Allegheny Defense Holds In 7-6 Upset of Wabash

Oct 4, 2003

Boxscore

Senior wide receiver Jon Turner (Franklin, Pa./Franklin Area) set the Allegheny career record for receptions with 127, but his accomplishment was overshadowed by the gritty play of the Allegheny defense at a muddy Robertson Field as the Gators upset Wabash College, 7-6, on Saturday afternoon. Senior David Pisanick (Duncansville, Pa./Hollidaysburg) and Elliott George (Bradford, Pa./Bradford Area) each had eight tackles as the Gators had a season high three sacks, including one by Pisanick.

In the third quarter, Turner caught his 126th career pass, surpassing Ronnie Anderson ‘97 as the Gators all-time leader for receptions. Turner added one more catch, including a key third down conversion in the fourth quarter, finishing with three receptions for 20 yards.

Trailing 6-0 late in the third quarter, Allegheny (1-3, 1-0 North Coast Athletic Conference) pinned Wabash (2-2, 1-0 NCAC) on their own nine-yard line. On the first play of that drive, Harbaugh lost the ball on the handoff and sophomore Justen Altemus(Clearfield, Pa./Clearfield) recovered for the Gators at the nine-yard line. After a pair of runs moved the ball to the four-yard line, Allegheny was called for a delay of game moving the ball back to the original line of scrimmage. On the next play, senior quarterback Bubba Smith (Doylestown, Ohio/Chippewa) hit senior tight end Will McMahon (Pittsburgh, Pa./Carlynton) on a slant to tie the score 6-6. Senior placekicker Aaron Polack (Medina, Ohio/Medina) tacked on the exrta-point to give the Gators the lead, and eventually the win, 7-6.

The Allegheny defense held Wabash to a season-low 256 yards of offense as they tallied one pickoff and a key fumble recovery that set-up the only Gator score. Pisanick disrupted the line of scrimmage, tallying eight tackles in the game, including 2.5 for loss and a sack. Steve Williams (Westover, W.Va./University) had an interception and three pass break-ups to go along with six tackles in a brilliant performance by the secondary.

After a scoreless first half, Wabash took the lead when quarterback Russ Harbaugh hit Nick Dawson on a six-yard pass with 4:24 showing in the third quarter. Placekicker Olmy Olmstead missed the point-after attempt to make it a 6-0 lead.

Junior Jamie Sye (Titusville, Pa./Titusville) rushed for a season-high 99 yards to lead the Gator offense. Smith completed 10-18 passes for 74 yards in the less-than-perfect field conditions, including the nine-yard touchdown pass, as Allegheny tallied 163 yards.

Wabash had 128 yards rushing, 83 from freshman Aaron Lafitte on 21 carries. Harbaugh went 18-27 for 128 yards along with touchdown and an interception. Lafitte was also the leading receiver with six catches for 52 yards. Tim Parker led the Little Giant defense with seven tackles.

Allegheny will travel to Hiram next week to continue NCAC play in a 1:00 p.m. kickoff.

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