Hartford Courant from Hartford, Connecticut • Page 88

D12 THE HARTFORD COURANT: Sunday, October 27, 1996 lucky bounce helps Trinity remain unbeaten By WOODY ANDERSON Courant Staff Writer With 5 minutes, 1 5 seconds left in its game against Middlebury Saturday, Trinity had scored the tying touchdown and Joe Mullaney was attempting to kick the conversion to win the game. His kick was low and it careened off someone and bounced to the ground. That's when Trinity freshman lineman Matt Cashman of Wolcott, the biggest player on the field at 6-f oot-4, 290 pounds, became an accidental hero in Trinity's 27-25 victory. You see, the football bounced, un believably, between Cashman's legs as he blocked at the 2-yard line. "I grabbed the ball and said, 'Please let me get said Cash-man, who lunged into the end zone on his side to score the two-point conversion that won the game.

"They said I carried a few people," he said. Cashman carried a lot more than that. He carried Trinity's record to 6-0. Coincidentally, Amherst became 6-0 Saturday by beating Tufts, 31-12. Amherst plays at Trinity Saturday.

But before Cashman became hero du jour, Trinity struggled to contain Middlebury's sophomore quarterback Brian Coates of Brook-field (16 of 25, 250 yards and one touchdown). Coates completed three of five passes for 54 yards, driving the Panthers to the Trinity 7 with 43 seconds left, setting up a 23-yard field goal attempt by Scott Dudley. But sophomore holder Andrew Husband briefly bobbled the snap. "I thought I got the ball down in time," Husband said. "Out of the corner of my eye I could see the whole Trinity team jumping." Dudley's low kick sailed into that crowd of jumpers.

Dudley had missed from nearly the same spot minutes earlier. Trinity, which used its timeouts in the third quarter, still had to kill 43 seconds. It was difficult until Mullaney, also the team's junior quarterback, broke loose on a 20-yard run as time expired. "You'd think by now someone would be able to stop Trinity," said Husband, who led all receivers with seven receptions for 95 yards and one touchdown. "They run the same option plays." Middlebury (3-3) twice took second-half leads, 17-13 and then 25-19 on the second play of the fourth quarter.

Both go-ahead touchdowns followed fumbles by Mul- laney and Ray Jones. But after both touchdowns it was Jones who redeemed himself and rescued his team by finishing drives with 5- and 10-yard touchdown runs. "I had to look inside myself. I had to play better," said Jones, who hadn't fumbled until Saturday, when he lost three. Jones, the leading rusher in the New England Small College Athletic Conference with a 148-yard average, gained 147 yards, 104 coming during two scoring drives.

Jones gained 65 of 73 yards in one, then 39 of 80 yards in the winning drive. Mullaney completed only 1 of 6 passes, but that crucial completion an 18-yarder to tight end Rob Norton at midfield came in the Bantams final scoring drive. Mullaney was too busy running the option to pass. He gained a career-high 123 yards and scored one touchdown. He is now the all-time leading rusher among quarterbacks in Trinity history with 645 yards, breaking the record (593) set by Keith Miles in 1967.

Mullaney's 45-yard touchdown run in the first quarter was the 13th of his career, breaking Miles' record of 12 rushing touchdowns by a quarterback. ones leads way Columbia defeats Yale on late FG for Coast Guard Wins 31-6; first loss for No. 2 Union si lAVf I mi jiijiinmnwiwwisffwww1 -wmi gf ''r vy J- '-Mtw 1 (4 (f 9 House(5TDs) leads Central Staff report NEW BRITAIN Stan House rushed for 127 yards on 19 carries and had five touchdowns, three in the fourth quarter, as Central Connecticut rallied to defeat Wagner 49-41 at Arute Field. House set the school record for touchdowns in a game and season (13), and is tied with the career mark of 22. House, a junior, scored on runs of 5, 55 and 23 yards after Wagner took a 35-28 lead early in the fourth quarter.

