Sep 19, 2006
By Pat Cummings
D3sports.com
Week 3 in the region was headlined by two crucial games of varying degrees of consequence. I can't be everywhere, every week. So it is a pleasure to welcome some contributors to the column this week, both of whom witnessed very different overtime bouts. Bridgewaterfootball.com publisher and D3football.com contributor Matt Barnhart reports on the epic battle between Ferrum and Bridgewater while D3football.com's Gordon Mann checks in on the MAC-tastic defensive struggle of ranked squads in Wilkes's win over Delaware Valley.
The right call
As a Bridgewater fan put it; the bad news for the Eagles was that they gave up 493 rushing yards against Ferrum. The good news was that BC did not give up 494.
After 60 minutes of play, the Panthers had run the ball 55 times for 469 yards for 8.5 yards a carry. They got what they wanted, when they wanted it. Good field position, even better punting, and a balanced offensive attack, helping the Eagles force overtime with the explosive running game of Ferrum.
Bridgewater had to settle for a 41-yard field goal on the first possession of OT, giving quarterback Jermaine Pitts and the Panther offense only 25 yards between them and an upset of the tenth-ranked Eagles.
Six carries and 24 yards later, Ferrum was sitting on the six-inch yard line on 2nd down. First rushing attempt; stuffed. Second rushing attempt; stuffed again. So there Ferrum coach Dave Davis was with fourth-and-goal from the half-yard line.
He could have:
a. attempted a 17-yard field goal to force a second overtime, or
b. run it for the 64th time in the game
c. thrown the ball
"The play we selected was the right play," Davis later told the Harrisonburg Daily News-Record.
Pitts dropped back and threw to a wide-open tight end Chris Silk in the corner of the end zone. Well, wide open until Eagles' safety Desmond Jalloh stuck his hand up at the line of scrimmage to bat it down.
Game over, and time for fans from both sides to second guess Davis' call. Let me tell you why it was the right one.
The newspaper noted that Davis said he had no intention of kicking a potential game-tying field goal because of the ease with which his team was moving the ball. What Davis didn't admit was that he had a freshman kicker who hadn't attempted a field goal on the year and who had missed an extra point earlier in the game.
So now it's down to running the ball or passing it.
Once they broke the huddle on fourth-and-goal, there would be no reason why the Eagles defense would expect a pass. Since 2003, Ferrum has run the ball 82.4% of the time. They're only six inches from winning. They have four guys in the backfield that each averaged more than 5 yards per carry in this game. Davis, on the other hand, is thinking Pitts would make his 113th career completion, Silk would have his 39th career reception and the two seniors would connect on their 23rd career touchdown together.
Had it not been for Jalloh's hand, the naysayers would be applauding the decision.
Colonels outplay Aggies in overtime
At the request of the Maven of the Mid-Atlantic, I've been asked to weigh in on last Saturday's MAC battle between Delaware Valley and Wilkes in Edwardsville, Pa.
The game pretty much played out as expected with a defensive battle. Delaware Valley was 2-for-15 (13.3%) on third-down conversions and Wilkes didn't have a first down until the third quarter. The defenses altered not only what the offenses did, but what they even tried to do as both teams had relatively conservative play calling. In the end Wilkes was able to grind down the Delaware Valley defense in the second half and play the kind of field position ball that lets their defense win games for them.
The Colonels' defense is so impressive because they have a myriad of players who can affect an offense's strategy. All-American linebacker Kyle Follweiler's ability has already been well documented, but defensive tackles Anthony Serafin and Jason Acquaye do a great job getting penetration and disrupting plays in the backfield. On Saturday, defensive ends Keith Cavallotti and Erik VanGilst caused havoc with their pass rushes from the outside.
Even though the season is only three weeks old, Wilkes is about as firmly in control of the conference as they can be at this point. They have already beaten two of the three teams likely to challenge them for the title (Widener and Del Val) and done so in come-from-behind fashion. I think those kinds of victories build momentum for something special, just like close losses can dishearten a team. Better yet, Wilkes will get the third contender (Lycoming) at Ralston Field on Homecoming Day for the Colonels.
As for Delaware Valley, while they certainly miss graduated quarterback Adam Knoblauch, freshman Mike Isgro has shown some ability in his first two games. He has very good speed, a strong arm and a surprising ability to break the tackles of much larger guys. He sort of reminds me of Dan Kelly at Lebanon Valley in his style of play. He'll be a good quarterback in time, but the Aggies need a more effective running game in the interim.
