READING, Pa. – Albright College quarterback Tanner Kelly of Olanta (Clearfield Area High School) was named Middle Atlantic Conference Offensive Player of the Year last week after leading the eight-team football league in every major passing category.
The redshirt sophomore, who was the MAC Rookie of the Year in 2006, also was selected as the second-team punter.
The MAC All-Star Team, which included Albright senior wide receiver Stephen Asay and junior defensive back Matt Christ on the first unit and sophomore wide receiver-kick returner Nate Romig, junior guard Theron Deets and freshman placekicker John Whelan on the second unit, was chosen at the end of the regular season.
Kelly, whose passing efficiency rating of 163.4 was No. 7 among NCAA Division III passers at the time, showed 206 completions in 302 attempts, 68.2 percent, for 2,629 yards and 25 touchdowns with only eight interceptions in 10 games.
His 2,742 total yards also led the MAC, as did his 39.3 average for 46 punts.
The 6-4, 221-pounder, ranked 18th in passing yards, 20th in total offense and 21st in passing yards per game, 262.9 in Division III going into the post-season, was named MAC Offensive Player for the Week after passing for 447 yards and four touchdowns in a 42-17 win over Kean on Sept. 8 and also was tabbed MAC Special Teams Player of the Week twice for his punting.
Asay and Romig were Kelly\’s main targets.
Asay, who scored six touchdowns, led the MAC with 67 catches and 907 yards. He ranked 15th in the country in receptions per game, 7.44, and 20th in receiving yards per game, 100.8.
Romig, who lined up in the backfield and as a wideout, had 50 receptions for 689 and a conference-leading 10 touchdowns. He also rushed for 467 yards and three scores en route to leading the MAC in all-purpose yards with 1,657 and TDs with 14, including one on a kickoff return.
Whelan led the MAC in scoring among kickers with 55 points, finished 31-for-34 on extra points and 8-for-15 on field goals.
The Lions of first-year coach John Marzka wound up 5-2 for third place in the MAC after being picked to finished seventh in the Coaches Pre-Season Poll. Their losses were to champion Widener (7-0) and runner-up Delaware Valley (5-2) on the last two Saturdays of the season.
However, Albright\’s overall 7-3 record was rewarded with a berth in the Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III South Atlantic Championship Bowl at Montclair, N.J., State Saturday.
The Lions had victory in their grasp until late in the fourth quarter, when the Red Hawks (9-2) drove 48 yards for a touchdown with 2:38 remaining to pull out a 17-13 win.
While he did score Kelly experienced the toughest game of his two-year college career, completing only 11 of 24 passes for 87 yards. He failed to record a TD pass for the first time this season after posting at least two scoring aerials in every game except one.
Kelly, who was intercepted once and sacked three times, did give the Lions a 13-10 lead with a one-yard sneak late in the first half.
He also averaged 39 yards on six punts, one a 55-yarder.
For the season, Kelly was 217-for-326, a completion percentage of 66.6, for 2,716 yards and a passing efficiency rating of 156.33. He finished with 25 touchdowns and nine interceptions. With 128 net yards for 139 carries, including 52 sacks, Kelly had 2,844 yards in total offense, an average of 258.5 a game.
He punted 52 times for a 39.2 average, with 22 coming down inside the opponents\’ 20-yard line.
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SELINSGROVE, Pa. – Clearfield native Ruth Williamson of State College (DuBois Central Catholic High School) was named Most Valuable Player of the 12th Pepsi/Weis Markets Tip-Off Tournament after scoring a team-high 25 points and adding three assists, five rebounds and one steal to help host Susquehanna University win the championship.
The senior co-captain, limited to 30 minutes in the two games because she is recovering from a knee injury, came off the bench to net 14 points in a 77-70 overtime victory against Lake Erie Saturday and 11 points in a 55-53 squeaker against Elmira (N.Y.) College Sunday in O.W. Houts Gymnasium.
In the semifinal, Williamson\’s three-point field goal gave the Crusaders the lead for the first time, and she nailed another for a 72-68 edge with 2:17 left in overtime. She hit three of six shots behind the arch and also sank three of four free throws.
Susquehanna hit only 23.9 per cent from the field in the title, but Williams made three of seven shots, one a three-pointer, and added four foul shots.
The 5-8 guard assisted on the Crusaders\’ go-ahead field goal with 7:50 remaining and tacked on two free throws 19 seconds later to make it 43-40.
Williamson, a three-year letterwinner, came into the season with 600 points in 76 games, a 7.9 average, and ranks among Susquehanna\’s all-time leaders in three-point field goals and foul shooting.
She was the Crusaders\’ second-leading scorer in 2006-07 with 176 points.
