ALFRED, NY — The Alfred University football team opened
its 2010 season with a 37-0 shutout of visiting Widener University
Saturday afternoon on Merrill Field.
The Saxons held Widener to 210 yards of offense and forced six
turnovers. Junior quarterback Tom Secky threw for two touchdowns,
both to junior tight end Adam Schutz), and ran for another as the
Saxons produced 332 yards of offense and 15 first downs.
AU opened the scoring with a 38-yard field goal by junior Eric
Rockwood with 9:44 left in the first quarter. Junior Nick Clark
intercepted pass by Widener quarterback Colin Masterson just before
the end of the opening quarter and returned the ball to the Pride
3-yard line. On fourth-and-one, freshman tailback Chuck Beckwith
plunged in for the score, putting AU up 10-0 five seconds into the
second period.
Secky connected with Schutz on a 37-yard scoring play midway
through the second to cap a six-play 63-yard drive and AU went into
intermission up 17-0. Alfred added 13 points in the third. Secky
hit Schutz with a 35-yard TD pass 1:17 into the third period to end
a four-play 85-yard drive. Freshman tailback Austin Dwyer provided
a 50-yard run during the drive and finished his collegiate debut
with 53 yards on five carries.
Secky put AU up 30-0 with a two-yard run with 4:08 left in the
third and Clark closed out the scoring with a two-yard run 32
seconds into the fourth, capping a seven-play 30-yard drive that
began after an interception by junior free safety Alec Currier. AU
defenders had four interceptions on the day and forced two fumbles
as the Saxons held the Pride to 63 yards passing.
Senior wide receiver Ryan Thon had a game-high eight catches for
73 yards for AU and Schutz had five receptions for 94 yards and two
touchdowns. Dwyer added three receptions for 29 yards.
Masterson completed three passes for 40 yards and threw three
interceptions. Backups Tevin Campbell and Chris Haupt (one
interception) combined to complete two of six passed for 29 yards.
Wideout Cedric Clayton caught three passes for 45 yards and Pride
tailback Adam Smith finished with 70 yards on 17 carries.
Sophomore tackle Mike Raplee had a game-high 11 tackles, including
two for loss, and broke up a pass to pace the Saxon defense. Clark
had seven tackles (one for loss); junior linebacker Wes Smith had
eight stops; and junior end Marcellus Jones had two sacks among his
six tackles. Clark, Currier, freshman cornerback Chris Gibbs and
junior cornerback Roland O'Brien each had interceptions and
junior linebacker Brady Bonaquisti and junior cornerback Matt Mazur
each forced a fumble.
Jon Natter and Joe Wojceichowski each had 10 tackles for Widener
and end Shane Szumski had 1.5 sacks among his four tackles and also
forced a fumble. Wes O'Kula had five tackles and an
interception for the Pride.
AU is off next weekend and plays next on Saturday, Sept. 18, at 1
p.m. at St. Lawrence.