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Gators Prepare for Season Finale Against Oberlin
November 9, 2006
Football Game Notes (PDF)
Gators of the Week
MEADVILLE, Pa. – The Allegheny College football program says goodbye to 15 seniors on Saturday, as the Gators compete against the Yeomen of Oberlin College in senior day, the last home game for those athletes. Ben Lichtman, James Jones, Jimmy Savage, Mario Tarquinio, Dallas Robinson, Patsy Malie, Devin Cruea, Greg Sye, Michael Folk, Marcus Solomon, Chris Zimdahl, Justin Victor, Justin McNeill and Tom Glamuzina will all be strapping on the helmets and shoulder pads for the final time on Saturday.
The 2006 team leaves a legacy of strong football to be followed, as the seniors were freshmen on the 2003 NCAA Playoff team, and have sported a career record of 20-20 during their time with the squad, including sporting a 17-10 record in NCAC play.
Their opponent for the game, Oberlin, had been among the bottom feeders of the NCAA, losing 110 of 112 games during a stretch from 1990 until 2001 including holding losing streaks of 44, 40 and 26 during that span. The school has rebounded impressively to a 5-4 record heading into the game, just their second .500 season since 1974. The team’s high-powered offense features some of the top skilled positioned players in the league this season.
They come into the game needing just nine points to tie the single season point total of 262 set in 1892 and are a touchdown away from breaking the single season touchdown mark of 35, set in 1950. The team has already set single season school records in total offense (3,416) and currently have the second highest single season passing total in Yeomen history.
In their last game, a 56-42 victory over the Lords of Kenyon College, the Yeomen used a near-record-setting day from running back R.V. Carroll to run away with the North Coast Athletic Conference win.
Carroll, a sophomore running back, posted touchdown runs of 53, 40, 40, 30 and 13 en route to 336 yards and five touchdowns on 38 carries, missing the conference records by just two yards and one touchdown and smashing Oberlin College records in the process. The sophomore notched the third highest rushing total in all of college football this season, trailing just the 364 yards that Northern Illinois’ Garrett Wolfe put on Ball State on September 30 and the 357 yards Peter Ereg of MacMurray rushed for against Eureka last week.
This season the Yeomen have stuck to their guns and have gone primarily with their quartet of skilled position players — Carroll, Mangan, Harris and Schubert.
Carroll leads the NCAC in rushing, averaging 140.2 yards per game, which is fourth in Division III. The sophomore has scored 12 times on the ground and once more in the air for 13 total touchdowns, as his scoring average of 8.9 points per game is 18th best in Division III. Mundekis and Stein have 109 and 14 yards for second and third highest on the squad, with Stein scoring twice on the ground.
Mangan has thrown 238 of the team’s 249 passes, completing 161 of them for a 67.6 completion percentage. He has tossed for 2,054 yards, an average of 228.2 per game, throwing 15 touchdowns against just four interceptions.
Harris and Schubert have lit up opposing defensive secondaries, hauling in 47 and 43 passes for 750 and 528 yards, each. Schubert leads the duo with eight touchdowns, while Harris has six and James Brady two among his 11 receptions. Carroll is third on the team in receptions and receiving yards, hauling in 29 passes for 299 yards, giving him an average of 176.1 all-purpose yards, fourth best in Division III.
Allegheny comes into the game looking for a season-ending victory, one that would give them 23 wins in the last 27 regular season finales.
This season the balanced Gator offense has been led by a trio of seniors — Tarquinio, Savage and Robinson. Tarquinio is currently 84 yards away from surpassing his single season high of 1,145, having gained 1,061 yards on the ground to go with eight touchdowns. Savage is second on the team in yardage, rushing for 117 yards on 48 carries and scoring twice.
Savage’s season passing totals have surpassed the top marks in school history with a game to play, while the senior is also climbing his way towards some career passing marks. Savage has completed 187 of his 312 passes, breaking school records of 185 and 306 set by Bubba Smith in the 2003 season, while his yardage total of 2,223 is 85 more than Smith threw for in 2003. His 21 touchdowns more than doubles his career total, and is even with Smith’s 2001 total.
Also making his name in the single season record books is Robinson, who has 49 catches for 675 yards. He currently stands fifth all-time in single season receptions, and is just five catches away from moving into fifth all-time. His yardage total puts him 33 yards away from moving into fifth on the single season list. Adding diversity to the passing attack has been a pair of juniors, Jim Lieb and Shane Sullivan. Lieb has hauled in 43 receptions this season for 494 yards and three touchdowns, while Sullivan has 21 catches for 207 yards and three scores. Freshman Jake Vite has made a name for himself early in his career, hauling in 18 passes for 215 yards and four touchdowns.
Kickoff for the game is at 1:00 p.m. at Frank B. Fuhrer Field, a venue in which the Gators are 3-0.