District College Football Recap for Saturday, September 7

By: HSSN Staff
Sunday, September 8, 2013 | 2:16 PM

The college football season kicked off in full on Saturday as the PSAC, NCAC and PAC members joined the NEC in taking to the field. Slippery Rock, W & J and Geneva all posted big wins and Clarion needed overtime to pull out the home victory in a wild finish at Memorial Stadium.

Here are recaps of all the games from Saturday:

Slippery Rock 51 – Northwood 36
Nigel Barksdale had a career day for the Rock, throwing for 465 yards and six touchdowns as SRU opens the season with a road win. The Rock had three receivers with six catches and over 100 yards on the afternoon.

It didn’t take long for SRU to show off the passing attack. Barksdale connected with Ken Amos for a 73 yard touchdown on the opening play from scrimmage. Mitch Robinson answered with a 32 yard touchdown to Cameron Jackson and both teams were on the board less than three minutes in. The Rock had a chance to go up again after two long pass plays, but Barksdale fumbled at the four into the end zone, Northwood recovered for a touchback. But the defense held and Barksdale engineered a 71 yard drive, hitting John Schaderman for a seven yard score and a 14-7 lead. Jackson tied the game with a four yard run and the quarter ended knotted at 14.

Barksdale connected with Schaderman for a 19 yard touchdown early in the second to give the Rock back the lead. Alex Faust kicked a 36 yard field goal for Northwood. Barksdale hit Jaimire Dutrieuille for a 19 yard touchdown and Mike Wainauskis kicked a 30 yard field goal to put SRU up 30-17 at the break.
 

Glenn Winston opened the third quarter scoring with a yard run, ending a six play drive, but Faust missed the extra point. Northwood tied the game on a Robinson 53 yard td pass, but SRU answered as Barksdale found LaQuinn Stephens-Howling for his own 53 yard strike and took the lead back.

Slippery Rock pulled away in the fourth quarter. After the defense held at the 40 yard line, Barksdale hit tight end Robert Joyce for a two yard touchdown. Anthony Saunders put the icing on the cake with a 28 yard Pick 6. Robinson hit Theron Wilson for a 17 yard touchdown to cap the scoring. The Rock drove deep, but Zach Newsock entered the game at quarterback and fumbled on fourth and goal at the one after a 17 play 80 yard drive that ate up all but thirty seconds of the remaining time.

Amos and Dutrieuille each had six catches for 116 yards. Schademan grabbed six passes for 108 yards. Shamar Green ran 22 times for 89 yards. The only down side for SRU was five turnovers. Robinson was 23-42 for 362 yards for Northwood.

Geneva 47 – Frostburg State 3
A pair of former Lawrence County standouts led the Golden Tornadoes to the huge win at Reeves Field on Saturday night. Dylan Jones of Laurel and Rocco Colavecchia of Shenango each scored twice as Geneva racked up 488 yards of offense in the win.

Colavecchia opened the scoring in the first on a 2 yard run, the Bobcats answered with a Jake Armstrong 26 yard field goal in the final minute of the quarter. The Golden Tornadoes pulled away in the second, Zach Hayward hit Jones out of the backfield for a 15 yard td. Jones added a 4 yard touchdown on the GT’s next series to go up 21-3. Hayward found Josh Guiser for a 58 yard score, Colavecchia added a yard run to end an 11 play drive and a 34-3 Geneva lead at the break.

Kelln Mackey added a 6 yard run and Lemuel Fuller scored on a 3 yard plunge to cap the scoring. Jones carried 16 times for 92 yards, he also had 5 catches out of the backfield for another 47 yards. Colavecchia carried 4 times, scoring twice, he also had 8 catches for 51 yards. Hayward was 24-29 for 266, Guiser had 6 catches for 95 yards. Dillion Goodell led Geneva with 10 tackles.

W & J 58 – Wooster 21
The Presidents jumped out to a 21-0 lead and did not look back for the road win. Dion Weigand scored three times for W & J, Matt Bliss ran for two scores and threw for another.

Weigand opened the scoring 72 seconds into the season with a 51 yard run, he added a 2 yard run four minutes later. Marlon Brown grabbed a 75 yard Pick 6 and the rout was on. Wooster scored on a Richard Barnes to Justin Rice 18 yard td pass, but Weigand added his third touchdown of the quarter on a 9 yard run to go up 28-7.

