By Pat Coleman
D3sports.com
Tomorrow Susquehanna closes Amos Alonzo Stagg Field in style. After 101 years, the school will bid farewell to the grounds which Stagg once roamed as well as break ground for the new Nicholas A. Lopardo Stadium. The playing surface itself will be rotated, occupying part of the same area, and will retain the name Stagg Field.
Festivities will include a pregame ceremony honoring 55 of the 73 living members of the Top 100 Players of 100 Seasons Football Team.
Oh, and by the way, the Middle Atlantic Conference championship is on the line. In the conference's two-division setup, the winner of the game between the champions of the two leagues will win the conference's automatic bid to the playoffs. Susquehanna and Lycoming currently lead their divisions with one game left each after this week.
No. 5 Lycoming has won 36 consecutive regular season games, including an MAC record in a row in conference play. The Warriors have the MAC's leading defense at 256.1 yards per game and the No. 3 Division III scoring defense (6.3 points/game) with three shutouts. Lycoming's offense is second in the conference, while Susquehanna is third in MAC in defense (294.8 yards), No. 13 nationally against the run (87.3 yards) and 21st in scoring (14.5 points).
The key for Susquehanna, it would seem, would be to gain more than 400 all-purpose yards. The Crusaders have been well above that total in all four of their wins, while in losses to Wilkes (5-3) and Lebanon Valley (2-6) they have been held to 379 and 342, respectively. They can win without throwing the ball (9-for-19 for 80 yards against Juniata) and they can win even with the running game is ineffective (40 carries, 120 yards against FDU-Madison).
Lycoming has allowed 400 or more yards three times, in a 19-13 win at Juniata, a 30-0 win against Widener and a 20-15 win at Wilkes. Spearheading that defensive effort is senior end Cameron Coleman leads the team with 45 tackles (27 solo), including 17 for 74 yards in losses, with eight sacks. Junior Mark Seagreaves has 30 stops, with nine for losses of 32 yards, from the other end. They'll have to stop Rashonn Drayton, Jose Delgado and Jon Dvorshock. Dvorshock carried 17 times for 110 yards and added 64 receiving yards in last week's come-from-behind win against Moravian (1-7).
"Susquehanna is a solid football team," said Lycoming head coach Frank Girardi. "They seem to be more balanced this year throwing the football, especially with (freshman quarterback Mike) Bowman as the starter. Their running game with Drayton, Delgado, and Dvorshock is able to move the football. It's always a concern when we play Susquehanna that they will be able to control the football with their running game and keep our offense on the bench."
Frostburg State on the ropes
Frostburg scored 19 third-quarter points last Saturday but it wasn't enough to overcome Division II non-scholarship Kentucky Wesleyan, losing 43-31 on the road. Wide receiver Greg Cooper had 12 receptions, including a 66-yard touchdown catch, and finished with 179 receiving yards. Cooper extended his FSU career touchdown receiving record to 20.
The Bobcats' playoff hopes took a severe blow with the loss, as 11 Pool B teams ahead of them have fewer than two losses. Kentucky Wesleyan improves to 7-2.
Catholic swarms Emory & Henry
Sixteen minutes into the game last Saturday, Catholic was leading Emory & Henry 21-0. After the Wasps put a touchdown on the board and threatened on their first drive of the second half, the Cardinals (7-1, 5-0 ODAC) added three more scores, putting the game away.
The win put Catholic one game away from clinching the ODAC title and an automatic bid to the playoffs, while dealing Emory & Henry a second conference loss for the first time since 1984.