The last came with 1 minute, 34 seconds remaining after Wagner had closed to 42-41. It was the first victory for Central (2-5) over Wagner (4-3) since 1940. The Seahawks lead the series, 5-4. "This was the best win I have been associated with since I've been at Central Connecticut," coach Sal Cintorino said. House had 79 yards receiving on three catches, including a 44-yard touchdown pass from John O'Reilly 2:20 into the game.

He also had an 11 -yard run with 11:05 left in the half. O'Reilly completed 12 of 25 for 271 yards and two TDs. Wagner tied it at 14 on a 65-yard run by Justin Lockhart Jason Miletic threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Sean Hurley to give' Wagner a 21-14 lead with 5:56 left in the first half. O'Reilly then hit Brian Stack-pole on a 4-yard touchdown pass to tie it at 21. The teams traded third-quarter scoring drives.

Central scored on a 17-yard run by Tommy Powers (122 yards, 18 carries). Wagner's Kevin Daniel recovered a fumble in the end zone to tie it at 28. A minute into the fourth quarter, Miletic threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Gilchrist as Wagner took its final lead, 35-28. By BRUCE BERLET Courant Staff Writer NEW HAVEN During the Columbia football team's weekly Bible study Friday night, Marcellus Wiley, a 6-foot-5, 255-pound defensive endrunning back, led a reading of Luke 11:15. In Wiley's words, the passage stressed "don't let your armor down and don't let distractions get in your way." Wiley, who took last season off to re-evaluate his life and gained 35 pounds of muscle, said it was good timing for that reading after a week of interviews with ESPN, Sports Illustrated and other publications.

It was renewed faith in self that brought Wiley back to football after several months working at The Friend's Place in Hollywood, a refuge for disadvantaged people. And it was faith, Wiley said, that led to Matt Unit's 35-yard field goal with 2 minutes, 13 seconds left Saturday that gave Columbia a 13-10 victory over Yale. Despite five turnovers, the Lions (6-0) matched their best start since 1945. They won their fifth game by seven points or fewer to stay tied for the Ivy League lead at 3-0 with Dartmouth, which beat Cornell, 38-21. "I definitely brought a new perspective to this team," said Wiley, one of four captains, whose persistence has increased Bible study participation from five to 32 players.

"We have a strong belief in God and a higher being that humbles us to submit to each other as teammates. We have a strong concept of team that's inexplicable. We don't doubt we're going to pull every game out." Unit's second successive winning kick came on a hold by sophomore Ted Schroeder, in his first varsity game and working with Link for the first time since preseason because of injuries to Bobby Tho-masson (hand) and David Ramirez, who left the game in the third quarter with a dislocated shoulder. "I made a new best friend today," Unit said. "I worked with Ted on the jayvees last season, and he wasn't my favorite holder.

But he promised me he'd worked a lot over the summer and reassured me right before we went in that he'd get it down." But NFL prospects Wiley (seven tackles, two sacks, third blocked field goal of the season) and linebacker Rory Wilfork (eight tackles, two sacks), and cornerback Roy Hanks (two interceptions) were the main reasons Columbia held Yale to eight first downs and 156 yards. Wiley also was the Lions' leading rusher (35 yards on seven carries) and continually harassed Yale quarterback Krisl Barber (6-for-24, 75 pi r- Staff and wire reports James Jones gained 114 yards on 35 carries and scored three touchdowns to lead Coast Guard to a 31-6 victory over Union Saturday in Schedectady, N.Y. Jones scored on runs of 1, 15 and Z9 yards. Coast Guard quarterback Dan Warren completed 9 of 22 passes, including a 40-yard touchdown to Christian Lee. The Coast Guard defense also "contributed as cornerback Matt Bournovilloe, strong safety Bryan Man, free safety Shaf Soldano and middle linebacker Damon Maldo-nado each had interceptions.

