LORETTO, Pa. (Sept. 30, 2006) – Erik Cwalinski threw for three touchdowns, and Moises Hernandez ran for two more, to help the Robert Morris football team defeat Saint Francis University in both teams’ Northeast Conference openers before a regionally televised audience Saturday at DeGol Field.
Red Flash senior wide receivers Michael Caputo (Bethel Park, Pa. / Seton LaSalle) and Luke Palko (Imperial, Pa. / West Allegheny) broke the NCAA Division I-AA record for “most career passes caught by two players on the same team.” Caputo (203) had five catches and Palko (223) caught one to bring their combined career total 426, breaking a 20-year-old record formerly held by Texas Southern’s Darrell Colbert and Donald Narcisse, who combined for 420 catches during their careers.
Saint Francis senior quarterback Anthony Doria (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Seton LaSalle) also became the Northeast Conference’s all-time leading passer by throwing for 156 yards. He brought his career total to 7,350 yards, passing former Robert Morris QB Tim Levcik, who threw for 7,222 career yards.
Caputo also became the second player in school and conference history to 200 career catches. His 203 career catches are second to his teammate Palko (223).
The Red Flash dropped their fourth straight game to fall to 1-4 overall, and 0-1 in the NEC. They will try to rebound next Saturday with a 1 p.m. contest at Central Connecticut State.
The Colonials won the coin toss and marched down field for an 11-play, 56-yard drive to take a 7-0 lead 5 minutes, 40 seconds into the ballgame. Cwalinski hit Michael Rogers for the first of his two receiving touchdowns from 20 yards out. Rogers would add a 44-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter.
The Red Flash had their first drive stall at the Robert Morris 34-yard line before punting, but the defense came up with a big 3-and-out stand to get the ball right back.
Doria marched his offense down the field for their best drive of the day, capped off by a Doria to Caputo 8-yard strike. It was Doria’s 49th career touchdown pass, and Caputo’s 26th career receiving touchdown, both of which are program records. On the scoring drive, Doria hit Caputo with a 15-yard pass that broke the NCAA Division I-AA record for most career catches by two players on the same team, and the conference’s all-time passing record. Four plays later, Doria hit Caputo with the touchdown pass for his 200th career catch.
But the Colonials took their next possession in for a touchdown, and would never relinquish the lead. Saint Francis responded with an 11-play, 45-yard drive, resulting in a 36-yard field goal by junior placekicker Adam Sciulli (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Central Catholic) to make it 14-10, but that’s as close as the Red Flash would get the rest of the way.
Sciulli would add a 26-yard field goal later, giving him 11 straight successful field goal attempts. His two field goals gave him 20 for his career, one shy of tying the school mark.
Robert Morris (3-2, 1-0 NEC) held a 24-13 lead at halftime and buckled down on defense to outscore the Red Flash 21-0 in the second half. The Colonials were 9-of-13 on third down conversions and 5-of-5 on red zone scoring chances. Saint Francis was 3-of-3 inside the red zone, but converted on just 2-of-12 third down conversion opportunities.
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