Gators Win Shootout 49-38

Oct 14, 2006

Boxscore

MEADVILLE, Pa. – A week after seeing the single game pass yardage record fall in a loss to Wabash, Allegheny’s (4-2, 2-1 North Coast Athletic Conference) Mario Tarquinio (Charleroi, Pa./Charleroi) fell eight yards shy of breaking the single game rushing mark, ending the contest with 252 yards on 38 carries, both career highs, in a 49-38 shootout over the Kenyon Lords (3-3, 2-1 NCAC) at the Frank B. Fuhrer Field on a cold Saturday afternoon.

Tarquinio increased his season per game rushing average from 102.2 to 127.2 with the effort, finishing with the second most rushing yards in a single game in school history. Over his three games against Kenyon in his career, Tarquinio has averaged 33.3 carries, 211 yards and 2.3 touchdowns. He also moved ahead of Jim Mormino (1994-97) in career rushing, as today’s gives him 2,751 yards for his career.

Despite the fact the Gators did not trail for the game, the final score was in limbo for nearly the entire contest. The Gators, who received the ball to start the game, used up 4:46 of the clock, driving 67 yards on 10 plays, taking a 7-0 lead when quarterback Jimmy Savage (North Canton, Ohio/Hoover) took a quarterback sneak into the end zone from a yard away after Tarquinio carried the ball in each of the first nine plays, gaining 66 yards in the process.

After forcing a fumble on Kenyon’s first drive, the Gators made quick work of their next possession, as Tarquinio took the second play and rambled 71 yards to the Kenyon nine yardline, before Patsy Malie (Youngstown, Ohio/Cardinal Mooney), who gave the winded Tarquinio a breather, weaved his way through the Kenyon defense on the next play for a nine-yard touchdown, his first of the season.

Kenyon fought back, scoring the game’s next two touchdowns, the first when Alby Coombs plunged in from two yards away, before scoring on a three-yard run, knotting the score at 14. After seeing the score become tied, the Gators used eight plays to cover 72 yards, scoring when Savage found Dallas Robinson (Wooster, Ohio/Northwestern) from 19 yards away. Kenyon once again responded, eating up 5:03 on the clock to drive 75 yards in 14 plays, with Coombs scoring his third rushing touchdown of the first half, this one from a yard out, sending the teams into the locker room tied at 21 at halftime.

After stopping the Lords on fourth and two, on their 19 yardline, the Gators methodically drove down the field, using 14 plays to cover 82 yards, converting on four third-down conversions, scoring when Savage found Robinson for the second time in the game, pushing the Allegheny advantage to 28-21.

In true Kenyon fashion, the squad wasted little time to counter, as quarterback Rafael Sanchez scrambled 18 yards into the end zone with 2:40 to play in the third quarter. After a 52-yard kickoff return by wide receiver Jim Lieb (Carrolltown, Pa./Northern Cambria), the Gators took full advantage of the short field, needing just four plays to cover the remaining 42 yards, scoring when Savage kept the ball on the option, zipping his way to paydirt from seven yards away, once again giving Allegheny a lead, this one at 35-28.

On the first play of the fourth quarter the Lords knotted the score at 35 when Sanchez scored his second rushing touchdown of the game, from 11 yards away. On the ensuing kickoff, Lieb took the ball on the Allegheny 15 yardline, and sprinted down the right side for an 85-yard kickoff return, marking the second consecutive year that the Gators have returned a kickoff for a score against the Lords.

Kenyon recouped with a nine-play 59-yard drive, ending with a 34-yard Chad Rothschild field goal, cutting the deficit to five at 42-38. Allegheny put the game out of reach with an 11-play, 94-yard drive, culminating with Tarquinio’s first rushing touchdown of the game, from 31 yards away, giving the game its final points at 49-38.

Kenyon threatened twice, with the first drive ending with J.J. Davis’ (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) first interception of the season, before seeing time run out on their next drive at the 16 yardline.

The Lords out-gained Allegheny 580-to-445 in the game, but the kickoff return touchdown and the two turnovers by Kenyon provided the difference in the contest.

In addition to Tarquinio’s heroic efforts, Savage rushed for 26 yards on five carries and the two scores while Malie had his one carry for his nine-yard score. Kenyon was led by a pair of rushers in triple figures, led by Sanchez, who finished the game with 166 yards on 22 carries and two scores, while Javier Arbolaez ground out 128 yards on a dozen carries. Coombs ended the contest with 91 yards on 24 carries and the three scores.

Savage, a week removed from his National Team of the Week effort of 400 yards passing against Wabash, completed 15-of-19 passes for 158 yards, increasing his career completion percentage to 59.8, moving into second place in career completions, passing Kyle Adamson (1994-97), as the senior now has 392 completions over his four years behind center, three as a starter. The touchdown also gives him 10 consecutive games with a passing score, as the last game without one was against Kenyon a season ago.

Sanchez was 17-of-29 in the losing effort, throwing for 195 yards and the one interception.

Seven different receivers hauled in a Savage pass, led by Lieb, who had four catches for 45 yards. Robinson had three catches, two of which went for touchdowns, while Devin Fackenthal (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) had three for 20 yards. Kenyon was paced by Carlos Shoemaker, who had a game-high eight catches and 58 yards.

Defensively it was the quartet of linebackers, as Ross Simcoe (Coudersport, Pa./Coudersport) and Michael Cox (Waynesburg, Pa./Waynesburg) had 12 and 10 tackles, respectively, while the other two, Mateo Villa (Windsor, Ohio/Middlefield Cardinal) and Devin Cruea (Geneva, Ohio/Geneva) had eight and seven each. Safeties Curt Anderson (Batavia, N.Y./Batavia Notre Dame) and Michael Folk (Mentor, Ohio/Notre Dame Cathedral) each had nine stops in the win.

The next game for the Blue and Gold is on Saturday, October 21 when the team travels to Wooster, Ohio to take on the Fighting Scots of the College of Wooster, victors over Hiram today by a 52-0 margin.

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