MISSED OPPORTUNITES HAUNT

SAINTS IN 20-9 LOSS TO UNION

Oct. 27: The St. Lawrence University football team had several outstanding scoring chances slip through their grasp on a rainy Saturday afternoon at Leckonby Field, as the Saints were unable to capitalize on two

1st-and-goal situations, allowing Union to escape Canton, NY with a 20-9 victory.

 

Union's sophomore quarterback Jared Gourier rushed for 103 yards on 25 attempts and one touchdown, while senior tailback Zach Tillo added a pair of scores as the Dutchmen remained perfect in Liberty League play..

 

The Dutchmen (5-2, 5-0) used a tactical rushing offense to pile up both the yards and minutes of possession, as they had 253 yards on the ground and had the ball on offense for 37:17. The St. Lawrence defense was outstanding, though, holding Union to only 20 points and putting up two points of their own with a safety in the third quarter.

 

With heavy rains pouring down in Canton, NY, the Dutchmen and Saints played to a scoreless first quarter with both teams showing the difficulty of catching the slick football as well as keeping steady footing. The best scoring chance in the quarter came thanks to a 43 yard kick-off return to open the game by sophomore Anthony Patterson, giving the Saints the football at the Union 42 yard line. However, Union’s defense would hold the line on a 4 th down-and-1 at the 33 yard line to end the Saints’ scoring threat.

 

It wasn’t until the second quarter than Union began to assert themselves on the ground, as they began their first scoring drive of the day on their own 43 yard line. After four consecutive rushes to move the ball to the

St. Lawrence 32 yard line, the Dutchmen turned to the air, as Gourier found Mike Concannon for a clutch third down conversion and moved the ball into the red zone. Three plays later, Union was celebrating a 6-0 lead on a 4 yard touchdown run by Tillo with 8:37 to play in the first half. Zach Epley added the extra point to make the score 7-0.

 

St. Lawrence looked to respond, as they put together a solid ten play drive that pushed them back into Union territory at the 33 yard line. The Saints again chose to try for the 4 th down conversion, but Union’s Mike Wess hurried quarterback Brad Heil’s throw, which fell incomplete and the Dutchmen took over on downs.

 

With their offense starting to roll, Union grabbed a 13-0 lead behind an eight play, 67 yard drive. It was again the running game that moved the chains for the visitors, who racked up a total of 20 first downs in the contest. This time, it was Gourier on a quarterback-keeper between the tackles that put Union in the end zone, as the quarterback cut to the inside on 2 yard run and somersaulted across the goal line for the 13-0 lead. However, the extra point bid failed as the holder was unable to get the ball on the ground for Epley to attempt the kick.

 

Though Charles Hovsepian sacked Heil and forced a turnover on the ensuing Saint possession, the Scarlet and Brown’s defense held their ground and turned away Union as the second half came to a close with the visitors ahead 13-0.

 

After neither team was able to get anything going offensively on their first drive of the second half, Union put together an outstanding 12 play drive that included 11 rushing plays, covering 64 yards in 6:31 to extend their lead to 20-0. Gourier converted a clutch 3 rd down and 4 play at the Saints 34 yard line to extend the drive, and on 1 st-and-10 from the St. Lawrence 15, Tillo took a pitch on the option to the outside and barreled over a Saint defender to get into the end zone for his second score of the day. Epley’s extra point was good, and Union had a three-score cushion.

 

After St. Lawrence went three-and-out, junior punter Matt Popov pinned the Dutchmen deep at their own 2 yard line. Though Union tried two run plays to get out of the hole, the Saints defense swarmed to the ball and junior linebacker Chuck Bradway took Tillo down in the end zone for a safety, putting the Saints on the board with 2:39 to play in the third quarter, 20-2.

 

The play seemed to pump life into the St. Lawrence sideline, as Heil and the offense then used three quick complete passes to Patterson and Lassial to move into Union territory at the 7 yard line. On second and goal, though, Union’s Pat Sheridan made a big-time play, intercepting the play-action pass in the end zone to foil the St. Lawrence scoring bid and give Union the ball at their own 20 yard line.

 

Union worked to eat up some clock as they still led by 18 points late in the fourth quarter. Senior Robert Bracho would give the Saints one last chance, as his sack of Gourier popped the ball loose, and Josh Miller was there to corral it in to give the Saints good field position with 10:06 to play in regulation.

 

The offense again went to work, moving the ball fluently down the field and setting up 1 st-and-goal at the Union 4 yard line. A rush by sophomore Connor Hackett put the ball at the 1 yard line, but Heil’s quarterback sneak did not get over the goal line, setting up third down. Union was clearly caught off guard on the third-down play action pass, but Heil’s throw to senior tight end Brett Young in the end zone was a bit wide and fell incomplete. Needing the touchdown, St. Lawrence again went for it on 4 th-and-goal, but junior Carl Festa was taken down in the backfield by Union’s R.J. Simoni, ending the threat and the likelihood of a Saint comeback.

 

Union bled away almost five minutes of clock on two possessions following the goal line stand, but had to punt to St. Lawrence with 47 seconds remaining in the game. Heil used for consecutive complete passes to move the ball to the Union 4 yard line yet again, and this time, connected with Hackett on a pass for the team’s lone touchdown of the day with 10 seconds remaining in the game. Popov’s extra point was good, but it was too little, too late, as the ensuing on-sides kick rolled out of bounds and Union downed the ball to seal the 20-9 victory.

 

Gourier’s 103 yards was a season high for the quarterback, while Tillo picked up 78 yards on the ground for Union as well. St. Lawrence could not get the running attack going against the Dutchmen, as Hackett finished with only 32 yards on 11 carries. Heil finished 22-of-42 with 215 yards and the one score for the Saints, while Gourier was an effective 8-for-14, though he did throw two interceptions.

 

The Union victory sets up a crucial Liberty League match-up next weekend when they face Hobart next Saturday, which could potentially be for the conference title. Meanwhile, the Saints head to Kings Point, NY to face Merchant Marine in the fifth annual Hoffman Cup game, which will begin at 1:00pm on Saturday,

November 3rd.