Saint Francis Falls Hard on the Road to Liberty
Lynchburg, Va. (Sept. 29) – Saint Francis (0-3) made the mountainous journey to Lynchburg, Va. for their first night game of the season, third contest overall, taking on non-conference foe Liberty University (3-2) at 7pm. This was the first time these two ball clubs squared off against each other, marking the third time in a row the Flames have played a first-time opponent this season. Unfortunately, the Red Flash were not welcomed with any southern hospitality from the Flames, as LU put up astronomical numbers on offense. The 62 plays for 591 yards places the Flames in the Saint Francis record books for second for most yards in total offense by an opponent. Every hash mark eaten up by ten different ball carriers for the Flames for 379 yards kept the scoreboard operator busy, as the final result ended in a 68-10 scene of carnage.
The unvarying constant so far this season for SFU has been the uncompromising efforts of the three young freshmen on defense. Ryan Shepard (Kittanning, Pa./Kittanning) and Scott Lewis (South Fork, Pa./Bishop McCort) paced the defensive stance for the Flash with 14 tackles apiece. Shepard stood out by registering 2 tackles for loss, pushing his season total to 4 tackles for loss for a sum of 18 yards. Matthew Parker (Darlington, Pa./Blackhawk) meandered around the field for ten tackles as well, rounding out the youthful effort of 38 total tackles by three linebackers who only have nine games total under their helmets.
George Little (Duquesne, Pa./Duquesne) had a respectable day, tossing it up 33 times, connecting on 20 of those passes. He betters his streak of touchdown passes to three games in a row, finding the third ranked receiver in the country in the yards per game category, Antoine Rivera (Willingboro, N.J./Willingboro). Rivera hauled in his first touchdown of the 2007 campaign, a 24-yard connection from Little. Leading the rushing attack was Gawain Bragg (Slickersville, N.J./Winslow Township), a freshman running back who handled his first duties as a Red Flasher on Saturday evening, carrying the ball four times for 18 yards.
The Liberty Flames opened up the game on a 4:57 drive as the wide receiver Dominic Bolden scored his first of three touchdowns on the evening, converting on a 10-yard reverse. Kicker Noah Greenbaum tacked on the extra try, the first of his eight PATs on the evening. On the ensuing play after Calvin Williams (Cleveland, Ohio/South) who started tonight’s game in place of Anthony Richards (Parlin, N.J./Cardinal McCarrick) got stuffed at the line, Rivera caught a sideline pass that was knocked out from behind at the hands of Vince Redd. The very next play, quarterback Brock Smith, who threw for 194 yards on eight completions observed a wide open Bolden again, going 28 yards into the end zone to double up the Flash with 8:54 to play in the first.
Bobby Fuller (Mount Savage, Md/Beall) came on to hang a punt into Liberty territory. Fuller ended up booting it nine times for an average of 34.4 yards per kick. Starting from their own 22, Liberty broke open the defense two plays after the punt on a 75-yard draw play from Zach Terrell. Terrell laid 115 rushing yards down on the Flash’s defense. Jude Yearwood (Elkridge, Md./Howard) got some work in for the Flash tonight on special teams, returning the pigskin six times for 106 yards. Yearwood’s second longest return of the night, a 23-yard scurry to the SFU 26 led to a three-and-out effort. Once again, it took only two plays for the Flames on the subsequent drive to extend their monumental lead to 28-0 with 3:38 left to play in the first period on a 60-yard missile from Smith to Flames’ standout Wynton Jackson.
On a third-and-five play, Spencer Landis, the back-up quarterback for LU, found Bolden in six-point land on an 11-yard toss. After exchanging drives, Liberty pushed the Flash’s hopes farther out of reach to 42-0 as Rashad Jennings ran every play from scrimmage seven times for 37 yards, chewing off 3:01 of the clock.
The Flash finally put together a well executed drive in the middle of the second quarter, starting on their nine-yard line. A 14 play, 82-yard effort that took 5:58 off the clock led to a sigh of relief on the Saint Francis sidelines as Adam Sciulli (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic) split the uprights from 26 yards out, making it a 42-3 contest. The Sciulli trifecta pushed his career total to 21 field goals, tying him for the most ever in Loretto with Matt Shontofski (1993-1996). Greenbaum didn’t seem to care about the landmark Scuilli had just set when he annulled Sciulli’s field goals as time expired in the first half.
The Red Flash received the ball in the opening of the second half, but after only amounting a few scant yards, senior Ryan Best recovered a punt that was blocked by Al Bailey in the end zone, making it a seemingly insurmountable lead of 52-3 after a Greenbaum extra point. Tyler Gillmen (Tyrone, Pa./Tyrone) threw his name in the hat in tonight’s tilt by getting some work in for the defensive side of the ball. Another freshman who played well for the Flash in Lynchburg earned his first interception of his adolescent career off the hand of Brock Smith. SFU could not convert, and after LU assumed possession of the ball, Wytnon Jackson caught one of his four balls for 115 yards from Smith, this one in the end zone at 7:32 to play in the third stanza. The score inflated to 59-3 and that’s how the scoreboard looked at the end of three.
Quarterbacks Spencer Landis and Brock Smith kept trading places under center ever since the second quarter. The first play from scrimmage as the fourth quarter got underway was a 13-yard keeper for Landis, as the Flames put their ninth touchdown on SFU. The Red Flash never gave up, though. Three drives following that Landis touchdown, Little stood tall in the pocket, firing a 24-yard ball right into a double-covered Rivera. Rivera came down with the ball, and bullied his way another yard or two for the first end zone intersection by the Red Flash at Williams Stadium. The scoring play was set up by senior running back Leo Magulick (Northern Cambria, Pa./Northern Cambria), getting his first touch on the season. LU would run one more play as the few remaining fans were able to see the 68-10 flogging of Saint Francis when the clock read 00:00.
The Red Flash (0-3) enter a three-game home stretch, hosting inter-conference squad Central Connecticut State this Saturday at 1pm on Oct. 6 at DeGol Field. This long stretch of hosting other teams at home may be just what the Red Flash need to get that first mark in the win column.