Sacred Heart
St. Peter's
Pioneer Football Opens 2003 Season With Win
8/30/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 30, 2003
JERSEY CITY, NJ - Senior cornerback Pete Athans (Ocean, NJ) ran an interception return 51 yards for a touchdown and freshman receiver Alvin Franklin (New Haven, CT) caught his first career touchdown pass to help Sacred Heart University survive a lackluster offensive effort and hang on to a 24-19 win over St. Peter's College on Saturday night in a non-conference game.
Sacred Heart would finish the game with just 205 yards of total offense to 425 for the Peacocks, but the Pioneer defense made several big plays throughout the game to keep St. Peter's at bay.
The Pioneers broke the ice first on a 24-yard field goal by senior Greg Tonzola (Denville, NJ) just over two minutes into the game. The score was set up on an interception by junior Dave Morson (Ocean, NJ), who picked off an Andre Harris pass and returned it 26 yards to the St. Peter's 13.
St. Peter's took the lead with 7:19 to go in the first quarter on a 33-yard run by Sean Mayers. Mayers actually fumbled the handoff on the third and 14 play, but picked it up and ran around the left side for the score. The conversion attempt by senior kicker James Galea was blocked by Ron St. Juste (Stamford, CT) for the Pioneers.
It looked like the Pioneers would take the lead late in the first quarter when QB Joe Kroells (Burbank, CA) hit tailback Jason Healy (New Milford, NJ) with a middle screen and the junior took it 54 yards to the St. Peter's five. Three straight running plays got the Pioneers to inside the one and head coach Bill Lacey decided to go for it on fourth down. A sneak attempt by Kroells was stuffed by John Robinson and Mike Mann, giving the ball back to the Peacocks.
Sacred Heart took the lead back on an eight-play, 53-yard drive culminated by a two-yard run by sophomore Ed Pricolo (Johnston, RI). Kroells hooked up with junior tight end Mike Peshler (Hopkinton, MA) twice on the drive for big gains, the second a 20-yard strike that set up the score with a first and goal at the Peacock five.
Franklin (New Haven, CT) helped the Pioneers extend its lead to 17-6 when he caught a 12-yard touchdown pass from Kroells on a third down with 9:33 left in the third quarter. The score was made possible thanks to a controversial defensive holding call on third and long at the St. Peter's 25 that kept the drive alive.
On the next St. Peter's drive, Athans picked off Harris on the second play and took it 51 yards for the touchdown to make it 24-6.
Things continued to go bad for the Peacocks on the ensuing kickoff when the boot was fumbled by Rashon Wright and recovered by freshman Shaun Hunte (Shelton, CT) for the Pioneers at the St. Peter's 16. The Peacock defense stiffened, sacking Kroells twice. Tonzola attempted a 36-yard field goal on fourth down but it sailed wide left.
It looked like St. Peter's would cut into the SHU lead early in the fourth quarter when they had a first and goal at the five. Pioneer freshman defensive tackle William Hayden (Milford, PA) stopped Harris on fourth down from the one to stop the Peacocks and give the offense back the ball.
St. Peter's held Sacred Heart after the turnover and took over after a punt at the SHU 41. Harris hit junior receiver Brandon Edmonds for a four-yard TD pass with 7:47 left to close the gap to 24-12. A two-point conversion pass by Harris to Taylor failed.
Harris, who set a school record with 25 completions and ran for a game-high 137 yards, found Edmonds again with 1:00 left in the game, capping an 81-yard drive that took just five plays and 1:16 to make it 24-19. The biggest play on the drive was a 54-yard scamper by Harris.
The onside kick was recovered by Morson for the Pioneers and were able to run out the clock with the Peacocks out of timeouts.
