Football off to tough start

By Adam Bagni
Collegian Staff
September 13, 2006

This season was supposed to be the dawn of a new era for the La Salle football program. The scoreboard and stats, however, look all too familiar.

The Explorer coaching staff looked on as the team lost to TCNJ, falling to 0-2 on the
season. Photo taken by Mark Del Monaco

The Explorers (0-2) lost to Division III College of New Jersey 24-21 on Friday, Sept. 8 after being dominated in nearly every facet of the game the week before by Wagner. In the first game of the Explorer season on Thursday, Aug. 31, Wagner College cruised to a 38-15 win over La Salle. Both games were played under the lights at McCarthy Stadium.

The Explorers have been outscored by a combined 62-36 and lost seven turnovers while creating zero. They have punted 15 times, committed 14 penalties and have only a 25 percent third-down conversion rate.

The squad is currently the worst team in the nation (#241), according to USA Today’s Sagrin College Football Ratings, published Tuesday. La Salle is also the nation’s second-worst team according to the Bowl Championship Series. They lead only Butler, with an 11.81 BCS rating.

In the loss to TCNJ (1-1), the Explorers did appear to outplay the Lions (garnering 343 yards of total offense to TCNJ’s 142), but five costly turnovers sealed their fate. With 1:10 remaining in the game and La Salle facing a 4th and 1 situation on TCNJ's 22-yard line, back-up quarterback Chris Hanson was unable to convert a quarterback keeper for the Explorer first down. First-year head coach Tim Miller elected not to attempt a 39-yard field goal, a move signaling a lack of confidence that remains in the team’s kicking game.

The turnover on downs was not the only time the Explorers gave up the ball deep in TCNJ territory. Senior running back Kevin Sullivan (4.5 yds/carry, 90 yds) coughed up the pigskin twice, including a fumble at the Lions' 11-yard line just seconds into the second quarter. Sullivan did, however, give La Salle an early 7-6 lead after a 25-yard touchdown run with 6:14 remaining in the half.

That lead lasted all but 21 seconds, as TCNJ’s Ryan Ross returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown. La Salle junior (transfer from Temple) Joe Procopio (6-11, 99 yds, TD) threw a 20-yard touchdown to sophomore Shane Kendrick with just seconds remaining in the first half, and both teams went into the break tied at 14.

Procopio completed a 20-yard pass to junior John McVey, followed immediately by a 23-yard connection to junior Bernie Cevis early in the third quarter, but the quarterback was forced to leave for the remainder of the game when he suffered a big hit that resulted in a swollen knee.

When sophomore Hanson entered, the drive abruptly ended with a missed 48-yard field goal, which came up short for sophomore kicker Anthony Perlozzo. Hanson (6-10, TD, 2 INT) would go on to throw interceptions in the late minutes of both the third and fourth quarters.

In the season opener, played before 3,845 fans, the Explorers were inept in almost every area of the contest. Wagner (2-0) produced 344 yards of total offense to La Salle’s 195, and routinely dominated on each side of the ball. The only positives for the Explorers were a second half opening drive (nine plays, 72 yards) that led to a Lou Russo touchdown catch and La Salle’s outscoring the Seahawks 15-14 in the second half.

The game was the first ever football game under the lights at McCarthy, and was also Miller’s debut.

La Salle heads on the road for the first time this season when they take on the Division III Ursinus Bears on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Collegeville, Pa.

bagnia1@lasalle.edu