By Pat Cummings
D3sports.com
The average margin of victory in a Middle Atlantic Conference game this season is 12.1 points. Eighteen of this year's 30 MAC games have been decided by seven points or fewer.
Ask any player in the MAC and they firmly believe that their conference is toughest. The parity is striking amongst the MAC this season as six of the 11 teams have two conference wins while seven of the eleven have at least two conference losses.
Visit one of the 11 MAC schools in Pennsylvania or New Jersey and rarely does a team exude confidence prior to a game. Because as I have mentioned time and time again, when it comes to the MAC, anything can and will happen.
Moravian and Delaware Valley both improved to 6-0 on the season with wins over FDU-Florham and Lycoming, respectively. The Aggies' win marks the first time in school history they have opened up with six consecutive wins and have eight consecutive victories dating to the 2003 season. The Greyhounds achieved the 6-0 mark for the first time since 1940.
Sophomore tailback Chris Jacobus was on fire once again for Moravian, tallying 159 yards in the narrow victory. Florham outgained Moravian by 161 yards and had a chance to tie the game late after a 42-yard flea-flicker brought the Devils down to the Hounds 3-yard line. Moravian's defense held taut and kept FDU from the upset.
"Everyone's been telling me ... 'You really make it interesting,' " Moravian coach Scot Dapp sighed to the Allentown Morning Call. "Yeah, like I tried to do that."
Four of Moravian's six wins have come by eight points or fewer.
The Hounds will need all they can get from Jacobus as the meat of their schedule approaches with consecutive road games at Lycoming and Widener, then at home against Albright and archrival Muhlenberg in a non-conference game.
Lycoming, under backup sophomore quarterback Glenn Smith, opened up to a 12-0 lead early in the third quarter as the Del Val offense stagnated. The Aggies went on to score 19 unanswered points to assume a seven-point lead with eight minutes remaining.
The Warriors tied the game with five minutes left when Mike Piotrowicz rumbled 18 yards for a touchdown after recovering a David Carmon fumble, tying the game at 19.
Del Val punted back to Lyco with 3:11 on the clock, pinning the Warriors at their own 1-yard line. Despite only garnering 23 yards up to the start of the Lyco drive, the Warriors called three running plays to Dustin Heintzelman, who failed to find the first-down marker.
Dylan Dupuis punted to Del Val who took over at the Lyco 41-yard-line with a half minute remaining. On the first Aggies play, Adam Knoblauch, who surpassed the 6,000 passing yard mark on Saturday, connected with Don Marshall for the game-winning score.
"This team has more character than any team I've been associated with," G.A. Mangus told the Doylestown Intelligencer. "That includes my days at the University of Florida [as a player and graduate assistant], high school, Widener, Ursinus, and my teams here."
As for Lycoming, realistically eliminated from a postseason berth, the loss stung especially.
"This hurts more than anything, especially with the way we played," junior linebacker Kevin LeSage told the Williamsport Sun-Gazette. "We played a hell of a game against a good team and unfortunately came up a little short."
After losing four consecutive games by a combined 12 points, King's finally won its second game of the year ... barely.
The Monarchs had to be shaking when Lebanon Valley, down by eight with 1:45 to play, marched 72 yards on 12 plays to tie the game with 17 seconds remaining. Dan Kelly connected with Adam Brossman for a two-point conversion to force the game to overtime.
King's scored seven points on their first overtime possession. The Flying Dutchmen scored a touchdown and, eliminated from the prospect of postseason competition with nothing else to lose, decided to go for two. Brossman would not corral the Kelly pass this time, giving King's the victory.
Brett Trichilo ran for a school record 316 yards in a 35-28 Wilkes victory against Susquehanna. The senior is now seventh on the Division III all time rushing list with 5,316 yards. For the second time this season, Susquehanna has been on the losing end of a game that saw over 950 yards of total offense. The Crusaders fell to Del Val in a 46-39 slugfest earlier this year.
Shenan-DOH!
It happened again. After a huge win at home against Christopher Newport, the Hornets of Shenandoah spit the bit on the road at Greensboro as the Pride tallied a 24-19 victory.
SU led by nine in the final stanza when Greensboro scored 14 unanswered points on two Justin Roberson passing touchdowns to Kenyatta Campbell, propelling the Pride to the upset win.
