Gameday Week 09/2/2006 - Game #1 CNU

Captain Crunch… Profs Smother CNU 32-8 Photo slideshow by Tom Wilson. 29 photos 87 seconds. By Tom Wilson JT@rowanfootball.com Christopher Newport 2006 Highlights Play WGLS-FM It's not just for breakfast anymore. Intensity wise the Profs were in mid-season form. They seemed angry. Notorious for slow starts, Rowan scored on their first offensive drive of the game. Mike Orihel engineered a nine play 65-yard drive, capped off with Orihel's one-yard dive into the endzone. With the successful PAT, it put Rowan up 7-0 with 3:23 gone in the first quarter. It rained continuously for about two hours up until game time and then just before kickoff a little sun broke through, and with the exception of a few sprinkles, Storm Ernesto took a break at John Page Field. Ernesto saved its wrath for my drive back to North Jersey after the game. The Prof defense chased, harassed, hurried and tackled with extreme prejudice all game long. Christopher Newport managed just 36 yards of net offense. For more than three quarters, the Captains failed to cross the 50-yard line. Added by Rowan penalties, CNU finally scored its first touchdown with 7:23 remaining in the game on a 12-yards pass to wide receiver Michael Dorn from quarterback Todd Faison. At 10:44 in the first quarter Rowan punched in its first of two defensive touchdowns on the day. Hudson Bryant went back to pass in CNU's first possession of the game and fumbled. Linebacker Robert Niszczak was sacking Bryant when Bryant lost control of the football. Randy Tosh scooped up the ball and took it 15-yards for Rowan's second touchdown in less than a minute. Rowan led 14-0 with 10:44 to play in the first quarter. On the Captain's very next offensive possession they went three and out. During the punt attempt the snap sailed over punter Matt Barcus' head. Barcus attempted to kick the ball through the endzone when it bounced off Tim Harrison and Harrison recovered the ball for a touchdown. This put the Profs up 21-0 midway through the first quarter. Rowan was able to move the ball successfully the rest of the first half, but stalled in the redzone resulting in one 38-yard field goal by Matias Spahn at 11:05 in the second quarter for a 24-0 lead. Spahn had a 34-yard attempt sail wide earlier in the quarter. In the third quarter another snap sailed over Barcus' head and he was able to successfully boot the ball out of the endzone for a Prof safety with 13:10 remaining in the third quarter, making the score 26-0. Spahn missed a 30 and 35 yard field goal attempt in the quarter. "It looks like a timing issue [field goal kicking], like in baseball. Matias has plenty of leg today and was just missing. It is something to work on, but it will come," said Jay Accorsi. In the final quarter, Orihel hit wide out Joe Markham for a 67-yard catch and run for a touchdown. Orihel completed three passes in the 85-yard drive. Spahn extra point was blocked leaving the score 32-0. "It was great to be able to make a contribution in my first game," said wide receiver Joe Markham. "Injuries [while playing at Palomar JC in California] cost me some scholarship offers. I wanted to find a good program back home that would allow my Mom to see me play," Markham explained. Zach Garren led the defense with eight tackles, including two for a loss. Defensive end Randy Tosh posted two sacks (-8 yards) and a fumble recovery for a touchdown. Cornerback Kelvin Bellamy made six stops, forced two fumbles and had two sacks (-22 yards). Defensive end Keith Heimerl recorded 1.5 sacks (-8 yards), while cornerback Dawaine Whetstone posted two interceptions. The defense forced six fumbles and recovered four with two interceptions. The team also recorded 6.5 sacks. "With the capabilities of our defense, we feel that we can force offenses into mistakes. We're not going to sit back and give them time to execute. Even when we weren't sacking their quarterback, we were hitting him a lot. It had to be very uncomfortable for him [CNU quarterbacks Hudson Byrant and Todd Faison]," said Accorsi. Offensively, quarterback Mike Orihel completed 23 of 33 passes for 269 yards and one touchdown. Wide receiver Joe Markham made five catches for 105 yards and one TD. Wide out Jim Migliore had five grabs for 79 yards. Super back Davon Edwards carried the ball seven times for 50 yards before leaving the game with an injury. Edwards tweaked his ankle, and with the Profs leading by a comfortable margin, left the game. He is expected to be fine. Super backs Jonathan Downes and Rob Richardson ran for 41 and 35 yards, respectively. "I just tweaked it, I'll be fine. In a closer game, I probably would have stayed in," said Edwards. "We'll have to look at the films, overall it was very positive, but there's definitely things to improve on," Accorsi said. Rowan has a bye the next two weeks and travels to take on D-1AA Robert Morris University on Saturday, September 23rd at 1 p.m.

