Youthful Red Flash Football Squad Shows Promise In Scrimmage at IUP
INDIANA, Pa. (Aug. 30, 2007) – The Saint Francis University football team got their 2007 season underway by participating in a scrimmage contest against the Indiana University (Pa.) Crimson Hawks on Thursday evening at George P. Miller Stadium.
The Red Flash first string offense struggled early, but played better in the second quarter, and the defense showed marked improvement from last season. IUP’s starting offense scored two late touchdowns against the Saint Francis reserves and won on a final 36-0 tally.
Redshirt freshman quarterback George Little (Duquesne, Pa. / Duquesne) finished 6-of-20 for 81 yards in limited action. He played increasingly better as he got comfortable against IUP’s stingy defense, which is expected to be one of the best in Division II this season. Before the game, coaches from both teams agreed that quarterbacks were off limits as far as being hit. Plays were whistled dead when a defender was nearby.
“The score of this scrimmage does not indicate the progress we have made as a team on both sides of the ball,” said SFU head coach Dave Opfar. “We made a couple early mistakes that led to 16 IUP points in the first half. Some of our teams in the past may have caved in after that, but our first string guys came right back out and played toe-to-toe with IUP for the remainder of the first half. We rested them in the second half to keep our health for the regular season. I am excited about this team, and the potential that it has. We can’t wait to open the season next Saturday at home.”
The defense showed signs of early promise from their freshman linebackers early in the game, namely Matthew Parker (Darlington, Pa./Blackhawk) and Scott Lewis (South Fork, Pa./Bishop McCort). In the first half, Lewis took over the linebacker position and demonstrated that he means business in his first bout donning a Saint Francis uniform. Lewis not only led the defense with 8 tackles (2 for losses), but he had one pass deflection in the second quarter, and registered his first interception the very next play. Lewis also forced a fumble late in the second half, leading to a Fehi Sevelo (Kaneohe, Hawaii/Damion Memorial) recovery. Parker, the other half of the youthful defensive charge, tallied four tackles in a smash-mouth demeanor. Another notable statistic on the defensive side was the aggressive play from redshirt freshman Jude Yearwood, (Elkridge, Md./Howard) adding five tackles in the second half. Opfar limited Lewis’ and Parker’s playing time in the second half; demonstrating a sign that Opfar will be relying heavily on their defensive aptitude in the regular season.
In total, the Red Flash first string offense played the entire first half, and midway into the third quarter. The SFU defense played the first half, and one series in the second half.
The first few offensive drives led by new starting signal-caller Little were a bit unsound at first. But once he became a bit more comfortable under center, he connected on a couple of strikes to junior wide receiver Antoine Rivera (Willingboro, N.J./Willingoboro) and Troy Eison (Shelton, Conn./Shelton) for 37 and 28 yards, respectively. Rivera finished with two catches for 41 yards, and Eison totaled 39 yards on two grabs.
On the first punt of the game for the Red Flash, a low snap to junior Bobby Fuller (Mount Savage, Md./Beall) turned into a Crimson Hawk block right on the goal line. IUP’s Cosie Spigelmeyer came away with the ball in the midst of the scrum and found his way in for the first score of the game at 13:46 in the first quarter. The score remained 6-0 on a botched snap during the extra point try. SFU went three-and-out on the subsequent drive, but senior defensive back Andrew Ardestani (Oakmont, Pa./Riverview) recovered a fumble on the first play of the Crimson Hawks’ next possession. The Red Flash couldn’t convert any points on the turnover, and on IUP’s next offensive possession, bulky Kareem Dutrieulle bowled his way through the line and scored on a 23-yard run at 7:43 in the first quarter. Matt McNelis tacked on the bonus try to give IUP a 13-0 advantage. A few drives later, McNelis put a 40-yard field goal through the uprights at 1:11 in the first stanza to move the lead to 16-0.
In the middle of the second quarter, Lewis picked off IUP quarterback Andrew Krewatch, instilling some confidence in Little’s offense. Little found Rivera down the middle for a 37-yard toss; the Red Flash’s longest play from scrimmage of the first half. At 5:34 in the second, senior placekicker Adam Sciulli (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic) came on for a 52-yard attempt, booting it just shy of the crossbar. Shortly after in the second quarter, Lewis added to his impressive first half debut by forcing a fumble, which was then scooped by Sevelo. After each team went 3-and-out on their following series, Little found Eison for a 28-yard strike, but that was all the Flash could put together as the first half came to a close.
IUP’s third possession of the second half lead to a 7 play, 75-yard drive, capped off by a Ken Witter touchdown reception from Krewatch at 6:04 of the third quarter. The Crimson Hawks marched down the field later in the 3rd quarter, finishing off the drive on a nice 17-yard Anthony Rodriguez reception, making the score 29-0 (extra point blocked). The final tally of the game came on a 54-yard bomb from Krewatch to Leo Wood for the only play of the drive.
Little commanded the field for the first half and much of the third quarter, but Opfar utilized some of his younger and less experienced talent in the second half, giving senior running back Anthony Richards (Parlin, N.J./Cardinal McCarrick) a breather and seeing what Calvin Williams’ (Cleveland, Ohio./South High School) and Gawain Bragg’s (Slickersville, N.J./Winslow Township) legs had to offer in a back-up role. SFU junior quarterback Matt Davis (Arnold, Md./Saint Mary’s) got some work in towards the final ticks of the third frame. He ended up finding sophomore tight end Matt Martella (Portage, Pa./Portage) on a nice bootleg for ten yards. Yearwood put forth his best efforts in returning a couple kicks for the special teams unit, as well, breaking out for 39 total yards.
Freshman linebacker Ryan Shepard (Kittanning, Pa. / Kittanning) had four tackles, including one for loss, in limited action.
The highlight for the Red Flash in Thursday evening’s scrimmage was the eye-opening energy exuded from the freshman corps of defenders led by Lewis and Parker. The lopsided score certainly did not represent the efforts of the Flash’s defensive performance early on the game.
The Saint Francis football team will embark upon their regular season when they square off at home against non-conference Morehead State at 1 p.m. on Sept. 8, at DeGol Field. This will be the second time in three seasons that the two squads open their schedules against one another. The game can be heard live on The EDGE 1400 AM, and a link to listen will be available at www.goRedFlash.com.