Hail to the Wolverines

Box Score

ALLENTOWN, Pa. - Shane McSweeny and Sean McAndrew broke a 7-0 game open with a Hail Mary to end the first half and Wesley College rode a stingy defense in the second half on its way to a 20-0 shutout win over Muhlenberg in the first round of the NCAA Division III Football Championship.  

Sean Matthews (Pennsauken, N.J./Roman Catholic {Pa.}) and Marcus Wilson (Pennsauken, N.J./Camden Catholic) led a stingy defense that limited Division III's fourth leading rusher, John DeLuca, to just 30 yards on 14 carries.  Both players made eight tackles in the game, while Matthews was in on a sack and recovered a fumble, while Wilson intercepted one pass and broke up two others.

End Josh Nevid also had a big day for the Wesley (9-1) defense making 4.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks as the Wolverines eliminated Muhlenberg (9-2) from the playoffs for the second straight year.

The game started slowly for both offenses, as neither team moved the chains for a first down until a 10-yard run by Aaron Jackson (New Brunswick, N.J./North Brunswick) on Wesley's third possession. 

After that possession ended with a Wesley punt, the Mules offense caught some life.  Muhlenberg embarked on a 16-play drive kept alive by a 27-yard gain by Codie Bender on a fake punt that put the Mules on Wesley's 38.  Muhlenberg kept inching along and sat on the Wolverine 13 after the 15th play of the possession.  But Michael Katz's field goal went wide left and the teams remained deadlocked at 0-0 with 14:04 left in the half.

Wesley's next possession went 75 yards in 14 plays, but like the Mules, Wesley missed a field goal, this one from 22 yards with just over six minutes left in the second quarter.

The Wolverine defense forced another punt and the offense took over at its own 41.  After a pass interference penalty on Muhlenberg, Larry Beavers (Annapolis, Md./Annapolis) gained 22 yards on a reverse and Jackson rushed around the left side for a 22-yard touchdown to open the scoring as Wesley claimed a 7-0 lead with 2:49 to go in the half.

On third and eight on the next series, Eric Santagato hit Bobby Bushong for 25 yards despite a bone jarring hit from Wilson on the play.  Later in the drive on fourth and seven, Santagato was pushed out of bounds just short of the first down marker and Wesley had the ball with 39 seconds to spare in the half.

McSweeny (Bensalem, Pa./Bensalem) scrambled for eight yards, then hit Jon Lanouette (Wilmington, Del./Newark) for 18 yards and Wesley moved to the Muhlenberg 42.  A delay of game penalty pushed the Wolverines back before McSweeny gained two back before getting out of bounds with just 0.6 to go.  McSweeny dropped back, slid to his right and heaved the ball into the hands of a leaping McAndrew (Lanoka Harbor, N.J./Lacey Township) brought it down in the back of the end zone with no time left in the half.  The extra point was blocked as Wesley carried a 13-0 lead into the break.

Mike Asiedu (Yonkers, N.Y./Gorton) picked up his first career sack and forced a Santagato fumble on the third play of the third quarter.  Matthews jumped on the ball and Wesley took over at the Mules' 23.

On second and goal from the seven, Lanouette snatched a McSweeny pass out of the hands of a Muhlenberg defender as the Wolverine's lead grew to 20-0 with 11:23 left in the third quarter.

Later in the period, the Mules began to put together some offense as Santagato completed five straight passes to move the ball to the Wesley 39.  But Nevid came up with a sack on second down and Wilson intercepted the Mule quarterback and returned the ball 58 yards to the Muhlenberg 17 on the next play.

The Wolverines missed a 31-yard field goal at the end of the drive with just 26 seconds remaining.

Most of the second quarter was chewed up by a 15-play Muhlenberg drive that ended in a turnover on downs and a 6:14 possession by Wesley that left just seven seconds on the game clock.

After rushing for over 200 yards in the win over Muhlenberg in 2007, Jackson topped the century mark with 106 yards on 25 carries.

McSweeny completed 9-of-14 passes for 133 yards and two touchdowns.  The sophomore signal caller gained 53 more yards with his legs on 13 rushes.

Lanouette caught four passes for 60 yards.

Santagato led the Mules with 61 yards on the ground and completed 17-of-37 passes for 129 yards and one interception.  Ed DeRisi caught seven passes for 51 yards.

On defense, William Moates and Mark Accomando made eight tackles apiece. 

With the win, Wesley will travel to Belton, Texas to face the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in the round of 16 on November 29.  The Cru' used a 33-yard field goal with five seconds left to esape with a 38-35 win over visiting Hardin-Simmons.

Notes:  Lanouette ran his career record for receptions to 147...He also tied Joe Able (1998, 00-02) for sixth in the Wesley annals with 24 touchdown receptions...Jackson became the ninth Wolverine with 20 career rushing touchdowns and tied Jabbar Truitt (1997-00) for eight on Wesley's all-time list...Matthews moved into sixth at Wesley with 29.5 tackles for loss...Next weekend will mark the fourth time in as many seasons that Wesley and Mary Hardin-Baylor have faced off in the playoffs...The shutout was Wesley's second of 2008 (Apprentice, 48-0) and second all-time in the playoffs.  The Wolverines shut out Carnegie-Mellon 37-0 in the second round in 2006.

Quotes: 
Head Coach Mike Drass on the Hail Mary at the end of the first half:  "I talked to Coach Knapp and he said let's throw one into the end zone and see what happens." 

Head Coach Mike Drass on the weather conditions:  "I think what you saw was that whichever team had the wind in its favor, its defense played better."  

Tight end Sean McAndrew on the Hail Mary at the end of the first half:  "I just kind of snuck behind everyone and the ball kept sailing over them."