LORETTO, Pa. (Oct. 16, 2010) -The Saint Francis football team gave itself an opportunity to defeat the Wagner Seahawks in the fourth quarter, but turnovers and miscues proved costly as the Red Flash fell 22-14 at DeGol Field in Loretto.
The Red Flash fall to 1-5 overall, with a 1-3 record in the Northeast Conference. Wagner improves to 4-2 overall, with a 2-1 record in the NEC.
History was made in the contest, as Scott Lewis (South Fork, PA/Bishop McCourt) (South Fork, Pa./Bishop McCort) passed Kayode Mayowa on the Northeast Conference's career tackles list to become the all-time tackles leader in conference history. Lewis finished the game with a season-high 19 stops.
"We're obviously very proud of Scotty Lewis today," said Red Flash head coach Chris Villarrial. "It's a great honor. What a lot of people don't know is his toughness. The guy's playing with a torn meniscus and a high ankle sprain. To do what he is doing right now takes heart and determination. It shows you the courage that the guy plays with."
For the most part, the Red Flash bounced back from their tough outing at Albany on Oct. 9, collecting 14 first downs and 214 total offensive yards. However, with several chances to take control of the game in the fourth quarter, the Red Flash were guilty of four turnovers, as well as a botched long snap on a punt that sailed over the head of Andrew Penksa (Johnstown, Pa./Bishop McCort) (Johnstown, Pa./Bishop McCort).
"We can't make this many mistakes and think that we're going to win," said Villarrial. "It's something that we've addressed, it's something that we're going over, and the mistakes on special teams are things that we are working on all week."
The shame of those turnovers, though, was that the Flash seemed to come alive in the second half, specifically because of a sequence to end the second quarter. With less than a minute remaining in the second quarter, Wagner had the ball on the SFU 5 in a 2nd-and-goal situation. Further, the Seahawks were set to receive the opening kickoff of the second half; points there would be critical. Instead, Wagner quarterback Nick Doscher rushed a throw that was intercepted by Matthew Parker (Darlington, PA/Blackhawk) (Darlington, Pa./Blackhawk) at the SFU 1 and returned to midfield, quashing the Wagner scoring opportunity and firing up the Red Flash sideline.
The SFU defense came out firing on all cylinders on the first possession of the second half and forced a poor Wagner punt, with the Red Flash starting the drive on their own 46-yard line. Three plays later, John Kelly (Frederick, Md./Tuscarora) found Omar Winston (Cleveland, Ohio/Cleveland South) (Cleveland, Ohio/Cleveland South) from 35 yards out on a play action pass to tie the game at 13-13, with Josh Thiel (Leesburg, Va./Heritage)'s (Leesburg, Va./Heritage) extra point giving SFU the 14-13 lead.
The turning point of the afternoon may have come on the next Red Flash drive. Starting on their own 1-yard line, the Red Flash put together an excellent drive, traveling 77 yards on 11 plays to reach the Wagner 22. However, with three seconds remaining in the third quarter, Kelly was intercepted by Wagner's Quintin Anderson, who returned the pick to near midfield.
It would be the first of three interceptions for Kelly, and the Red Flash would never again run a play in Wagner territory.
The Seahawks gave themselves a one touchdown lead at 9:31 of the first quarter when Doscher connected with Matt Connelly from 14 yards out, but a mishandled snap on the extra point kept the score at 6-0. The Red Flash responded at 1:56 in the first quarter when junior fullback Dan Conley (Burgettstown, Pa./Burgettstown) (Burgettstown, Pa./Burgettstown) got the call from one yard out, and Thiel's extra point gave SFU a 7-6.
That touchdown was the culmination of a three-play, 25-yard drive made possible by a Parker forced fumble, which was recovered by Lewis at the Wagner 25. On the next play, Taylor Holby (Nanty-Glo, Pa./Blacklick Valley) (Nanty-Glo, Pa./Blacklick Valley) coughed up the football at the Wagner 20, but SFU's Jordan Kelly (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Seton-La Salle Regional) (Pittsburgh, Pa./Seton-LaSalle) fell on the loose ball at the 6-yard line, helping set up Conley's score.
Wagner would complete at 12-play, 62-yard drive at 11:17 of the second quarter to give themselves a 13-7 lead, but would not get on the scoreboard again until kicker David Lopez notched a 46-yard field goal a 9:55 of the fourth quarter. They would tack on the insurance touchdown at 6:14 of the final quarter, when Eric Foxworth got his second rushing score of the day from three yards out.
Lewis broke the NEC record for tackles in a career, but it was his teammate Parker that stole some of the spotlight against Wagner. Parker amassed 24 total tackles against the Seahawks, the third-highest single-game total in the history of Saint Francis football. He also recorded 1.0 tackles for loss, a forced fumble, and an interception. Also in double-digits for tackles was Lewis (19) and linebacker Ryan Revtai (Oakdale, Pa./West Allegheny) (Oakdale, Pa./West Allegheny), who had 10 stops to go with 1.0 TFL.
Offensively, running back Jude Yearwood (Elkridge, Md./Howard) (Elkridge, Md./Howard) had a strong second half toting the football, and ended up with a season-high 99 yards on 24 carries. Quarterback John Kelly (Frederick, Md./Tuscarora) was 9-for-21 for 103 yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions.
NOTES: Parker is four yards shy of the school's all-time record for interception return yardage; the senior linebacker has a combined 225 career interception return yards, four behind Michael Graziani's career record of 229... the total offensive yardage for both teams was 554 yards, a far cry from the 807 yards the team's combined for in 2009's 56-48 triple-overtime game... Omar Winston (Cleveland, Ohio/Cleveland South) passed Chuck Kinsley (Wagner) for 13th on the NEC's career receptions list. Winston has 130 career catches... Matt Parker passed Matt Farabaugh for second on SFU's career tackles list; Parker now has 383 career stops... should Parker reach 400 career tackles later this season, he and Scott Lewis (South Fork, PA/Bishop McCourt) will be one of only two pairs of teammates in Division I (FCS) to each record 400 tackles; Erik Dandy and Charles Thompson did it for Western Kentucky.
