Gameday Week 09/20/03 - Game #3 West Conn

Gameday Photos [click here] Profs Deject Western Connecticut State, 25-19 #5 SB Tremaine Hill on the carry. Hill finished with 51 yards on 12 carries. Photo by Ricky Patterson. In the Bleachers With Ricky Patterson ricky@rowanfootball.com Rowan University overcame a 19-7 halftime deficit by scoring 18 unanswered second half points en route to a 25-19 victory over the Western Connecticut State Colonials at John Paige Field on Saturday. Kelvin Bellamy's interception in the end zone as time expired was his second of the game and helped preserve Rowan's comeback win. Western Connecticut Game 3 Play WGLS-FM audio highlights   The Colonials jumped out to an early lead after Rowan Quarterback Mike Orihel was intercepted on the first play from scrimmage. Western Connecticut's quarterback Mike Scipione wasted little time as he hit a wide open Vincent Sheperis on a 10 yard touchdown pass. Sheperis finished the game with a game high 13 receptions for 147 yards to go along with his touchdown. With 12:02 left in the first quarter, Rowan had spotted the visitors seven points on their home turf. It did not take the Colonials long to expand on their lead. After stopping Rowan on the ensuing drive, West Connecticut State came right back and scored via the ground. Tailback Cecil Snowden bulled his way for a six yard touchdown run with 5:23 to go in the first quarter. The extra point was blocked and the visitors led 13-0. Enter: Western Connecticut State Fan Zone As chants of "over rated" and "Rowan's Going Down" stormed out of the visiting bleachers, one had the sense that their fans had the confidence that their team would prevail. They forgot that it was still the first quarter. No doubt, Western Connecticut was a worthy opponent and they fought valiantly in the first half, but the question that loomed was did they have enough gas to go four quarters with the well conditioned, deeper, and more talented Profs? Absolutely not. The Profs were back in business near the end of the first quarter. Orihel rolled out to his right and as he was being tackled by a host of Colonials he managed to fire a bullet down the sideline to Endre Racz. It was an unbelievable throw. It was also good for 54 yards and the Profs had something to build on as the quarter came to a close. Rowan would ultimately score on the drive as Orihel hit Phil Silva on a 14 yard touchdown strike to cut the margin to 13-7. Bellamy intercepted his first pass of the game on the Colonials next drive; however the Prof's did not capitalize on the turnover. Instead, Western Connecticut impressively drove the ball down the field mixing the run and pass very well. All of the sudden Scipione and the Colonials were threatening to score again and had first and goal. The Profs stuffed two runs and a sneak attempt before fourth and goal. Scipione ran around right end on a naked bootleg to cross the goal line. The Colonials would take a 19-7 advantage into halftime. The Colonials got off to a bad start in the second half as they committed many senseless penalties. It would prove to be a crucial turning point as Rowan's quest for the battle of field position had been established. Bellamy's play on defense and special teams in the second half was key to putting Rowan's offense in great field position. After a 12 yard return to the Colonials 48 yard line, the Profs drove the ball very efficiently down to the 4 yard line. Patrick Thompson carried the bulk of the load on the drive and Rowan had reestablished the run game. The drive ended in a 21 yard field goal by Damien Shadow. The Profs had started chipping away at the lead and with 8:04 to go in the third quarter as they made the score 19-10. The Profs and Colonials traded a few punts before Bellamy nearly took one to the house. He caught a punt and appeared to be off to the races but he stepped out of bounds at the 26 yard line, not before picking up 26 yards on the return. That return as well as the running game being established earlier set up the next play. It would also start to silence the visiting crowd. Patrick Thompson took a toss from Orihel to the right. It appeared to be a standard running play before Thompson put the ball on a frozen rope and threw it to Racz for the score. Racz finished with seven receptions for 159 yards. The extra point brought the Profs to within two points with 2:15 left in the third quarter. That score really gave the Profs' momentum and pumped up the defense tremendously. The Profs were the better team and they were on a mission in the second half to prove just that. The defensive and offensive lines of the Profs clearly out played the Colonials down in the trenches throughout the second half. Rowan continued to mix the run and pass very well and it seemed to keep the Colonials on their heels the entire second half. After Orihel made a bad pitch to Tremaine Hill on the option and turned the ball over, the Profs came right back. Bellamy recovered a Western Connecticut fumble to give the Prof's new life. It led to a Prof touchdown. Orihel scored his fifth rushing touchdown of the year with 8:52 to go in the game to give the Profs their first lead of the afternoon. The two point conversion pass to Joe D'Imperio was good and gave the Profs a six point cushion. Orihel finished the game 17-30 for 195 to go along with 4 rushes for 13 yards. Scipione and the Colonials would not quit as they operated their two minute offensive nearly to perfection. Key word: Nearly. With four seconds left in the game, the Prof's defense found themselves on their own 16 yard line. Scipione dropped back to pass and threw the ball up in the end zone and Bellamy picked it off and secured the comeback triumph. The only thing over rated was the long bus ride back to Connecticut after catching an L in the 'Boro.

