Gators Look to Rebound Against Feisty Lords

Oct 13, 2006

Football Game Notes (PDF)
Gators of the Week

MEADVILLE, Pa. – A pair of high-powered offenses will collide in Meadville on Saturday, as the Allegheny College Gators (3-2, 1-1 North Coast Athletic Conference) will face off against the Lords of Kenyon College (3-2, 2-0 NCAC). The Gators come into the game ranked ninth in Division III in total offense (441.4 yards per game), while Kenyon comes in with two more overall yards of total offense than the Gators, giving them an average of 441.8 on the year, eighth best in the division.

The Gators will take on the second of five consecutive games against the NCAC Media Poll’s top five teams. Last week the squad fell to Wabash, the preseason favorite by both the media and the coaches, and face off against Kenyon on Saturday, who picked fifth by the media. The team then follows those two games with a trip to Wooster (2nd) on October 21st, a home game against Ohio Wesleyan (3rd) on October 28th and a road trip to Wittenberg (4th) on November 4.

Kenyon, picked sixth by the coaches, have been an offensive powerhouse over the past two weeks, scoring a total of 113 points over the last two games, including putting up a school-record 69 points against Hiram a week ago.

Kenyon’s program has turned 180 degrees – from one that did not compete in the league in 2003 – to a conference title contender in 2006. The season brought the program to heights it had not seen since 1989 when the team finished 5-4 overall behind quarterback and NCAC Offensive Player of the Year Chris Creighton, who is now the head coach at Wabash College.

This season Kenyon has been led by a strong running game, as the squad is averaging 264.4 rushing yards per game, eighth highest total in Division III. Leading the way for the visitors is senior Alby Coombs, who has rushed for 597 yards this season, an average of 119.4 per game, while scoring nine touchdowns. Coombs, who is currently just 107 yards away from the 4,000-yard plateau for his career, is the school’s leading rusher by over 1,000 yards.

Adding depth to the rushing game are two other speedy players, quarterback Rafael Sanchez and running back Javier Arbolaez. Sanchez, a junior, was moved from wide receiver to quarterback last season, and has rushed for 335 yards and three touchdowns this season. Arbolaez, who had eight catches for 100 yards against the Gators last season as a wide receiver, has also rushed for 324 yards and five scores.

As a quarterback, Sanchez is 40-of-74 through the air for an average of 134.2 yards per game, after becoming the first player in Kenyon football history to rush and pass for over 1,000 yards in the same season during the 2005 campaign.

Freshmen Harry von Kann, a tight end, and Mikey Sanchez, a wide receiver, lead the team this year with 15 catches apiece. von Kann’s 15 catches have gained him 277 yards while Sanchez, the younger brother of the quarterback, has gained 231.

Despite the gaudy offensive numbers, Kenyon gives up 430.4 yards per game, an average of 215.4 on the ground and 215.0 through the air. Looking to counter that number is senior William Lippert and junior Mike Chase, both linebackers, as the duo has a combined 63 tackles, 32 by the former and 31 by the latter. The Lords have picked off just four passes this season, each by a different player, and have fallen on five fumbles, giving them nine forced turnovers, a +5 turnover margin this season.

The Gators come into the game looking to rebuild a trio of streaks, The two-game regular season and a three-game NCAC win streak were snapped on Saturday at the hands of the Little Giants of Wabash College. The third is the series streak, which was stopped at 13 last year with a 34-27 loss in Gambier. In all the Gators hold a dominating 17-6 advantage in the 23 all-time meetings, but the Lords have gained the momentum with last season’s win.

Hoping to help rebuild the three streaks is senior quarterback Jimmy Savage, who was named to the Don Hansen Football Gazette for his performance against Wabash last week. Against the Little Giants, Savage completed 38-of-58 passes for 400 yards and four passing touchdowns. The completions, attempts and yardage are all school records, while the four touchdowns is a career best.

Wide receivers Dallas Robinson and Jim Lieb each had 10 receptions in the game, the former for 141 yards and the latter for 52, while freshman Jake Vite hauled in three touchdown passes and eight catches for a career-best 86 yards. Savage completed passes to seven different receivers in the loss.

Helping to make the Gators a balanced squad is senior running back Mario Tarquinio, who has rushed for 511 yards on 98 carries this year, as he is just a yard shy of becoming the sixth running back in school history to eclipse the 2,500-yard milestone for his career. As he stands now, he needs just 39 yards on the ground to move into sixth on the all-time rushing list, passing James “Poncho” Villa, a charter member of the Allegheny College Athletic Hall of Fame.

Savage, a third-year starter, has also seen his share of success this year, throwing for an average of 297.4 yards per game and 12 touchdowns, putting himself on pace to re-write the Allegheny College single season and career record books.

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