This year is all about proving something for the College’s football team. After a 49-21 rout of Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham on Friday night, the team is certainly on their way to proving their preseason doubters wrong.
“The win Friday night against Fairleigh Dickinson felt great,” senior offensive lineman Jon Power said. “The run game was on point and gave us a huge advantage.”
The ground game was where the Lions took a big advantage over the Devils, gaining 403 huge running yards. Senior quarterback Jay Donoghue led the team in yards both through the air and on the ground, with 128 yards and a touchdown rushing and 156 yards and a touchdown through the air to junior wide receiver Brian Mills. He also threw for over 50 percent and averaged a huge 10.5 yards per rush.
Senior running back Joe Falco had a huge game as well, averaging 5.6 yards per carry en route to 109 yards on the ground and two touchdowns. Freshman running back Brad Young and junior quarterback William Friedrich also added over 50 yards rushing each. All of the College’s runners finished the day with six touchdowns on the ground — a staggering number.
Great offensive line play contributed to the success on the ground for the College.
“The offensive line did a great job of opening holes for our running backs to run through,” Power said. “It was a real confidence booster offensively to be able to control a team like we did on Friday.”
“Offensively, our ability to play at a high tempo and play with multiple personnel groups was probably what helped us get off to a fast start,” junior tight end Patrick Chirchirillo said. “Our no-huddle offense has really aided us in keeping opposing defenses guessing.”
The team’s defense was dominant as well, giving the College the opportunity to take a 35-0 lead into halftime.
The team’s attention is now turned to Morrisville State College, a foe that is 0-2 on the season. However, even with a big matchup against 18th ranked nationally Kean University looming on Sept. 30, the team is not taking Morrisville lightly.
“Nobody is looking ahead of a team that was a two-point conversion at the end of the game away from beating (10th ranked nationally) Montclair State University, a team that has a lot of respect across the NJAC,” Chirchirillo said. “Every game in the conference this year will be a battle, everyone is hungry for an NJAC ring.”
The team will be at home this Saturday, Sept. 24 at noon to take on Morrisville State.
