Gameday Week 10/25/2003 - Game #7 So. Conn

Profs Battle But Fall To So. Conn 23-10 So. Conn (DII) Game 7 Play WGLS-FM audio highlights By Tom Wilson JT@rowanfootball.com Quarterback Mike Abate completed two touchdown passes to wide receiver Jim Lukowiak for Southern Connecticut State University in a 23-10 win over visiting Rowan University on Saturday afternoon at Jess Dow Field. Southern Connecticut, a Division II school, has an overall record of 6-2 while Rowan is 5-2. Abate finished the game with 212 yards passing with 15 completions in 30 attempts. Lukowiak totaled 61 yards with four catches while Louis Datil compiled 71 yards with six receptions. Kofi Wilson was the Owls’ rushing leader with 82 yards on 19 carries. For Rowan, running back Pat Thompson carried the ball 20 times for 84 yards and Tremaine Hill contributed with 72 yards on 10 attempts. Thompson also had 22 yards receiving with three catches. The Profs had a total of 231 yards rushing. Jabrill Joseph started at quarterback in place of Mike Orihel who was out with after injuring a foot during the week. Mike Seidenberg also saw time at quarterback and had 52 yards passing with seven completions in 23 attempts. The Owls started the scoring at 10:17 in the first quarter. Abate threw a seven yard TD pass to Lukowiak which capped a six play, 46 yard scoring drive. Cornerback Yasin York blocked Kevin Bernasconi’s conversion attempt. It was his first failed PAT in 32 attempts. The drive started when Padraic Forry recovered a Profs’ fumble on the Rowan 46 yard line. Rowan went ahead in the second quarter on a 12 yard touchdown run by Brandon Medine at 9:27 and the PAT by Damian Shaddow. The touchdown drive was five plays and covered 25 yards. Medine started the drive with a two yard run. Seidenberg had a rush for one yard and a 10 yard pass to Luis Cortes. In the third period, Shaddow kicked a 20 yard field for the Profs’ 10-6 advantage. Rowan covered 41 yards with seven plays in the drive. Seidenberg contributed in the drive with a 19 yard run and a 21 yard pass. The Profs fought hard, keeping a powerful Owl offense stymied for most of the game. Missed scoring opportunities inside So. Conn territory hurt Rowan. The Profs had a missed field goal, a TD pass nullified by a holding penalty, and were stopped on a 4th and goal from the two yard line. With 1:08 left in the third, Lukowiak had his second TD pass of eight yards from Abate. Wilson carried the ball five times in the drive for 25 yards. The drive was nine plays and spanned 74 yards. In the final stanza, SCSU had a 27 yard field goal by Bernasconi (12:52) and a two yard TD carry by Wilson (0:29). SCSU was led on defense by end Rashard Howard with 12 tackles and six tackles for a loss (-14). Howard had a key play in the third quarter when he stopped Thompson for a two yard loss on fourth and goal at the one yard line. For the Profs, linebacker Domenic Tomeo recorded 13 tackles (6-7) while linebacker Todd Trout (jr. Laurel Springs, NJ/Triton Reg.) added eight (6-2). Rowan returns home for Homecoming on Saturday, November 1 against conference opponent Kean University at 2 p.m.

