The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page D12

D12 www.philly.com THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER Sunday, September 19, 2004 COLLEGE FOOTBALL Cheyney bounces back in shutout; La Salle tumbles RON CORTES Inquirer Staff Photographer Temple's Umar Ferguson bowls over Florida Travis Knox in the second half. Ferguson, filling in for the injured Tim Brown, gained a career-high 1 1 8 yards and rushed for two touchdowns. The 38-7 win gave Owls coach Bobby Wallace his 1 00th career victory. Guts get Owls some glory A brash scoring drive gave Temple control over Florida and helped end its nine-game skid. yard scoring drive to give the Owls a 7-0 lead over the Rattlers (0-3).

Ferguson completed the drive with a 3-yard run. Ferguson, the backup at running back on the depth chart, became a starter when junior Tim Brown was scratched because of an injury to his heels. "Both his heels were hurting him," Wallace said. "Don't know how it happened, don't know what happened, but he couldn't run when we got into the pre-game warmup. I really don't know what's wrong, exactly, because it's both heels.

"We knew we were going to be running the football," Wallace said. "All of a sudden we lose our starting running back. Umar Ferguson did a great job and I'm very pleased with the way he played." Ferguson gained a career-high 118 yards on 25 carries and rushed for two touchdowns. Washington rumbled for 119 yards on 21 attempts and also scored a pair of touchdowns on the ground on rushes of 10 and 5 yards. In the air, he completed 16 of 26 passing attempts for 222 yards and a touchdown.

The game marked the first time the Owls had two 100-yard rushers in the same game since 1997, when Stacey Mack and El-marko Jackson did it against Rutgers. the second quarter that gave the Owls solid control of the game. The 18-play drive over 6 minutes, 33 seconds left the Owls with a 24-7 lead. It was a thriller that had a little of everything after Temple took over on its own 2-yard line. First came the great escape, when junior quarterback Walter Washington barely dodged a bunch of defenders in his own end zone and avoided a safety by hitting senior wide receiver Phil Goodman with an 8-yard pass to move Temple to its own 11.

"It was scary," Washington said of the play. "But I was able to stay on my feet and get rid of the ball." Despite the reception, the Owls (1-2) were still in trouble, facing fourth and 1. Coach Bobby Wallace then took the great gamble by deciding to go for a first down deep in his own territory. Washington made good with a 2-yard run to keep the Temple offense on the field. "The game plan was keep the Temple defense on the bench," Wallace said after getting his 100th career victory.

"Risky? Absolutely. I just didn't feel like they could stop Walter Washington. "It wasn't complicated," Wallace said. "It was risky, but it wasn't complicated. I thought I had a 99 percent chance of be ing right.

That 1 percent could always hurt you. But you can't play scared, either." Luck was involved a few plays later, when the Owls recovered their own fumble even though they lost 16 yards in the scramble for the football and were back on their own 10-yard line. Not for long, however. After an attempted pass to Goodman was incomplete, Washington found senior wide receiver Ikey Chuku with a 41-yard strike to move inside Rattlers territory at the 49. After Washington scampered for 9 yards, Chuku caught another dazzler, staying just inside the sideline for 19 yards to move Temple to the 21.

A 13-yard pass to Umar Ferguson two plays later had the Owls on the 8-yard line. Washington then took over with his feet. He ran for 3 yards, then made a 5-yard dash to the end zone. The win ruined the homecoming of Florida coach Billy Joe, a former Villanova star who is a native of Coatesville. "Temple is a bona fide Division I-A football team," said Joe, whose program is Division I-AA.

"They do a real fine job disciplining their guys. Their techniques and fundamentals are sound." After Temple won the coin toss and opted to receive, Washington directed a six-play, 66- COMPILED BY THE INQUIRER STAFF Charles Johnson caught a tipped pass from Derrick Murry to lead Cheyney to its first shutout in 15 years in a 6-0 victory over visiting West Virginia State yesterday. Cheyney (1-3) got its lone score from the Yellow Jackets' 5-yard line late in the second quarter. Murry's pass was tipped by running back Billy Mitchell and then caught by Johnson. West Virginia State (1-3) was led by Brandon White's 116 yards on 20 carries and Perry Smith's 91 yards on 23 carries.