West Conn to Tackle Rowan in the Boro By Tom Wilson JT@rowanfootball.com Last week the Western Connecticut Colonials beat Salve Regina 55-0, a team that is amongst the worst of DIII. This week they come to the Boro to play the Profs, in which the outcome promises to be much different. The Colonials become full NJAC members in 2004. They would like to leave the FFC as the 12-year league's final champion as Western moves on to the New Jersey Athletic Conference at season's end. After seasons of scheduling the William Paterson's, Kean's, and Jersey City's, West Conn is finally scheduling a regular season game against a top tier NJAC team. Rowan holds the series advantage 1-0, by beating West Conn 43-14 in the second round of the 2001 NCAA playoffs. This is John Burrell's second season as head coach at Western Connecticut State University. He took over the position after six years as an assistant coach for the Colonials. In his first campaign, WCSU posted a 7-3 record. The Colonials broke 12 team or individual school records and 14 players were voted to the Freedom Football Conference All Conference team. This season Burrell will spend equal time between the offense and defense and take over the special teams coordinator duties. He has turned over the defensive play calling to Rockwell Kelsey. The Colonials will attempt to build on the successes they have enjoyed over the past four years when they have won 35 of 42 games, appeared in two NCAA Tournaments and won the ECAC Northeast Championship (in 2000). Burrell came to WCSU in 1996 as a graduate assistant and coached the linebackers. From 1997-99, he was the defensive backs coach and spent one season as the special teams coordinator. Before his promotion to head coach, Burrell spent two years as the lone fulltime assistant. A 1992 graduate from Middlebury College, Burrell was a running back from 1987-1990. In 1990, Burrell received the first annual Panther Award, presented to the player who most exemplifies the spirit and integrity of Middlebury football. Burrell started his coaching career at his alma mater in 1991 and was there for two seasons. In addition, he was an assistant coach at Ellicottville Central School (NY) in 1995 . Western's offense and defense each returns eight starters while punter Chris Rogers heads the returnees on special teams. Last game Western Connecticut opened the season with a 55-0 win over Salve Regina. Quarterback Mike Scipione passed for 199 yards and had four TDs (36, 12, 48, 19). Wide receiver Andre Lee totaled 32 yards with three catches and two touchdowns. Tailback Jeff Ward rushed for 74 yards on eight attempts. Ward scored with a 33 yard run and on a 48 yards pass. Chris Taylor kicked two field goals (22, 20) and seven PATs. His 13 points broke the school record. Scipione was named the Freedom Football Conference (FFC) Offensive Player of the Week while Taylor was chosen the Offensive Rookie of the Week. Last year Scipione (6' 6") set several of the Colonials' passing records which was his second season. He passed for 2,326 yards and 26 touchdowns with 142 completions in 268 attempts. Wide receiver Vincent Sheperis was the 2002 FFC Offensive Rookie of the Year. He caught 32 passes for 522 yards and eight touchdowns. In 2001, Ward was the conference's Offensive Rookie of the Year. Nick Frayler returns at end while Andrew Delva and Michael Walker are back at tackle. Frayler was chosen the 2001 FFC Defensive Rookie of the Year. Last year, linebacker Tarrance Glover, strong safety Rocco Antoniello and Walker were members of the All-Conference second team along with end Damion Robinson. Rowan offense is ranked first in the NJAC team stats in scoring offense (25.5), pass offense (224.0), red-zone (75%) and total offense (378.0). The defense is ranked first in turnover margin (+5), pass defense efficiency (78.2), rushing defense (83 ypg) red-zone defense (0%). In two games, teams have only been in the red-zone three times against the Profs. Look for the Colonials to pick their poison between run, long routes, and short routes against the Prof offense. QB Mike Orihel was much more comfortable last week as he spread the passing around to more receivers (eight receivers caught 2 or more passes). Expect even more of the same this week. West Conn gave up 147 yards rushing to Salve Regina, a team that finished last, 5th, and 4th in the past three years in the weak New England Football Conference. This could be a 200 yard rushing game for the Profs. West Conn will not be able to handle the Profs team speed on defense, end of story. Holes and open routes close quickly, rarely has a play gone more than 20 yards in the Prof first two games. Gang tackles have been the order of the day lately. It could be said that before every game that other teams are up for Rowan, but the Profs are ready for a breakout game. Last week, one could see the players getting excited on the sidelines for plays that almost happened, and the Profs won 30-0. Another shutout would be great, but I expect a lot of players to see action on Saturday. Profs win 41-10.

#32 DB Vince De Vine in coverage against Western Connecticut. Photo by Ricky Patterson

Western Connecticut 1 - 1	19
at
Rowan 3 - 0	25
Sept 20, 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 #3

NJAC Week #2

2003 NJAC Standings