Opening Day 2006... Christopher Newport Heads To The 'Boro By Tom Wilson JT@rowanfootball.com First things first… gone is the old owl mascot (the one that appears on the left side of this page). I'm not sure what the new mascot looks like but if the new logo is any indication it hopefully portrays a tougher attitude. New Rowan Sports logo "At last, the fat chicken [referring to the old mascot] is gone," joked Jay Accorsi at the NJAC media day in August. Going into 2006 there are some changes in Prof land. Pre-season All American (second team) Mike Orihel is back from a potential career ending wrist injury that was suffered in the Cortland game last year. Orihel is back for his final season. Gone are wide receivers Sakeen Wright, Phil Silva, Joe D'Imperio, Brad and Scott Stys. They were the leading receivers for Rowan in 2005. Wright, Silva and D'Imperio graduated and the Stys' twins enlisted in the military after feeling a strong desire to defend the country and fight the war on terrorism. Back are senior Jim Migliore, junior Dustin Katcher, and sophomore Melvin Sampson. All saw significant playing time in 2005. The Profs are expecting bigger things from sophomore Will Barnes 6-3 204 lbs, who was a successful multi-sport athlete in high school. Barnes worked hard in the offseason after a disappointing freshman year. Junior Zakee Babb makes the switch from cornerback to wideout this year. Sophomore Dave Saunders will also be in the mix. Bolstering the receiving corps is Joe Markham 6-3 215lbs., a New York City native is a junior transfer from the University of Arizona. He played two seasons at Palomar Junior College in San Marcos, California before transferring to Arizona after the 2005 season. Markham appeared in only four games for Palomar in 2005 due to injury, and he caught 7 passes for 148 yards and returned 11 kickoffs for 289 yards for 26.3 yards per return. He has been timed at 4.4 in the 40-yard dash. Markham scored 55 touchdowns in his high school career. "I think we'll be fine at the wide receiver position. It can be kind of hard to break out when you are playing behind pro quality receivers like Sakeen and Phil last year. We've lost some fine football players at the position, but I think we are even deeper that last year. More guys are going to contribute [at wide receiver]," said Jay Accorsi at NJAC media day. "Camp went really, really well. I think it was every thing I expected. It will be a different group at wide receiver. Jim Migliore was outside now he's an inside receiver. Dustin [Katcher] was inside last year, and now he's outside. Joe Markham has been good and so has Will Barnes and Melvin Sampson. It will be a good group," said quarterback Mike Orihel. Junior Rob Richardson and sophomore Davon Edwards return at super back. Ulysses Encarnacion will medically redshirt in 2006, having not fully recovered from a leg injury suffered in the Union playoff game last year. Encarnacion will assist the coaching staff this year while he continues rehabbing. Pushing for playing time will be freshman Jonathan Downes and sophomore Joshua Adieyefeh. On the line senior Ryan Capella and junior Dan Lee are the only returning starters, but sophomore Kenneth Siano, sophomore Michael Welfield, junior Ted Allen, junior Brian Kenyon, senior Brian Souder and junior tight end Jessie Eisenhart have game experience. The offensive newcomers must gel quickly as there aren't any "easy" games on the Profs schedule as William Paterson proved last year. Every opponent is expected to bring their "A" game when facing the Profs. Rowan must improve upon pass protection, especially by the super backs. Orihel at 6-4 presents a big target for opponents. The extra half second bought by a good block might allow Orihel to have his first relatively healthy season as a Prof. It would be nice to see a power super back emerge during the season, someone with a different running style to complement the speed and finesse of Richardson and Edwards. Defense is expected to be the strength of the Profs in 2006, nine starters return including the entire backfield. Arguably the best defensive end tandem in DIII with senior Keith Heimerl and junior pre season All-American junior Randy Tosh anchoring the defensive line. Seniors Ed Kunder and Farid Syed who returns from a year hiatus will fill the tackle spots. Junior Frank Giannetti, junior Brian Boyle, freshman Mark Lenarski and sophomore Justin Hinds will be in the rotation. NJAC Defensive Rookie of the Year, sophomore Zach Garren returns at the middle linebacker spot with Chris Pinto spelling Garren. Junior Robert Niszczak and junior Tony Campbell will be at outside linebackers. Seniors Aaron McCord and Sean Boyle will see time at the OLB position Junior Eric Bailey will be back for his third year at the free safety position. Senior Brandon Tolbert returns at strong safety. Seniors Dawaine Whetstone and Jabrill Joseph are back at cornerback. Sophomore Steve Wall, junior Sal Calaciura, sophomore Adam Preciado, senior Tim Harrison, and junior Kelvin Bellamy who is back after a two years away from Rowan, will be in the rotation. The Profs had the eighth ranked rushing defense in the nation yielding last year, yielding only 75.8 yards per game. They were 19th in scoring defense at 15.1 ppg and 23rd in total defense yielding 266.6 yards a game. This unit should be even better than last year. They helped bring the team within one game of the Stagg Bowl despite key injuries on the offense and defense. Barring major injuries, defensive coordinator Mark Hendricks should be able to mold a top 10 defensive unit in 2006. Last year, the Profs held off a late surge from Christopher Newport to win 21-14. Rowan is 4-0 in the series. Typically, CNU plays the Profs tough defensively until the Captains start to wear down. "Christopher Newport makes you take the short routes, they don't like to give up anything big. If we can take what advantage of what they give us, we'll be OK. They are a very tough team to open up against. It will be a good test," said Orihel. Returning at quarterback for the Captains, will be mobile quarterback Hudson Byrant. Todd Faison will backup and according to reports both will probably play. Wide receivers George Jones and Curfew Speight and running back Roland Hilliard are three players that could cause the Prof some problems on Saturday. Hilliard had 113 yards and a touchdown on kickoff returns last year against Rowan. CNU returns only six starters each on offense and defense, with the defense being the more inexperienced group. This is the first time in four years that the Captains were not picked to finish first in their conference poll. Ferrum was picked first and CNU was picked second. The residual effect of tropical depression Ernesto might hamper opening day. The forecast has improved at this writing to a 30% chance of few showers during the game. Winds will be from the East at around 17 miles an hour. The game could be a little sloppy. As long as Rowan doesn't give up the big play, I think the Profs will win the time of possession and pull away in the second half.