The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 60

C18 Sports Boston Sunday Globe OCTOBER 22, 2006 College football New England roundup 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 BC 24, Florida St 19 -it I r'iVc? If No stopping iiiiiiiiiniiiiii 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 i 1 1 1 1 i Holy Cross 38, Lafayette 28 Fisher SUdhim, Easton, Pa. Holy Cross (6-2) 7 7 7 17 38 Lafayette (2-5) 7 7 28 Lai White 21 run (Ziska kick), 11:21. Laf Maurer 1 run (Ziska kick). 5:06. HC Randolph 1 run (Desantis kick), SI.

Laf Hurt 1 run (Ziska kick), 7:07. HC Brock 7 pass from Randolph (Desantis kick), 3:55. HC Maher 14 pass from Randolph (Desantis kick), 6:57. Laf Hurt 31 run (Ziska kick). 4:17.

HC Maher 7 pass from Randolph (Desantis kick), 14:44. HC Brock 11 pass from Randolph (Desantis kick), 12:24. HC-fG Desantis 20. 1:31. ears Vr, PHIL COALEASSOCIATED PRESS FSlPs Caz Piurowski can only watch as BC's Wes Davis scoops up his second-quarter fumble.

The turnover led to a TD. Win puts Eagles in sound position at Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee, Fla. TEAM STATISTICS- -BC FSU 19 2 17 0 21 49 326 48 32 2 354 69 5.1 4 47.5 1-17 6-91 5-35 2-1 9-17 0-1 31:31 FIRST DOWNS: Total- 7 Passing- Penalties- RUSHING: Attempts-Net yards gained PASSING: Net yards-Attempted Completed -32 91 .262 16 1 Had intercepted TOTAL OFFENSE: Yards-Plays, pass rush Avg. gain per play PUNTS: Number Average- -58 .5.6 41.8 PUNT RETURNS: 2-19 1-27 PENALTIES-yards 6-26 FUMBLES-lost 1-1 THIRD-DOWN CONVERSIONS3-11 FOURTH-DOWN CONVERSIONS-0-1 Possession time-. 28:29 Attendance: 83,043 SCORE BY PERIODS Boston College (6-1) 0 21 3 0 24 Florida State (4-3) 0 10 0 9 19 SCORING SUMMARY SECOND QUARTER FLORIDA ST.

3, BCD Cismesla 28-yd held goal, 1:32. Drive: 7 plays, 21 yards, 2:35. Key play: Williams 38-yard Interception return to BC 32. BC 7, FLORIDA ST. 3 Toal 1 run (Aponavicius kick) 8:53.

Drive: 2 plays, 1 yard, :58. Key play: Davis 15-yard return of Piurowski rumble to Florida St 1. FLORIDA ST. 10, BC 7 Can- 22 pass from Weatherford (Cismesla kick) 1051. Drive: 6 plays, 79 yards, 1:49.

Key play: Booker 43-yard catch-and-run to BC 17. BC 14, FLORIDA ST. 10 Whitworth 6 run (Aponavicius kick) 14:09. Drive: 8 plays. 73 yards.

3:06. Key play: A 15-yard roughing-the-punter penalty against Florida St giving BC first down at Florida St 48. BC21.aORIDAST.10 Tribble 36-yd int return (Aponavicius kick) 14:40. THIRD QUARTER BC 24, FLORIDA St 10 Aponavicius 26 yd field goal, 7:42. Drive: 10 plays, 64 yards, 4:19.

Key play: Robinson 44-yard catch to Florida St 16. FOURTH QUARTER BC 24, FLORIDA ST. 17 Weatherford 1 run (Cismesla kick) 1:24. Drive: 9 plays, 55 yards, 2:29. Key play: Carr 14-yard catch to BC 41.

BC 24, FLORIDA St 19 Safety 14:33. BC INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing Art. Yds. Avg. Lg TD 59 2.9 15 1 25 3.4 9 0 7 1.5 6 1 -10 0 0 -13 0 0 91 1.9 15 2 Passing Art Com.

