Missed PATs burn Explorers

By Andrew Neumann
Collegian Staff
September 26, 2007

As TCNJ kicker Matt Dalessio lined up at the Explorer 28-yard- line with 45.6 seconds to go, there was palpable feeling of “It can’t end like this” in the air at McCarthy Stadium. The Explorers had charged back from a 10-0 deficit to take the lead with two touchdowns. Now with under a minute to play, The College of New Jersey had charged down the field to put themselves in a position to take the lead on a field goal.

Mike Dao - Chris Hanson calls out signals under center. The junior threw for two
touchdowns this week.

If you’re wondering how a team with 10 points can take the lead on a team which has two touchdowns with a field goal, you are forgetting about the most overlooked, and occasionally most important, play in a football game: The extra point. The Explorers’ lead sat at two, rather than four, because they had failed to convert either of their PAT attempts.

The first failed attempt came in the waning minutes of the first half, immediately after junior Chris Hanson hit sophomore Gabe Guerreri for a 32-yard strike that cut the TCNJ lead to 10-6. Junior Anthony Perlozzo’s attempt was blocked by a defensive lineman. Perlozzo had previously missed a 23-yard field goal in the first quarter after a high snap and a possible deflection on the defensive line.

The second foible came with 1:34 to go in the third quarter. The Explorers had just completed a beautiful drive that began when the defense forced a TCNJ fumble at the La Salle 22. The Explorers marched down the field and took their first lead of the season on a five-yard bullet from Hanson to a wide open John McVey. This time, the extra-point try went off the left upright to hold the score at 12-10.

“That really surprised me,” head coach Tim Miller said. “You have to look at those as just a given. There were other things we could have done, but it’s something we’ll have to look at.”

TCNJ did its best to try to surpass La Salle’s special teams woes. TCNJ muffed two punt returns, both of which were recovered by La Salle. The second of these came in the fourth quarter, giving the Explorers the ball on the TCNJ 35. They were unable to do anything with it, however, and TCNJ escaped without allowing La Salle any more points.

The Explorers had one final chance to put the game out of reach, or at least eat up some clock, when they got the ball back on their own 38 with 8:11 to play. But they could only muster eight yards, and punted the ball back to the Lions with 5:39 left.

For the next four and a half minutes, the Lions marched down the field and the aforementioned feeling of mistakes coming back to haunt the Explorers began to build. When TCNJ moved to the La Salle 11 and were faced with a 4th and 1, Dalessio trotted out to attempt his third field goal of the night. He had hit from 43 and missed from 50 earlier.

This kick would be devoid of drama, as he simply drilled it through the uprights to give the Lions a lead with less than a minute remaining. La Salle could not get within striking distance, and TCNJ took one knee to extend the Explorers’ winless start to 0-3.

Despite the loss, the Explorers do have some positive things to take away from this game. Hanson threw for two touchdowns, despite being sacked three times and being under pressure for most of the night. Freshman Deric Dudinski was very good, rushing for 58 yards and adding 74 more in returns.

Defensively, the Explorers only allowed one touchdown and came up big in a number of short-field situations. Even the special teams, outside of the PAT unit, were good. Perlozzo averaged over 35 yards per punt, and the unit also recovered two muffed returns by TCNJ.

Despite the positives, however, the team does still sit at 0-3. They head into Beaver Falls, Pa. this Saturday to take on Geneva College at 4 p.m. Geneva currently sits at 3-1, and this game will also serve as their homecoming. Geneva is only a D-III team, but last year it was ranked as high as 11th, before finishing the year 30th.

After that, the Explorers will return home to face the (currently) 3-1 Iona Gaels in their first MAAC game. Iona defeated Sacred Heart two weeks ago, 34-14. This will be a very tough game for the Explorers and one they wouldn’t like to go into at 0-4. This means that the Explorers will need to bring their A-game this week against Geneva. And that includes extra points.

neumanna1@lasalle.edu