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NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Sophomore John Lytle of Clearfield turned in a 20.42-second anchor leg to give the Notre Dame swimming and diving team\’s 200-yard medley relay foursome a come-from-behind victory to ignite the Fighting Irish\’s 171-124 win over Cleveland State Friday evening.
Lytle came back with a 21.04-second win in the 50 free, touching the wall almost one full second ahead of the runner-up.
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WASHINGTON, Pa. – Freshman Brandon Boyer of Clearfield had two personal bests and tied another personal best for the Washington & Jefferson College swimming team in a quadrangular meet Saturday.
The Presidents lost 200-92 to host Grove City, 180.5-97.5 to Kenyon and 182-94 to Case-Western Reserve to fall to 4-4 in dual meets.
Boyer had a 22.36-second anchor leg for the 200-yard freestyle relay team that finished second against all three teams and a 26.78 leadoff leg for the 200 medley relay foursome that was second against Kenyon and Case-Western Reserve and third against Grove City.
He hit personal bests with a 57.48 in the 100 back for a second against Kenyon and third against the other two teams and a 2:08.04 in the 200 back for a fourth against Kenyon, a fifth against Grove City and a sixth against Case-Western Reserve.
Three days earlier, the Titans were beaten 167-90 at Westminster, and Boyer placed fourth in both the 100 back in 57.96 and 2:10.49 in the 200 back. He also swam a 26.97 leadoff leg for the third-place 200 medley team.
On Nov. 7, in a 161-118 victory over Mount Union, Boyer posted a second in the 100 back in 57.64 and a sixth in the 100 free in 52.12 in addition to a 50.87 second leg for the victorious 400 free relay team and a 26.46 leadoff leg for the third-place 200 medley relay team.
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WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – Junior butterfly specialist Brandon Good of Clearfield continues to be a consistent point-getter for the Lycoming College men\’s swimming team, which is 2-2 after losing 108-89 to Susquehanna and winning 95-79 at Ursinus last week.
Against Susquehanna, Good swam the third leg for the Warriors\’ winning 200-yard freestyle relay team and third-place 200 medley relay team and also placed fourth in the 100 fly in 59.33.
Against Ursinus, Good won the 100 fly in 57.83 and anchored the second-place 200 medley relay team with a 27.05 leg.
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NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. – Freshman Chris Bodle of Clearfield was a member of the Westminster College \’B\’ 200-yard freestyle relay team that earned fourth place in the Titans\’ 105-100 loss to Wooster (Ohio) on Saturday.
Bodle swam the third leg in 24.08 seconds for the 2-1 Titans.
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ITHACA, N.Y. – Falls in in two consolation matches earned Army 141-pounder Matt Kyler of Clearfield third place in the Body Barr Wrestling Invitational hosted by Cornell Saturday.
The Cadet sophomore, seeded fourth in the 11-team tourney, pinned sixth seed Andrew Stella of Buffalo in 3:16 and second seed Drew Headlee of Pitt in 2:21 to improve his record to 11-3.
Earlier, Kyler opened with a fall in 6:09 against Junior Amazan of Ithaca and won by injury default over fifth seed Charlie Pinto of Maryland to advance to the semifinals, where he lost 6-2 to top seed Kyle Ruschell of Wisconsin.
Ruschell was No. 8 and Headlee was No. 11 in the national rankings going into the tourney.
Army, with 89 points, finished fifth behind Cornell (139), Wisconsin (130.5), Maryland (113.5) and Kent State (105).
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WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – Freshman 141-pounder Tom Barger of Clearfield won five of eight bouts in three events for the Lycoming College wrestling team last week.
He edged Rich Russell 9-7 in the Warriors\’ 39-9 season-opening dual meet victory at the University of Scranton on Wednesday.
In the Messiah College Duals Saturday, Barger pulled out an 8-6 overtime sudden victory over Clint Collins in a 28-15 loss to Kutztown, was majored decisioned 9-1 by Brent Skorup in a 31-14 win over Wheaton (Ill.) and pinned Josh Boyle in 57 seconds in a 48-3 triumph over Waynesburg.
On Sunday, Barger split four matches in the Fall Brawl at Ursinus College.
He pinned Lafayette\’s Neil Strebig in 3:32, dropped a 12-7 decision to eventual champion Damian Rose of Thiel, came back to defeat Ursinus\’ Harris Papas 8-2 in his first consolation bout and then had to forfeit to York College\’s Ryan Catton.
Lycoming freshman 125-pounder Cody Billotte of Frenchville (Clearfield Area High School) wrestled in two exhibition dual meets at Messiah, falling 13-1 to John Ayers of Messiah and by fall in 2:44 to Matt Torresani of Elizabethtown, and was pinned by The College of New Jersey\’s Kyle Kinchin in 1:31 and York College\’s Josh Trainor in :28 at the Ursinus Tournament.