Yds. TD Int Ryan 26 16 262 0 1 Pass receiving No. Yds. lb 15 44 48 21 16 25 7 48 Lg 0 36 36 Avg. 41.8 Ml 12 TO 0.

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TD 0 1 1 Lg 53 TD 0 TD 0 Lg 27 Smith. Tackles (solo, assists, sacks) Larkin 2-2-1, Aklns 2-2-0, Tribble 2-2-0, Rollins 3-0-0, Rail 2-1-0, Toal 0-3-0, Davis 1-1-0, Albright 1-1-0, Glasper 1-1-0, Giles 1-1-1, Belt 0-2-0, Willis 0-2-1, Smith 1-0-0. Ross 1-0-0, Anderson 1-0-0, Marten 1-0-0, Herzlich 1-0-0, Applegate 1-0-0, team 1-0-0. FSU INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing Art Yds. Avg.

Weatherford 13 26 Booker .2 10 Tackles (solo, assists, sacks) Williams 5-4-0. Watson 4-4-0, Fluellen 6-0-0, Davis 2-4-0, Rolle 0-5-0, Timmons 3-1-1, Garvin 3-0-0, Carter 2-1-0, Robinson 2-0-0, Brown 2-0-1, Guion 1-1-0, verdell 0-2-0, Overmyer 1-0-0, Wright 1-0-0. Burston 0-1-0, Thacker 0-1-0, McClure 0-1-0. brawl with Florida International. Duke (0-7, 0-5) had 380 total yards to Miami's 329 and nearly pulled off the huge upset after rallying from a 20-2 deficit with two touchdowns in the fourth quarter an 11-yard TD pass from Lewis to Raphael Chestnut, and a 7-yard TD run by Re'quan Boyette.

Virginia Tech 36, Southern Miss. 6 Branden Ore rushed for a career-high 207 yards and scored two touchdowns as the host Ho-kies (5-2) blasted the Eagles. Maryland 26, N.C State 20 Dan Ennis kicked four field goals and the host Terrapins (5-2, 2-1) converted two consecutive turnovers into 14 third-quarter points, then held off the Wolfpack (3-4, 2-2). Whitworth 18 Callender .7 Toal 4 team 1 Totals 32 Challenger 4 41 Robinson 3 67 Gonzalez 3 63 Purvis 2 34 Whitworth-: 2 25 Ross 1 25 Megwa -1 7 Totals 16 262 Interceptions No. Yds.

Anam 1 0 Tribble 1 36 Totals 2 36 Punting No. Yds. Ayers 4 167 Punt returns No. Yds. Tribble 2 19 Kkkoff returns No.

Yds. 1 27 lg TD 0.9 6 1 5.0 7 0 Surratt 1 8 8.0 8 0 Smith 4 5 1.2 3 0 Shaw 1 0 0 Totals 21 49 1.3 8 1 Passing Art. Com. Yds. TD Int Weatherford 48 32 326 1 2 Pass receiving No.

Yds. Lg TD Davis 10 100 19 0 Booker 8 75 43 0 Smith 6 62 21 0 Carr 3 41 22 1 Piurowski 3 23 13 0 Shaw 1 14 14 0 Fagg 1 11-11 0 Totals 32 326 43 1 Interceptions No. Yds. Lg TD Williams 1 38 38 0 Punting No. Yds.

Avg. Lg Gano 4 190 47.5 57 Punt returns No, Yds. Lg TD Davis 1 17 17 0 Kickoff returns No. Yds. Lg TD Shaw 4 60 21 0 Holloway 1 10 10 0 Parker 1 21 21 0 Totals 6 91 21 0 BC-FLORIDA STATE Continuedmm Page CI win." The victory, which came on the heels of BC's impressive 22-3 triumph over Virginia Tech last Thursday, enabled the Eagles (6-1 overall, 3-1 ACQ to become bowl eligible for an unprecedented eighth consecutive year and, coupled with North Carolina State's second consecutive conference loss, put BC squarely in the mix for the Atlantic Division title and a berth in the ACC championship game Dec.

