MEN'S INTERHALL BLUE LEAGUE: O'Neill tops St. Eds for first-ever win
By MATT LOZAR and JOE HETTLER
Sports Writers
Sept. 23, 2001 will go down in the history books of O'Neill Hall.
The Angry Mob earned their first-ever interhall football victory Sunday, winning 14-7 against St. Edward's.
"They wanted it and they played with a lot of desire," said O'Neill coach Morgan Creppel. "The guys worked hard and they executed well."
The Angry Mob mainly ran a ball control offense, but was able to pass the ball when they needed to.
Quarterback Troy Mont-gomery only threw three passes. He completed each one to Kyle Johnson, two of them for touchdowns.
"I don't deserve the credit anymore than anyone else," said Johnson. "The offensive line and quarterback were the reason for the great execution."
Montgomery and Johnson connected on the winning touchdown, a 15-yard pass to put O'Neill up 14-7.
"Kyle Johnson made a couple of great catches," Creppel said.
"It was perfect execution," said Enterline.
On their first drive of the game, O'Neill called eight running plays before a 25-yard touchdown pass from Montgomery to Johnson put them up 7-0.
"We need to come out with a little more intensity," said St. Ed's captain Nick Sciola. "We knew they would come out fired up."
St. Ed's came right back to tie the game at seven on a perfect 30-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Dan Tarsha to Kevin McNamara.
O'Neill's ball control offense allowed them to keep the ball for most of the second half. Montgomery, running back Nate Schomas and fullback Jay McAllister ran the option very well but, the St. Ed's defense kept them out of the endzone.
"In the second half, we had a lot of positives on defense. We stepped up our effort from the first half," Sciola said.
The O'Neill defense was up to the task as well. It limited St. Ed's offense to two second half first downs.
"When it counted, the defense was there in the end," said Creppel. "They put pressure on the quarterback."
Both teams look to improve on this week's effort for their next game.
"We need to build on the positives and work on areas of concerns," said Sciola. "We are looking forward to a couple weeks of practice to get ready for Fisher."
"We are very happy to get this win, but [we] have to perfect other wrinkles in our offense," said Enterline. "We're looking forward to next week and we don't plan on stopping at one win."
Fisher 24, Knott 8
In the last two years, Fisher Hall has been unable to score a point against Knott Hall, let alone win the game.
Sunday, the Wave got its revenge.
Using a balanced offensive attack, led by tailback Kameron Chappell and tight end Christian Braunlich, the Wave rolled to a 24-8 victory against the Juggs in the season opener for both teams.
"For the first time since I've started paying here, we actually executed as a team," said co-captain Ray Aftandilians.
Fisher's offense effectively moved the ball throughout the day by mixing up the run and pass. The ground game was led by Chappell who rushed 10 times, four of which gained first downs. He also added a touchdown and a two-point conversion.
"I feel the line blocked great and they opened up the holes really big for me all day," said Chappell.
Braunlich also had a big impact on offense, catching four passes, including a 30-yard touchdown and two two-point conversions. The touchdown came off of a tipped pass that landed right into Braunlich's hands, making the score 16-8.
After that, Fisher never looked back.
Knott's defense, which allowed only one touchdown all of last season, struggled throughout much of the game and had trouble stopping the Fisher running attack.
"We lost a lot of guys on defense, so we've got some new faces in there," said Knott co-captain, Brian Schmutzler. "Obviously, in the past our defense has been great, and today we didn't show anything."
Meanwhile the Juggs offense continually struggled, turning the ball over four times.
"I'd say what characterized our overall play today was total lack of execution," said Schmutzler.
The scoring began when Chappell took a hand off and scampered 25 yards down the field to the 10-yard line on Fisher's second drive. Three plays later, Chappell finished the drive himself, scoring from six yards out.
Knott threw an interception on the next drive, giving the Wave good field position. A few plays later, Fisher tried a trick play by pitching the ball to the tailback, who then heaved a pass towards Chappell.
Chappell jumped for the ball, tipping it into the air. Braunlich raced for the ball and grabbed it, securing the fluke touchdown.
Fisher also added an insurance score in the fourth quarter, providing the final margin of victory for the Wave.
Siegfried 6, Zahm 0
Last week, Zahm senior co-captain Gabe Ibanez said that execution was the key to victory against Siegfried in this weekend's season opener.
Unfortunately for Ibanez, he was exactly right, as Siegfried topped Zahm, 6-0.
In a game where both offenses struggled to score for most of the afternoon, Siegfried set up the game's only touchdown, when quarterback and co-captain Rob Plumby perfectly executed a 30-yard pass to receiver Pete Auguer on third and 12.
On the next play, tailback Travis Smith scored from three yards out, giving Siegfried the 6-0 lead.
Zahm could not answer Siegfried's score, due to an ineffective offense and four turnovers, including three interceptions and a lost fumble.
"Offensively we need to execute our plays better overall," said Ibanez.
Zahm did have one scoring opportunity during the fourth quarter. The Rabid Bats' offense moved the ball down inside the Ramblers 30-yard line.
Quarterback Dan Burke dropped back to pass, got flushed out of the pocket and fired a pass downfield, but Auguer stepped in front of the receiver and snatched the ball for an interception, which all but secured the Siegfried win.
"I thought we played great overall, especially our secondary coming up with three picks," said Plumby.
While Siegfried's offense managed to get one score, it was clearly their defense that made the biggest contribution to the victory.
"I thought that our defense played very well throughout the game," said Plumby.
While the Ramblers did play well, Plumby knows that they still have areas that need work.
"I thought we made a lot of little mistakes that cost us," said Plumby. "We need to work those out."
Ibanez, on the other hand, feels his team can still have a successful season, despite this early setback.
"It's only the first game and we just need to work on better exection for the rest of the season," Ibanez said.
END
All Sports Stories for Tuesday, September 25, 2001
