Gameday Week 11/15/2003 - Game #10 Montclair St.

Miscues Cost Profs By Tom Wilson JT@rowanfootball.com Montclair Game 10 Play WGLS-FM audio highlights Freshman kicker Vinnie Doffont nailed a 35-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter to win the game for No. 18 Montclair State who claimed the 2003 New Jersey Athletic Conference Championship with a 21-20 victory against Rowan on Saturday afternoon. Doffont registered the game-winner with 5:53 remaining in the fourth quarter. The field goal capped a nine-play, 53-yard drive spanning 4:21. Montclair State recorded a perfect 5-0 record in the NJAC and now has an 8-1 overall record. It’s the 17th conference championship for the Red Hawks and the first since 2000. The Red Hawks now lead the series 24-19, snapping a two-game Rowan win streak against MSU. Rowan’s last opportunity of the game started on the MSU 34-yard line with 1:10 remaining. Cornerback Shaun Murray halted the drive with an interception at the 15-yard line with 17 seconds left. Murray also scored on a 39-yard punt return earlier in the fourth quarter. In the first quarter, Pat Thompson put Rowan on the scoreboard with a 3-yard touchdown run at 4:58.Thompson also had a 40 yard carry in the drive which gave the Profs a first down on the Montclair State 2-yard line. The drive started after Kelvin Bellamy recovered a MSU fumble. Damian Shaddow kicked the extra point. With 1:12 left in the second stanza, John DiGirolamo tossed a 4-yard touchdown pass to Chris Becker. Domenic Tomeo blocked the kick. The Profs fumbled on their next drive and cornerback Derrick Morrison recovered the fumble and had a 24-yard return for a touchdown with 13 seconds left. The two-point conversion failed. MSU had the lead at the half, 12-7. “I thought the snap was a little to the side, but I still should have got it,” said Prof freshman quarterback Mike Orihel in the Gloucester County Times. “It was a bad mesh with me and the center, and the ball popped up in the air and hit Pat in the shoulder, then it popped up in the air again and I knew bad things were going to happen then.” Said Rowan coach Accorsi: “I told them to just eat it, and I should have said ‘go under center and eat it’. We were running the trap, hoping Pat can break something. We didn’t want to go too conservative. “We had two critical errors — one where we shouldn’t have kicked it to them, and the turnover. You’re usually not going to win when you do that, but we almost still did. That’s the crazy part.” I second-guessed myself,” admitted Montclair coach Rick Giancola. “I was going for one, and the emotion and sideline talked me out of it. My card said one, my own thought said one. I’ve never been someone to chase a two-point conversion. They’re difficult to make. In retrospect, I learned a lesson too.” In the third quarter, Shaddow kicked two straight field goals for the Profs. His first was 32 yards at 12:21. The drive started when Tomeo had an interception at the MSU 34-yard line. The second field goal of 36 yards put Rowan back on top, 13-12 with 9:35 left. The drive started on the Red Hawks’ 32 yard line after tackle Robert Godrey recovered a fumble. Rowan ended the quarter with Orihel’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Phil Silva at 2:34. DiGirolamo completed eight passes in 27 attempts for 82 yards and one touchdown. Jasper Hankins led all Red Hawk receivers with five catches for 56 yards. For Rowan, Orihel passed for 169 yards (20-for-35) and one touchdown. Silva finished the game with eight receptions for 83 yards. The Red Hawk defense was led by free safety Troy Bishop with 11 total tackles. Ray Meyer recorded a sack for a loss of 10 yards. Meyer now leads the team with 9½ sacks this season. The Prof defense was led by Tomeo, with an extra point block, an interception, and seven tackles. Junior linebacker Mike McClain contributed 11 tackles, while sophomore safety David Smith had nine.

