|
Week 9, 2004
Harrisburg (4-2, 2-1) at Scranton (3-3, 2-1)
This is a weird one to try to predict. Until last week, I would have said that Scranton was, without a doubt, the team to beat in the Keystone Eight. Then lowly Williamsport, who entered the game ranked 125th out of 125 Division One programs, went out and did just that: they beat Scranton, 34-24.
Scranton's offense relies heavily on the pass, and those kinds of teams have had success against us. They're favored to win a close one. The game will be televised regionally.
Injury Report
No new injuries to report this week.
And your final score: Scranton 45, Harrisburg 21
This was an ugly, ugly game, at least after the first quarter. We led 14-0 after fifteen minutes of football, and then the wheels came off our defense completely.
Scranton did something to us no team has managed to do. They ran through our defense like we were barely there. In fact, they did to us what we usually do to our opponents, rushing for 230 yards and four touchdowns. We had no problem running the ball--we actually gained more yards on the ground than they did. If you like watching running backs, this was the game for you.
Vernon Schulz reverted to the panicked, scatter-armed rookie of two weeks ago, completing only 8 of his 26 passes. He did throw two TDs, however.
Offensive Standouts
RB Ethan Sweeney (20-133 rushing, TD; 2-39 receiving, TD)
FB Greg Hawkins (2-14 rushing, 1 TD; 3-27 receiving, TD)
RB Bobby Schmidt (4-68 rushing)
Defensive Standouts
LB Jared Cole (18 tackles, TFL, sack)
LB Deion Kinney (5 tackles, 2 sacks)
Recruiting News
Hello!
RB Xavier Sheldon (Albion, PA/Great Lakes HS)
T Everett Diana (Guilford, CT/Guilford HS)
S Michael Oreck (Big Rapids,MI/Big Rapids HS)
Again, the news I received from the recruiting front helped soften the impact of a disappointing loss.
A few weeks ago, I began looking for players who seemed to be "under-recruited." These are players who are not only talented enough to make our team better, but who are also dedicated students with the right attitude.
Sheldon fits this description to a T. He's one of the host of players who decided to visit last week. Xavier rushed for 1352 yards and 14 touchdowns as a senior, and added 41 receptions and 8 more TDs to boot. He's an aspiring social worker with a 3.73 GPA and a 1590 SAT score. The #6 RB in Pennsylvania, I think he's even better than my assistant does.
Diana and Oreck are both big coups for us. I mentioned their credentials earlier, and they bear repeating. Diana is probably not as good as he's touted to be; recruiting experts say he's the #53 player in the country, and the #2 offensive tackle. Even if he doesn't live up to this much hype, he should still be a force in the Keystone Eight. His GPA is 3.63, and his test score is 1280.
Oreck is the #8 player in the state of Michigan, and he's ranked #12 among all safeties. He has a real knack for interceptions, grabbing 13 picks as a senior. He also recorded 66 tackles and 4.5 sacks. Michael maintains a 3.56 average, and he scored 1260 on his SAT.
Goodbye
Nobody to whom we've offered a scholarship picked another program this week, but we pulled the offer from one of the safeties we were recruiting after Oreck committed to us. We now have eight scholarships to fill, and 10 players with outstanding offers.
We still really need a wide receiver or two, at least one linebacker, and a cornerback. I might look for a few more undiscovered gems this week.
|