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Gators Prepare for 2006 Opener
August 30, 2006
Football Game Notes (PDF)
MEADVILLE, Pa. – As the Allegheny College Gators open their 2006 season they look to the past – briefly – only to realize what they overcame in 2005. As a team that started the year 0-6, the squad valiantly fought to finish the year with back-to-back wins, sending the team into the 2006 season with the second longest win streak in the NCAC.
It is the present and future, however, that head coach Mark Matlak is primarily focusing on. “Last year is in the past,” noted the head coach. “We have to leave that behind and start fresh. The games start counting this Saturday. We are looking at every year as a fresh start, and I think you leave the past in the past and move on.”
Long-time foe and backyard rival Westminster provides the first test of the season for the Gators, who return 12 starters from last years’ 3-7 team. The rivalry which is known for its close proximity (New Wilmington is just 45 miles from Meadville) has more recently been associated with great games. Each of the last three meetings have gone into at least one overtime, including a double-overtime thriller in 2004 in which the Gators pulled out the 21-14 win in New Wilmington.
Last season the Titans got on the board first when kicker Chris Castillo hit his first of four field goals, all of Westminster’s points, before the Gators got on the board with the only touchdown of the game, a Jimmy Savage (North Canton, Ohio/Hoover)-to-Matt Pertile 13-yard pass, giving the Gators a 6-3 lead after the extra point went awry. Josh Whiteside (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) connected on a 28-yard field goal with four seconds left in the first half sending the two teams into the locker room with a 9-3 Gator lead.
Castillo hit a pair of 22-yard field goals in the third quarter, both off of Allegheny fumbles, knotting the game at nine. Neither team was able to reach the scoring column in the fourth quarter, as the game went into extra time. In the first possession of overtime, Allegheny used five plays to drive 22 yards, but a 20-yard field goal attempt by Whiteside missed wide right, keeping the score knotted at nine. In their first possession of the overtime period, the Titans gained just one yard, however, Castillo came out as the hero as he hit a 43-yard field goal, giving the visitors a 12-9 victory.
Returning in 2006 for the Gators are the starting quarterback and running back, Savage and Mario Tarquinio (Charleroi, Pa./Charleroi). Last season Savage was 149-for-249 through the air for 1,507 yards and nine touchdowns, while Tarquinio rushed for 843 yards in eight games, scoring nine touchdowns and averaging 4.3 yards per carry. Jim Lieb (Carrolltown, Pa./Northern Cambria) and Logan Kaleta (Kirtland, Ohio/Kirtland) return as the top receivers, hauling in 35 and 19 passes for 423 and 159 yards, respectively. Junior defensive back Curt Anderson (Batavia, N.Y./Batavia Notre Dame), senior defensive lineman Tom Glamuzina (Williamsville, N.Y./St. Joseph’s) and junior linebacker Mateo Villa (Windsor, Ohio/Middlefield Cardinal) return as the top tacklers recording 50, 45 and 42 stops, respectively.
Westminster returns just one person with significant rushing experience, Josh Weese, who split time between running back and defensive back last season, rushing for 30 yards on 11 carries. Brett Myers returns at quarterback, after completing 51-of-95 passes for 494 yards and four touchdowns in six games. The experience for the Titans on offense comes at the wide receiver position, as the hosts for Saturday’s game return six of their top seven receivers from last year, including Brett Ziegler and Jake Buzard, who hauled in 35 and 30 passes for 393 and 252 yards, respectively. On defense, the Titans are led by Jason Fridley and Joey Tissler, who return after recording 67 and 47 stops.
Kickoff for the game is at 1:30 p.m. at Harold Burry Stadium, in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania.