Photo By Max Palmer
By Matt Guear
Despite the rainy atmosphere at Doug Arthur Stadium on Saturday, the Susquehanna football team defeated the Western New England Golden Bears 26-18.
The River Hawks put forth a gritty effort in a game that had quite a lot of penalties on both sides.
“Too many penalties on our end today allowed drives to continue, and we didn’t have our best stuff today, in my opinion,” said head coach Tom Perkovich.
While the River Hawks did not “have their best stuff,” they still were able to pound the run game and move the ball when they needed to most. Susquehanna had 241 rushing yards, with 118 coming from running back Tommy Grabowski on 25 attempts. Grabowski also had two touchdowns, including the first of the game for Susquehanna.
The game started off with Conrad Swanson, the Western New England quarterback, rushing for 58 yards down the sideline to set the Golden Bears up nicely to make the game’s first score. They came away with a field goal.
Susquehanna answered by establishing the run game on their first drive, primarily using Grabowski to do so, and came away with a touchdown to take the lead, 7-3.
“What I liked today was, they went down and got three and we came back and got seven, so the pressure continues to be on them,” said Perkovich. “That’s something that we try to work on, to continually put the pressure on the opponent, like we did for most of the game.”
The Golden Bear’s next drive was halted by a fluke interception by Jake Schultes. In fact, one-in-a-million type turnovers by Western New England was a common theme throughout the game and really helped Susquehanna from forfeiting any momentum to their opponent.
“We must treat every team like we are the best. You cannot sleep on teams because you will be in a close game in the fourth quarter like we were today,” said Schultes. “I think we could put away the rest of our schedule in the first quarter. That starts Monday through Friday, just preparing for the next team.”
The River Hawks were able to capitalize on the turnover by kicking a field goal. Kicker Christian Colasurdo was busy all game, kicking three total field goals and two extra points, and was heavily relied on down the stretch to put the game out of reach of the Golden Bears.
The rain picked up during the second quarter, and as if right on cue, Western New England quarterback Tyler Millerick fumbled the snap, and Susquehanna defensive back, Keith Green III, recovered the fumble and returned it all the way down to the five-yard line. Grabowski once again capitalized on the turnover and ran in another touchdown making the score 17-3 in favor of the River Hawks.
The Golden Bears were able to stay in the game after a touchdown-scoring drive in the second quarter when Millerick escaped a sack and lofted a touchdown pass to receiver Ryan Larson, who was wide open in the back of the endzone. The score was 17-10 with just over three minutes remaining in the half.
Susquehanna kicked another field goal just before halftime and went into the breakup 20-10.
In the second half, the River Hawks leaned on the run game and Colasurdo’s leg.
They cashed in with another field goal after another fluke turnover by the Golden Bears, this time an interception by Schultes, his second of the game, who caught the ball after it deflected off a Western New England receiver’s knee.
The Golden Bears would bring the score within eight points, after a drive littered with defensive penalties by Susquehanna, but could not recover the onside kick and that ended the game.
“I think we made mistakes and kept the game closer possibly, and they made mistakes that helped us with some things field position-wise and extra possessions with the turnovers,” said Perkovich.
The River Hawks start Conference play next week and plan to continue to work to ensure they stay perfect on the season.
“We must limit the mistakes. Catholic is going to throw the ball a bunch, so our secondary must be ready, and we have been up and down there at times,” said Perkovich. “We have to be ready to handle that.”
Susquehanna is home again next Saturday, September 30, at 1 p.m. against Catholic University at Doug Arthur Stadium.