Paul Barnes's buzzing blue-shirted Hornets are obviously a running team. As I wrote several week ago, SU's win against Randolph-Macon was the first game since the program was revivied in which the Hornets' passing yardage was greater than the rushing yardage.
After surrendering the two fourth-quarter touchdowns, Greensboro kicked to SU for a touchback. Despite already rushing for 190 yards and with 5:52 remaining in the contest, Barnes calls three consecutive passing plays, all of which fell incomplete.
So much for sticking with the bread and butter.
Terror-fying defense
The Green Terror defense is having its way with opposing offenses this year. No. 20 McDaniel has pitched three shutouts in the 2004 season, holding Catholic, Gettysburg, and most recently Dickinson, off the board. Tim Keating's Mean Green are allowing 6.5 points per game and have surrendered just 39 all season.
Playing only a nine-game schedule, McDaniel has another week off before the bulk of the Centennial Conference schedule kicks in at Franklin and Marshall before a home game versus Muhlenberg, and the season finale at Johns Hopkins.
Tigers deny Generals major upset
Last week we mentioned Washington and Lee's fabulous defense. The Generals showed their offense against high-flying Hampden-Sydney, scoring 14 fourth-quarter points, nearly upending the Tigers.
Colton Ward scored all four touchdowns for W&L who cut a 17-point H-SC lead to three with 3:51 remaining. The Wasps would get the ball back at midfield with 50 seconds left and a chance to tie the game. Greg Tweardy tossed an interception on the first play of the drive to squelch those thoughts as H-SC enjoyed a big sigh of relief and maintained its Pool C dreams.
Monarch mania
Twenty-nine second-half points vaulted the Monarchs of Methodist past Ferrum 36-18 and also into sole possession of first place in the USA South Conference. The Monarchs will now host Christopher Newport for Homecoming in Fayetteville this Saturday, a game with tremendous importance.
Despite trailing 10-7 at the intermission, Methodist opened the second half with a 69-yard drive capped by a Howard Fuller touchdown run. Ferrum failed to move the football on the next possession and Panthers punter Matt Murphy was tackled at the 1-yard line, leading to an easy Monarchs score.
Cruise control set in and Methodist now relishes a spot at 5-1 overall and 3-0 in the USAC.
"We're the frontrunners now, and I don't want us to get knocked off," Methodist coach Jim Sypult told the Fayetteville Observer.
The Monarchs other wins were significantly more difficult that Saturday's, a one-point nailbiter over North Carolina Wesleyan and a two-point triumph over Averett.
Should the Monarchs get by the Captains, a tall task at that, their last three games are all on the road (at Chowan, Greensboro, and Shenandoah).
Mid-Atlantic Region Top 5
1. Delaware Valley
2. McDaniel
3. Bridgewater
4. Albright
5. Moravian
There isn't much that can be said about the top two that I haven't already mentioned.
My confidence in Bridgewater is somewhat renewed after demolishing lowly Guilford. After an absent offense eeked by early in the season, BC's Brandon Wakefield has found the touch and propelled the Eagles to the wins they need.
Albright dismantled Juniata behind another rocket performance offensively. Their biggest game of the season comes now comes with their homecoming matchup versus Del Val.
Moravian holds the fifth spot, tenuously, after a close win against now 2-4 FDU-Florham.
Games of the Week
Dickinson at Frankin & Marshall, Sponaugle-Williamson Field, Lancaster, Pa., 1:00 p.m.: An historic rivalry with the legendary Conestoga Wagon trophy on the line. A win here makes or breaks a season for either squad.
Christopher Newport at Methodist, Monarch Stadium, Fayetteville, Nc., 1:30 p.m.: CNU cannot be caught napping at what is sure to be a raucous homecoming with a USAC-leading Methodist squad. The Monarchs control their own destiny given Shenandoah's loss.
No. 19 Delaware Valley at Albright, Shirk Field, Reading, Pa., 1:30 p.m.: Del Val's much improved defense could be the difference here if the Lions' defense proves porous. Expect a busy scoreboard operator as these two could easily surpass 1,000 yards of combined offense. A fun game regardless. Oh, and a mighty important one in the realm of the MAC.
