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Gators Win in Rain over Ohio Wesleyan
October 28, 2006
MEADVILLE, Pa. – In the first ever night game featuring two North Coast Athletic Conference teams in league history, the Allegheny College Gators (5-3, 3-2 NCAC) led wire-to-wire, out-lasting the elements and the Ohio Wesleyan Battling Bishops (2-7, 2-4 NCAC), picking up a 30-13 victory on Saturday evening.
The game saw a variety of Mother Nature’s worst, including rain, snow and gusting winds, sometimes in combination, making the passing game nearly impossible. In all, the two teams combined to throw for just 148 yards in the contest, while rushing for a combined 354.
Allegheny College senior Mario Tarquinio (Charleroi, Pa./Charleroi), left, led the ground attack for the Blue and Gold, rushing for 160 yards on 27 carries, a 5.9 yard per carry average, while also scoring the opening touchdown of the game.
The Gators took the opening kickoff in the game and drove 65 yards in seven plays, scoring when Tarquinio scooted into the end zone from 10 yards away, giving the Gators a 7-0 lead. Ohio Wesleyan countered late in the first quarter when running back Nick Rice plunged into the end zone from three yards away, however a missed two-point conversion had the Gators leading 7-6 at the end of the first quarter.
The Gators scored on their next two possessions, the first when Matt Cellini (Trumbull, Ct./St. Joseph), right, scored his first collegiate touchdown, from 16 yards away, pushing the Gator lead to 14-6. Quarterback Jimmy Savage (North Canton, Ohio/Hoover) then hooked up with classmate Dallas Robinson (Wooster, Ohio/Northwestern) from 13 yards away, pushing the Allegheny advantage to 20-6, which stood for the remainder of the second quarter.
Ohio Wesleyan cut into the deficit with a 13-yard Steve Hymes-to-Corey Turner touchdown pass, but would not get any closer, as the Gators added a touchdown early in the fourth quarter when Josh Whiteside (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) booted a 47-yard field goal, the third longest in school history.
After a punt into the wind that netted a total of two yards, the Gators took advantage of good field position in the middle of the fourth quarter, as the drive culminated with a Savage-to-Shane Sullivan (McMurray, Pa./Peters Township) 15-yard touchdown pass, providing the final touches on a 30-13 Allegheny win.
Savage and Cellini rushed for 34 and 21 yards, on 12 and two carries, respectively. Rice was the Ohio Wesleyan leader in rush yards, grounding out 77 yards on 14 attempts, while quarterback Hymes had 14 attempts for 30 yards.
Savage completed half of his 18 passes in the game for 106 yards and the two scores, while Hymes was 6-of-13 with 42 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
Sullivan was the team leader with three catches, gaining 40 yards and scoring once, while Jim Lieb (Carroltown, Pa./Northern Cambria) and Tarquinio each had two catches for 24 yards. Zach Dennis led the Bishops with three catches gaining 14 yards, while Rice picked up a team-best 15 receiving yards.
In all, the Gator defense held Ohio Wesleyan to just 173 yards in the game, the lowest total given up by the Gators this season. Leading the charge for the defense was junior linebacker Mateo Villa (Windsor, Ohio/Middlefield Cardinal), left, who had 13 tackles and a tackle for loss in the win, while Ross Simcoe (Coudersport, Pa./Coudersport) had nine stops. Tom Glamuzina (Williamsville, N.Y./St. Joseph’s) had a team-best 2.5 tackles for loss, while also blocking two kicks.
For their next game the Gators travel to Springfield, Ohio to take on the Tigers of Wittenberg University, with kickoff set for 1:00 p.m.