By Keith McMillan
D3football.com
CHESTER, Pa. – When a team ekes out a 20-14 overtime win by taking its own blocked field goal in for a touchdown amidst confusion by players and officials and leaving fans just short of dumbfounded, it should qualify as a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence.
Unless we’re talking about Lycoming at Widener. Then it’s simply par for the course.
The Pioneers pulled off the miracle on Saturday, as they did the last time the Warriors visited Leslie C. Quick Jr. Stadium. In 2000, Lycoming dinked a point-after off of the left upright in the second overtime, then Widener scored a touchdown and made their PAT to win 50-49. At the time I saw that game, I figured it was the best I’d ever seen, maybe at any level, prompting the column “Another Widener-Lyco classic.”
Two years before that, also in Chester, Lycoming rallied from a 13-2 deficit in the final three minutes to win 15-13.
In 2000, Widener head coach Bill Zwaan told me: “Two years ago on this field, our program went into a funk. Today, we got a monkey off our backs. We’ve been through it before, and we said we ain’t quitting this time.”
Warriors’ 31st-year head coach Frank Girardi, the division’s third-winningest active coach behind John Gagliardi and Frosty Westering, could have said exactly the same thing before Saturday’s game, about his program going into a funk two years ago on that field. The Pioneers snapped a string of four consecutive playoff appearances for Lycoming with the win and conference title in 2000, and followed it up with a 10-0 run through the MAC in 2001, which included a 35-0 pasting of the Warriors in Williamsport.
Lycoming hasn’t been bad the past two years, when they’ve gone 15-3 with two losses to the Pioneers, but Widener definitely broke the stranglehold the Warriors had on the MAC.
Lycoming showed up on Saturday ranked eighth in the country, managing to keep under wraps the fact that starting quarterback Phil Mann had not practiced all week, will not play until after the Warriors’ Oct. 19 bye week and would be replaced in the starting lineup by R.J. Kreutzer, left, who hadn’t started a game since high school.
The sixth-ranked Pioneers were without the offensive stars that made them go over the past two seasons in graduated receivers Michael Coleman and Jim Jones. After three wins that Widener fans and coaches didn’t find all that impressive, including a come-from-behind 27-20 victory at Moravian, the Pioneers were still searching for their 2002 identity and weren’t sure what to expect.
Of course, anyone that had seen these two teams get together before knew to expect the unexpected. And the game delivered.
Lycoming scored first after a scoreless first half, and Widener came back with a touchdown. Lycoming scored again and Widener scored again, with 9:47 left to play.
With 4:32 left, Lycoming kicker Doug Christensen pushed a 26-yard field goal attempt wide left.
Defenses had controlled regulation, and in overtime, Widener held when Kreutzer’s fourth-and-11 pass fell incomplete. Lycoming nearly did the same, giving up just 4 yards and forcing a 38-yard Widener field goal attempt to win it.
Just as it had in 2000, Widener trotted out a freshman kicker to put the game-winning points on the board.
Little did we know the action was just getting started.
Senior linebacker Brian Bond busted through the Pioneers’ line and snuffed Carl Schoenmann’s kick. The ball bounced directly to Widener receiver/holder Mike deMarteleire, but he didn’t get far. As he hit the ground, Lycoming celebrated, with one player running to the far end of the field, helmet off, in jubilation.
“As soon as we blocked the thing, my mind was going directly to offense, the first-down call,” Girardi said. Two of Girardi’s sons are on the coaching staff, and one of them pointed out to the longtime coach what few in the stadium saw.
Widener’s Bo Fischer was standing in the end zone with the ball raised above his head.
As Fischer explained afterward, he never saw the kick blocked, but he heard it. That’s an automatic “fire” call, a football player’s change of responsibility following a block or on a fake. As deMarteleire was being tackled, “he shovel passed it to me,” Fischer said.
“You gotta be ready for anything,” he said, although he admitted the finish was unbelieveable.
For about three minutes, it was for the game officials as well.
While they discussed a ruling on the field, both teams and their fans showed how a stadium full of folks could hold its collective breath.
When Lycoming’s white helmets started tossing like popcorn in an air popper and a Columbia-blue crush spilled onto midfield like Caribbean water, one could tell how the officials had ruled.