Yes, Wilkes has a great defense, but last year Aggies' running back Steve Cook had 121 yards on 20 carries against the Colonels (6.1 yards per carry). Last Saturday Jake Sheffield had 64 yards on 18 carries (3.6 yards per carry). Delaware Valley has to establish more of a running attack to stay in the conference race, starting this week against another very good defense in Lycoming.
The Aggies are in a similar position this week that Widener was last week -- they need to beat Lycoming to keep their MAC title hopes alive. If the Aggies can beat the Warriors on Saturday, then they become big Lycoming fans the rest of the way, hoping Lyco can beat Wilkes and force a three-way tie at the top. If not, this becomes a two-horse race pretty quickly between Wilkes and Lycoming.
Battle Metazoa-Arthropoda-Insecta-Hymenoptera-Vespidae goes to Beatty
It was the Hornets of Shenandoah and the Yellow Jackets of Waynesburg in an otherwise unordinary non-conference game. Waynesburg opened up with a 10-0 lead at the half and it seemed the Hornets were ready for a 0-3 start and ten consecutive losses dating back to last season.
Cue Dionte Beatty.
The Shenandoah sophomore defensive back had ten tackles, two for a loss, two pass breakups, one sack, and four, count them, four interceptions. Two of the picks led to Shenandoah's first and their go-ahead touchdowns. Three consecutive Waynesburg possessions were ended by Beatty's theatrics. An incredible performance keyed the Hornets' first win since Week 3 of 2005 against Randolph Macon. Of course, R-MC operates under the Yellow Jackets moniker as well.
Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, Baldwin-Wallace, Defiance, and Rochester, also sporting Yellow Jackets as a mascot, are not on Shenandoah's schedule this year.
Lycoming scores comeback win
The Warriors of Lycoming registered their biggest win in recent memory with a 15-12 comeback victory at home against Widener. Despite allowing 340 yards to Widener, the Pioneers could only manage 12 points and it kept a door open for Lyco, one which should have been shut by Widener.
Lycoming's five first-half possessions ended in punts, as did their first three of the second half. Matt Murdock and Ryan Repko returned Widener punts 39 and 63 yards to set up Lyco's late scores and secure a hearty 2-0 start. The Warriors travel to 20th-ranked Delaware Valley for another tough test this week.
Cougars play non-ranked opponent and win; Guilford offense lopsided
Shockingly, when not playing the No. 1 or No. 6 teams in the country, Averett had a better chance to win a football game, and they did, with a 54-34 win over pass-happy Guilford.
The final score is not indicative of the tight game. Josh Vogelbach found Chris Barnette for a 7-yard touchdown score with just over ten minutes remaining in the fourth quarter to bring Guilford to within sight of Averett, 41-34. Fifty-nine seconds later, one interception and one fumble recovery returned for touchdowns, and Kevin Kiesel would scratch his head when seeing the Cougars had just take a seven point lead and morphed it to 20. Guilford suffered their first loss since Oct. 15 of last year while Averett finally found a decent opponent they had a chance against.
Even though Guilford might not have a spectacular running back to complement their spectacular quarterback, you can't expect defenses to respect the run with numbers such as the ones below.
In 81 plays on offense, Guilford passed 70 times and Vogelbach was sacked three other times.
And so naturally, Vogelbach ended the day with more than 500 yards passing and five touchdowns.
And so naturally, he ended the day with four interceptions.
Take that many passing attempts and why would Averett try to play defense against a rushing game that wasn't there? Of Guilford's rushing attempts, the only tries that gained more than one yard were scrambles by Vogelbach.
Anyone out there think such a football philosophy is off base, especially when it comes to passing as opposed to rushing? We still see some teams run the ball almost exclusively -- some with success, others not so much. But your chances of turning the ball over seem to increase when throwing the ball up in the air than keeping it firmly planted on the ground.
The right call
As a Bridgewater fan put it; the bad news for the Eagles was that they gave up 493 rushing yards against Ferrum. The good news was that BC did not give up 494.
After 60 minutes of play, the Panthers had run the ball 55 times for 469 yards for 8.5 yards a carry. They got what they wanted, when they wanted it. Good field position, even better punting, and a balanced offensive attack, helping the Eagles force overtime with the explosive running game of Ferrum.
