Saturday’s Game: The Crusaders will look to rebound from a season-opening 63-27 loss at four-time defending Centennial Conference champion Western Maryland by battling archrival Lycoming for the right to retain the Amos Alonzo Stagg Old Hat Trophy for the second straight year.
The Last Meeting: Susquehanna 16, Lycoming 14 (November 4, 2000 at Williamsport, PA)
Isaac Hernandez ran for a career-high 123 yards and two second-half touchdowns as the Crusaders upset 18th-ranked Lycoming. Josh Kitchin added a season-high seven catches for 93 yards, including a leaping 47-yard reception that set up Hernandez’s second score of the third quarter. However, it took a missed 33-yard field goal from Lycoming’s John Shaffer with 56 seconds remaining to secure Susquehanna’s first win over their archrivals since 1995.
Looking to Rebound: The Crusaders are in the unusual position of starting with an 0-1 record. Susquehanna had not lost a season opener since falling to Muhlenberg by a score of 26-13 to kick off the 1988 season. 1988 was also the last time that the Crusaders opened 0-2 as Moravian dealt Susquehanna a 21-14 setback in week two.
They Made Their Point: The 63 points scored by Western Maryland were the most allowed by a Crusader team since a 63-0 home loss to Wittenberg on September 30, 1967. In addition, no Susquehanna team had allowed that many points in their season opener since Georgetown defeated the Crusaders 88-0 on October 6, 1928.
Early Showdown: After meeting near the tail end of the season since 1995, the Susquehanna/Lycoming series will revert back to an early-season matchup for the next two years. Beginning with the 2003 season, the Crusaders and Warriors will always meet on the final Saturday of the regular season.
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 (295) and attempts (578). After passing for 129 yards in the season opener against Western Maryland, Bowman is just one yard shy of tying the Susquehanna record for career passing yards of 4,087 set from 1987-90 by David Battisti.
Worth Watching: Sophomore split end Mark Bartosic (Northumberland, PA/Shikellamy H.S.) made an immediate impact in his first season at Susquehanna in 2000, 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 made 51 catches last season, has three seasons remaining to break Al Bucci’s career marks for receptions (121) and yards (1,944). Incidentally, no Division III player has ever posted four straight seasons of 1,000 receiving yards.
A “Golden” Performance: Junior DB Antonio Nash (Washington, DC/Springbrook, MD H.S.) is the first recipient of the Gus Weber Crusader Player of the Week Award, sponsored by the Golden Corral Family Steak House of Hummels Wharf. Nash 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 $3,600 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 Crusaders mustered 299 yards of total offense in the opener against Western Maryland, including 111 net yards rushing. Freshman FB Jason Eck (Williamsport, PA/Loyalsock H.S.) ran strong in his collegiate debut, totaling 82 yards on 19 carries while gaining positive yardage on every run. Sophomore SE Mark Bartosic (Northumberland, PA/Shikellamy H.S.) led the receiving corps with six receptions for 70 yards and a seven-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter. Junior QB Mike Bowman (Northumberland, PA/Shikellamy H.S.) passed for just 129 yards while completing 13-of-34 pass attempts. It was Bowman’s lowest yardage output since he threw for just 84 yards against Lycoming in 1999. Junior QB Craig Ulrich (Milton, PA/Milton H.S.) completed 5-of-10 passes for 59 yards and a 13-yard score to freshman TE Matt Hill (Williamsport, PA/Montoursville H.S.) in a relief role. Junior HB Jon Dvorshock (Picture Rocks, PA/Hughesville H.S.) chipped in with 39 yards on six carries as well as a nine-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter. A total of 10 different receivers caught passes against Western Maryland, including the first career receptions for sophomore HB Josh Fuller (Lock Haven, PA/Central Mountain H.S.), junior TE Chris Hand (Orwigsburg, PA/Blue Mountain H.S.), Hill, sophomore SE Shaun Johnson (Columbia, MD/Atholton H.S.), Eck, and sophomore SE Mike Haddad (Danville, PA/Danville H.S.). Last season, a total of eight players were responsible for the team’s 185 completions. On the ground, 10 different players carried the ball, including the first career carries for Eck, freshman FB Bryan Strohl (Ephrata, PA/Ephrata H.S.), junior FB Dan Gilroy (Hempstead, NY/New Hampton Prep), senior FB John Kulp (Duncannon, PA/Susquenita H.S.), freshman QB Tim Larson (Lanesboro, MA/Mount Greylock H.S.), freshman HB Kyle Sanders (Danville, PA/Danville H.S.), Fuller, and Ulrich.