The victory was the third in a row for Coast Guard (5-2), which was the last team to defeat Union at home two years ago. Union (6-1) is ranked No. 2 in the NCAA's Division HI Eastern poll. Siena 45, Fairfield 7: Reggie Greene rushed for 278 yards on 33 carries and scored four touchdowns as Siena (2-4) defeated Fairfield (0- 7 in Albany. N.Y.

Greene set a single-game school record for yards and tied another for touchdowns. He scored on two 70-yard runs, and one each of 22 and 1. Last week, Siena broke a 16-game losing streak with a 14-8 win over Iona and has won consecutive games for the first time since 1988. Fairfield's score came in the second quarter after trailing 14-0. (Quarterback Jim Lopusznick scored on a 1-yard run.

Tom Lo- pusznick had 10 catches for 93 yards. Pace 13, Western 7: Brian Grif-foul scored his second touchdown of the game with 34 seconds left as Pace (4-3) defeated Western (3-4) in Pleasantville, N.Y. Pace had 23 first downs to Western's three, but the Colonials managed a 7-0 lead into the fourth quarter. Griffoul, who had 19 carries for 89 yards, had tied the game 7-7 with a 4-yard run 31 seconds into the fourth quarter. Western, which has lost three in a row, had taken a 7-0 lead 1:02 into the third quarter on Eric Baribeau's 3-yard run.

Pace had fumbled the second-half kickoff Pace quarterback Kevin Connor completed 16 of 32 passes for 182 yards. Western was held to 13 passing yards. Barribeau gained 66 yards on 2 1 carries. -i Bentiey 24, Sacred Heart 6: Ed 'Mazzuchelli had 23 carries for 99 yards and scored two touchdowns to lead Bentiey (4-3, 3-1 ECQ over Sacred Heart (3-4, 3-2) in Waltham, Mass. Bentiey ended a three-game losing streak by limiting Sacred Heart to 57 second-half yards.

Associated Press UConn tight end Anthony McKinney makes a 10-yard touchdown reception in front of Hofstra safety Lance Schulters. UConn offense comes up short Held to 28 yards rushing in loss to Hofstra my The Flying Dutchmen outgained UConn, 286-269. Quarterback Giovanni Carmazzi, replacing the injured Art Asselta, completed 13 of 20 for 199 yards and two TDs. His 34-yard TD pass to Bryan Kish with 43 seconds left in the third after Stafford's second interception gave Hofstra its margin of victory. Carmazzi also had a 37-yard TD pass to Erik Michael on Hoftsra's opening drive.

"This was as good a win as I've ever had at Hofstra," said Flying Dutchmen coach Joe Gardi, in his seventh season. "We looked like we were down and out and our ship was sinking there for a while, but we never gave up on these young men. This win is as sweet as it gets." Reality has set in for UConn (4-4) which hasn't won on the field since defeating Yale Sept. 28 (it was awarded a victory by forfeit against Rhode Island). The Huskies' slim chance of qualifying for the Division I-AA playoffs went out the window with the loss.

The focus now is on finishing with more wins than losses. "We figured we'd be 6-3 going into the James Madison game Nov. 9," Newton said. 'If we win, we could get into the playoffs but this all but takes us out if it. Every game we play now is for pride." UConn pulled to 7-6 in the first quarter when Chad Cook blocked an Eric Cross punt and Carl Bond recovered in the end zone.

Cohen missed the extra point. After McKinney's touchdown, Michael returned the kickoff 98 yards for a touchdwon and 14-13 Hofstra lead. Dave Ettinger extended the Flying Dutchmen's lead to 17-13 with 33 seconds left in the half with a 37-yard field goal. No Bermuda trip UConn announced the cancellation of the Bermuda Bowl between the Huskies and UMass next season. Promoters of the event said the Bermuda Department of Tourism decided to cease a number of scheduled activities.

