Colgate brushes past Crusaders
Raiders secure title, NCAA bid
- |
Nate Eachus ran for 118 yards and scored one touchdown as Colgate rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit and beat Holy Cross, 28-27, yesterday in Hamilton, N.Y.
Receiver Pat Simonds scored two touchdowns for the Raiders (9-2, 5-0), who won the Patriot League title and an automatic bid in the NCAA Championship Subdivision tournament.
Greg Sullivan completed 8 of 12 passes for 129 yards with no interceptions.
Receiver Jon Brock opened the scoring for Holy Cross (7-4, 5-1) at 14:01 in the first quarter on a 75-yard pass from Dominic Randolph, who completed 16 of 27 passes for 316 yards and one interception.
A touchdown by Brett McDermott and a 36-yard field goal by Matt Partain in the second quarter helped lift Holy Cross to a 24-14 lead at halftime.
The teams traded points in the third quarter, and Holy Cross held a 27-21 lead going into the fourth.
Eachus tied it at 13:05 in the fourth, scoring on a 5-yard run.
Jacob Stein kicked the extra point, giving Colgate a 1-point edge it would not relinquish.
Bryant 23, St. Francis (Pa.) 0 - Jay Graber threw three touchdown passes and Jerrell Smith rushed for 150 yards as the Bulldogs romped past the winless Red Flash in Loretto, Pa.
Graber was 14 of 19 for 160 yards for Bryant, which finished 7-4 in its first season in Division 1. Bryant racked up 382 yards of offense while the Bulldogs held St. Francis (0-10) to just 58 yards in winning its final game of the season for just the second time in the program's 10-year history.
Graber connected with Ross Giffune on an 8-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter and Chris Bird kicked a 32-yard field goal in the second quarter to give the Bulldogs a 10-0 halftime lead.
Graber completed a 33-yard touchdown pass to Vinton South in the third quarter and a 12-yard TD pass to Tyler Digiovani in the fourth.
Curry 26, Ithaca 21 - Ryan Van De Giesen threw the go-ahead touchdown pass with 32 seconds left to stun the 12th-ranked Bombers in the first round of the NCAA Division 3 playoffs in Ithaca, N.Y.
Van De Giesen finished with four touchdown passes and 268 yards to give the New England Football Conference its second playoff victory ever.
Curry improved to 10-1 and will next meet Cortland State. Ithaca fell to 9-2.
Cortland St. 31, Plymouth St. 14 - Andrew Giuliano rushed for 113 yards and a touchdown and Ray Miles threw for 175 yards and three touchdowns as the 16th-ranked Red Dragons beat the Panthers in Cortland, N.Y.
Eric Hajnos, Mike Lane, and Zacc Guaragno caught TD passes for Cortland State (10-1).
The Red Dragons' defense had a big day with Matt Berman amassing 11 tackles, an interception, and a fumble recovery. Richard Rolo, Brian Haas, and Lou Crispo had 10 tackles each.
Plymouth State (10-2) got a touchdown run and pass from John DeMarco.
St. John Fisher 17, Husson 7 - In Bangor, Maine, senior quarterback Tom Hammel came off the bench to lead the Cardinals (7-4) to the ECAC Division 3 Northeast title over the Eagles (7-3).
Hammel, who was 8-of-14 passing for 95 yards and a touchdown, guided St. John Fisher on all three scoring drives and earned Most Valuable Player honors.
Running back Scott Biehl gained 113 yards on 23 carries, both career highs, in the bitter cold and swirling snow.
The Cardinals took a 7-0 lead when Hammel found Josiah Smith in the end zone in the second quarter.
The Eagles' only score came from junior running back Julius Williams, who broke a tackle on an inside handoff and ran 5 yards to the end zone to tie it at 7 in the third quarter.
St. John Fisher responded with 10 unanswered points in the final 15 minutes.
