Husson beats La Salle

By Adam Bagni
Collegian Staff
November 1, 2006

The La Salle football team specifically scheduled a low-level Division III opponent to ensure a win on Homecoming.

Umm, Husson? We have a problem.

The Husson College Eagles of Bangor, Maine stunned the Explorers (2-6, 0-2) Saturday, handing them a 17-7 loss in front of 1,044 fans at McCarthy Stadium.

The loss is, arguably, one of the worst in La Salle football history.

Husson College (5-4) is a very small school (just 1,887 undergraduate students) and is situated 250 miles between Boston and Quebec City. The D-III football program has only been in existence since 2001.

An inability to convert in the red zone was the nail in the coffin for the Explorers, as three trips yielded no points.

The most notable of these was on La Salle's first possession. Freshman Pat Brown returned the opening kickoff 62 yards to the Husson 36. Not to be outdone, senior Kevin Sullivan rumbled all the way down to the Eagles' 11-yard line with a 25-yard pickup on the very next play.

However, junior quarterback Joe Procopio was sacked on third down, and sophomore kicker Anthony Perlozzo proceeded to miss a 35-yard field goal on fourth down. He would miss a 32-yard attempt to end the game as well.

The Explorers' other golden chance to score was in the final plays of the first half, but this went awry as well, as the Explorers failed to score on four straight attempts from inside the Husson five-yard line.

The Eagles sealed the game on a one-yard touchdown run by Brian Ferguson in the game's final minute. The touchdown capped a stellar day for Ferguson, who stomped all over the Explorer defense for 137 yards on 32 carries.

Procopio had a miserable day, throwing three interceptions on only 13 pass attempts. After throwing his first two interceptions, Procopio was pulled for sophomore Chris Hanson at the end of the third quarter.

But in the fourth quarter, Hanson was taken back out.

On his first play after re-entering, Procopio threw his third and final interception of the day. Hanson and Procopio platooned at quarterback on the game's final possession that ended in the second missed field goal.

On the bright side, senior Lou Russo became La Salle's all-time receptions leader. Fittingly, his 139th catch, which broke former tight end John Zabel's mark, was La Salle's only touchdown of the game - a 56-yard strike from Procopio. Russo ended the game with 5 catches for 108 yards.

Barring a win this Saturday against heavily favored Duquesne, La Salle will almost certainly face St. Peter's College in a battle of the two worst teams in the country according to USA Today.

The time of this week's game against Duquesne has been moved to a 6 p.m. start at McCarthy Stadium.

bagnia1@lasalle.edu