The game has been scheduled as a UMass home game Nov. 15, 1997, in Amherst. Associated Press Yale's Kris Barber (S-for-24, 75 yards) passes under pressure from Columbia's Rory Wilfork. yards, three interceptions). "That may be the most outstanding plays by one person in one game that I've ever seen at this level" Columbia coach Ray Tellier said.

Columbia took a 10-0 lead on Lin-it's 26-yard field goal and Thoma- son's 4-yard touchdown run on a fourth-down bootleg. Yale didn't score despite three first downs inside the Columbia 25 in the' first half, one after Rob Masella's 69-yard return on the opening kickoff. The worst failure came after Barber's 50-yard pass to Clint Rodriguez gave the Elis first-and-goal at the Columbia 7. But Barber was sacked twice and threw two incom-pletions, the second on fourth-and-18 when Yale decided against a 35-yard field goal try. i Leroy Garcia's first career interception set up John Lafferty's 25-yard field goal, and Yale (2-4, 1-2) got even when Isaiah Wilson recovered a fumble and Masella, normally a cornerback, ran 3 yards on his second career carry with 4:22 left in the third quarter.

Masella worked out at tailback for the first time Tuesday after injuries to Jabbar Craigwell, Jeremy Garelickand Stayton Creech. Sophomore Craig Freccero made his first start at tailback and had 95 yards but may be out for the season after he injured a knee late in the game; "This is definitely one of our worst losses in a while," Masella said. "After all the hype they'd got, to come so close is really tough. But good teams create their own luck, and that's what they did." Haven's Jim Ballough, who fell into the end zone with 9:24 left. "We could've folded right there," Southern coach Rich Cavanaugh said.

"But we didn't. I was pretty proud of the way our guys fought back." Southern scored the next three touchdowns to take an 18-14 lead. The highlight was a 60-yard run down the sideline for a TD by freshman Rashaan Dumas, who rushed for 174 yards Saturday and is third in Division with 1,450 yards. Then the Owls blocked a punt and turned it into a 2-yard touchdown run by John Potkay. The Owls led 18-17 when New Haven's Antwuan Dance blocked a at the Southern 3.

Two plays later, Michael Joseph run in from the 2 with 6:23 left in the second quarter for a 23-18 lead. The Chargers averaged 25 yards a punt in the first half, with Kevin McClurken and John Cerra sharing the duty. But with about 5 minutes to play in the third quarter, Cerra had a school-record 75-yarder. Southern's deep man, Siggy Traverse backpedaled, saw the ball bounce at the 3 and tried to pick it up. But Birney swept in and recovr ered.

One play later, Joseph scored. UNH's final touchdown came on another Southern turnover, its seventh, an interception of Tom Kleine by Troy Appling. It took one play for a TD, a 28-yard Jesse Showerda pass to Tyrone Seabrooks. i i i teams carry to victory Distracted Wesleyan shocked by Bowdoin By DESMOND CONNER Courant Staff Writer STORRS UConn senior flanker Dak Newton sat on the bench Saturday after Hofstra's 24-16 victory over the No. 23 Huskies, thinking about starting the game over.

The UConn offense would have liked a second chance in front of a homecoming crowd of 9,322 at Memorial Stadium. Receivers ran wrong routes and dropped passes, the line had difficulty protecting quarterback Shane Stafford in the final minutes and opening holes for the running backs, and the Huskies couldn't sustain drives on three fourth-quarter possessions. As a result, UConn's only second-half points came on a 36-yard Jon Cohen field goal in the third quarter that cut the deficit to 17-16. "You could tell their defense stepped it up in the second half," said Stafford, who completed 17 of 32 passes for 24 1 yards and a touchdown. He had two third-quarter interceptions and several hurried throws.