Bridgewater had to settle for a 41-yard field goal on the first possession of OT, giving quarterback Jermaine Pitts and the Panther offense only 25 yards between them and an upset of the tenth-ranked Eagles.
Six carries and 24 yards later, Ferrum was sitting on the six-inch yard line on 2nd down. First rushing attempt; stuffed. Second rushing attempt; stuffed again. So there Ferrum coach Dave Davis was with fourth-and-goal from the half-yard line.
He could have:
a. attempted a 17-yard field goal to force a second overtime, or
b. run it for the 64th time in the game
c. thrown the ball
"The play we selected was the right play," Davis later told the Harrisonburg Daily News-Record.
Pitts dropped back and threw to a wide-open tight end Chris Silk in the corner of the end zone. Well, wide open until Eagles' safety Desmond Jalloh stuck his hand up at the line of scrimmage to bat it down.
Game over, and time for fans from both sides to second guess Davis' call. Let me tell you why it was the right one.
The newspaper noted that Davis said he had no intention of kicking a potential game-tying field goal because of the ease with which his team was moving the ball. What Davis didn't admit was that he had a freshman kicker who hadn't attempted a field goal on the year and who had missed an extra point earlier in the game.
So now it's down to running the ball or passing it.
Once they broke the huddle on fourth-and-goal, there would be no reason why the Eagles defense would expect a pass. Since 2003, Ferrum has run the ball 82.4% of the time. They're only six inches from winning. They have four guys in the backfield that each averaged more than 5 yards per carry in this game. Davis, on the other hand, is thinking Pitts would make his 113th career completion, Silk would have his 39th career reception and the two seniors would connect on their 23rd career touchdown together.
Had it not been for Jalloh's hand, the naysayers would be applauding the decision.
Colonels outplay Aggies in overtime
At the request of the Maven of the Mid-Atlantic, I've been asked to weigh in on last Saturday's MAC battle between Delaware Valley and Wilkes in Edwardsville, Pa.
The game pretty much played out as expected with a defensive battle. Delaware Valley was 2-for-15 (13.3%) on third-down conversions and Wilkes didn't have a first down until the third quarter. The defenses altered not only what the offenses did, but what they even tried to do as both teams had relatively conservative play calling. In the end Wilkes was able to grind down the Delaware Valley defense in the second half and play the kind of field position ball that lets their defense win games for them.
The Colonels' defense is so impressive because they have a myriad of players who can affect an offense's strategy. All-American linebacker Kyle Follweiler's ability has already been well documented, but defensive tackles Anthony Serafin and Jason Acquaye do a great job getting penetration and disrupting plays in the backfield. On Saturday, defensive ends Keith Cavallotti and Erik VanGilst caused havoc with their pass rushes from the outside.
Even though the season is only three weeks old, Wilkes is about as firmly in control of the conference as they can be at this point. They have already beaten two of the three teams likely to challenge them for the title (Widener and Del Val) and done so in come-from-behind fashion. I think those kinds of victories build momentum for something special, just like close losses can dishearten a team. Better yet, Wilkes will get the third contender (Lycoming) at Ralston Field on Homecoming Day for the Colonels.
As for Delaware Valley, while they certainly miss graduated quarterback Adam Knoblauch, freshman Mike Isgro has shown some ability in his first two games. He has very good speed, a strong arm and a surprising ability to break the tackles of much larger guys. He sort of reminds me of Dan Kelly at Lebanon Valley in his style of play. He'll be a good quarterback in time, but the Aggies need a more effective running game in the interim.
Yes, Wilkes has a great defense, but last year Aggies' running back Steve Cook had 121 yards on 20 carries against the Colonels (6.1 yards per carry). Last Saturday Jake Sheffield had 64 yards on 18 carries (3.6 yards per carry). Delaware Valley has to establish more of a running attack to stay in the conference race, starting this week against another very good defense in Lycoming.
The Aggies are in a similar position this week that Widener was last week -- they need to beat Lycoming to keep their MAC title hopes alive. If the Aggies can beat the Warriors on Saturday, then they become big Lycoming fans the rest of the way, hoping Lyco can beat Wilkes and force a three-way tie at the top. If not, this becomes a two-horse race pretty quickly between Wilkes and Lycoming.