2 in Jacksonville, Fla. "We lost one of these at N.C. State, and we got one back today" said BC coach Tom O'Brien, referring to a 17-15 setback Sept. 23 in Raleigh, N.C, where redshirt quarterback Daniel Evans beat the coverage of BC junior cornerback DeJuan Tribble with a 34-yard TD toss to John Dunlap with 8.5 seconds left. And so, when Florida State quarterback Drew Weatherford (32 of 48, 326 yards, 2 interceptions, 1 touchdown) dropped back on first down from the BC 42 and let fly a Hail Mary heave, everyone on BC's sideline seemed to have a nightmarish flashback.

"That was unbelieveable, I mean, Larry went up and made a great play," said junior linebacker Brian Toal, who scored on a 1-yard plunge to give BC a 7-3 lead with 6:07 left and then came up with a huge quarterback hurry on Weatherford that resulted in a fourth-and-4 incompletion from the BC 9 with 1:54 left. To make a play on that receiver a 6-foot-6 guy who could jump through the roof there wasn't much more you could ask Larry to do." Nor could the Eagles ask much more of junior quarterback Matt Ryan, who was listed as questionable and showed up for his regular press briefing Wednesday wearing a protective boot on his injured left foot. "I'm a guy who likes to think I'm going to play no matter what the situation is," said Ryan, who lltltlll lilt rill BC in 2006 RESULTS (6-1) At Central Clemson BYU 31-24 34-33 (20T) 30-23 (20T) 17-15 W.22-0 W.22-3 24-19 At N.C. State Maine- Virginia Tech At Florida State SCHEDULE Oct 28 Nov. 4 Nov.

11 Nov. 18 Nov. 23 Buffalo at Wake Forest Duke Maryland. at Miami .1 TBA TBA TBA .7:30 Attendance: 7,893. HC First downs 77 Laf 22 38-265 99 10-21-1 0 3-1 6-57 27:38 Rushes-yards- 352 Passing Comp-att-int Return yards Punts-Avg- 1-0 8-67 Fumbles-iost Penalties-yards- Possession- INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING-HC, Gass 6-25.

Kielt 10-22, R.Maher 7-10. McDermott 1-7, Hurst 1-1, Fanning 1-0, Randolph 5-(-9): Hurt 22-157, White 6-63, Maurer 9-40, Russo 1-5. PASSING-HC, Randolph 34-46-0-352; Maurer 10-21-1-99. RECEIVING-HC, R.Maher 9-97, McDermott 7-64, Brock 6-79, Harrison 4-44, Fanning 3-23, J. Maher 2-24, Kielt 2-14, Gass 1-7; Ort 4-49, Hurt 3-18, Adair 2-24, Ganascloll 1-8.

A point is made byHC By Chris Courogen WORCESTER TELEGRAM GAZETTE EASTON, Pa. Even though they had the best record in the Patriot League, there were more than a few folks who doubted the Holy Cross football team. Despite a 5-2 mark, and a 2-0 start in the league, those doubters figured HC would get knocked off its perch atop the standings as soon as it ran into some of the league's better teams. Doubt the Crusaders no more. While yesterday's come-from-behind 38-28 win at two-time defending champ Lafayette does not come close to giving Holy Cross a league title, it certainly stamps the Crusaders as contenders.

"People have criticized us that we haven't had any quality wins Lafayette is a quality team," Holy Cross coach Tom Gilmore said "A win against them is a really big win for us. It shows we can compete against the quality teams in the Patriot League." On its first two possessions, Lafayette pushed the ball down the field with ease. The Leopards didn't even face a third down until after jumping to a 14-0 lead, piling up 159 yards of offense and 14 first downs in the opening quarter. After a three-and-out on its first possession, when the Crusaders lost 17 yards thanks to a 13-yard sack, Holy Cross' offensive line began to give quarterback Dominic Randolph time to throw, and he began to pick apart the Lafayette secondary. By the half, Randolph had connected on 13 of 18 passes for 137 yards and a touchdown.

The sophomore was just warming up, though. By the end of the game, Randolph had thrown for 352 yards and four touchdowns, both career highs. His 34 completions (on 46 throws) set a school record. Randolph hooked up with eight receivers, usually after checking off the first option or two. "We gave him too much time," Lafayette coach Frank Tava-ni said.