Mitchell led Cheyney with 89 yards on 28 carries. The Wolves got a goal-line stand midway through the first quarter to preserve the shutout and the win. The shutout followed a 98-7 loss to Western Illinois and a 71-0 loss to Northeastern, both Division I-AA teams. College of New Jersey 6, La Salle 0 Cory Schoonover returned a blocked punt 30 yards for a touchdown to lead the College of New Jersey to a win over host La Salle. New Jersey (2-0), a Division III school, held Division I-AA La Salle (0-3) to 29 yards of total offense on 47 plays in a game marred by heavy rain.

Gregg Silvesti led the Lions with 89 yards on 27 carries. La Salle was led by Ken Triboletti's 57 yards on 17 carries. Punter Jeff Peloso, besides having a punt blocked and returned for a score, had the ball snapped over his head near mid-field in the fourth quarter. He recovered the ball near his own end zone and completed a pass to Mark Moraca for a loss of 41 yards. New Jersey was unable to take advantage, however, as Blake Abbot missed a 22-yard field goal.

La Salle did not threaten the rest of the game. Rowan 43, Western Connecticut 7 Mike Orihel threw for 241 yards and three touchdowns to lead Rowan (2-1) to a rout over Western Connecticut (2-1) in Danbury, Conn. Orihel completed 22 of 36 passes and connected on all three of his scores in a 28-point second quarter for the Profs. Albright 51, Ursinus 34 John Port threw for 283 yards and hooked up with Nick Cushman for three touchdowns to lead Albright (2-0) over Ursinus (1-2) in Reading. Down by 20-13 after the first quarter, Albright scored 35 second-quarter points to take a commanding 48-20 lead.

Vince Gallagher threw three touchdown passes for Ursinus. Lebanon Valley 3, Widener 0 Eldin Brodlic kicked a 21-yard field goal and Lebanon Valley capitalized on eight Widener fumbles to beat the Pioneers in Chester. Brodlic put the game's only points on the board with 12 minutes, 28 seconds remaining in the first half after Mike Lomas fumbled at the Widener 3-yard line. Dan Kelly completed 8 of 17 passes for 101 yards for Lebanon Valley (2-1, 1-1 Middle Atlantic Conference), which snapped an 11-game losing streak to the Pioneers (0-2, 0-2). Dickinson 24, Kings Point 14 Gerald O'Hara caught two second-half touchdown passes from Keven Williams to lift Dickinson over Kings Point in Carlisle, Pa.

Dickinson (2-1) scored 24 unanswered points after Cole Patterson returned an interception 78 yards for a touchdown to give Kings Point (0-3) a 14-0 lead with 6:48 to go in the first half. But O'Hara returned the ensuing Mckoff 48 yards and scored on the next play. After a field goal by Drew Magyar late in the first half, O'Hara and Williams hooked up again to give Dickinson a 17-14 lead. Bob Ziegler sealed the game for Dickinson by returning a fumble 15 yards for a touchdown with 5:49 remaining. Franklin and Marshall 35, Hobart 14 Running back Scott Stephen threw an 11-yard, go-ahead touchdown pass to Derek Boyce in the second quarter to lift Franklin and Marshall (3-0) over Hobart (1-1) in Lancaster.

Boyce later caught a 22-yard touchdown pass from Doug Hilt-ner to provide Franklin and Marshall with some breathing room. Hobart was led by Shawn Mizro's 122 passing yards and two touchdown passes. But Paul Fields intercepted a pass from Mizro and returned it 12 yards for a touchdown to close out the scoring. Rochester 31, Gettysburg 6 College of N.J. 6, La Salle 0 College of N.J.

0 6 0 6 La Salle 0 0 0 0 -0 Second quarter NJ-Schoonover 30 return of blocked punt (kick failed), 12:25. 1,201. NJ LS First downs 7 3 Rushes-yards 50-95 33-57 Passing 51 -28 Comp-Att-Int 5-14-0 5-14-1 Return Yards 53 69 Punts-Avg. Fumbles-Lost 2-1 3-1 Penalties-Yards 5-44 5-45 Time of Possession 34:26 25:34 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing: College of N.J., Silvesti 27-89, Brown 2-8, Struble 1 5-5, Dabrowski 1 -2, Schoonover 3-1 Team 1-(minus 1), D'Aconti 1-(minus 9). La Salle, Triboletti 17- 57, Brumfield 3-11, Russo 1-(minus 4), Abrams 12-(minus7).

