Gameday 10/9/03 - Game #5 Virginia St.

Rowan Faces DII Virginia State Freshman QB #11 Joe Rankin gets his first start in place the injured Mike Orihel By Tom Wilson JT@rowanfootball.com This is the first meeting between the Rowan Profs and Division II Virginia State Trojans. It is the homecoming game for the Trojans. Mike Orihel suffered a broken left hand in the game against TCNJ. Rookie Joe Rankin is expected to get the start at quarterback and Valley Forge Military Academy transfer Tracey Moore will also see time. Moore has seen action in one game. Rowan might be without its starting center Mike Coghan who has a high ankle sprain. Virginia State had a three game winning streak snapped by Elizabeth City University losing 15-14. Running back Nick Fleming scored with a one yard run for the Trojans. VSU had a 14-0 lead after quarterback Michael Terry's 77-yard TD pass to PJ Berry. The Vikings came back with a two-yard TD run, a safety and a 35-yard touchdown pass. Last year, VSU finished 5-5 overall and 2-3 in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Associatoin (CIAA). Quarterback Michael Terry (109.4 ypg) has played in five games while Lamar Blizzard (107.0 ypg) has seen action in three. The Trojans' veteran receivers are Jerome Jeter (23.6 ypc), Antwa Williams (12.2 ypc) and Berry (14.7 ypc). Fleming is averaging 77.8 yards per game and 4.0 per carry. Rashaad Pitt and Quincy Byas are the sack leaders with four apiece while Yuri Norrell has three. Keith Johnson and Pierre Lee each have recorded four interceptions and Kenny Painter has two. Kicker Musa Conteh is third in scoring with 19 points, 10 PATs (14 attempts) and three field goals (five attempts). Berry handles the returns and he is averaging 14.0 on punts and 30.3 on kicks. His longest kick return was 89 yards. The Trojans like to run the ball and their new offensive coordinator Mike Winbush believes in the power running game. VSU's objective is to wear defenses down. Last season, the Trojans totaled 1,007 yards on the ground with 9 rushing touchdowns. As a former defensive all-star and defensive coordinator, head coach Andrew Faison believes in smash mouth football. In short, be the aggressor and set the tone from kickoff to the final tick tock on the clock. Neil Purvis, Rashad Pitts, Darius Robinson and Charles Zollicoffer are in charge of the defensive line of scrimmage. Purvis and Pitts combined for 70 tackles and 21 tackles for loss yardage during the 2003 season. The Trojans' defense gave up 3,029 yards of total offense and 171 first downs. This is a low scoring grind it out team averaging 17.7 points per game. Wr. PJ Berry is the big game breaker for VSU. He has 22 receptions for 324 yards and 5 touchdowns. The Prof defense has come up big many times this season. They should be up to the task on Saturday. The Trojan offense up front will be bigger than Rowan, although not nearly as big as So. Connecticut. As long as the time of possession is not lopsided the Profs can take this one.

 

Rowan	7
at
DII Virginia State	27
Oct 9, 2004 Rogers Stadium Petersburg, VA 1:00 PM
Listen to the Game on Rowan Radio 89.7 WGLS-FM Pregame Show 6PM

NJAC Week #6

NJAC Week #5