“They simply explained to me that [deMarteleire] had tossed the ball [to Fischer] from behind the line of scrimmage,” Girardi said. “If it was, it was close. But I knew it was [close] one way or the other.”
“I do believe the refs made the right call,” said Zwaan, “[deMarteleire] threw the ball from behind the line of scrimmage. But the fact that you never see a play like that, of course everyone's going to question it.”
“When we blocked the field goal, it was elation,” Girardi said. “I was looking at our overtime play sheet. The amount of emotion in the last two minutes of that ballgame was enough for a lifetime.”
“Nobody deserves to lose a football game like that,” Zwaan said.
Girardi said his team, which dropped to 15th in the latest AFCA poll, would not cry about the loss, which he noted may not have gone to overtime if they had made a short field goal in the fourth quarter. But Lycoming’s fans will certainly be wondering whether the Warriors can qualify for a Pool C playoff bid if they win the rest of their games and finish 8-1.
The answer is a cautious yes. Eight wins in a strong conference and an overtime loss to the probable conference champion would look good to the selection committee. But it largely depends on how strong the cases of other Pool C candidates are, Lycoming’s opponents’ strength of schedule and of course the Warriors winning their final four games, which are all at home.
D3football.com also believes that an out-of-conference win would strengthen Lycoming’s case. The Warriors play only nine MAC games this year, but have attempted to schedule an opponent from the NJAC or neighboring conference, depending on who you ask.
Wondering why we aren’t seriously considering Juniata or any other MAC team for the playoffs at this point? It could happen, but Juniata plays Widener Nov. 9 and Lycoming Nov. 16. The Pioneers (five) and Warriors (eight) have combined for 13 playoff appearances since 1987, the last year no MAC team went to the NCAA tournament. In that same span, Moravian has gone twice and Susquehanna, Wilkes and Albright have each been to the tournament as well. That’s 18 MAC playoff teams in 15 seasons.
More history: In the 25 Lycoming-Widener meetings, 17 have been decided by eight points or less. The Warriors lead the series 15-10.
Widener may not even be able to say its current teams are its best. The Pioneers won the Stagg Bowl in 1977 and 1981 and sent Billy “White Shoes” Johnson on to a prominent NFL career. Lycoming went to the Stagg Bowl in 1997.
There were other stories to Saturday’s game, like how Widener, known for its offense, was led by its defense. Or how Kreutzer outplayed counterpart Mike Warker in the second half, even though Warker had started a Stagg Bowl and a load of playoff games.
But all we may ever remember is yet another in a series of miracle finishes between Widener and Lycoming.
Your feedback
Widener’s bizarre overtime play was certainly up there with other legendary finishes in Division III lore, one of the most recent being the very similar Central-Linfield “Miracle in the Mud” playoff game. Earlier, after a column about bad weather, I had asked Around the Nation readers for some of their craziest football moments. A bunch came from Ohio, but check out this first one:
“Final regular season game last year. RPI is 7-0, playing Hobart, looking for its second trip to the NCAA Playoffs in three years. Down by two with a minute and change remaining. Setting up for what they had hoped would be a game-winning 30-yard field goal. It was blocked, but it pops right to the holder, Mike Defilippi, who in turn eludes three or four Hobart defenders and takes it to the house to ensure the Engineers their second undefeated regular season in three years and a No. 1 seed in the East. In all my years of watching football I never saw anything like that, especially with as much on the line as there was at the time — Unbelievable!”
— Kevin King, RPI
“The most bizarre weather condition game I ever saw had to be a 13-0 Mount Union victory over Hiram to conclude (I believe) the 1996 regular season. The game was played at Mount Union Stadium in Alliance and began under a light rain. Midway through the first quarter the winds picked up and unleashed a torrent of rain that had those of us in the press box straining to even see the field… the wind shifted and it began to snow. The snow was driven by those bitter Northeast Ohio winds and wound up accumulating enough on the field that the game was delayed to clear off line markers for the end zones and 50-yard line.”
