By Pat Cummings
D3sports.com
Before a crowd of 3,600 at the 55th annual Oyster Bowl, Christopher Newport jumped to an early lead and never looked back, defeating 18th ranked Bridgewater (Va.) 21-16. The game was a rematch for the highly regarded teams who split their two matchups in 2003, with BC's win coming when it counted most -- the postseason.
BC's Winston Young fumbled at his own 25-yard line midway through the second quarter and junior linebacker Kareem Morse scooped the loose ball and rumbled to the end zone for the first points of the day.
With CNU quarterback Philip Jones sidelined with an injury, backup signal-caller Hudson Bryant stepped back under center. Bryant, who had seen action earlier in the year due to Jones's injuries, completed 10 of 16 passes for 201 yards, tossing two touchdowns to Nathan Davis with only one interception.
Of equal importance was the foot of Jason Broskie who converted on all three extra point attempts. The Captains were a combined 2-for-6 in their previous PAT tries.
Kelchner questioned the Hampton Roads Daily Press: "Your backup quarterback comes in and beats the 18th ranked team in the country. How big is that?"
Big indeed, especially since CNU had fallen fast from the Top 25, something that would not have happened had the Captains managed to kick some extra points. CNU now finds themselves back in the D3football.com Top 25, ranked 19th, and two made extra points away from being undefeated.
"CNU's a team we had to bring the A-game for four quarters to win the game," added Mike Clark in the news article. "I think there was A-game effort on our part, but it came in spurts."
Needless to say, the effort Clark refers to was only seen sporadically. The offense that tallied 72 points against Hanover last week did not find the end zone until five minutes remained in the game. A David Blackwell field goal and Cameron Garvin punt block returned for a touchdown accounted for the only BC points until Brandon Wakefield's 3-yard run with 4:54 left.
BC's most important test of the year will take place this week as Hampden-Sydney comes in with the ODAC automatic bid on the line. Barring an upset from another ODAC team, the winner of this game is in the driver's seat for the rest of the season. Revenge and rivalry, this one has it all.
Pat Coleman and Keith McMillan will have the call in our Game of the Week, the first of two games they'll call featuring Mid-Atlantic teams that day.
3-1/2 hours and some new carpal-tunnel cases
The Aggies of Delaware Valley recovered from two second-half double-digit deficits, scoring the last 21 points of the afternoon, to defeat Susquehanna by a 46-39 final. DVC quarterback Adam Knoblauch ran for two touchdowns and connected with Don Marshall on 52- and 98-yard touchdown passes while Steve Cook rushed for three scores in the come from behind win. The Aggies maintained an unblemished MAC record with the help of two, fourth quarter, fourth-and-ten conversions on back-to-back drives; both of which led to scores.
Here's a trip inside the combined team numbers of a unique football game.
85 points, 36 in the fourth quarter
48 first downs
955 yards of total offense
Seven scores in seven red zone chances
17 of 30 third downs were converted
3 hours, 41 minutes of football (no TV timeouts, remember).
The zebras roamed the field, ruling with an iron fist as if the Ags and Cru were invading a Botswana game reserve. The officials tossed flags on 36 occasions (17 for Del Val, 19 for Susquehanna), resulting in 280 yards of penalties. How it is possible that there were more penalties than third downs in a football game, I will never know.
Congrats to the recipients of a lifetime supply of wrist braces:
Referee: John Piuri
Umpire: Tim Hudson
Linesman: Mike Mahouski
Line Judge: John Pujia
Back Judge: Dwayne Mihalow
Field Judge: Reggie Smith
Side Judge: Jerry Lavelle
Do I get the vanilla ice cream or the rum raisin?
Shenandoah's Bryce Harrington nailed a 43-yard field goal as regulation ended to send the game to overtime. Harrington then popped a 39-yarder on the Hornets' first possession in overtime. Ferrum decided to eschew a traditional approach, knowing they needed at least a field goal, and got too fancy for their own good.
Within field goal range, the Panthers went with a halfback option from the Shenandoah 15-yard line which was promptly intercepted by the Hornets. SU has now escaped with a two-game winning streak, both coming after frenetic fourth quarter rallies.
Before Saturday's game, Ferrum head coach Dave Davis spoke with the Winchester Star about how he thought the game would be won. "A lot of it boils down to which team is able to do a better job of executing fundamentals and executing plays."
Chalk one up for the Hornets sticking to the fundamentals. Vanilla is tasty in overtime.
War(riors), what are they good for?
It had been 25 games and 27 years since Albright defeated Lycoming. After an early 16-0 Lycoming lead, it appeared as though the Lions would notch another game and another year to their futility mark against the Warriors. Or not.
Led by stellar quarterback John Port, and a defensive unit that hunkered down, the Lions went on to score the next 21 points, launching Lycoming back on their heels. Port finished the day completing 20 of his 30 pass attempts, averaging 20.7 yards per completion.
"The only way we are going to open people's eyes is if we win the MAC," Port told the Reading Eagle. It might just take that to open the eyes of the MAC coaches who launched Lyco to the top of the MAC preseason poll. Albright was picked sixth in the MAC preseason poll, although the Lions did get one vote in the D3football.com preseason Top 25.
Warriors coach Frank Girardi was bewildered by the pesky Port. The Williamsport Sun-Gazette asked Girardi how a 16-0 lead turned led to Lyco's second MAC loss. "In two words: John Port. He's riddled everybody and he riddled us. There's no safe lead when that kid is playing."