Bliss scored on a 4 yard run as the Presidents took advantage of a short field after a great punt return by Alex Baroffio. Wooster scored on a 15 play drive, Barnes hitting Darrian Owens for a 6 yard touchdown. Baroffio returned the kickoff 42 yards, which set up Bliss scoring from 1 out five plays later.

Bliss and Baroffio hooked up for the first time this season for a touchdown, a 10 yard touchdown. Sean Hackel scored on a 32 yard touchdown for Wooster. Ryan Ruffing closed out the scoring with a 3 yard run.

Weigand carried 19 times for 128 yards, Ruffing added 77 yards on 12 carries. Bliss was 27-33 for 312, Dan Lucas had 10 catches and Baroffio 9 for the Presidents. Hackel ran 29 times for 148 yards for Wooster.

Dayton 23 – Duquesne 20
Dillon Buechel threw for two touchdowns in the first half but the Dukes were held to 132 yards offense in the second half and only had one play in Dayton territory as the Flyers pulled out the home win.

Buechel hit Gianni Carter for a 76 yard touchdown, the Dukes led 10-0 on a 26 yard Austin Crimmins field goal. A bad punt snap gave Dayton the ball on the one yard line, QB Will Bardo failed twice to score but got in on the third try for the score. Another turnover set the Flyers up again. Buechel was intercepted by Ryan Schwenke, on the next play, Barto went 71 yards for a touchdown and a 14-10 lead. Crimmins connected on a 27 yard field goal, it was Dayton’s turn to cough up the ball, Rich Piekarski picked up a Barto fumble. Buechel hit Carter with 39 seconds left in the half to go up 20-14 at the break.

The Dukes crossed into Dayton territory at the 47 but had to punt the ball on the opening possession of the second half. The Flyers got a William Will 32 yard field goal midway thru the third. Will tied the game on the next series with a 25 yard kick and added another 25 yarder midway thru the fourth for the lead. Buechel hit Dave Thomas at the 30 yard line, but he fumbled the football, Dayton recovered and was able to run out the clock.

Buechel was 22 of 37 for 295 yards, Carter had 7 catches for 135 yards. Bardo was 16-32 for 171 yards, he ran for 79 yards on 18 carries. Both teams are now 1-1.

Robert Morris 31 – Morgan State 14
The RMU defense forced three turnovers and recorded 6 sacks in keeping the Bears off the board for the first three quarters. Paul Jones led the offense with three touchdown passes.

It was Jones hitting Tyler Digby for a 8 yard touchdown for the only score of the first quarter. Deontae Howard scored on a 4 yard run in the final minute of the first half for the Colonials. Jones hit Chad Dawgiello for a 23 yard pass in the third quarter. The defense allowed Morgan State to run one offensive play in RMU territory in the first two quarters, but the Bears started a drive after the Dawgiello score. Chris Moller attempted a 31 yard field goal, but it was blocked by Marcelis Branch. Connor Shennah attempted a 34 yard field goal with 10 seconds left, it was also blocked. The Bears got on the board seven plays later as Moses Skillon hit Tubotein Taylor for 55 yards, then Andrew King for a 6 yard touchdown.

Jones led a 76 yard drive, capped by a td pass to Duane Mitchell of 38 yards. Shennan hit a 27 yard field goal with 3 minutes left. Skillon hit King for a 44 yard td on the final play of the game.

Jones was 13-26 for 194 yards, Howard carried 18 times for 76 yards. RMU is now 1-1. Morgan State falls to 0-2.

Georgia Southern 59 – Saint Francis 17
William Banks ran for three touchdowns and the 10th ranked Eagles racked up 551 yards of offense in the home win. Jerrick McKinnon threw for two scores.

Khairi Dickson scored on a 1 yard run late in the second quarter for the Red Flash. Dickson added a 10 yard run late in the fourth. Dickson carried 17 times for 76 yards. Kevin Harbridge added 132 yards on 25 carries in his return to the Red Flash lineup for the first time since 2011.

Cal 22 – Hillsdale 19
The Vulcans rallied from a 13-0 halftime deficit as Cody Schroeder threw three second half td passes, the third going to Mike Williams with fifty seconds left to give Cal the win.