Passing: College of N.J., Struble 3-10-0 38, D'Aconti 1 -3-0 4, Bergondo 1 -1 -0 9. La Salle, Abrams 4-1 1 -0 1 3, Jump 0-2-1 0, Peloso 1 -1 -0 (minus 41 Receiving: College of N.J., Schoonover 1-18, Bouroult 1-16, Sorrentino 1-9, Silvesti 1-4, Lebb 1-4. La Salle, Triboletti 3-0, Zabel 1-13, Moraca 1 -(minus 41). Matt Bielecki rushed for four touchdowns to lead Rochester over Gettysburg in Rochester, N.Y. Bielecki finished with 88 yards on 10 carries for the Yel-lowjackets (1-2).

Pat O'Brien led Rochester's ground game with 105 yards on 22 carries. Gettysburg (0-3) broke its scoring drought on a 5-yard touchdown run by Jerry Jones with 26 seconds left in the game. Mark Campo completed 4 of 13 passes for 49 yards for Gettysburg. Dusty Green led the Bullets with 39 yards on 16 rushing attempts. Muhlenberg 23, Union (N.Y.) 18 Jason Spencer ran for 100 yards and scored the winning touchdown as Muhlenberg (2-0) beat Union (0-2) in Schenectady, N.Y.

Spencer's 1-yard plunge with 12:08 left in the game erased Muhlenberg's three-point half-time deficit. The teams had gone scoreless in the second half until Spencer's score. Delaware Valley 12, Juniata 7 Adam Knoblauch threw a pair of 18- yard touchdown passes and Steve Cook rushed for a career-high 153 yards to lead Delaware Valley (2-0, 1-0 MAC) over Juniata (0-3, 0-2) in Doylestown. Bloomsburg 54, Lock Haven 0 Mike Ceroli rushed for 156 yards and three touchdowns as Bloomsburg defeated Lock Haven in Bloomsburg, Pa. Bloomsburg (2-1) dominated the game on both sides of the ball, rolling up 498 yards of total offense and limiting Lock Haven (1-3) to 65 total yards.

Bloomsburg's Rob Biernat returned an interception 37 yards for a touchdown and Rodney Johnson picked off two more passes for the Huskies. Montclair State 29, Frostburg State 14 Head coach Rick Gi-ancola earned his 150th career victory on his 58th birthday as Montclair State (2-0) beat Frostburg State (1-1) in Montclair, N.J. Giancola, who is in his 22d season, is only the second college football coach in New Jersey history to reach the 150-win mark. The College of New Jersey's Eric Hamilton has 167 wins. Quarterback Mike Passero threw three touchdown passes and Vin Doffont kicked three field goals to give Montclair State the victory.

Lycoming 21, Wilkes 13 Matt Murdock returned an interception for a touchdown with six seconds to go Lycoming's second touchdown in less than a minute to lead the Warriors (1-1, 1-1 MAC) over Wilkes (0-2, 0-1) in Williamsport, Pa. The game featured four touchdowns in the final four minutes. Moravian 32, Susquehanna 13 Chris Jacoubs rushed for 216 yards and three touchdowns and Jed Warsager returned a kickoff for a touchdown and caught a touchdown pass to lead Moravian (2-0, 2-0 MAC) over Susquehanna (2-1, 1-1) in Bethlehem, Pa. Cortland 49, Kean 7 Alex Smith threw for 286 yards and five touchdowns to give Cortland (1-2) a win over Kean (1-2) in Cortland, N.Y. Edinboro 48, Tiffin 21 Andre Burke ran for two touchdowns and Justin Bouch passed for a pair as Edinboro (2-1) built a 48-0 third-quarter lead in a victory over Tiffin (1-3) in Tiffin, Ohio.