"The guy was standing back there forever." Often running sets with one back and four wideouts, Holy Cross constantly created receiver-on-linebacker mismatches. "Dom finds the open man. You can't cover everybody in our offense," said Ryan Maher, Randolph's favorite target on the day. He finished with nine catches for 97 yards and two scores. After trailing, 21-14, at the half, Holy Cross tied the game on Maher's first TD catch, a 14-yarder with 6:57 to play in the third quarter.

Lafayette came right back, going 74 yards on seven plays to retake the lead on a 31-yard rumble by tailback Jonathan Hurt. Hurt, second in rushing in the league, ran for 157 yards and two scores. Holy Cross answered by taking the next possession 70 yards on 1 1 plays, capped by a 7-yard Randolph pass to Maher. On the ensuing kickoff, Holy Cross' Randy Wright put a big hit on Lafayette return man Tim Watson, knocking the ball loose at the Leopards' 29, where the Crusaders' Sean Lamkin fell on it. Five plays later, Randolph found Jon Brock for 11 yards and what proved to be the winning score.

"I am really proud of the way our guys responded," Gilmore said. "It looked like it was going to be a lopsided game." Golden Bears (4-3, 2-3) clipped the Gulls (44, 3-2) in Springfield. Maine Maritime 40, Framingham St 24 Brand Hamilton ran for 154 yards and a two touchdown for the Mariners (5-2, 4-1), who kept the host Rams (0-7, 0-5) win-less. Coast Guard 17, Worcester St 10 Quarterback Christian George ran for 172 yards on 20 carries as the host Bears (6-1, 5-0) fended off the Lancers (3-5, 2-3). NESCAC Williams 38, Tufts 14 The Ephs spread the wealth on offense, scoring touchdowns and their first four possessions and cruising to victory in Somerville to remain the conference's only unbeaten team.

Cory Catelli ran for two touchdowns for the Ephs (5-0), who won their 11th straight and improved to 18-0-2 over Tufts over the past 20 years. Medfield's Brad Ricketson scored on an 89-yard run for the Jumbos (3-2), the longest run by a Tufts player since 1988. Trinity 34, Bowdoin Lynn's Eric McGrath threw three touchdown passes as the visiting Bantams (4-1) blanked the winless Polar Bears (0-5). Dave Donahue had 13 solo tackles for Bowdoin, which was shut out for the third straight game. Led by McGrath's 262 yards passing, Trinity gained 520 yards in total offense.

Everett's Germaro Leo had 120 rushing yards for Trinity. Hamilton 6, Colby Ben Sacco-mano threw a touchdown pass on the first play after a turnover, and visiting Continentals (2-3) posted their second straight shutout in a blanking of the White Mules (14). Hamilton put the only points on the board in the second quarter after Matt Pitarresi intercepted a pass at the Continentals' 23 and raced 52 yards to the Colby 25. On the next play, Saccomano hit Ben Tomaszewski on a 25-yard passing score. Amherst 23, Wesleyan Nick Kehoe tossed two touchdown passes to Mark Harmon, and Rob Grammar returned an interception 38 yards for a TD as the visiting Jeffs (4-1) blanked the Cardinals.

Grammar's TD enabled the Jeffs to improve on their Division 3-best 5.8 points per game scored by their defense. Middlebury 31, Bates 7 Tiger Lyon passed for three touchdowns and ran for another for the host Panthers (4-1), who used third-quarter TD receptions from David Randolph and Christopher Schmidt to pull away from the Bobcats (0-5). Other N.E. Springfield 55, Fisher 38 A record-setting performance by Chris Sharpe helped the Pride win a showdown of unbeaten Empire 8 rivals in Pittsford, NY. Sharpe, a quarterback from Derry, N.H., scored a school-record seven rushing touchdowns and ran for a school-record 280 yards on 26 carries as the Pride (7-0, 3-0), ranked 17th in Division 3, outlasted the 14th-ranked Cardinals (7-1, 3-1).

