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Football Win Is
Special for Scots |
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Fed-Ex and UPS would be proud. Special delivery - Edinboro style. Right on time and service with a smile. Edinboro’s special teams blocked a punt and an extra point, caused two fumbles on kickoffs (one which the Scots recovered) and saw punter Sean McNicholas kick five times for a 54.2-yard average. That was the difference in Edinboro’s 29-26 win over Ashland Saturday (Sept. 7) at Sox Harrison Stadium in Edinboro, PA. This was Ashland’s lone game outside the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference this season. “The blocked punt, the kickoff returns, it’s all a part of it,” said Edinboro head coach Lou Tepper, in his third season with the Fighting Scots. “We feel we have a NFL-caliber punter, three teams have asked about him. “Ashland a year ago was our worst special teams performance,” continued Tepper, harking back to AU’s 27-9 win at Community Stadium in 2001. “We thought it was a wash everyplace else.” After Saturday’s game, the Eagles felt a little washed out. For certain, they had been put through the wringer. Down 22-13 at halftime and 29-13 entering the fourth quarter, the Eagles put 13 points on the scoreboard to close the gap to 29-26 with 4:39 to play. With time running out in regulation, the Eagles were on the march, advancing to the EU24 with 1:14 remaining. But on a second-and-four play, AU sophomore quarterback John Szabo’s pass over the middle for sophomore wideout Michael Hull was picked off by Jason Gordon at the EU6. That dashed any hopes of an AU comeback. The Eagles are 0-2 for the first time since the 1993 season. The Fighting Scots haven’t been 2-0 since 1992. More bad news came AU’s way in the post-game medical report. Starting tight end Brian Mong, a sophomore, and starting linebacker Jarrett Fuller, a redshirt freshman, along with backup sophomore tailback Travis Morris, all exited the game in the first half. All three could be done for the year – Mong with a shoulder injury and Fuller and Morris with knee injuries. “I challenged our team after the game,” said AU head coach Gary Keller. “We’re going to have to have some guys step up.” Szabo did that in this contest. He completed a personal-best 26 of 39 passes for a career-best 308 yards and three touchdowns. Senior wide receiver Kevin McMahon, had nine catches for 143 yards and a touchdown. Hull caught eight passes for 69 yards with a touchdown. Freshman wideout Trent Seay got in on the act with three receptions for 42 yards and a touchdown. Much of that passing damage came in the fourth quarter. The Eagles were behind and had to throw. Even though the Scots knew what was coming, they didn’t have any answers for it. “It’s a credit to their offense, they did a nice job throwing the football,” gushed Tepper. “We had more mental errors in the fourth quarter against the passing game than at any time since I’ve been here.” From AU’s point of view, that passing game could have really taken off if two other components had come together. For the second straight week, the Eagles struggled to run the football. Ashland gained 78 yards on the ground. Senior tailback J.R. McCoy got the bulk of that with 57 yards on 18 carries. Hull had one carry for 47 yards, that coming on a reverse where he first looked to throw. Then, of course, those special teams miscues. That started early. AU fumbled the opening kickoff out of bounds, which meant the Eagles began the game from their own 4. Down 7-0 less than five minutes into the game, AU roared back and reached the end zone on a 6-yard run by McCoy. AU failed to tie the score because redshirt freshman Austin Wellock’s PAT attempt was blocked. Then with 5:58 left in the opening stanza, the ‘Boro blocked a Jason Monschein punt out of the end zone for a safety. Later, on a kickoff, AU mishandled the kick and gave the ball to the Scots at the AU 26. A year ago, Edinboro blocked eight kicks. The Scots have three blocks in two games this year. Yet even with that special teams prowess, Tepper gave his players what-for about some very average specialty play a year ago. “That’s all the coaches preached, special teams, special teams,” said EU defensive back Thomas Wallace, who blocked the punt. “They outhit us last year on special teams.” “The biggest difference in today’s game was the kickers,” acknowledged Keller. “Their punter was kicking it 65 yards to change field position. Then their kickoffs screwed us up.” For the second consecutive week, Edinboro was outgained – this time AU held a 386-295 edge – but won. Outside of the special teams, most of the damage inflicted on AU by the ‘Boro was done by senior tailback Alonzo Roebuck. He rushed for 83 yards on 16 carries with TD runs of 4, 3 and 8 yards. Roebuck was ejected in the fourth quarter after a scuffle on the sidelines and without him in the lineup, the Scots struggled to run the ball and kill the clock. At that point, AU was back in business. The defense keyed the resurgence. Junior defensive end Brett Bartlow sacked EU quarterback Cam Marsh at the AU24 and when Marsh coughed up the football, freshman linebacker Brady Miller scooped up the loose ball and rambled 29 yards to the EU47. That set up a Szabo-to-McMahon 6-yard TD pass with 9:55 to play. With 4:39 to play, Szabo capped off a 10-play, 80-yard drive with a 9-yard TD pass to Hull. That set the stage for the final surge that ended via an interception. “I felt our team, we had a great effort in the second half,” said Keller. “I was pleased with the effort we showed. That put us back in the football game. “We can continue to improve with good effort,” added Keller. “We made too many mistakes today. If we can eliminate those, we’ll have an exciting football team.” Notes From the Nest: Saturday’s loss snaps a four-game AU win streak against Edinboro. This series concludes next season when the Fighting Scots visit Ashland…senior linebacker Geoff Henry paced AU with 10 tackles. Bartlow and senior nose tackle Kevin Lacey had two sacks apiece. The Eagles had six sacks. |