Saturday’s Game
The Crusaders begin the second half of their schedule with a trip to New Jersey to battle FDU-Madison. Susquehanna faced one of the nation’s toughest schedules during the first half of the campaign, with three games against teams ranked in the American Football Coaches Association Division III Top 25, while the Devils finally played their home opener last weekend after three games on the road.
The Last Meeting
Susquehanna 26, FDU-Madison 16 (September 2, 2000 at Madison, NJ)
Mike Bowman finished 16-for-36 for 238 yards and three touchdowns, including a pair of scoring strikes to Mark Bartosic, as the Crusaders won their season opener for the 12th straight year. Bartosic made five catches for 118 yards while Matt Fenstermacher hauled in a 19-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter. Andy Nadler connected on a pair of field goals, including a career-best 42-yarder to open the scoring.
Uphill Climb
With a 1-4 record, the Crusaders have their work cut out for them if they want to extend their streak of non-losing seasons. Susquehanna has finished at .500 or better in each of the last 15 seasons since the Crusaders finished 3-7 in 1985. Working against them is the fact that Susquehanna has finished at or above .500 just once when starting 0-3, as they did this season. That came in 1928 when the Crusaders opened 0-3 but won their final four games.
The Magic Number
Saturday’s 25-13 loss to Widener snapped a streak of 10 consecutive victories when allowing fewer than 30 points, dating to a 17-14 loss to Lebanon Valley on October 23, 1999. After allowing an average of 49 points in their first three games, the Crusaders have allowed a total of 48 points in their last two outings.
Block Party
After the Crusaders earned a 24-23 victory at Albright on September 29 thanks to a blocked extra point by junior SS Dennis Kodack with 24 seconds remaining, the special teams unit was back in business against Widener as senior LB Troy Sosnovik blocked the Pioneers’ first extra-point attempt and senior DE Dominick DeSteno smothered a 20-yard field-goal attempt in the third quarter. Spanning the two games, the Crusaders blocked three consecutive kicks by the opposition until Widener booted an extra point following their final score.
No Passing Fancy
Junior quarterback Mike Bowman (Northumberland, PA/Shikellamy H.S.) is well on his way to owning the Crusader record book. Last season, he set single-season records for completions (184), attempts (354), yards (2,563) and touchdowns (20) and career marks for completions (now at 372) and attempts (now at 746). This season, Bowman broke two more records set from 1987 to 1990 by David Battisti. Bowman shattered the mark for career passing yards of 4,087 against Lycoming and moved past Battisti’s mark of 38 passing touchdowns against Albright. Bowman, the first junior to serve as a team captain in the Briggs era, has thrown for 4,940 yards and 41 touchdowns in just 25 career games.
Worth Watching
Sophomore split end Mark Bartosic (Northumberland, PA/Shikellamy H.S.) made an immediate impact in his first season at Susquehanna in 2000 after transferring from Division I-AA Bucknell, setting a Crusader single-season record for receiving yards (1,028) and the NCAA Division III record for touchdown catches by a freshman (15). Bartosic, who has 84 catches for 1,539 yards in 15 career games, has 2 1/2 seasons remaining to break Al Bucci’s career marks for receptions (121) and yards (1,944). Bartosic, who set a career and Lopardo Stadium record with 10 catches against Widener, has nine career 100-yard games and has caught at least one touchdown pass in 14 of his 15 games. Incidentally, no Division III player has ever posted four straight seasons of 1,000 receiving yards.
A “Golden” Performance
Junior HB Jon Dvorshock is this week’s Gus Weber Crusader Player of the Week Award, sponsored by the Golden Corral Family Steak House of Hummels Wharf, after making a career-high eight catches for 55 yards against Widener. Dvorshock will be honored at Friday’s Quarterback Club luncheon at the Degenstein Campus Center as the Golden Corral will donate $100 to the charity of his choice. Since agreeing to sponsor the Player of the Week program, Golden Corral has donated $4,200 to charity. The Player of the Week Award is named after former University President Gustave Weber. Weber was president at Susquehanna for more than 18 years (1959-1977) and was a former standout player at Wagner College. He was an avid booster of Crusader athletics, particularly the football team — serving as head coach for the last two games of 1965.