Hillsdale got two Steven Mette field goals and a touchdown pass from Sam Landry to Evan Bach of 12 yards to stake the lead. Then Cal started the comeback. Schroeder hit Trey Johnson for a three yard touchdown in the third and a seven yard strike to Desimon Green to put Cal up 14-13 with 6:52 left in the game.

Landry hit Bach for a 39 yard pitch and catch, setting up Issac Spence for a one yard run. Hillsdale had two chances to make the two pointer, but failed both times, leaving  5:20 remaining for the Vulcans. Schroeder was picked off by Daniel Pittman but the Vulcans defense held, giving Cal back the ball with just over three minutes left. Schroeder hit Trey Johnson twice to move the sticks, then Paul Butler to put the ball at the 18. The qb then connected with Mike Williams twice, first to the five and then the end zone to put the Vulcans up for good. Hillsdale had a chance to tie the game, but Mette missed a field goal from 48 yards on the final play.

Schroeder was 26-37 for 270 yards, he was picked twice. Johnson had eight catches, Williams six and Green four for the Vulcans. Landry was 26-42 for 359 for Hillsdale.

Bentley 17 – Mercyhurst 16
Jet Kollie scored his second touchdown of the game in the third quarter to put Bentley up for good and hand the Lakers the road loss.

Mercyhurst struck first on an Anthony Vendemia six yard pass to Jeff Groene on the opening drive. Bently took the lead in the second on a Dan Guadagnoli 18 yard pass to Kollie, but Mercyhurst answered with four seconds left in the half as sophomore running back Brandon Brown-Dukes scored on a four yard run to put the Lakers up 13-10 at the break.

Jordan Spangler kicked a 31 yard field goal for Mercyhurst in the third quarter. Kollie scored on a six yard run to put Bentley up with 2:49 left in the third. The Lakers could not enter the red zone in the fourth quarter, getting no closer than the Bentley 35 for the remainder of the game.

Brown-Dukes ran 18 times for 77 yards for the Lakers, who had 401 yards of offense for the game. 

Clarion 39 – Kutztown 38 in overtime
A true back and forth affair in Clarion as the Golden Bears blew a 16 point third quarter lead. Kutztown missed four conversion attempts, ten points were scored in the final 24 seconds of regulation, including Clarion getting two chances to kick the game tying field goal. Ben Fiscus was the star of the day for Clarion, running for two scores, including the game winner and throwing for three more.

Fiscus opened the scoring on the first drive of the game, hitting Mike Dietrick for a five yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead. The second quarter belonged to the Golden Bears as Alec Werner hit Anthony Kelly for a seven yard score, Curtis Wortham ran in from two yards out and Werner scored on a yard run with twelve seconds left in the half, but Kutztown missed all three conversion attempts, failing on two kicks and missing a two pointer.

Clarion got on the board in the third quarter as a fumble was recovered in the end zone for a safety on the first play of the period, making the score 18-9. The Golden Eagles could do nothing after the free kick and Kutztown scored on a Werner pass to Kodi Reed of seven yards to put the Golden Bears up 25-9. Fiscus connected with Dietrick again for a 14 yard touchdown to cut the lead to ten.

After the defense held, Fiscus opened the fourth quarter scoring with an 80 yard drive, going in from a yard out. Clarion took the lead on a Fiscus pass to Mark Nichols of 13 yards to go up 29-25 with 5:26 left in regulation. Werner led Kutztown on a 83 yard drive, scoring on fourth and goal from the three. Alex Tonnies made six catches on the march, including the td reception with 24 seconds left.

Clarion had no timeouts left, but that didn’t matter to Fiscus, he hit Nicholas for a 37 yard strike to the Kutztown 38, then found Caleb Mancini for 13 yards to the 25 with eight seconds left. That brought Phil Esposito on to try a 42 yard field goal. Esposito’s kick was blocked but recovered by Deitrick at the 28 and he got out of bounds to stop the clock with one second left. Esposito got a second chance and hit from 45 yards to send the game to overtime.