Mount Ida 21, Hartwick 20 Kyle Watkins caught a 9-yard touchdown pass from fellow freshman Corey Sullivan with 29 seconds remaining, as the Mustangs (4-3) edged the Hawks (2-5) in Newton. Rochester 34, WPI 7 Matt Bie-lecki rushed for 177 yards and two touchdowns and Aaron Molisani threw three touchdown passes as the Yellowjackets (5-2, 3-1 Liberty) sent the Engineers (2-4, 04) to their fourth straight loss. Alfred 24, Husson 7 Paul Kee-ley's three touchdown passes carried the Saxons (6-1) over the Braves (44) in Bangor, Maine. Central Conn. 27, Wagner 6 Justise Hairston posted his sixth 100-yard game of the season, running for 151 yards and a touchdown as the Blue Devils (6-2, 2-2 Northeast Conference) rolled in New Britain, Conn.

Western Conn. 10, College of N.J. 3 In Danbury, Jeff Ward ran 8 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter to lift the Colonials (5-2, 2-2 New Jersey Athletic Gordon, Maine win third straight FROM STAFF AND WIRE SERVICES Running and stopping the run are matters of pride for Maine. Yesterday, in a 21-10 victory over visiting Hofstra, the Black Bears continued to be efficient at both. With Arel Gordon running for 100 or more yards for a conference-leading fifth time, and Maine's defense holding its opponent to negative yardage on the ground for the second straight game, the Black Bears earned their third straight victory and remained tied for first place with UMass in the Atlantic 10's North Division.

Hofstra quarterback Dennis Davis came off the bench in the second quarter with his team trailing, 21-0, and led the Pride to 10 unanswered points on his first two drives. But the Black Bears (5-2, 4-0) sacked him twice in the second half and held Hofstra (2-5, 1-3) to minus-9 yards rushing in the game. Maine, ranked 19th in Division 1-AA, scored on a fake field goal in the second quarter when holder Michael Brusko took a direct snap and run 5 yards into the end zone to give the Black Bears a 21-0 lead. Gordon's 6-yard scoring run and a 5-yard keeper by quarterback Ron Whitcomb accounted for Maine's earlier scores. Gordon ran for 1 1 8 yards on 20 carries.

Northeast-lO Bryant 41, Saint Anselm There wasn't much doubt whether Lorenzo Perry would enjoy his 13th 100-yard game for the Bulldogs. The senior ran for a 54-yard touchdown early in the first quarter, his first of three TD carries, and finished with 224 yards on 19 carries as Bryant (6-2, 6-2) routed the Hawks (0-8, 0-7) in Smithfield, R.I. Charles Granatell threw a pair of TD passes for Bryant, including one to Perry. Ryan Drago ran for 105 yards to lead Saint Anselm. Merrimack 34, Assumption 12 Jordan Rankine and J.D.

Wild returned first-quarter interceptions for touchdowns as the host Warriors (5-3, 5-2) pulled away from the Greyhounds (3-5, 3-5) en route to their fourth straight win. Mike Young ran for 119 yards and a touchdown for the Warriors. Bentley 13, Stonehill 7 Gloucester's Kyle Goodwin caught a 36-yard touchdown pass, and And-over's Sean Smith returned his second interception 59 yards for a score as the Falcons (44, 3-4) subdued the Skyhawks (1-7, 1-6) in Waltham. AIC 7, Pace Marlon Beckles rushed a 25-yard touchdown in the first quarter en route to 194 yards on 36 carries for the Yellow Jackets (5-2, 5-2), who held the Setters (3-5, 2-5) to 146 yards of offense in Springfield. N.E.

Conference Curry 40, Plymouth St 26 Ryan Van De Giesen threw three touchdown passes, two to Felix Boruk-hov, and Tim Bloniasz intercepted two passes as the visiting Colonels (8-0, 5-0) pulled away from the host Panthers (2-5, 2-3). John DeMarco threw for two TDs and ran for another for Plymouth State. Bridgewater St 28, Westfield St 13 Methuen's Matt Marron ran for 128 yards and a touchdown, and Mansfield's Bruce Burley rushed for 124 yards and a score as the host Bears (5-2, 4-1) outlasted the Owls (1-6, 1-4). UMass-Dartmouth 28, Nichols 14 Alex Garro passed for 138 yards and three touchdowns and J.T. Harold ran for 204 yards and a score as the Corsairs (5-2, 4-1) rallied for a victory over the Bison (4-3, 3-2) in Dudley.

