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Gators Look To Rebound Against Hiram
September 13, 2007
Football Game Notes (PDF)
Fresh off a bye week, the Allegheny football team (0-1) looks to barge into the win column for the first time in 2007, whey they travel to Hiram (0-1) this Saturday, September 15, looking to rebound from a disappointing 13-6 loss in their season opener against Westminster.
In the opener, the Gator offense struggled for a large portion of the contest, but was able to generate a late rally behind backup quarterback T.J. Salopek (North Huntington, Pa./Norwin). Allegheny’s defense was stellar throughout the contest, holding Westminster to just 228 yards of total offense with a fumble. Curt Anderson (Batavia, N.Y./Batavia Notre Dame) led the charge with 11 tackles while Mateo Villa (Windsor, Ohio/Middlefield Cardinal) and Jon Buggey (Homer City, Pa./Homer Center) each picked up nine. On their final possession of the game, the Gators threatened and took their final possession 36 yards on eight plays, but were unable to convert on two pass attempts from the Titan 10 yard line.
“Offensively, I felt our performance was pretty dismal,” said Gator head coach Mark Matlak. “Any time you only rush for 41 yards and don’t pass very well, you’re not going to get good results. It shows that we didn’t block very well up front.”
Offensively, the Gators will look to Salopek, who completed 7-of-13 passes for 97 yards and a touchdown versus Westminster. Allegheny will look to improve on its ground game behind the trio of Rodney Still (Hummelstown, Pa./Dauphin), Devin Raynor (Bemus Point, N.Y./Maple Grove), and Matt Feldhaus (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier), who are all expected to see carries this weekend. Still led the Blue and Gold in week one with 29 yards on six carries, while Raynor and Feldhaus combined for 29 yards on 13 carries.
“T.J. was a bright spot and really gave our offense a spark,” noted Matlak. “We still have a long way to go with basics of blocking - we went to work on that during the bye week. There is no magic secret to it, we need to get back to fundamentals and increase our effort level.”
The receiving corps was one of the Gators’ high points against versus Westminster, led by Jim Lieb’s (Carrolltown, Pa./Northern Cambria) five receptions for 38 yards, Jake Vite’s (Hollidaysburgh, Pa./Hollidaysburg Area) four catch, 81-yard performance, and James Jones’ (Ellington, N.Y./Falconer Central) 36-yard touchdown grab.
After a shaky first possession on defense, which resulted in a Westminster touchdown, the Gators responded to hold the visitors to only a pair of field goals the rest of the way. In addition to Anderson, Villa, and Buggey, five other Gators recorded at least six tackles.
“We made some mistakes on our first possession and they took us by storm,” said Matlak. “We regrouped, made good adjustments, and got a little better to hold them to the two field goals, both of which were set up by short fields - we know we can still be better though”
Special teams produced mixed results in the opener, as the Gators failed on an extra point and a field goal attempt, but answered with a blocked field goal of their own and turned in solid returns on the kickoff unit, giving Jones the second highest kickoff return average (39.0) in Division III. In addition, punter Jason Black (Warren, Ohio/Champion) averaged 41.5 yards per punt, good for 19th in the nation.
“You won’t win many games having two blocked punts against you,” said the coach. We had some good thins happen, especially in the return game - generating good field position, but we still have to improve a lot on special teams though.”
In pointing towards his keys for victories this week, Matlak said “We have to take care of our own business and not worry about what the other team is going to do. We need to be smarter, more disciplined, and hard-working than in week one. We have to approach the game well and get the job done.”
Allegheny and Hiram meet for the eighth consecutive season as NCAC foes, with the Gators riding a seven-game win streak in the series. The 2007 season marks the second consecutive year in which the two meet as non-conference opponents, due to the unbalanced conference schedule. Last season, the Gators used a 35-point third quarter en route to capturing a 52-7 victory on Frank B. Fuhrer Field dedication day in Meadville.
The all-time series between the two dates all the way back to the squads’ inaugural meeting in 1903, a 19-0 Allegheny win. The Gators hold the two longest win streaks in the series, both seven game marks, from 1903-1910 and 2000-2007. Hiram’s last victory in the series came during the 1983 campaign, a 13-6 Terrier victory in Hiram. Overall, Allegheny leads the all-time series with a record of 27-10-2.
Kickoff from Charles A. Henry Field is set for 1 p.m.