ALBANY, N.Y. (Oct. 9, 2010) -Facing an emotional Albany team that was playing its first home game of the season in front of its largest partisan crowd of the season, the Saint Francis football team fell to the Great Danes 48-0 in Albany on Saturday.
The Red Flash fall to 1-4 overall, with a 1-2 record in the Northeast Conference. Albany improves to 3-2 overall with a 1-1 record in the NEC.
The Great Danes' defense was the deciding factor in the contest, allowing a total of just 81 offensive yards. Likewise, the Great Danes' offense was able to control the football for 40:16, running a total of 80 plays in comparison to just 40 for the Red Flash.
"Plain and simple, we got beat," said Saint Francis head coach Chris Villarrial. "[Albany] was prepared to come out of the gate on fire, and we did not match their intensity."
The Red Flash also faced a challenge due to injuries, as starting tailback Kyle Harbridge (Easton, Pa./Easton Area) (Easton, Pa./Easton) did not compete against the Great Danes. Starting in his place was senior Jude Yearwood (Elkridge, Md./Howard) (Elkridge, Md./Howard).
For the second straight game, the Red Flash allowed a touchdown on the opposition's opening drive. After Albany forced a three-and-out on the opening drive, the Great Danes got great field position to start their drive and needed just five plays before quarterback Dan Di Lella found John Lullen for a 15-yard touchdown strike. Albany would add on to that lead on their very next drive, completing an eight-play, 68 yard drive with a Dillon Romain touchdown run. Herb Glass's extra point made it 14-0.
After that, the Great Danes defense took over as the Red Flash attempted to play catch-up. A late Hail Mary-attempt for the Red Flash was thwarted when, trailing 24-0 in the second quarter and with ball on the Albany 48, the Red Flash were found guilty of a personal foul that pushed the ball back to the SFU 37. With time winding down, Red Flash quarterback John Kelly (Frederick, Md./Tuscarora) (Frederick, Md./Tuscarora) scrambled to his right, only to take a late hit from Albany's Dave Plungas. The clock read that no time remained; however, instead of attempting a long pass play into the 17 MPH headwind, Coach Villarrial elected to assess the penalty on SFU's kickoff to begin the second half.
The Red Flash defense forced their first two punts of the afternoon on Albany's first two drives of the second half, but the second punt resulted in the Great Danes retaining possession when it bounced off the helmet of a Red Flash player and into the hands of the Great Danes. It would be the first of two consecutive turnovers for the Red Flash, as they would fumble on their next offensive drive while already trailing 31-0.
Albany would take advantage of that turnover with a Dillon Romain touchdown run at 2:22 of the third quarter to make it 38-0. They would add a touchdown pass from Buddy Leathley and a 42-yard Herb Glass field goal to reach the final score of 48-0.
The bright spots of the game came from the defense, where T.J. Armstead (Harrisburg, Pa./George Chaump) had a season-high eight tackles, including 2.5 tackles for loss and one sack. Ryan Revtai (Oakdale, Pa./West Allegheny) (Oakdale, Pa./West Allegheny) also recorded a sack. Scott Lewis (South Fork, PA/Bishop McCourt) (South Fork, Pa./Bishop McCort) had an 11-tackle performance, passing Robert Morris's James Noel for second on the Northeast Conference's career tackles list. Lewis now has 444 career tackles, and needs just three more to pass Kayode Mayowa for career lead.
NOTES: The Red Flash will next see action on Oct. 16 when they host the Wagner Seahawks. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.... In the absence of Kyle Harbridge (Easton, Pa./Easton Area), Omar Winston (Cleveland, Ohio/Cleveland South) (Cleveland, Ohio/Cleveland South) led the team in all-purpose yardage with 59 total yards... a correction is forthcoming in the statistics for this week's game; Zach Glessner (St. Michael's, Pa./Forest Hills) played at quarterback today, not John Siciliano (Johnstown, Pa./Greater Johnstown) (Johnstown, Pa./Greater Johnstown)... Matthew Parker (Darlington, PA/Blackhawk) (Darlington, Pa./Blackhawk) continued his streak of games with at least eight tackles, but failed to record a tackle for loss since the Oct. 2008 game against Monmouth.