— Toby Boyce
“Dear Keith, As a very knowledgeable D-3 football person, you know there has been no bigger bizarre moment than the crazy finish of last years semifinal contest between Rowan and Bridgewater. The better team got the royal shaft and could have been Stagg Champs. It was pure robbery! The Profs will return!”
— Albie Battaglia, Rowan fan
“ I have two moments on the college football field that seem more than bizarre to me; almost surreal. Playing for the Muskingum College Fighting Muskies in the mid ‘90s (mainly on special teams and backup roles) we played in the midst of a snow storm at Baldwin-Wallace at Finnie Stadium. Because they have turf we brought our turf shoes. Well, the snow came and the temp dropped and the field soon became ice. After pregame B-W came out wearing their spikes. We were stuck with turf shoes and slipped our way through the blizzard to a loss.
Also, a year earlier at Marietta College in their decrepit old stadium we played in more snow until half time. We came out of the locker room and the temp dropped 30 degrees literally. It was the most brutal experience I had ever experienced. And I was on the sidelines! It was muddy and cold and miserable and nobody was in the stands. To top it off, we got beat and the showers were cold. That evening, riding back to New Concord we listened to Eddie George run for 300 yards vs. Illinois ... I’ll never forget that day.”
— James Gill, Beach City, Ohio, proud alumnus of the Muskingum College Fighting Muskies
“[At Hardin-Simmons], coach Keeling was run over by a herd of players on the sideline and tore his ACL. He got up slowly but continued to coach for the remainder of the game. When told he needed surgery to repair his knee, he told them he didn't have time to be hurt. He coached the remainder of the season without having surgery.”
— Michael J. Cone
“In 1979, Mount Union vs. Oberlin, MUC’s quarterback Joe Toth rolled out and threw a pass to wide receiver Paul Gulling (now MUC’s wide receivers coach). Gulling, thinking Toth was going to tuck it and run, turned to make a block. Toth threw the pass at that precise moment and hit Gulling in the back. The pass bounced back to Toth who turned it into a long gainer. I think he got a touchdown on the play.”
— Joel Domino
“Bridgewater playing James Madison on Oct. 12, 1975. BC heavy underdogs to the D-II school. James Anderson dives over the goal line on second-and-goal from the 2-yard line for the win and the upset, BC went nuts. Side judge ( I believe from Washington & Lee) said no score. I was working the first down chains and he was in and the ball was way in. BC didn’t have many bleachers then, but the student and alumni body was three-deep around the field on the sidelines, I thought a riot was going to break out, worst call I have ever seen at any level of athletics, anywhere, anytime. That Monday’s newspaper article still hangs in a prominent place in my home.”
— Dave Wood, Manassas, Va.
“A lightning strike on the West Goal Posts while we practicing around the 5-yard line on the west end of the field.”
— Ralph Turner, McMurry
Beyond the Numbers
Early-season records can be misleading. Sometimes they're dead-on, and we're too stuck on the past to separate this year's good teams from the not-so-good ones.
Here's a look at a few teams whose early-season records have raised an eyebrow or two:
Can they keep it up? Lake Forest (5-0), Wooster (4-0), Salisbury (5-0), Mass-Dartmouth (5-0), Concordia-Moorhead (4-1), Concordia (Wis.) (4-1), Juniata (4-1), Cortland State (4-1), Centre (4-1), Waynesburg (3-1).
Falling hard: Ohio Northern (1-3), Ohio Wesleyan (2-2), Montclair State (1-3), Christopher Newport (1-4), Defiance (2-3), Hope (1-4).
Thoughts: Among those falling, Montclair, CNU and Defiance made the playoffs last year, Hope and ONU made it in 2000. OWU was 9-1 in 2001. All have lost in- and out-of-conference this season.
Most of the teams on the rise haven't played their strongest competition yet. Lake Forest has St. Norbert ahead and Wooster has Wabash and Wittenberg. The MIAC's Concordia has UW-Stout, St. John's and St. Thomas ahead, while the IBC's Concordia has four opponents with a combined record of 5-14, then unbeaten MacMurray in the final game.
Cortland State has been a respected force in the past, evidence by its win against Rowan last season, but they haven't had a winning season since 1997, coach Dan McNeill's first year on the job.
