5 in field goal attempts this year, which has
helped him take the conference lead in kicker scoring, averaging
7.7 points per game. Against Ithaca, he added two more extra
points, accounting for eight of Lycoming's 26 points.
Chiarolanza, who earned the weekly award for the first time in his
career, is the first Lycoming player to earn the Special Teams
Player of the Week award since Scott Erikson earned the award on
Nov. 17, 2008.
Kleinfelter crossed 200 yards of all-purpose yardage for the
second straight game, rolling up 202 yards on 193 rushing and nine
receiving. He carried the ball 32 times, scoring once on a
nine-yard run in the first quarter. In the second half, he ran 21
times for 122 yards and he broke six runs of 10 or more yards
during the game, including a long of 38 on his first run. He also
ran for nine of Lycoming's 26 first downs and he set up the
game-winning field goal by rushing for 18 yards on three carries
with less than a minute left in the game to get the ball to the
seven-yard line for the winning field goal. During the game,
Kleinfelter also moved into second in school history with 2,942
career yards in the game, passing Tim Deasey (1998-01), who racked
up 2,868 yards in his career.
Kleinfelter, who earned the award for the five time in his career,
is the first MAC Offensive Player of the Week since senior Adam
Paulhamus (Watsontown, Pa./Warrior Run) earned the award
on Oct. 18, 2009.
Marascio earned his first MAC Defensive Player of the Week honors,
as he finished with just four tackles against Ithaca, but he made
two of the biggest defensive plays of the game to help earn the
weekly honor. In the final Ithaca possession of the game with 3:17
left, Marascio batted down a pass on 2-and-8 from the Ithaca
37-yard line to stop the clock at a critical time. He followed that
with a nine-yard sack of the Ithaca quarterback to force a punt
with 2:10 left, setting up the game-winning drive in which the
Warriors drove 45 yards to set up the game-winning field goal.
Marascio joins senior Chuck
Bellitto (New Holland, Pa./Garden Spot), who won the
award on Sept. 12, after making 12 tackles against Westminster.
The Warriors are set to wrap up their three-game homestand on
Saturday, Oct. 2 when King's comes to David Person Field for
a 1 p.m. game. The game is Lycoming's Tackle Breast Cancer
event.
