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Gators Look to Play Spoiler Against Wittenberg
November 2, 2006
Football Game Notes (PDF)
Gators of the Week
MEADVILLE, Pa. – After being virtually eliminated from the 2006 North Coast Athletic Conference title, the Gators get to attempt to play spoiler this week, as they travel to Springfield, Ohio to take on the Tigers of Wittenberg University, the team currently in line for the league championship.
The Tigers and the Wabash College Little Giants each have one loss, however, Wittenberg owns the tiebreaker between the two teams by virtue of a 19-17 victory on October 14. Allegheny, which will double its fan base for this game after adding the Wabash contingent to the bandwagon this week, can effectively end Wittenberg’s hopes for the conference title and the NCAA bid with a victory on Saturday, while a win will all but secure the championship for the Tigers.
A win in the series would also knot the two teams at nine wins apiece against each other, sending the Gators into the 2007 season with just one opponent, Wabash, which holds the all-time lead over the Gators.
This season the Tigers have been led by NCAC Player of the Year candidate Tristan Murray, who has rushed for a conference-leading 1,052 yards in eight games, with 11 total touchdowns. His average of 131.5 yards per game and 8.3 points per game rank him eighth and 27th in the country, respectively.
Murray has performed well in his two previous meetings with the Gators, averaging 177 yards per game and rushing for just over 6.1 yards per carry with four total touchdowns.
While Murray has rushed for just over 75% of the team’s yards, freshman quarterback Aaron Huffman has also made his own contributions to the ground game, rushing for 163 yards and three touchdowns. Fullback Andy Vanover and Tony Hall have each scored this season on the ground, the former with 129 rushing yards and the latter 57.
Huffman has thrown all but one of the Wittenberg passes this season, completing 92-of-166 passes for 1,013 yards. He has added nine passing touchdowns against eight interceptions.
Williams leads the team with 21 receptions for 230 yards, while Murray is close on his tail with 18 receptions for 195 yards. Vanover leads the squad in receiving yards, hauling in 13 passes for 277 yards, a 21.3 yard-per-catch average with a team-high three touchdowns.
Allegheny uses a more balanced offensive attack, averaging 249 yards through the air and 163 on the ground for an average of 412.4 yards per game, 16th best in Division III.
Helping to the rushing total has been senior running back Mario Tarquinio, who eclipsed the 1,000-yard plateau for the second time in his career last week against Ohio Wesleyan, and is second in the league and 10th in the country averaging 126.3 yards per contest. He comes into the contest needing just two yards to become the fourth member of the 3,000-career rushing yard club.
Also setting records and adding to the depth of the offense has been quarterback Jimmy Savage. Savage has closed to within striking distance of every-single season passing record, while climbing the ladder on many of the career marks. His season totals of 163-of-277 for 1,976 yards and 18 touchdowns puts him 163 yards, 23 completions, 30 attempts and four touchdowns away from setting the single-season marks. He already owns the single game school records, due to his 38-of-58, 400-yard effort against Wabash earlier this season. As he stands now, he is second in career attempts and completions, and fourth in passing yards.
Helping Savage with those numbers are a group of 13 players that have caught a pass this season. Leading the way from that crew is the duo of senior Dallas Robinson and junior Jim Lieb. The pair have each amassed 40 and 38 receptions, with the former gaining 529 yards and the latter 458. Robinson’s six touchdowns lead the team, while freshman Jake Vite and junior Shane Sullivan have four and three each.
Kickoff for the game is at 1:00 p.m. at Edwards-Maurer Field on the Wittenberg campus.