By Tyler Fennell
Staff Writer
The Lions played on Sept. 5, marking the home opener and season opener for the College’s football team against Lycoming. The scene marked a packed Lions Stadium filled with students, alumni and parents all looking for the same outcome: a Lions win. Unfortunately for the College’s fans, the team would not deliver. The Lions were handed a loss at the hands of Lycoming with a score of 17-7.
The first quarter was dominated by Lycoming completely. The opening drive saw the College fumble the ball on third and five which was recovered by Lycoming at the College’s 24 yard line. From there, Lycoming didn’t struggle to put the ball in the end zone, scoring the first points shortly after. The rest of the quarter saw the College struggle to get the offense going, only to be further punished by a Lycoming field goal to close out the quarter.
The second quarter sparked a lot of optimism in Lions fans, with sophomore Defensive Back Brayden Kelly intercepting a Lycoming pass which was returned for 33 yards. This wouldn’t be the only interception in this quarter as senior Linebacker Sean Gallagher would also record his first pick of the game. The College saw a lot of momentum from this, resulting in freshman running back Sam Dech scoring the first touchdown of the Lions’ season.
It seemed like half time killed both team’s momentum as both teams' offenses struggled to find the end zone in the second half entirely. Halfway through the third quarter, Gallagher would record his second interception of the game.
With less than two minutes left to play, Lycoming forced a fumble at the College’s 20 yard line, which was recovered and returned for a touchdown to ice the game. Any hopes of a late game comeback was snuffed out and the College’s home crowd walked out in disappointment, with the small population of Lycoming fans in attendance gleeful with the joys of victory.
The College would follow this up with another disappointment with a loss to Wilkes in their road opener with a final score of 8-28. The Wilkes offense would start strong, scoring a touchdown on the first drive of the game.
The Wilkes offense would slow down a bit in the second quarter. The College’s defense would capitalize, scoring a safety right before half time with less than 30 seconds on the clock putting the score at 2-7 going into halftime.
The third quarter saw the College take their first lead of the season with Dech getting his second touchdown of his career on a 62 yard rush. The Lions attempted a two-point conversion and were unsuccessful. Wilkes would respond with a rushing touchdown of their own later in the quarter.
The fourth quarter saw another Wilkes rushing touchdown early in the quarter. This would be followed up with a Wilkes interception to kill any momentum the College tried to gain in the second half. With less than a minute left in the game, Wilkes would score another touchdown, sealing the game.
The freshman Dech earned himself New Jersey Athletic Conference honors, securing Rookie of the Week for the first time.
The College has a break to recuperate this weekend and are back in action on Saturday, Sept. 26 away against Juniata. They then return home for their first NJAC game of the season on Saturday, Oct. 3 against Salisbury.