Battle Metazoa-Arthropoda-Insecta-Hymenoptera-Vespidae goes to Beatty
It was the Hornets of Shenandoah and the Yellow Jackets of Waynesburg in an otherwise unordinary non-conference game. Waynesburg opened up with a 10-0 lead at the half and it seemed the Hornets were ready for a 0-3 start and ten consecutive losses dating back to last season.
Cue Dionte Beatty.
The Shenandoah sophomore defensive back had ten tackles, two for a loss, two pass breakups, one sack, and four, count them, four interceptions. Two of the picks led to Shenandoah's first and their go-ahead touchdowns. Three consecutive Waynesburg possessions were ended by Beatty's theatrics. An incredible performance keyed the Hornets' first win since Week 3 of 2005 against Randolph Macon. Of course, R-MC operates under the Yellow Jackets moniker as well.
Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, Baldwin-Wallace, Defiance, and Rochester, also sporting Yellow Jackets as a mascot, are not on Shenandoah's schedule this year.
Lycoming scores comeback win
The Warriors of Lycoming registered their biggest win in recent memory with a 15-12 comeback victory at home against Widener. Despite allowing 340 yards to Widener, the Pioneers could only manage 12 points and it kept a door open for Lyco, one which should have been shut by Widener.
Lycoming's five first-half possessions ended in punts, as did their first three of the second half. Matt Murdock and Ryan Repko returned Widener punts 39 and 63 yards to set up Lyco's late scores and secure a hearty 2-0 start. The Warriors travel to 20th-ranked Delaware Valley for another tough test this week.
Cougars play non-ranked opponent and win; Guilford offense lopsided
Shockingly, when not playing the No. 1 or No. 6 teams in the country, Averett had a better chance to win a football game, and they did, with a 54-34 win over pass-happy Guilford.
The final score is not indicative of the tight game. Josh Vogelbach found Chris Barnette for a 7-yard touchdown score with just over ten minutes remaining in the fourth quarter to bring Guilford to within sight of Averett, 41-34. Fifty-nine seconds later, one interception and one fumble recovery returned for touchdowns, and Kevin Kiesel would scratch his head when seeing the Cougars had just take a seven point lead and morphed it to 20. Guilford suffered their first loss since Oct. 15 of last year while Averett finally found a decent opponent they had a chance against.
Even though Guilford might not have a spectacular running back to complement their spectacular quarterback, you can't expect defenses to respect the run with numbers such as the ones below.
In 81 plays on offense, Guilford passed 70 times and Vogelbach was sacked three other times.
And so naturally, Vogelbach ended the day with more than 500 yards passing and five touchdowns.
And so naturally, he ended the day with four interceptions.
Take that many passing attempts and why would Averett try to play defense against a rushing game that wasn't there? Of Guilford's rushing attempts, the only tries that gained more than one yard were scrambles by Vogelbach.
Anyone out there think such a football philosophy is off base, especially when it comes to passing as opposed to rushing? We still see some teams run the ball almost exclusively -- some with success, others not so much. But your chances of turning the ball over seem to increase when throwing the ball up in the air than keeping it firmly planted on the ground.
Mid Atlantic Region Top 5
1. Bridgewater
2. Wilkes
3. Delaware Valley
4. Christopher Newport
5. Dickinson
The top four teams are relatively self-explanatory. Dickinson's defense held the Merchant Marines to seven points, which are the only points they've allowed at home. A slip-up against well-regarded Hobart is the lone blemish where, the lead changed hands seven times and the Statesmen ended up with the go-ahead-for-good score with a minute remaining. The Red Devils have a bye week and will travel to Johns Hopkins in week five.
Games of the Week
Catholic at Randolph-Macon, Day Field, Ashland, Va., 1:00 p.m.: The ODAC schedule kicks off in Week 4 with this matchup. R-MC has already matched its 2005 win total and Catholic is one more away from it. It's all about the wins and both teams have more wins than losses, and that's more than many expected.
Shenandoah at Ferrum, Adams Stadium, Ferrum, Va., 1:00 p.m.: Two teams that run the ball like a fish swims. If you are looking for the quickest game of the week, this is it. And if you are expecting Dionte Beatty to get a few more interceptions this week, don't hold you breath. These two teams run as their first, second, and third options and toss in the occasional passes to mix it up. Expect a quick one that still highly favors Ferrum.