Shippensburg 49, Millersville 27 John Kuhn rushed for a career-high 234 yards and two touchdowns to lead Shippensburg (4-0) to a victory over Millersville (1-2) in Millersville, Pa. Slippery Rock 49, Fairmont State 14 Josh Kniess rushed for two touchdowns and returned a punt for another as Slippery Rock (2-2) beat Fairmont State (1-2) in Slippery Rock, Pa. By Mel Greenberg INQUIRER STAFF WRITER Temple's 38-7 win over Florida at Lincoln Financial Field yesterday afternoon was the Owls' first triumph of the season. The victory was their first at the Line since they moved from Veterans Stadium into the Eagles' new facility last year. It also snapped a nine-game losing streak dating to Oct.

11, the week after the Owls won at Middle Tennessee. What may become most memorable about the nonconference matchup, however, is a gutsy, 98-yard scoring drive early in Temple 38, Florida 7 Florida Temple 7 0 0 0 -7 17 7 7 7 38 First quarter Tem-U. Ferguson 3 run (Lux kick), 12:38. Fla-Pompey 5 run (P.Johnson kick), 1 0:1 1 Tern-Washington 10 run (Lux kick), 5:42. Tem-FG Lux 35, 1 :49.

Second quarter Tern-Washington 5 run (Lux kick), 4:59. Third quarter Tem-Chuku 17 pass from Washington (Lux kick), 8:46. Fourth quarter Tem-U. Ferguson 1 run (Lux kick), 5:53. 17,104.

Fla Tern First downs 19 25 Rushes-yards 23-118 53-255 Passing 229 222 Comp-Att-Int 26-51-0 16-26-0 Return Yards 6 71 Punts-Avg. Fumbles-Lost 2-1 2-1 Penalties-Yards 4-35 6-40 Time of Possession 26:00 34:00 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing: Florida Pompey 8-56, Dougherty 8-50, Driscoll 4-7, Sharpe 3-5. Temple, Washington 21 -1 1 9, U. Ferguson 25-1 1 8, Billops 5-25, Chuku 1 -9, Team1-(minus16). Passing: Florida Dougherty 22-43-0-181, Driscoll 4-8-0-48.

Temple, Washington 1 6-26-0-222. Receiving: Florida Thomas 7-76, Kiser 6-45, Demps 3-29, Swain 3-28, Morgan 2-27, D.Williams 2-14, Crawford 2-7, Pompey 1-3. Temple, Chuku 5-115, Goodman 5-39, J.Harris 3-41, U. Ferguson 2-20, Allbrooks 1-7. By Ron Reid INQUIRER STAFF WRITER SAN DIEGO In a season debut that could hardly have been more satisfying for their fans in Philadelphia, the Penn Quakers devastated the University of San Diego yesterday, gracing their road trip with a 61-18 blowout victory.

The 3-hour, 20-minute rout extended Penn's win streak to 17 games, the nation's longest among Division I-AA teams, and served notice to Ivy League rivals that the Quakers won't be easily distracted as they go after their third consecutive league title. Penn led by 26-0 at halftime and 40-6 at the end of the third quarter, before the game devolved into a fourth-quarter scoring binge in which five touchdowns were scored in a span. The biggest contributors to Penn's opening-day success were Sam Mathews, the all-Ivy running back, and a smothering defense led by Doug Middleton and Luke Hadden that produced four San Diego turnovers. Mathews rushed for 102 yards, caught two passes for 50 yards, and scored two first-half touchdowns for a Quakers offense that savaged the Toreros for 313 rushing yards and a San Diego record for points allowed. The Quakers' 61 points were the most the team has scored since Oct.

5, 1946, when Penn Penn bombards San Diego Contact staff writer Mel Greenberg at 21 5-854-5725 or mgreenbergphillynews.com. Penn 61, San Diego 18 Penn San Diego 20 6 14 21 61 0 0 6 12 18 First quarter Penn-Mathews 2 run (Nolan kick), 6:15. Penn-Mathews 1 run (Nolan kick), 4:00. Penn-Boyer 6 pass from McDermott (kick failed), 3:22. Second quarter Penn-FG Nolan 33, 7:46.

Penn-FG Nolan 49, 0:00. Third quarter Penn-Mathews 3 run (Nolan kick), 9:39. SD-Hannula 5 pass from Mortensen (run failed), 5:1 2. Penn-Castles 35 pass from McDermott (Nolan kick), 3:58. Fourth quarter SD-Harney1 run (pass failed), 6:18.