NJAC Championship Up For Grabs in the Boro By Tom Wilson JT@rowanfootball.com Winner gets the NJAC crown and goes into the NCAA playoffs. Loser goes home, or in Montclair's case gets an ECAC playoff bid. Rowan doesn't apply for the ECAC playoffs, so their season would end with a loss to Montclair. Two relatively even teams on the last day of the regular season. Doesn't get much better than this. This is the 43rd meeting between Rowan University and Montclair State University. Last year, Rowan won at Montclair 48-12 to capture the NJAC title for the second year in a row. The Red Hawks lead the series, 23-19. The Profs last loss to the Montclair was a 17-13 loss in 2000 at Montclair. Now in his 21st season as the head coach of the Red Hawk football program, Rick Giancola is one of just two current active head college football coach with over 100 career wins. Giancola has now compiled a career record of 145-67-2 during his tenure with MSU. He became MSU's head coach in the summer of 1983 and has since become the school's all-time victory leader in the sport. In the NJAC, he has collected a record of 86-27, while also directing the Red Hawks to seven NJAC titles (1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1999, and 2000). A 1968 graduate of Glassboro State, Giancola has been associated with NJAC football since its inception in 1969. In 1999, he guided his Red Hawks to the NCAA Division III Quarterfinals after a 9-2 campaign that saw MSU also win the NJAC championship with a 5-0 mark and was rewarded by his peers with a selection as the 1999 NJAC Coach of the Year. In 2000, the Red Hawks captured the NJAC Championship and earned an NCAA tournament appearance before finishing the season with a 7-3 overall mark. At year's end, Giancola was tapped as the 2000 NJAC Coach of the Year. In 2001, the Red Hawks earned a NCAA tournament bid and finished the season with a 9-2 overall record after going 5-1 in the NJAC. Last year's squad went 5-5 and 4-2 in the NJAC and the 2003 squad is off to a 7-1 start with a 4-0 record in the NJAC. On Nov. 1, Montclair State University's sophomore quarterback John DiGirolamo threw for five touchdowns, including the game-winner in overtime to lift the Red Hawks past The College of New Jersey, 34-31 on Saturday in Lions' Stadium. DiGirolamo's five touchdown passes is a career-best and ties MSU's single-game record as well and helps his team remain perfect in the New Jersey Athletic Conference on the fall. With the win, MSU has now won seven games in a row, improving to 7-1 overall and 4-0 in the NJAC. DiGirolamo has passed for 1,445 yards with 18 touchdowns and 11 interceptions over eight games. He is second in passing (180.6 ypg) , total offense (181.6 ypg), and pass efficiency (118.2) in the NJAC. His favorite targets are wide-outs Jasper Hankins (33 rec/514 yards/9 TD's), Steve Armstrong (19 rec/402 yards/4 TD's), and Brian Reitmeyer (21 rec/329 yards/ 2 TD's). Transfer RB Eugene Vick handles the rushing duties with 798 yards on 172 carries (5.8 ypc) with 4 touchdowns. Mike Orihel (his status for this week is uncertain) has passed for 1,479 yards with 11 touchdowns and 7 interceptions over seven games. He is first in passing (184.9 ypg), total offense (184.2 ypg), and pass effieciency (124.5) in the NJAC. His favorite targets are wide-outs Endre Racz (29 rec/420 yards/5 TD's), Phil Silva (30 rec/278 yards/4 TD's), Tyree Jackson (16 rec/117 yards), and Jon Berry (15 rec/201 yards/ 1 TD), Pat Thompson (848 yards/146 carries/6 TD's/5.8 ypc) and Tremaine Hill (383 yards/83 carries/4.6 ypc) handle the majority of the rushing duties for the Profs. If Orihel can't go, then the tandem of freshman Jabrill Joseph and Mike Seidenberg will run the offense. Last week, the backups combined for 108 yards passing and 1 TD against William Paterson. Seidenberg was the more effective passer and has the stronger arm (probably the strongest arm of Rowan's three QB's). The Red Hawk defense is led by linebacker Ray Meyer has recorded 8.5 sacks (-61) and 15 tackles for a loss (-76). He is second in the NJAC with a 1.25 sack average and 20th in the nation. Cornerback Shaun Murray has totaled five interceptions and nine pass breakups. He is the conference leader in passes defended with 14. In the NCAA stats, Murray is tied for 27th in interceptions (0.6) and passes defended (1.8). End Vincent Lachetta has a 0.38 forced fumbles average, which is tied for 23rd in the nation. Cornerback Andy Silvagni leads the secondary with 10 pass breakups. In the NCAA team statistics, Montclair State is 14th in pass efficiency defense (84.4), 23rd in total defense (268.4) and 32nd in rushing defense (110.5). Prof linebacker Tomeo leads the NJAC with an average of 11.6 tackles per game. He is also tied for 18th in the NCAA statistics. End Nick Tarasevich is the sack leader with seven for a loss of 40 yards. He is third among the conference sack leaders with a 0.78 average. End Brian Bond, linebacker Todd Trout and Tomeo each have three fumbles forced. They are tied for second in the NJAC and tied for 32nd in the nation. Cornerback Kelvin Bellamy leads the team with three interceptions. He is averaging 12.7 yards on punt returns, which is first in the conference and is 29th in the NCAA. The Profs have to try keep DiGirolamo in the pocket because he quite effective at throwing on the run and making a big play. Keeping Vick in check will hurt the Red Hawk's play action passes. This might be the quickest defense that Montclair has seen this year. If the Profs linebackers are going sideline-to-sideline making tackles, they will be in good shape. These teams are pretty evenly matched statistically, and both have come from behind to win games in overtime. Will Orihel start? Could the Profs be playing possum? Regardless, the Profs can win this either way. Seidenberg looked very comfortable last week, after moving back to QB from TE in the So. Connecticut game three weeks ago. He has plenty of weapons and can move this team. Profs by 4.

Montclair St. 8 - 1	21
at
Rowan 7 - 3	20
Nov 15, 2003 John Page Field Glassboro, NJ 1:00 PM
Listen to the Game on Rowan Radio 89.7 WGLS-FM Pregame Show 12PM

NJAC Week #11

NJAC Week #10

2003 NJAC Standings