Gators Prepare For Second Half of Season

Oct 12, 2005

Gators of the Week
Game Notes (PDF)
Two-Deeps (PDF)

MEADVILLE, Pa. – As the Allegheny College Gators prepare for the second half of their season, they face a unique challenge for a program that was the fourth winningest team in the 1990’s in Division III – an 0-5 record.

The team’s start is the worst opening to a season since the 1953 team finished the year 0-8. The 0-fer record is very deceiving, as four of the team’s five losses have been decided in the last play of the game, and the fifth was to nationally ranked Washington & Jefferson.

Back-to-back overtime losses in the opening two games sent the team reeling, and a field goal by the Wooster kicker with two seconds left in the game in the fourth game of the year sent the squad to 0-4 overall.

Looking to break out of the doldrums of a winless record, the team battled Ohio Wesleyan to a 13-8 final score. The Gators had first and goal on the seven yardline with just over 30 seconds to play before the Bishops stopped AC on three straight running plays, leaving the hosts with a fourth and goal on the four yard line with three seconds to play. The OWU defense held, giving up just two yards on the game’s final play, holding the hosts six feet short in the loss.

“We’re trying real hard, but we’re just coming up a little bit short,” said Allegheny head coach Mark Matlak. “We just need to keep working, and we have another opportunity this week to get better.”

Kenyon comes into the game on the opposite end of the spectrum. The Lords are in a tie for first place in the NCAC after a stunning 24-21 upset of 17th ranked (American Football Coaches Association) Wooster College. Junior running back Alby Coombs led the way for the squad from Gambier with 30 carries for 167 yards and a pair of touchdowns, including the game winner with 6:29 to play in the game en route to his second straight NCAC Player of the Week honor.

“Kenyon has two very outstanding offensive players,” noted Matlak. “Running back Alby Coombs and quarterback Rafael Sanchez. As a team they run the ball very effectively, with Coombs being one of the top backs in the league and Sanchez creating containment problems.”

This season Coombs is ranked second in the league in rushing, averaging 130.2 yards per game, and has six total touchdowns while Sanchez has grounded out 285 yards and a pair of scores. Sanchez has completed 52.8 % (86-of-163) of his passes on the year for 973 yards and six scores through the air. Leading the receiving corps is Javier Arbolaez, who has 23 catches for 204 yards while Phelipe Johnson, who caught a touchdown pass against Wooster, has 21 receptions for a team-high 285 yards and two touchdowns. Defensively, senior All-American Casey McConnell leads the team from his middle linebacker position with 51 total tackles, while Joey Furnari has recorded 45 tackles, 30 solo. Andrew Fuchs leads the team with 6.5 tackles for loss while three different Lords, Furnari, Nick Fanning and Dave Driscoll each have an interception.

Allegheny comes into this weekend after Mario Tarquinio’s second consecutive 100-yard rushing game, giving him a total of 291 yards in just over nine quarters of action to go with three rushing touchdowns. Starting quarterback Jimmy Savage is second on the squad with 130 yards and a trio of scores while Sean Locklin has grounded out 127 yards on 42 carries this season. The quarterback tandem of Savage and James Jones has combined for a completion percentage of 58.7, with Savage completing 67-of-113 passes and Jones 24-of-42. Of the 91 receptions, 25 have come via Kyle Geiser, who has hauled in those passes for 213 yards while Matt Pertile has 13 catches for 176 yards and a score. Defensively, Curt Anderson paces the team with 36 tackles, 19 off of solo tackles, while Brad Stotsky and Adam Duncan have 32 and 30 tackles apiece. Josh Dracup leads the team with six tackles for loss while Stotsky’s two interceptions are a team-high.

Over the past two games, both the offense and defense had a strong game, neither of which was in the same game. Two weeks ago against Wooster, the Scots could not stop the Gator attack (358 yards of total offense), while AC struggled to contain the Wooster offense (526 yards of total offense) in a 37-34 shootout. Last week was a defensive struggle, with Ohio Wesleyan gaining just 292 yards of offense to 261 for the Gators.

“We have to improve our consistency,” said Matlak. “I’m a firm believer in what you see on the practice field, you see in a game. We need to be more consistent in practice before we can expect to be more consistent in the games.”

Although Allegheny holds a commanding 18-4 lead in the all-time series, including 17 straight wins, fourth year head coach Mark Matlak knows better than to overlook any team on the schedule, especially when his team is 0-5 and Kenyon is coming off of a huge victory. “We’re at a point right now, being 0-5, that we can’t overlook anyone,” noted the head coach. “We have to respect every opponent that we face.”

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