Penn-Recchiuti 32 run (Arguello kick), 5:1 2. Penn-Bryant 9 run (Nolan kick), 2:01 SD-Herron 2 run (run failed), 1 :09. Penn-Recchiuti 3 run (Nolan kick), 0:24. 4,01 2. PENN SD First downs 25 24 Rushes-yards 47-313 32-64 Passing 181 379 Comp-Att-Int 13-29-0 37-61-1 Return Yards 18 24 Punts-Avg.

5-40 5-31 Fumbles-Lost 2-1 3-3 Penalties-Yards 4-38 5-47 Time of Possession 26:50 33:10 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing: Penn, Bryant 5-111, Mathews 19-102, Recchiuti 7-58, Ambrogi 6-28, DeSmedt 4-13, Boaen 1- 2, McDermott 5-(minus-1). San Diego, Harney 25-77, Polk 2-2, Herron 1-2, J. Johnson 2-(minus 1), Mortensen 2-(minus 1 6). Passing: Penn, McDermott 13-27-0-181, Boaen 0- 2-0-0. San Diego, Mortensen 35-57-1-331, J.

Johnson 2-4-0-48. Receiving: Penn, Castles 3-62, Carre 3-37, Mathews 2- 50, Boyer 2-1 2, Robinson 1 -9, Marabella 1 -7, Mizell 1- 4. San Diego, Gasperson 8-100, Hannula 7-81, Harney 6-32, Owen 4-28, Garton 3-47, Polk 3-16, Doyle 2-9, Lazarus 1-45, Ramsey 1-10, Koller 1-8, J. Johnson 1-3. sive back who was one of 10 California Quakers for whom the trip was a homecoming, was in on two of the turnovers.

"It was real exciting for me," Middleton said. "I got to come home to California and play in front of all my family, and we got a good start to the season." Indeed they did. Contact staff writer Ron Reid at 21 5-854-4469 or rreidphillynews.com. hammered Lafayette, 66-0. The Penn defense was nearly as oppressive for Todd Morten-sen, the Toreros' 25-year-old quarterback, who was intercepted once, sacked twice, and seemed to be subjected to a thumping hit on each of his 57 pass attempts.

Evan Nolan, the Quakers' senior kicker, got in on the statistical barrage, booting the fifth-longest field goal in team history, from 49 yards. "You're always surprised because you don't know, going into it," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said of his team's start. "As the game wore on, our young players started gaining a little more composure, and we started to make some plays. Obviously, it's a terrific start for our kids." Bagnoli also had to be pleased with the work of junior quarterback Pat McDermott, who passed for 181 yards and two TDs without an interception in his second career start before sophomore Joey Boaen took over the offense for the last 20 minutes or so. Struggling against a Quakers defense that played strong in the early going and tougher as the game wore on, the Toreros played 13 minutes and 10 seconds before they recorded their initial first down and had managed only 44 rushing yards by halftime.

The Quakers also started slowly, but soon resumed the freewheeling style of play that had carried them to a 16-game win streak and last year's Ivy League championship. The tide started to turn late in the opening quarter, when the Quakers marched 68 yards in eight plays for their first touchdown of 2004. It came on a 2-yard smash by Mathews, who set up his scoring scamper when he took a pitch 26 yards through some confused Toreros defenders for a first down to the San Diego 5-yard line. "It definitely wasn't a bad way to start the season," Mathews said, speaking not only of his three-TD effort but also of the impressive backup work from Von Bryant, a sophomore RB who finished as the game's leading rusher, with 111 yards on five carries, and Michael Recchiuti, a senior who ran for two TDs, including a 3-yard bolt with 24 seconds left that finally ended the onslaught. "Our offensive line worked hard all year and they showed what they could do today," Mathews said.

"I just ran behind them." Mathews got his second touchdown a little more than two minutes after his first, powering his way to the end zone on the final yard of a seven-play, 25-yard drive. The Quakers got their short-field opportunity when Hadden, a senior linebacker, came free on a blitz for a 7-yard sack that forced the ball from Mortensen's grip. Middleton, the junior defen-.