Stafford also was sacked a season-high five times for 19 yards. UConn lost more yards (31) than it gained (28) on the ground and was 3-for-17 on third-down conversions, coming up short on its final eight. Coach Skip Holtz made personnel changes on the line last week that he hoped would help the running game get untracked. Didn't happen. "Bottom line? Players didn't compete and I take responsibility for not getting them ready to play," Holtz said.

"If they weren't ready to compete, I shouldn't have put them on the field." Senior tight end Anthony McKinney was a bright spot. He had a career-high eight receptions for 83 yards, including a 10-yard TD in the second quarter to give UConn a 13-7 lead. Hofstra (4-3), which lost to previously winless Boston University last week, bounced back by controlling the line of scrimmage on both sides. After aZO-vard. first-auarter field goal by Bentley's Bryan Snead, Mazzuchelli capped off a five-play, 71-yard drive with a 3-yard touchdown run for a 10-0 Falcons lead.

Sacred Heart cut the margin to 10-6 on the opening play of the second quarter with Dan Fowler's 35-yard touchdown run. But Mazzuchelli finished off a time-consuming drive with a 1-yard score with 8:41 left in the third quarter. for a touchdown. He completed passes to eight receivers. MacArthur completed Bowdoin's scoring with a 9-yard run in the fourth quarter.

Two Wesleyan turnovers resulted in Bowdoin scores. "The penalties and turnovers cost us," Hauser said. "Turnovers and penalties are usually the result of not being ready to play." Wesleyan (3-3) scored on a 24-yard pass from Jake Fay to Nate Moore on fourth down with 1 :08 left in the third quarter. After Bowdoin took its 3-0 first-quarter lead, Wesleyan's Rob Stager had a 22-yard field goal attempt blocked. Wesleyan did not advance inside Bowdoin's 29 again until late in the third quarter.

An hour after the game ended, Wesleyan free safety and tri-captain Mark McAleenan sat on the locker room floor, his shoulders slumped against the wall. "That was definitely an aberration," he said. "They came in here ready to play. It was a total letdown. They beat us on both sides of the ball.

That's totally unacceptable." Wire report included By TOM McCORMACK Special to The Courant WEST HAVEN The University of New Haven football team had every reason to regard its victory Saturday over Southern Connecticut as something special. New Haven's special teams had a hand in four of its five touchdowns in a 37-27 victory before 2,452 at Dodds Stadium. New Haven (5-2) kept its Division II playoff hopes alive by beating the Owls (6-2), whose 6-1 start was their best since 1982. "You always tell your kids there are three phases of the game offense, defense and special teams," New Haven coach Tony Sparano said. "Just look at the momentum all those plays the special teams made today gave us." The game wasn't 10 minutes old when the Chargers' special teams scored two touchdowns in 6 seconds.

The first was a blocked punt at the Southern 9 that was run in for a touchdown by cornerback Dennis Birney with 9 minutes, 30 seconds left in the first quarter. "I thought the ball was going to stay up there forever," Birney said. "I was expecting to get hit any second." Then, when New Haven kicked off, Southern's Kevin Rembert started upfield with the ball and fumbled after being brushed by a New Haven player. The ball was picked up at the 4-yard line by New Special Chargers By TOMMY HEME Courant Staff Writer MIDDLETOWN Bowdoin's struggling football team stopped by Andrus Field Saturday and stunned Wesleyan, 31-8. But it wasn't without a lot of help from the Cardinals.

Wesleyan had beaten Bowdoin six consecutive years, but that dominance was non-existent Saturday. Wesleyan was penalized five times for holding, fumbled once and was intercepted five times all in the second half. Defensively, Wesleyan gave up 31 points to a team that had scored only five touchdowns, had been shut out twice and was averaging six points its past four games. "That was an embarrassment, a total embarrassment," Wesleyan coach Frank Hauser said. "That was one of the worst performances I've seen in my five years here.

It was a total breakdown, in all facets of the game. We weren't ready to play." Bowdoin quarterback Hayes MacArthur completed 19 of 31 passes and rushed five times, once.