Juniata and Centre each lost conference games on Saturday and still have their toughest challenges ahead (Widener and Lycoming for the Eagles, Trinity, Millsaps and DePauw for Centre).
Mass-Dartmouth has put up big numbers against average teams, but could still run the table, at least up until the NEFC championship game.
Getting wins at home against 2001 playoff participant Wesley, then beating Ferrum and Frostburg on the road, all in the month of November, is a lot to ask of Salisbury.
Waynesburg (PAC) started 5-1 two years ago, then lost three of its last four. See Otterbein's 33-13 win over the Yellow Jackets if don't believe in the strength of the Ohio Athletic Conference.
Where are these teams?: Principia (enrollment 550), Westminster, Mo. (650) and Macalester (1,750) are each 4-1, but won't be able to make the playoffs as an indepdent based on their strengths of schedule. But we're glad they're each playing full slates.
Don't give up on PLU at 1-2. The Lutes lost their first two last year, then won every game in October and November before a playoff defeat against St. John's on Dec. 1.
Overheard: Newport News Apprentice freshman wideout Shawn Jackson had seven catches for 178 yards, but his most impressive play may have come from his other spot at the Builders' punter. Jackson took a bad snap 86 yards for a touchdown.
Coach Phil Janaro told him this before the play: "Shawn if it's a bad snap, run it out of the end zone."
After the play, Jackson asked Janaro: "Coach, was that end zone alright?" ...
Capital's Kyle and Thom Hausler might be taking sibling rivalry to another level. The twin brothers, both freshman defensive backs, each had an interception in the Crusaders' 27-7 win against Wilmington. Kyle, who leads the OAC with three picks and 10 passes breakups, also recovered a blocked punt in the end zone for a touchdown.
Games to Watch
No. 14 Western Connecticut (4-0) at Springfield (3-1): Friday-nighter is one of the last big Freedom conference games between these schools, as both are scheduled to depart in 2004.
Wabash (4-0) at No. 4 Wittenberg (4-0): Little Giants meet NCAC's big dogs. Or cats, rather. Tigers haven't allowed more than 10 points in a game, Wabash scores an average of 38.
No. 5 Trinity, Texas (5-0) at Washington U. (2-3): Bears lost 28-3 in Texas last season, but played a one-point game last time Trinity visited. Tigers scoring 50 points per game and rolling up 541 yards of offense.
No. 7 Hardin-Simmons (4-0) at Howard Payne (4-0): Cowboys have ruled the ASC, but HPU is first of two big challenges. Yellow Jackets have allowed just seven first-quarter points and three in the fourth.
No. 16 Illinois Wesleyan (4-0) at No. 19 Augustana (2-1): First of two huge CCIW games. Vikings beat IIAC power Central, both played out-of-conference games with WIAC. Loss could dash Augustana playoff hopes.
Wheaton (3-1) at No. 18 Milikin (4-0): Thunder scoring 53 per game in three-game win streak, Big Blue rushing for nearly 250 per outing. This is second of two big CCIW games.
No. 23 RPI (4-0) at Union (2-2): Teams split past two games, decided by three and four points.
Mount Ida (2-2) at Utica (0-4): This could be the last chance at a "W" this year for either growing program.
St. John Fisher (3-2) at Brockport State (4-1): Golden Eagles can't afford a loss with Ithaca, TCNJ and Wesley still on the schedule. Cardinals have dropped two in a row.
Tufts (3-0) at Trinity, Conn.(2-1): If the Jumbos are going to give Amherst and Williams a run, they first must knock off the Bantams.
Willamette (3-2) at Whitworth (3-1): Barely into NWC play, and already teams are fighting for their playoff lives.
UW-Platteville (2-1) at UW-LaCrosse (2-2): How hard is it to go unbeaten in the WIAC? No more than two will remain unbeaten in the conference following this matchup of teams 1-0 in WIAC play.
Also keep an eye on: Carnegie Mellon at Case Western, Emory & Henry at Hampden-Sydney, Juniata at Moravian, Millsaps at Centre, Nichols at Mass-Dartmouth, Sewanee at DePauw, St. Thomas at Gustavus Adolphus, Wesley at Frostburg State, Occidental at Redlands.