MIT 40, Salve Regina 25 In a battle of winless teams, Rick Man-cuso threw three touchdown passes for the Engineers (2-5, 14), who scored touchdowns on their final five possessions to soar past the Seahawks (1-6, 0-5) in Newport, R.I. WNEC 3, Endicott After missing two attempts, James Farrell slit the uprights with a 24-yard field goal with 4:41 to play as the completed 16 of 26 passes for 262 yards and one interception, despite getting sacked twice and clocked once in BC's end zone just after he let fly a 48-yard strike to Tony Gonzalez on third down at the end of the third quarter. "Sometimes that might be to a fault," Ryan added, "but I woke up expecting to play, and if not, I was prepared to go into another role. But, fortunately, I did feel good enough to go and I'm glad that we got a win." "There isn't a quarterback I've seen in this conference better than him," said O'Brien of Ryan, who expects to play in next week's non-conference home game against Buffalo. "Matt, he's our Tom Brady," said junior running back L.V.

Whitworth, who rushed 18 times for game-high 53 yards and scored on a 6-yard run that sparked a 14-point flurry in the final 51 seconds before intermission, with Tribble's game-changing 36-yard interception return coming 31 seconds later for a 21-10 halftime lead. "He's cool under pressure and he knows all the defenses and he knew all the looks that we got from Florida State. He's a great quarterback." "I don't know if L.V. knows what he's talking about," said Ryan, laughing off the comparison. "Have you seen Tom Brady play? If that's what L.V.

thinks, then I'm glad he holds me in that esteem." Steve Aponavicius extended BC's lead to 24-10 with a 26-yard field goal that capped a 10-play, 64-yard march with 7:18 left in the third. It provided the buffer the Eagles would need in the fourth quarter when Weatherford scored on a i-yard plunge to pull the Seminoles within 24-17 with 13:36 left. After a 17-play, 68-yard march by the Seminoles came to a halt at the BC 9, BC's offense took over and was forced to punt from its own end zone, prompting O'Brien to take an intentional safety as a way to safeguard against a catastrophic turnover and kill some clock, leaving the Seminoles with just 17 seconds to cover 55 yards. "I think it's a big win," Toal said. "To come down to Tallahassee and beat Florida State, not too many teams have done that before.

I think it makes us for real in the ACC. I think people are going to start to respect us more. We beat Clemson two years in a row, we beat Florida State and we beat Virginia Tech last week. I think teams are going to start to realize that, hey, BC's not that bad." Michael Vega can be reached at vegagbbe.com added a 50-yard scoring run in the third quarter and answered the Yellow Jackets' (5-2, 3-1) only score with a 50-yard catch and run to help Clemson to its sixth straight victory. Miami 20, Duke 15 Willie Cooper intercepted Thad Lewis's pass at the goal line as time expired, and the shorthanded Hurricanes held off the upset-minded Blue Devils at Durham, N.C, in the Hurricanes' first game since last week's ugly on-field fight.

Kyle Wright had two touchdown passes to Sam Shields for Miami (5-2, 2-1), which nearly blew an 18-point lead and was without 13 players suspended for taking part in last week's nasty Clemson dominates Georgia Tech ASSOCIATED PRESS There's no doubt who's tops in the Atlantic Coast Conference right now. James Davis ran for a career-high 216 roundup yards, C.J. Spiller scored two 50-yard touchdowns, and No. 12 Clemson held Georgia Tech star Calvin Johnson without a catch for the first time in his career in a surprisingly easy 31-7 victory over the 13th-ranked Yellow Jackets last night in Clemson, S.C. Davis, the ACC's leading rusher, got the Tigers (7-1, 4-1) scoring started with a 2-yard TD run and finished with his seventh career 100-yard rushing game.

Spiller.