By Pat Coleman
D3sports.com
GLASSBORO, N.J. -- Wesley senior tailback Fred Edwards ran 37 times for 245 yards and two touchdowns, but the Rowan defense stopped him on a 2-point conversion with 3:04 left and held on to beat the Wolverines 22-20.
After Wesley came away empty on three first-quarter trips inside the Rowan 30-yard line, the Profs (2-0) finished the first quarter and opened the second quarter with a 10-play, 80-yard drive to take a 7-0 lead. Senior quarterback Tony Raccioppi, who finished the night 19-for-32 with 218 yards, threw his only touchdown pass of the night to Phil Silva seven minutes later. Nick Frade made it 16-0 with a field goal late in the first half.
Wolverine quarterback Curtis Long, who was pressured all night, finished the half 10-for-24 passing. The Wolverines (1-1) came out of the locker room on the ground, running 31 times in the second half for 136 yards. Edwards scored on a 9-yard run on the first drive of the third quarter to make it 16-7, then, after a Rowan touchdown and missed extra point, led a bruising 87-yard drive before Long found Joe Able on a fade route in the end zone on the second-to-last play of the third quarter.
Wesley had three chances inside Prof territory in the fourth quarter, but couldn't punch the ball in the first two times, including going four-and-out on four incomplete passes.
"I was frustrated," said Edwards, who had brought the Wolverines back into the game with his ability to move the ball after contact and slip tackles. "We put it on the line. It's tough to have to wait for the defense to get the ball back."
Rowan allowed 434 yards of total offense, with Edwards pounding away at the Prof defense for 25 carries in the second half.
"We came up big on a lot of plays tonight," said senior linebacker Curtis Custis. "We weren't tired (at the end), we work hard during the week."
"They caught us out of a lot of blocking schemes," said senior defensive lineman Gerrit Tosh, whose sack of Long ended a fourth-quarter scoring threat. "We have confidence. Everyone says we're young but that doesn't fly here."
After a Rowan stop on fourth down gave the Profs the ball back midway through the fourth quarter, a low snap that Raccioppi couldn't field caused a fumble, which Wolverines sophomore defensive end Joe Macaluso fell on at the 20-yard line. Edwards carried the ball into the end zone five plays later to cut the Prof lead to 22-20.
At that point, every one of the 3,768 at John Page Field knew who was getting the ball, and Edwards was stuffed up the middle on the 2-point conversion.
"I figured it was coming up the middle," said Tosh, who finished with six total tackles (three solo) and the sack. "Finally we made a play. They were hurting us up the middle all game."
"If it wasn't for him making the tackle, I'd have walked in," said Edwards. "We just didn't score when we needed to."
Long finished the night 16-for-38 passing for 179 yards and a touchdown. Marques Cosby was the leading receiver with five catches for 41 yards. Raccioppi's favorite target was Tyree Jackson, who caught seven passes for 75 yards. Craig Bethea led the Profs on the ground with 74 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries.
Gabe Spitale led Rowan with 14 total tackles (seven solo), while Custis added 13 and Nick Lopez 12 (seven solo apiece). Wesley was led by Chris Horsey's 11 stops (five solo), while Rocky Myers had nine tackles (eight solo) and Macaluso nine (seven solo).