Gameday 10/04/02 - Game #5 College of NJ

T'was a Barnburner After All... Profs Outlast Lions 30-25 College of NJ Game 5 Play WGLS-FM audio highlights By Tom Wilson As I set up my tailgating gear in the TCNJ stadium parking lot Friday night, I was wondering what kind of game I would see. Then a couple of TCNJ students pulled up by my spot in a pickup, and after noticing my Rowan Football t-shirt, one of them exclaimed, " Rowan, a college for the inbred!" Then they sped off as quickly as they arrived. This game was going to be a battle. One could cut the air of hostility between Rowan fans/football players and TCNJ fans/football players with a knife. "Creatively" worded chants were spewed back and forth between the home and visiting stands during the game. The Lions came out of the gate ready to go, quickly taking a 6-0 lead on the opening drive after receiving the kickoff. RB Tim Kasuda ran in from 11 yards out. Kasuda had 164 yards rushing and 3 TD's on 27 carries. Kasuda added another TD on a two yard run with 4:13 left in the first quarter, increasing the lead to 13-0. Midway through the 2nd quarter, the Profs muffed a TCNJ punt into their own endzone, where it was recovered by Lion player Anthony Sorrentino, for a TD. Quickly, TCNJ was up 19-0 on Rowan. A two point and a kick conversion for extra points failed during this scoring run for the Lions. Tony Racioppi (16-27, 234 yards, 1 TD passing, 1 TD rushing) scored the first Rowan points with 38 seconds left on an 8 yard TD run. The score was initially set up by a 33 yard pass from Racioppi to WR Michael Osborne, that put the Profs in scoring territory. The score was 19-7 at halftime. Rowan opened the 3rd quarter scoring the next three times to lead 24-19. DE Gerrit Tosh picked off Lion QB Bob Schurtz (13-28, 152 yards, 3 int, 1 fumble), and ran 16 yards for the TD. This cut the TCNJ lead to 19-14. A Nick Frade 26 yard FG at 4:29 left closed the gap to 19-17. WR Jon Berry hauled a 53 yard TD pass to put Rowan ahead 24-19 at 3:05 left in the 3rd. Kosuda added a final TD for the Lions with a 7 yard run. The two point conversion failed, leaving TCNJ up briefly 25-24 with 12:43 left in the game. Jon Berry grabbed his second TD pass, a 42 yard option pass from WR Michael Osborne, on a pitch from Racioppi. The Prof defense had been on the field for over 40 minutes as the Lions dominated the time of possession. TCNJ had one last chance to win the game with 1:16 left on the Rowan 6 yard line. Showing the ability to come up with the big stops this year when called upon, the Prof defense stuffed a 4th and 2 run by Lion RB Jon Hedgepeth two yards deep in the backfield. The Profs subsequently did not make a 1st down and were forced to punt. With 14 seconds left, Nick Frade punted the ball from his own endzone, and the ball rolled around untouched by the Lions as time expired.

Battle for the NJAC By Tom Wilson Rowan travels to TCNJ in a battle for the NJAC lead this Friday night. Rowan (4-0) beat NJCU last Friday 29-7 and have outscored their opponents 102-37 through four games. TCNJ lost a non-conference game to Kings Point last week 27-10. The Lions will be looking to upset the defending NJAC champion Profs, and preserve TCNJ's NCAA playoff hopes. This is the 44th meeting and the 16th time since 1990 that the two teams have met. They've met twice in 1996, 1997, and 1998, once in the regular season and once in the NCAA playoffs. Since the first meeting in 1948, Rowan holds a 27-14-2 edge over TCNJ. The Profs have won four straight games dating back to 1998. The Lions last win was in 1998 (regular season) in overtime 28-27. Eric Hamilton, now in his 26th season, is the most successful head coach in TCNJ history with a 155-94-6 record. His wins rank 7th all-time in DIII history. He has been named NJAC Coach of the Year in 1983, 1990, 1994, 1996, and 1998. Rowan first year head coach Jay Accorsi, is the seventh head coach in Rowan history. He has begun his initial campaign 4-0. He had been the defensive coordinator for the prior two years, and has been a coach with the Profs since 1993. He has taken over for KC Keeler, who left to become the head coach of the University of Delaware, after nine years as head coach of Rowan. Last year, the Profs held on for a 28-27 win over the Lions at John Page Field. TCNJ capitalized on mistakes in Rowan defensive secondary to score 27 points in the second half, failing only to convert a 2pt conversion at the end of the game. Coming into this week's game the Lions lead the NJAC in scoring offense averaging 31.0 ppg. They also lead in passing offense (261.7 ypg), punting (39.6 ypp) and punt returns (15.0 ypp), but rank next to last in the league in total defense 428.7 ypg. TCNJ's QB #3 Bob Schurtz has thrown for 785 yards and three TD's with one interception. Schurtz's favorite targets are WR #82 Joe Gargione (338 rec. yards/19 catches), WR #80 Matt Dunn (169 rec. yards/12 catches) and TE #17 Joe Franzone (102 rec. yards/9catches). RB #41 Tim Kosuda leads the team with 29 carries for 128 yards, and two TD's, and has 6 catches for 66 yards and one TD. KR #20 Bryan Gallagher has 17 returns for 296 yards. The TCNJ defense is led by DE #71 Chet King (13 tackles including 6 for a loss), LB #24 Josh Baker (16 tackles), DB #2 Jeremy Julio (16 tackles and four blocked kicks), and LB #34 Brian Gibson (16 tackles and 1 int.). Rowan QB #3 Tony Racioppi, this week's NJAC offensive player of the week, has thrown for 964 yards and 8 TD's, averaging 241.0 ypg. He also is averaging 27.8 ypg rushing with 3 rushing TD's. Racioppi's targets are WR #11 Michael Osborne (12 catches/143 yards/2 TD's), WR #16 Tyree Jackson (12 catches/146 yards). Five different receivers have caught TD passes this year. On the ground the Profs have been averaging 151.0 ypg led by RB #8 Creg Bethea (64 carries/264 yards/3 TD's), this week's rowanfootball.com Player of the Game. K #19 Nick Frade has 18 points and 9-12 PAT and 3-5 FG's. His long was 32 yards. He has also has pinned the opposition down deep with clutch punting this year, particularly in the games against Millersville and Wesley. The defense is led by LB #35 Curtis Custis (32 tackles/6 for loss/3 sacks), DE #58 Gerrit Tosh (22 tackles/12 for a loss/6 sacks). The Profs have held their opponents to 9.2 ppg (1st in NJAC) and 307.5 ypg (1st in NJAC) of total offense. Rowan leads the NJAC in total offense with 397 ypg., while TCNJ is next to last in both rushing and passing defense. Rowan will probably mix the spread offensive set with the I-formation to keep TCNJ from concentrating on the pass. Looks like TCNJ could be in for a long night, but looks can be deceiving. As one former TCNJ alum has said, "Rowan and TCNJ are like the Hatfield's and the McCoy's." Since the schools are only 45 minutes away from each other, they recruit from the same area. Quite frequently high school teammates, brothers, and cousins will go against each other when Rowan and TCNJ play. The Lions are always up for Rowan, and historically are quite good at making in game adjustments against the Profs. The Profs rank last in the NJAC in Turnover/Takeaway (-1.25 per game). Could a blowout turn into a barnburner.... guess ya gotta be in Ewing Friday night to find out.

NJAC Week #5