Rowan Steps It Up, Taking On DII Owls By Tom Wilson JT@rowanfootball.com This is the 15th meeting between Rowan University and Southern Connecticut State University. The Owls lead the series, 10-4, which started in 1965. SCSU has won three straight games against Rowan. The last meeting was in 1996 and Southern Connecticut won at home, 34-6. Rowan's last win was in 1993, 41-20 in Glassboro. This is Rich Cavanaugh's 19th season as Southern Connecticut's head football coach, which is the longest tenure of any head football coach at the school. Cavanaugh was appointed in 1985. He has compiled a won-lost record of 101-88-1 and has a 61-30 mark over the last nine seasons. The Owls have rewritten the record books over the past 18 years. In 2002, the Owls set season records for total yards (4,945), passing yards (2,743), touchdown passes (26) and passing attempts (361). They also tied the school mark for touchdowns (52). Prior to the head job, Cavanaugh was the Owls' offensive coordinator for three years under Kevin Gilbride who is the offensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills. Cavanaugh joined the Owls' staff after three seasons at Branford High. He guided the Hornets to an overall record of 15-15. His 1981 team had an 8-3 mark and lost in the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference Class M championship game. Cavanaugh was a two year starter at American International College (AIC) where he earned his bachelors and masters degrees. He served as a football graduate assistant at AIC. At Lyman Hall High School, Cavanaugh was an offensive guard, team captain and an All-State second team selection. At home, Southern Connecticut lost to DII AFCA ranked No. 19 Bentley College, 37-20 in a Northeast 10 Conference game. Quarterback Mike Abate passed for 163 yards with 12 completions in 30 attempts. Abate had touchdown passes of six and five yards to Jim Lukowiak. The top receiver was Louis Datil with six catches for 96 yards. Lukowiak had 56 yards with four receptions. Kofi Wilson carried the ball 12 times for 58 yards. Shawn Harris scored with a seven-yard touchdown run. This is Abate's first season as the Owls'starting quarterback. He takes over for John Esquivel who passed for more than 2,000 yards and 41 touchdowns in two seasons. The offense also lost tailback Darrin Davis and receiver Jeff Cupe. The three players are all multiple school record holders. Dan Chisholm returns at fullback while the running back position is shared by Harris and Wilson. SCSU has a veteran group at wide receiver with Derrick Guest, Datil and Lukowiak. The offense is averaging 223.4 yards passing per game and 178.9 rushing. They are ranked No. 34 in total offense for DII with 402.3 yards per game and No. 27 in scoring offense with 33.9 points per game. The Owls'secondary is led by All-Conference first team member Sir Snowden at safety. The veteran starters at cornerback are Howard Jones and Calvin Anderson. Anderson leads the team with three interceptions and three fumble recoveries. Dexter Anderson and Ian Flack are the returning starters at inside linebacker. Flack led the Owls last year with 70 tackles. They are No. 28 nationally in pass defense with 8 TD allowed and a 100.0 efficiency rating. Pat Thompson has rushed for over 100 yards in the last three games. He recorded a career high of 191 yards (18 attempts) against The College of New Jersey, 106 against Buffalo State (16) and 180 against Cortland (28). He also has two completions in two attempts and both were for touchdowns. Thompson has a 26 yard TD pass against Western Connecticut and against Cortland he has a 16 yard TD pass. In the NCAA statistics, Orihel is 39th in the nation in total offense (220.0). Tomeo is tied for 28th with 11.5 tackles per game. In forced fumbles per game, end Brian Bond and Tomeo are tied for sixth (0.50). In the team stats, Rowan is 24th in scoring defense (13.7). Orihel is the conference leader in passing average (215.5), total offense (220.0) and pass efficiency (120.1). This is his first season directing the Profs'offense. Rowan has five receivers that have 10 or more catches. Racz is the team's leading receiver with 65.0 yards and 3.83 receptions per game. He is first in the NJAC for receiving yards and third in receptions per game. Thompson's 110.8 yards per game is second in the conference stats. Rowan is averaging 405.5 yards per game, 183.0 rushing and 222.5 passing. The Profs are holding their opponents to 13.7 points, 110.2 yards rushing and 181.8 yards passing per game. McClain has recorded 13 tackles for a loss (-36) and four sacks (-24). End Brian Bond has contributed with 10 tackles for a loss (-27) and three sacks (-16). Bond and Tomeo both have forced three fumbles. Kelvin Bellamy has three interceptions and end Nick Tarasevich has recovered two fumbles. Tomeo is second in the conference with an average of 11.5 tackles per game. The Owls (5-2) are in third place in the 10 team NE10 Conference, losing only to 1st place Bentley 37-20 last week and 2nd place C.W. Post 49-14 on Sept 27. So. Conn has beaten only one DII Conference foe with a winning record, Merrimack at 3-2. The Owls 5 wins are against teams that are a combined 7-20 (.259). The Owls and the Profs match up quite closely in total offense 402.3 ypg for the Owls vs. 405.5 ypg .for the Profs. On defense Southern gives up 343 ypg to Rowan's 292 ypg. This is the biggest o-line that Rowan has faced this season, Southern averages 306 lbs., while the Profs d-line averages 250 lbs. One of the big keys will be if the Rowan's d-line can keep the Owl's o-line from chipping the Prof linebackers. If the Prof linebackers are making a lot of quick tackles, things should be looking up for Rowan. Offensively Rowan must move the ball consistently and score when inside the opponent's 30 yard line. Too many three-and-outs in or near Prof territory will leave a decent DII offense with a good field position and a tired Rowan defense. The Prof offensive line at 261 per man average matches up favorably against the Owl DL at 253 lbs per man. Bet on the Owls to stop try and stop the run and force Orihel to beat them. He should see some man coverage early. Bentley racked up 323 yard passing and 195 yards rushing on Southern, and controlled had the ball for 40 minutes. If the Profs can hit their 400 ypg average in offensive production, they'll win this. This may be the best regular season opponent the Profs will face, while the Profs are probably the second or third best team the Owls will face all year. Barring too many mistakes, Profs win this 28-24.

 

 

Rowan 5 - 2	10
at
DII So. Conn 6- 2	23
Oct 25, 2003 Jess Dow Field New Haven, CT 1:00 PM
Listen to the Game on Rowan Radio 89.7 WGLS-FM Pregame Show 12PM

NJAC Week #8

NJAC Week #7

2003 NJAC Standings