THE CRUSADER DEFENSE (4-3): Susquehanna was unable to contain Western Maryland QB Jamie “Boo” Harris, who passed for 355 yards and six toucdowns while running for a seventh score on the ground to set a Centennial Conference record for touchdowns responsible for in a single game. For the game, the Green Terror passed for 380 yards — the most allowed by a Crusader defense since Widener tallied 395 yards through the air in the 1998 season finale. Freshman LB David Rausch (Hatfield, PA/Lansdale Catholic H.S.) led the Crusaders with eight tackles (six solo), including several stops on special teams. Senior DE Dominick DeSteno (Franklin Lakes, NJ/Bergen Catholic H.S.) registered the only sack of the afternoon for the Crusader defense, which forced Western Maryland to commit three turnovers. Junior DB Antonio Nash (Washington, DC/Springbrook, MD H.S.) notched his first interception of the season and 14th of his career in the first half while sophomore DB Mark Costello (Palmyra, PA/Palmyra H.S.) added a pick in the second half. Freshman DE Adam Laub (Wyckoff, NJ/Ramapo H.S.) made his debut memorable as he recovered a fumble by Western Maryland. Senior LB Troy Sosnovik (Belvidere, NJ/Belvidere H.S.) made five solo tackles to increase his career total to 172 stops.
Scouting Lycoming
LAST WEEK: The Warriors limited Lebanon Valley to just three first downs and 12 net yards of total offense in a 40-0 season-opening victory at David Person Field on Saturday. Senior TB Tim Deasey ran for a school-record 253 yards on 34 carries to lead a Warrior attack that piled up 546 yards of total offense.
THE WARRIOR OFFENSE (SLOT-I): Deasey is the Warriors’ single-season rushing leader after gaining 1,026 yards on 222 carries last season. He needs just 671 yards to tie the career rushing record at Lycoming held by Brian Thompson (2,545 yards from 1995 to 1998). Senior QB Joe Feerrar completed 12-of-25 passes for 165 yards and two touchdowns against Lebanon Valley, starting the 2001 season where he left off in 2000 when he finished 22nd in the nation in quarterback efficiency rating at 142.75. Feerrar needs just 44 yards to reach 2,000 passing yards for his career. Senior WR Tom Zulkowski was the Warriors’ leading receiver in 2000 with 27 catches, and he led the team with five receptions for 67 yards and a touchdown against Lebanon Valley. Senior WR Kyle Bingaman added four catches for 51 yards in the opener after making 15 catches for 216 yards and two touchdowns a year ago. The massive Lycoming offensive line held Lebanon Valley without a sack on Saturday, as all five members tip the scales at 250 pounds or more. Senior OG Josh Albeck is the anchor of a group that featured three sophomores and a junior in the opening-day lineup.
THE WARRIOR DEFENSE (3-4): Lycoming held Lebanon Valley to just 10 yards on 26 rushing attempts and two yards on four pass completions. Junior DE Jason Brandemarti recorded two sacks while junior DE Chris Roantree counted one sack and three tackles for loss among his six total stops. Senior LB Ryan Rupprecht was a first-team Freedom League All-Star last season and a preseason All-American candidate, and showed why against the Flying Dutchmen with four tackles for loss and seven total tackles on the afternoon. The secondary is led by junior DB Jake Davis, who intercepted two passes last season. Junior DB Matt Henrich recorded the Warriors’ lone pick in the opener and broke up a total of four passes. Of the 13 incompletions thrown by three Lebanon Valley quarterbacks, Warrior defenders broke up 10 of them.