Scouting Susquehanna
THE CRUSADER OFFENSE (DELAWARE WING-T): The Crusader ground game continues to struggle, ganing just 61 yards on 26 attempts. It was the fourth straight game that Susquehanna failed to break 100 yards on the ground. Junior HB Jon Dvorshock (Picture Rocks, PA/Hughesville H.S.) led the Crusaders with 39 yards on seven carries, but did most of his damage as a receiver with a career-high eight catches for 55 yards. Freshman FB Jason Eck (Williamsport, PA/Loyalsock H.S.) added 29 yards on 13 rushes, including a 2-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Eck is eighth in the MAC in rushing with an average of 53.8 yards per game. Junior QB Mike Bowman (Northumberland, PA/Shikellamy H.S.) moved closer to the 5,000-yard mark after throwing for 229 yards and a touchdown against Widener. His 23 completions tied for the fifth-most in school history while his 54 attempts are the second-most in a game, behind the 62 passes by Ken Eisenhard against Widener in 1995. Bowman is fifth in the MAC in pass efficiency with a 103.9 rating, while his 10 touchdown passes are tied for third in the MAC this season. Sophomore SE Mark Bartosic (Northumberland, PA/Shikellamy H.S.) caught 10 passes against Widener to become just the fourth player in Crusader history, and first since Kamief Jenkins in 1995, to catch at least 10 balls in a game. His 10 catches were also a Lopardo Stadium record and gave him 33 on the season to rank third in the MAC. Bartosic has also gained 511 yards through the air to rank third in the MAC and move into second place on the Susquehanna career list with 1,539 yards in just 15 career games. Once again, the Crusaders employed a limited offensive attack as just six players touched the ball against Widener. Junior Z back Tim Ronchi (Factoryville, PA/Lackawanna Trail H.S.) made two receptions against Widener, giving Ronchi 13 catches this season and 79 in his career to rank eighth on the Susquehanna career reception list.
THE CRUSADER DEFENSE (4-3): Senior LB Troy Sosnovik (Belvidere, NJ/Belvidere H.S.) continues to be a tackle machine for the Crusaders, making 11 stops (10 solo) against Widener to increase his season total to 57 (46 solo) and his career total to 224. Junior CB Antonio Nash (Washington, DC/Springbrook, MD H.S.) added 10 stops and defended two passes against Widener to move into a tie for fifth place in the MAC with nine pass breakups. Junior Nick Chesney (Kulpmont, PA/Mount Carmel H.S.) enjoyed another solid outing at free safety with eight tackles (seven solo) and a pass breakup. The Crusaders recovered a pair of fumbles against Widener, with freshman DE Adam Laub (Wyckoff, NJ/Ramapo H.S.) falling on a loose ball in the second quarter and freshman DT Matt Hill (Williamsport, PA/Montoursville H.S.) corralling a ball jarred loose by Sosnovik. Senior DE Dominick DeSteno (Franklin Lakes, NJ/Bergen Catholic H.S.) recorded his team-high fourth sack of the season in the second quarter, moving him into a tie for fifth in the MAC in that category. For the season, the Crusaders have forced 14 turnovers (six interceptions, eight fumbles). Junior Dennis Kodack (Paxinos, PA/Shamokin H.S.) remains second in the MAC in punting with a 36.7 average on 23 kicks.
Scouting FDU-Madison
LAST WEEK: The Devils played their first home game of the 2001 season and fell to Lycoming by a 47-0 score. It was FDU-Madison’s worst loss since an identical 47-0 loss to the Warriors in 1982. The Devils tallied just 131 yards of total offense and surrendered 477 yards to Lycoming, while giving up two punt returns for touchdowns in the span of 1:25 in the third quarter. FDU-Madison converted just 1-of-15 third-down opportunities and held the ball for just 26:59.
THE DEVIL OFFENSE (MULTIPLE): The FDU-Madison offense revolves around junior TB Ed Cracchiolo, who had been ranked first in the MAC in rushing until being held to 75 yards on 21 carries against Lycoming. Cracchiolo now ranks third in the conference in rushing with 615 yards (153.8 average). Earlier this season, he tied an MAC record with five rushing touchdowns in a 37-21 win over Lebanon Valley. The rest of the Devil running attack is negligible, as five other players have combined for 17 yards on 49 attempts. At quarterback, sophomore Michael Passero is in his first season as the starter and has completed just 30-of-79 attempts for 340 yards and one touchdown. He connected on just 3-of-16 attempts for 39 yards against Lycoming, while junior Patrick O’Neill hit just one pass in seven tries for no gain. With the struggles of the passing game, the receiving corps has had little chance to post significant numbers through four games. Senior Frank Uhrin and junior Quadir Muhammed are the Devils’ leading receivers with seven catches apiece, while junior Tim Carlock has made six receptions for 88 yards. Uhrin leads the team with 167 yards receiving (23.9 per catch), including a 70-yard grab. On the offensive line, the Devils’ five starters all tip the scales over 255 pounds with three starters back from last year’s team — LG Danny Rodriguez, RG Matt Dempsey and RT Dave Hoffman.
THE DEVIL DEFENSE (MULTIPLE): Seven starters patrol the defense for the Devils, led by junior SS Frank Nolasco, who has posted 39 tackles (9.8 per game) to rank fourth in the MAC. Senior DL Ken Freeman has added 36 stops and leads the team with three of the Devils’ six sacks for the season. Freshman FS Steve Butler has picked off three passes in the first four games to rank third in the MAC with an average of 0.75 per game, while freshman CB L.J. Clark has added a pair of interceptions. Senior LB Justin Zaleski finished with eight stops against Lycoming and ranks third on the team with 34 total tackles for the season, while leading the team with four pass breakups. The Devils had a tough time stopping the Lycoming running game, as the Warriors ran for 198 yards on 42 attempts against FDU-Madison. The busiest man for the Devils may have been punter Anthony Blasi, who kicked 12 times for a 30.4 average against Lycoming. However, the Warriors’ Ricky Lannetti returned back-to-back punts for touchdowns in the third quarter to blow the game open.
