READING, Pa. – Quarterback Tanner Kelly of Olanta (Clearfield Area High School) threw two touchdown passes, but the Albright College football team missed a chance to finish alone in second place in the Middle Atlantic Conference when Delaware Valley upended the Lions 21-14 at Shirk Stadium Saturday.
However, the Lions\’ second consecutive loss for a 5-2 MAC finish did not cost them a bowl bid.
Albright (7-3) has been selected to play in the Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III South Atlantic Championship Bowl Saturday against host Montclair (N.J.) State on Saturday at 1 p.m. Montclair State (8-2) finished third in the New Jersey Athletic Conference. Both teams own wins over Wilkes and Kean.
Turnovers enabled Delaware Valley (5-5, 5-2 MAC) to take a 14-0 halftime lead against Albright. The Aggies drove 63 yards for a score after recovering a Lion fumble and then got 40-yard interception return by Chris Squitiere for a touchdown.
The Lions, who had been turned away on three trips inside the DV-20, once on an end zone interception, finally got on the board on Kelly\’s six-yard TD pass to Nate Romig with 10:05 to play.
But the Aggies answered with another long scoring drive and made another red zone stop to wrap up the victory, the Lions only making it close on Kelly\’s eight-yard pass to Romig with 1:33 remaining.
Kelly accounted for all by nine of Albright\’s offensive plays, hitting 27 of 40 passes for 233 yards and netting 28 yards on 20 keepers, including five sacks that cost him 32 yards. The Lions netted just five yards on their other nine rushes.
Also, Kelly punted three times, one a 65-yarder, for a 42.3 average.
For the season, the redshirt sophomore is leading the MAC in completions (206 in 306 attempts), completion percentage (68.2), passing yards (2,629), touchdowns (25), passing efficiency (163.4), total offense (2,742 yards for 431 plays) and punting average (39.3).
In NCAA Division III statistics, Kelly ranks seventh in passing efficiency, 18th in passing yards, 21st in passing yards per game, 20th in total offense and 38th in punting average.
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CLARION, Pa. – Strong safety Nick Sipes and free safety Shawn Sopic of Curwensville combined for 11 tackles against Lock Haven Saturday, but Clarion University was unable to avoid a winless season when Marc Domonkos booted a 35-yard field goal in overtime to lift the Bald Eagles to their first victory, 17-14.
Sipes had one solo tackle and six assists, while Sopic had two solo stops and two assists in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference game that attracted 1,750 fans to Memorial Stadium on Clarion\’s Senior Day.
Sipes kicked both extra points for the Golden Eagles (0-11, 0-6 PSAC-West) and just missed a 47-yard field goal attempt in the extra period, the ball landing about a yard short of the crossbar. He also was off target on a 30-yard try earlier.
The two freshmen finished among the top five tacklers for the Clarion defense.
Sipes ranked third behind Quintyn Brazil (76) and Kyle Cathcart (73) with 71 stops and Sopic was fifth with 44 tackles. The two freshmen were second and fourth in solo tackles with 37 and 29, respectively.
Sipes, who started seven times in 11 games, had four tackles for losses of 10 yards and one fumble recovery. He also returned two kickoffs for 23 yards and scored 18 points on 9-for-11 in extra points tries and 3-for-6 on field goal attempts, a 28-yarder his longest.
Sopic, who got three starts in 10 games, had one interception, one fumble recovery and one tackle for a loss of two yards.
Both players were credited with breaking up two passes.
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EDINBORO, Pa. – Nate Sipes of Curwensville returned a kickoff for 24 yards and made one solo tackle as the Slippery Rock University football team downed Edinboro 59-34 at Sox Harrison Stadium Saturday in a duel for third place in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division.
The Rock opened a 31-14 halftime lead in front of 3,722 fans en route to its fourth win in six PSAC-West games. The Fighting Scots (7-4) dipped to 3-3.
Despite finishing the regular season 9-2, Slippery Rock did not receive a bid to the NCAA Division II Northeast Region Playoffs.
That spot went to Indiana (8-2), which edged SRU 34-31 on Sept. 29 and was second in the PSAC-West at 5-1. The Rock\’s other loss was 22-13 to undefeated PSAC-West champion California, which is ranked sixth in the nation.
Sipes played in all 11 games, registering three carries for nine yards, two kickoff returns for 34 yards and 10 tackles, half of them solo stops.
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HUNTINGDON, Pa. – With senior Matt Schmidt returning from the injury list, sophomore defensive back Beau Ryan of Clearfield was relegated to spot duty Saturday as the Juniata College football team averted a winless season by defeating Gallaudet University 56-38 in front of 1,200 fans at Knox Stadium.
Ryan played on the kickoff return unit and recovered an onsides kick following the visitors\’ final touchdown.
The Eagles (1-9), who rolled up 588 yards in total offense, scored the final 23 points of the first half for a 36-14 lead and then traded touchdowns with the Bison (4-6) in the last two quarters.
Ryan, who had started the previous two games, did not get a chance to improve his defensive statistics but still finished eighth on the team in tackles with 35, all but six coming in weeks six through nine. His 20 solo stops were sixth for the Lions.
The 6-1, 180-pounder, who had 3.5 tackles for losses of six yards, also carried the ball once for a 15-yard gain and returned six kickoffs for 51 yards.
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CALIFORNIA, Pa. – Playing without its top two running backs, Adam Dykes and Dave Richards of Clearfield, the Shippensburg University football team was limited to three field goals by undefeated California\’s NCAA Division II No. 2 defense in a season-ending 30-9 loss Saturday.
