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Late Comeback Falls Short
October 7, 2006
CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. – Allegheny College quarterback Jimmy Savage (North Canton, Ohio/Hoover) broke single game school records in pass attempts, completions and yards, helping the Gators recover from a 35-7 deficit, bringing the game back into contention, before falling by 14 to the Wabash Little Giants (4-1, 3-0 NCAC) at 41-27 on homecoming in Crawfordsville.
Savage was 38-of-58 through the air for 400 yards and a career-high four touchdowns for Allegheny (3-2, 1-1 NCAC). Freshman Jake Vite (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Hollidaysburg Area) hauled in three of those touchdown passes, catching a career-high eight passes for 86 yards, while Dallas Robinson (Wooster, Ohio/Northwestern) and Jim Lieb (Carrolltown, Pa./Northern Cambria) each hauled in 10 passes, Robinson for 141 yards and Lieb for 52.
The Gators out-passed (400-to-255), out-gained (477-to-376) and held the lead in time of possession (31:38-to-28:22), but a -2 turnover margin, the Gators first negative turnover margin this season, kept the Little Giants on a short field for a large part of the game.
The Gators looked to threaten early in the game, as senior defensive end Greg Sye (Titusville, Pa./Titusville) sacked Wabash quarterback Dustin Huff, forcing a fumble of which the Gators jumped on at the Wabash 38 yardline. After six plays moved the Blue and Gold 19 yards, Josh Whiteside’s (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) 37-yard field goal attempt was blocked, his first miss of the season, keeping the score at 0-0.
After Savage’s first interception of the game, Wabash drew first blood, scoring when running back Billy King found wide receiver Mike Russell for the first of his four touchdown receptions in the game on a running back pass play, giving the hosts a 7-0 advantage. The Gators fought back on their next drive, scoring when Savage found Vite from three yards away, ending a 15-play, 81-yard drive, knotting the score at seven apiece just 33 seconds into the second quarter.
The Little Giant offense erupted in the remainder of the second quarter, as quarterback Dustin Huff threw three touchdown passes in three consecutive drives, the first two to Russell, from 25 and 39 yards away, with the final one going to Ray Green from 11 yards out, giving the hosts a comfortable 28-7 halftime advantage.
Wabash looked like they were going to pull away early, scoring on their first drive of the second half when Huff found sophomore Andrew Rhode from 32 yards away, pushing the advantage to 35-7, before the Gators started their comeback attempt.
After a pair of failed drives, the Gators drove 91 yards in 10 plays, scoring when Savage found Vite in the end zone for the second time in the afternoon, this one from 11 yards out, cutting the deficit to 21 at 35-14.
After a three-and-out by Wabash, the Gators used 14 plays to cover 78 yards, with the Savage-to-Vite combination once again taking effect from nine yards away, cutting the deficit again, this time to 35-21 as Savage completed nine of his 14 pass attempts on the drive.
With the Little Giants on their heels, the Blue and Gold once again denied the Little Giants a first down, and turned around and scored again when Savage threw a screen pass to running back Mario Tarquinio (Charleroi, Pa./Charleroi), who scampered in from 16 yards away, with the blocked extra point attempt keeping the deficit to eight at 35-27.
After a third three-and-out in as many possessions, the Gators once again took control of the football, however, a Savage screen pass found the arms of a Wabash defender, and twoplays later Huff threw his fifth and final touchdown pass, again to Russell from 36 yards away, pushing the Little Giant advantage to 41-27 after the missed extra point.
On their next drive, the Gators used nine plays and 2:33 to drive to the Wabash two yardline, before Savage was picked off in the end zone, his third interception thrown of the game, sealing the homecoming win for the hosts.
Tarquinio rushed 18 times in the Wabash win for 63 yards, while also hauling in four passes for 36 additional yards, giving him 99 total yards on the day. King, who was 1-for-1 through the air on the day, rushed 10 times for 50 yards, while Huff rushed a dozen times for 41 total yards.
The 400 yards through the air by Savage is the third highest total in the league this season, while his 58 pass attempts tops the rest of the league field by 11 and his 38 completions by eight. Savage also moved into third in career pass completions, passing Mike Ganey (1966-69), fourth in career pass attempts, passing Kyle Adamson (1994-97) and fifth place in career passing yards, passing John Logue (1986-98).
Savage’s current pace of 297.6 yards per game computes out to 2,976 yards passing on the season, with the current pace set to break the single season school record by over 800 yards. His projections in passing touchdowns (26), completions (236) and pass attempts (396) will top the single season school record by five, 51 and 90, respectively.
Huff was equally impressive as signal caller, completing 19 of his 27 passes for 255 yards and five touchdowns.
Each of Robinson’s receiving numbers were career highs, the fourth time he has set personal bests this season, while Vite’s previous career highs were three catches, 37 yards and one touchdown, set a week ago. Lieb’s 10 receptions tied a career high, as Shane Sullivan (McMurray, Pa./Peters Township) had four catches for 39 yards, fourth best on the squad and career highs, in each.
Mike Russell led the Little Giants with six receptions, four of which went for scores, and 141 yards. Green hauled in four passes for 24 yards, while Geoff Walker, the second leading receiver heading into the game, had just three catches for 45 yards.
Devin Cruea (Geneva, Ohio/Geneva) and Mateo Villa (Windsor, Ohio/Middlefield Cardinal) each had seven tackles to lead the Gators, while Ross Simcoe (Coudersport, Pa./Coudersport) had a half dozen tackles in the loss. Adrian Pynenberg, a preseason All-American, picked up a game-high 13 tackles, while Matthew Kraft added 10 in the Wabash win.
The Gators next take to the gridiron on Saturday, September 14, as the team plays host to the Lords of Kenyon College, victors today over Hiram College by a 69-35 score in Gambier.