Werner hit Reed for an eleven yard touchdown on the fourth play to put Kutztown up again, but a bad snap forced Kutztown to go for two and miss, leaving the door open for Fiscus and company. Fiscus scored on the third play from ten out, Esposito’s kick was good and the majority of the 4,560 at Memorial Stadium left happy with the Golden Eagles win.

Fiscus ran 17 times for 67 yards and the two scores, he threw for 287 yards and three scores. Dietrick had six catches for Clarion. Tonnies had 17 catches for Kutztown for 123 yards, Kelly made ten grabs. Werner was 40-57 for 394 yards.

IUP 30 –  Southern Connecticut State 20
Israel Green scored on a two yard run with 4:46 left in the fourth to ice the win for the tenth ranked Crimson Hawks.

The game was even after two quarters at 14, Erik Finklea scored on a 45 yard run and Mike Box hit Sean McVay for a nine yard touchdown for IUP. John Moscatel scored on runs of one and nine yards for SCSU.

IUP took control of the game late in the third quarter as Marco Pecora picked off a pass, setting up the Crimson Hawks at the SCSU 35 yard line. Box hit Drew Carswell on the fourth play of the drive for a six yard touchdown and IUP had the lead for good. Brett Ullman tacked on a 48 yard field goal to put the Crimson Hawks up ten. Jacob Jablonski hit Vito Fornarelli for a 22 yard touchdown with 7:16 left, but Green capped the scoring for IUP, set up by a Box to Carswell 32 yard toss.

SCSU drove down late, but Pecora picked off Jablonski for the second time to seal the victory. De’Antwan Williams was granted an extra year of eligibility by the NCAA before the game, he took full advantage, running for 135 yards on 18 carries. Box was 18 of 32 for 296 yards and the two scores. Terrill Barnes had eight catches for 162 yards. Moscatel had 86 yards on 21 carries for SCSU. 

Juniata 41 – Thiel 20
Juniata outscored Thiel 21-0 in the third quarter on the way to the home win. Ward Udinski ran for two scores and threw for 339 yards and three touchdowns.

Michael Johns opened the scoring late in the first quarter with a 21 yard run for Juniata. Josh Wannamaker tied the game in the second with an 11 yard run. Udinski hit Ethan Cree for a ten yard score in the final minute of the half to put Juniata up 13-7 at the break.

Udinski scored on runs of 8 and 25 yards, and hit Isaiah Slutter for a 31 yard touchdown to stake Juniata to a 34-7 lead, he added an 84 yard toss to Aaron O’Brien  81 seconds into the fourth. Ryan Radke took over at quarterback for the Tomcats and threw two touchdown passes, 58 yards to Matt Fedzen and 18 yards to Ron Howard. 

Starter Andrew Smith was 8-17 for 71 yards for Thiel, he was sacked seven times. Radke was 8-14 for 151 yards, he went down three times. Slutter had five catches for 108 yards, O’Brien four for 117 for Juniata.

Bridgewater 57 – Saint Vincent 0
Willie Logan ran for two scores and threw for two more as Bridgewater handed Saint Vincent their 12th straight loss. Bridgewater also returned two fumbles for touchdowns and held the Bearcats to 181 yards of offense, forcing four turnovers.

Centre 33 – Bethany 28
The Bison rallied from a 30-9 third quarter deficit but never led in the game.

Centre led 14-3 after one quarter on two touchdown passes from Heath Haden and would add a safety plus a Haden to Austin Jones 16 yard touchdown, their second scoring hookup of the game to lead 23-3. Matt Grimard scored on a 16 yard run with 36 seconds left in the half to give the Bison momentum going into the locker room.

That was short lived as Haden opened the third with a 75 yard drive, hitting Harry Meisner for a 32 yard touchdown. But Bethany fired right back, Brandon Hill scored on a 47 yard run and Grimard on a 3 yard carry to cut the lead to 31-20. Phil Acrie scored from 6 out, capping a 94 yard drive with 10:16 left in regulation. The Bison went three and out on their next possession, Centre drove for a 19 yard field goal by Preston Cahill that took up almost four minutes.

Bethany took over with 2:55 left, needing  a touchdown. Grimard completed five of six passes to get the Bison to the 7 but was intercepted by Casey Vatter in the end zone to end the game. Grimard ended 27-36 for 339 yards, he was sacked 6 times. Eric Blinn had a big day with 11 catches for 130 yards. Jaylon Jennings made 8 catches for 106 yards. Grimard did not throw a td pass, leaving him two shy of the Bison all-time record. Haden was 19-27 for 312 yards, Jones had 10 catches for 173 yards for Centre.

Grove City 28 – Carnegie Mellon 10
Brian Pell threw for a score and ran for two more as the Wolverines handed the Tartans their first opening day loss since 1998.

The Wolverines did not allow a point in the first half. Anthony Ritchie opened the scorebook with a 7 yard td pass from Pell in the second quarter. Steve Maskry scored on a 6 yard run with 1:25 remaining in the half to put Grove City up 14-0. The Wolverines had another chance to score, but Ryan Stewart’s 41 yard field goal was blocked by Brian Khoury on the final play of the half.

Connor Young put the Tartans on the board with a 42 yard field goal in the third. Grove City ate up five and a half minutes of clock, capped by a Pell 4 yard run with 14:14 remaining to make it 21-3. After the defense held on downs at the Wolverine 49, Grove City took another four minutes off the clock, Pell scored from a yard to put Grove City up 28-3. Andrew Hearon replaced Rob Kalkstein at quarterback and hit Chris Herrera for 45 yards, Travis Andring scored from six yards out to end the scoring.

Pell carried 18 times for 98 yards, he was 11-23 for 131 yards passing. Kalkstein was 14-27 for 158 yards for CMU.

Waynesburg 21 – Muskingum 17
In a thriller at Wiley Stadium, Yellow Jackets coach Rick Shepas picks up his 50th career win in last second fashion as Carter Hill hit Bernie Thompson for a 23 yard touchdown with 22 seconds left for the win.

Waynesburg led 14-0 in the second on touchdown passes from Hill to Willie Leavell of 24 yards and Andrew English for 9 yards. C. J. Snider hit J. Washington for a 4 yard touchdown with nine seconds left in the half to cut into the Yellow Jacket lead at the break.

Caleb Carpenter kicked a 32 yard field goal for the only score of the third. Waynesburg had a chance for points at the start of the fourth quarter, but Coach Shepas went for it on 4th and 4 at the 21, Hill’s pass was incomplete.  Snider went 66 yards for a touchdown with 4:01 left to put Muskingum up 17-14. Waynesburg turned the ball over on downs at their own 33 with 2:36 left, the defense made a big stop, forcing a two yard loss and got the ball back at the 35 with 1:31.

Hill hit Jake Danks for two completions, then found English for 25 yards to the 23. Two plays later, Hill hit Thompson for the score and the win. Hill was 19-34 for 222 yards and three touchdowns. English had 6 catches for 104 yards. Snider was 14-20 for 157 yards, he ran 20 times for 141 yards for Muskingum. 

Hiram 23 – Westminster 19
The Terriers broke an 18 game losing skid with the home win Saturday night. Hiram led 16-0 at halftime as Robert Partridge scored on a 30 yard run in the first. Greg Klisuric kicked a 27 yard field goal and Partridge hit Caleb Jones for a 48 yard td in the second.

Westminster scored early in the third on a Dak Britt 58 yard pass to David Wright. The Titans cut it to three in the fourth on a Tyler Banks 4 yard run. But Tevin Weaver returned the ensuing kickoff 84 yards to the house and put Hiram on the road to victory. Britt hit Colin Wallace for 11 yards and a score with 18 seconds left in the game. The Titans could not retrieve the onside kick and Hiram ran out the clock.

Britt was 23-39 for 280 yards, he also ran 12 times for 94 yards. Wright had 6 catches for 127 yards, Wallace grabbed 7 passes. Partridge threw for 292 yards on 15 of 28.

Kenyon 37 – Allegheny 7
In the only conference game this weekend, Kenyon wins the NCAC opener in Meadville. Blake Calcei ran for two scores. Jake Bates threw a td pass to Brian Hunca and Brandon January ran for an 80 yard touchdown as Kenyon led 30-0 in the third.

Jon Nigro hit Andrew Niklaus for a 52 yard touchdown in the third for the only Gators score.

January carried 10 times for 143 yards. Bates was 8-10 for 153 yards before giving way to Max Boyd, who tossed a td pass to Casey Beaudouin in the fourth.