A crowd of 4,000 in Adamson Stadium saw the Vulcans, who were ranked No. 6 in the American Football Coaches Association NCAA Division II Poll, uphold their No. 1 run defense rating by surrendering only 46 net yards in 31 plays in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West Division game.
California (11-0), the No. 1 seed for the NCAA-III Northeast Region Playoffs, repeated as PSAC-West champion at 6-0. The Vulcans are ranked No. 7 in this week\’s D2Sports.com Top 25 Medial Poll.
Shippensburg concluded a disappointing season 2-4 in the PSAC-West and 3-8 overall, with four losses by five points or less.
Richards started seven of the nine games he played and carried 70 times for 323 yards and three touchdowns. The redshirt junior caught two passes for 16 yards.
His two-season totals show 743 rushing yards and 168 receiving yards.
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ALTOONA, Pa. – Goalkeeper Brandon McQuillen of Woodland (Clearfield Area High School) helped the Penn State-Altoona men\’s soccer team set a season record for wins in a 2-1 upset over Misericordia University at Dallas, Pa., Nov. 7, but the Lions
lost by the same score to Frostburg (W.Va.) State Saturday in the Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III South Region semifinals at Swarthmore.
McQuillen came up with five saves in both of the overtime games.
Frostburg State (12-9-1), which had lost 2-1 at Penn State-Altoona on Oct. 9, was beaten 3-2 by Swarthmore (14-3-3) in the championship game.
McQuillen, a transfer from Slippery Rock University, posted a 13-6 record with six shutouts in 20 starts for the Lions, whose 13-6 finish bettered the 2002 team\’s 15 wins.
The 6-2 sophomore allowed 19 goals and stopped 73 shots 1,701:17 minutes. He had a 1.01 goals-against average and a 79.3 save percentage.
In addition, McQuillen earned one assist, very rare for a goalkeeper.
Penn State-Altoona tied Penn State-Behrend with a 7-2 mark in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference but wound up third on a tiebreaker, and McQuillen finished second among AMCC goalkeepers in minutes (760:05), tied for second in shutouts (3), third in GAA (1.07), tied for third in games (9), fourth in save percentage (78.0) and sixth in saves (32).
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NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. – Alan Baldwin of Clearfield ended his freshman season for the Westminster College men\’s soccer team with one goal and one assist for three points.
A knee injury limited the midfielder to eight games. He started three and was credited with six shots.
The Titans, who finished 11-7-3, won the Presidents\’ Athletic Conference regular season title with a 6-0-1 record but were upset by fourth place Thomas More in the semifinals of the championship tournament.
Last week, Westminster earned the West No. 2 seed for the Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III South Region Championships by shutting out PAC rival Bethany (8-9-3) 3-0, but the Titans then lost 1-0 in the semifinals to East No. 1 seed and eventual champion Swarthmore.
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BROCKPORT, N.Y. – Army 141-pounder Matt Kyler of Clearfield won the Most Pins In The Least Amount of Time Award on his way to placing fifth in the Oklahoma-Gold Wrestling Classic hosted by SUNY-Brockport Saturday.
The runner-up at 133 last year, Kyler was seeded second in the 19-wrestler bracket and pinned Brockport\’s Ryan Fallot in 2:52 before being upset 9-2 by seventh seed Drew Lashaway of Kent State in the quarterfinals.
Kyler bounced back with falls over Brown\’s David Foxen in 6:09 and Liberty\’s Tim Harner in 5:31.
However, he was nipped 5-4 by Oklahoma\’s Kyle Terry, the top seed, in the consolation semifinals.
Kyler didn\’t get a second match with Lashaway, who lost 3-1 to eventual champ Zach Bailey of Oklahoma in the semis. Lashaway forfeited his two consolation matches, including the one for fifth place.
Oklahoma breezed to the championship of the nine-team tourney with eight champions, two runners-up and 177.5 points.
The three-team chase for second place ended with Buffalo (105 points) edging Kent State (104) and Army (99).
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PITTSBURGH, Pa. – John Lytle of Clearfield played a big role in the University of Notre Dame men\’s swimming and diving team\’s 169-131 Big East Conference victory over Pitt at Trees Pool Friday evening.
The sophomore freestyle sprinter won two individual events and also swam on relay teams that finished first and second for the 17th-ranked Fighting Irish, who got into the win column after three dual meet losses to ranked opponents.
Lytle touched first in the 50-yard freestyle in 21.20 seconds and the 100 free in 45.60.
He led off with a 21.11 leg for the winning 200 free relay foursome and anchored the second-place 400 medley quartet with a 45.18 leg.
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WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – Junior Brandon Good of Clearfield swam on two winning relay teams and added a second in the 200-yard butterfly as Lycoming College evened its record at 1-1 by downing visiting Elizabethtown 116-75 Saturday.
He stopped the clock at 2:13.83 in the 200 fly and swam the third legs in the meet\’s opening and closing events, the 200 medley and 200 freestyle relays.
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BEREA, Ohio – Freshman Brandon Boyer of Clearfield anchored the 400-yard freestyle team\’s win that clinched undefeated Washington & Jefferson College\’s 122.5-105.5 victory over host Baldwin-Wallace in a non-conference swimming tri-meet Saturday.
The Presidents also defeated Ohio Wesleyan 145-77 for a 4-0 start.
Boyer turned in a 51.16-second closing leg for the Westminster 400 free relay foursome.
He posted a 59.74 in the leadoff spot for the 400 medley relay team that placed second against both teams and touched the wall in 2:10.88 in the 200 backstroke for a third against Baldwin-Wallace and a fourth against Ohio Wesleyan.
