By Mike Henken Staff writer
The Susquehanna football team picked up a hard-fought 35-34 victory over Centennial Conference foe Moravian on Oct. 15 at Moravian.
Junior quarterback Nick Crusco ran for a 1-yard touchdown with less than one mintue remaining in the game to bring the River Hawks to within one. Head Coach Tom Perkovich then decided to go for the victory rather than the tie, and Crusco completed a pass to freshman fullback Lucas Garner on a successful two-point conversion attempt that gave Susquehanna the win.
“I thought it was an easy decision,” Perkovich said. “Having all of the momentum at that point was a big factor. Also having two extra points blocked earlier in the game swayed my decision. I knew that even if we kicked it we would never get the ball back with only two timeouts, so we went for it. I didn’t want to take the chance in overtime, and felt like putting the pressure on them was the way to win the game. Very relieved it worked out. I am very proud of our team and how they never gave up.”
Prior to the late game heroics, Susquehanna faced quite a stiff test. The River Hawks were trailing the Greyhounds 27-7 at halftime. They responded well in the second half, however, outscoring Moravian 28-7.
Crusco led the offensive attack for the River Hawks, tallying 207 passing yards with one touchdown in addition to 48 rushing yards and a career-high four rushing touchdowns. Junior running back Cameron Ott added to the ground attack with 174 rushing yards of his own. The success running the football was crucial to winning the game according to Crusco.
“Going into this game we knew that running the ball was a key factor in winning,” he said. “Cam Ott and the whole offensive line did a great job all day with the run game. Also the wide outs on the perimeter did a good job blocking.”
Crusco was also named the Centennial Conference football offensive athlete of the week, an award that he attributes to the players surrounding him:
“Being named offensive athlete of the week is a honor. My job is easy when I have a cast of 10 other guys on offensive going a great job and executing the plays,” he said.
On the defensive end of the ball, senior line backer Marc LeDrappier led the River Hawks with 14 tackles, while junior defensive back Ryan Ganard and freshman defensive back Ricardo Reyes added 11 each. Ganard also had an interception in the game.
Perkovich was pleased with the way the team stuck to the game plan.
“Our game plan on offense was to establish the run and keep our pass game short,” he said.
“They were only giving up 60 yards a game coming in and we thought we had a great plan. We were able to run for 211 yards on the day and we threw for over 200 with only one significant down-field throw,” he added.
“On defense we wanted to stop the run and keep them from hitting the big play.” Perkovich added. “At the end of the day we were able to control the run attack but need to continue to be better against the pass and especially the big play. We were able to get some great stops on defense in the second half, which gave us a chance to win.”
The River Hawks improved to 3-3 on the season with the victory and 3-2 in conference play.
Susquehanna will next meet Centennial Confernce opponent Ursinus on Oct. 21. Ursinus currently has a record of 0-6.
The River Hawks hope to improve to a winning record against the Bears.