The game was halted for five minutes in the fourth quarter after Lyco quarterback Phil Mann was driven out of bounds and tackled by Albright's Mohammed Siddiqu on the Lyco sideline. Mann's Warrior teammates came to his aid after his facemask was dislodged in the fracas, leading Albright's bench to clear across the field to defend the lone Lion amidst their opponent.
Lycoming, defending MAC champions and national quarterfinalists from just one season ago, finds their season in panic mode after two conference losses in their first three MAC games. Compounding their 1-2 start is this week's non-conference matchup at Ithaca. It is entirely conceivable that the Warriors host FDU-Florham on Oct. 9 with a 1-3 record.
Tartanic
Franklin and Marshall's Diplomats dropped from the ranks of the unbeaten, suffering a 31-14 loss at Carnegie Mellon. The Tartans scored 31 consecutive points after allowing an early Diplomat TD pass en route to the victory.
This marks the second time in the last three seasons that the Diplomats have opened up to a 3-0 start, only failing to get to 4-0. In 2002, after wins over Oberlin, Catholic, and Ursinus, the Dips lost six in a row, including five conference matchups. They open their Centennial schedule at Muhlenberg this week.
Wasps stung for a record
This is not pretty. Washington and Jefferson scored 49 first-quarter points, a Division III record, against Emory and Henry in a 76-28 final.
"It just snowballed on them and we took advantage of the opportunities," W&J coach Mike Sirianni told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "There was a killer instinct. It felt like we could have scored 100 points in the first half."
Lou Wacker's troops were reeling after some early special teams blunders too numerous to mention. Here is the bottom line. E&H was intercepted on three occasions and fumbled four times, losing all four to W&J.
If you can believe it, W&J passed only 15 times despite having a 69-7 halftime lead. Meanwhile, the Wasps held the ball 64 seconds longer than the Presidents in their 48 point defeat. E&H looks to regain flight this week, at home, against Methodist.
Non-regional games impacting the Mid-Atlantic
Hanover 34, No. 20 Waynesburg 31
The Panthers were slashed last week in a 48-point drubbing from Bridgewater. With renewed vigor, Hanover scored a touchdown with 12-seconds remaining to knock Waynesburg from the Top 25. For those who saw Hanover struggle against the Eagles, to imagine a victory against a ranked opponent a week later was not conceivable. The Yellow Jackets' defeat is demoralizing for their squad and if anything, it helps Bridgewater down the line with their strength of schedule in non-region games. If BC loses to H-SC this week, do not expect the Eagles to make the playoffs as they will be sitting with three losses overall.
St. John Fisher 45, No. 11 Ithaca 38 (2 OT)
King's walked away from northern New York with a seven-point defeat at the hands of St. John Fisher. The Cardinals have since won three more games, including a huge overtime win against Ithaca last week. If King's hadn't lost to FDU-Florham and Widener, we could chalk a quality loss on their record, helping the Monarchs' strength of schedule.
Ithaca, now a member of the automatic-bid awarding Empire 8 Conference, faces a must-win non-conference game against Lycoming this week. The Bombers still have highly ranked Springfield to come in conference play and a quality team in Brockport State in late October.
Bottom line: Lyco faces a team as desperate for a big win as they themselves are.
Mid-Atlantic Region Top 5
1. Hampden-Sydney
2. Christopher Newport
3. Delaware Valley
4. Albright
5. McDaniel
Hampden-Sydney could be scary after a 62-21 win against Double-A Guilford. The starters went five innings and set their minds on a rematch at Bridgewater.
CNU moves up a spot after their win against BC. The Captains were set back after the loss to Rowan and a narrow escape against McDaniel. Bottom line, they won a game they needed to win, not so much with an automatic bid on the line, but a game against a quality opponent.
Del Val showed guts to the nth degree after rallying from a 14-point, fourth-quarter deficit. Getting into that deficit is part of the problem as they suffered numerous injuries on the defense.
Albright hops into the top five after the big win over Lycoming. Port is fantastic. The Lions are 3-0. They have two convincing wins over the MAC's top two teams in the preseason coaches poll. Respect is necessary.
McDaniel enjoyed a bye week as they open up the Centennial schedule with Ursinus.
Bridgewater falls out of the Top 5 in light of the loss to CNU. They could make a big jump this weekend if they knock off H-SC.
Games to watch
No. 13 Hampden-Sydney at Bridgewater, Jopson Field, Bridgewater, Va., 1 p.m.: Barring a highly unforeseeable upset, the ODAC championship is on the line. There you have it, the game to watch in the region. Possibly for the entire year. That being said, I will make my prediction public.
Hampden-Sydney by 9.
Lycoming at No. 22 Ithaca, Butterfield Stadium, Ithaca, N.Y., 1 p.m.: As I mentioned above, Lycoming is in serious danger of falling to 1-3 with a loss to Ithaca. Should the Warriors not win the MAC, they can forget the NCAA postseason. Tough to have a must win game in week five, but both schools can claim this contest as a necessity. It's about time Lyco experiences regular-season life outside the MAC
No. 19 Christopher Newport at Shenandoah, Shentel Stadium, Winchester, Va., 7 p.m.: The Hornets have had success against the Captains of the past. While SU has struggled for two of their three wins, CNU could be set up for a letdown after beating an offense-less Bridgewater. Shentel should be electric once again. This is the other D3football.com Game of the Week broadcast.
