FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 16, 2004
UMass Dartmouth invited to ECAC Division III Northwest
Bowl Game to be played at Ithaca (NY) College, Nov. 20
(Dartmouth, MA) – For the third consecutive season, the UMass Dartmouth football team’s regular season has been extended into the post season. Coach Bill Kavanaugh’s Corsairs were invited to play in the 2004 ECAC Northwest Championship game to be played at Ithaca College on Saturday, November 20. Game time at Ithaca College’s Butterfield Stadium (5,000) is 12:30 pm
The ECAC invitation is the second in as many seasons for the Corsairs, who finished the 2004 regular season with a 7-3 overall record and were ranked #9 in the final New England Division III Football Poll. Last season, the Corsairs defeated Worcester State College, 21-7, in an ECAC Northeast Championship Bowl game played at Cressy Field. Two seasons ago, UMass Dartmouth captured the New England Football Conference championship and earned the Corsairs’ first appearance in the NCAA Division III Football Championship Tournament.
Coach Bill Kavanaugh’s (15th season, 94-54 career) Corsairs will have their hands full with an Ithaca College team which finished with an 8-2 overall record . Coach Mike Welsh’s(10th season, 88-32 career) Bombers were ranked #7 in the most recent ECAC Lambert Division III poll of teams and were ranked 19th nationally heading into the final week of the regular season. Welsh’s Bombers are no strangers to post season play, having reached the third round of the NCAA Tournament on three occasions.
Ithaca College finished in a first-place tie with St. John Fisher at 5-1, but lost the Empire Eight’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament in a tie-breaker for the conference title by virtue of losing a 45-38 double overtime game to St. John Fisher earlier in the season. Springfield College (7-2), which is hosting Fitchburg State College in an ECAC North Atlantic Championship game on Saturday, finished third in the Empire 8 with a 4-2 record. Springfield College was ranked #3 in the final New England poll and #9 in the Lambert Poll. Fitchburg State (8-3 overall, #8 in New England) lost last week’s New England Football Conference championship game to Curry College, 17-7.
The Corsairs are led on offense by the NEFC Offensive Rookie of the Year freshman wide receiver Corey Williams (Billerica, MA). Williams earned NEFC Honorable Mention as a freshman with a record breaking season, hauling in 50 receptions for 981 yards, an average of 19.6 yards per catch (3rd in NEFC) and an average of five catches per game. The 981 receiving yards were a record for a UMass Dartmouth receiver. Williams’ 98.1 yards receiving per game ranked him second in the NEFC.
Williams was the favorite target of Corsair senior quarterback Val Teixeira (Dorchester, MA), who despite missing two games at mid-season with an injury still connected on 103 passes in 213 attempts for 1,393 yards, and nine TDs. Teixeira’s 174.1 yards passing per game were fourth best in the NEFC and his 109.7 passing efficiency rating was fifth best in the conference. An NEFC Honorable Mention selection at quarterback, Teixeira also picked up 103 yards rushing to bring his total offense to 1,499 yards in eight games, ranking him fourth overall in the league.
Although the Corsairs didn’t have a running back finish in the top ten rushing, as a team, UMass Dartmouth’s running attack averaged 160.1 yards per game, 7th in the NEFC. Behind the blocking of NEFC Second Team guard sophomore Rob Cunningham (Melrose, MA), the Corsairs’ only NEFC All- Star on offense, sophomores Jamison Humphries (Longmeadow, MA) and Jon Tadeau (Fairhaven, MA) split the ball-carrying duties with each going over 100 yards in a game during the second half of the season.
As has been the Corsairs’ trademark over the last three seasons, defense has been the key to success for UMass Dartmouth. The Corsairs allowed only 13.5 points per game (3rd in NEFC) and were fifth in total defense, allowing 266 yards per game. UMass Dartmouth was seventh against the run (160.1) and fifth against the pass (149.4 yards per game).
The Corsair defense was led by the NEFC’s third-leading tackler, junior linebacker Mike Bleakley (Westminster, MA). Another NEFC Honorable Mention for the Corsairs, Bleakley led the Corsairs with 10.4 tackles per game. Among the other top Corsair defenders were junior line backer Louis Lopes (Norwood, MA) (seven tackles per game, tied for 15th) and NEFC Honorable Mention senior linebacker Jason Berroa (Lynn, MA) (6.5 tackles per game, 24th in NEFC) Second Team All- NEFC senior defensive end Tom Akillian was fourth in the NEFC with seven sacks and was 7th in tackles for a loss with 14 on the season for a total of 76 yards. As a team, the Corsairs were +7 in turnovers, with 12 fumbles and 13 pass interceptions for 25 turnovers gained against eight fumbles lost and 10 interceptions.
Ithaca enters the post season on the heels of a 47-22 victory over Cortland State last Saturday. The Bombers scored the game's last 24 points to turn a close game into a rout, regaining the "Cortaca Jug" traveling trophy in front of an estimated crowd of 9,000. Junior quarterback Josh Felicetti (Doylestown, Pa.) threw for 299 yards and tied a career-high with four touchdown passes. He raised his career totals to 5,472 yards and 418 completions, breaking the program's all-time records in both categories. Felicetti threw a pair of touchdown passes to senior tight end Vince Dargush (Amsterdam) in the game's first 20 minutes with sophomore Brett Kitenplon (Seminole, Fla.) adding a 39-yard field goal in between. Dargush finished with four catches and raised his season total to 41, breaking the school record for single-season tight end receptions.
Felicetti's 25-yard touchdown pass to senior fullback Jamie Free (Brookfield, Conn.) helped the Bombers take a 23-7 lead. Sophomore running back Jamie Donovan (Washington, D.C.), who ran for 203 yards, scored on a 14-yard run. Donovan raised his season - and career total - to 1,059 yards, becoming the fastest Bomber to reach 1,000 career yards and recording the program's fifth-best single-season total. The Bomber defense, which held the Red Dragons to 218 yards of total offense - just 80 on the ground - was led by junior middle linebacker Jose Colon (Utica, NY), who collected six tackles for loss among his 11 tackles. Sophomore free safety Charlie Stephens (Westport, Conn.) added eight tackles. Senior defensive tackle Alex Shafiro (New Rochelle) finished with six tackles (four for loss) and a pair of pass break-ups. Terlecki also collected his first career interception.
Game notes: UMass Dartmouth has never played Ithaca College in football before this year’s game. Some Corsair football fans will be familiar with the upstate New York region, dating back to a 1994 trip by UMass Dartmouth to Union College in the 1994 ECAC Northwest Bowl game. Despite a 34-14 loss to the Dutchmen, it was the Corsairs’ first post-season invitation after earning a share of the NEFC championship.....UMass Dartmouth’s overall season record was 7-3, including a season-opening 37-13 loss to Division II Merrimack College......The Corsairs’ punting game has been solid this season with Derek Bealby (Peterborough, MA) averaging 37.4 yards per punt, third best in the NEFC......Wayne Homol (Swansea, MA) was among the top kick returners in the NEFC, finishing fifth in kickoff returns (21.7 yards/kick) and sixth in punt returns (9.6 yards/kick)......The UMass Dartmouth defense ranked #1 in the NEFC in fourth down conversions. Corsair opponents were successful in only five of 23 fourth-down attempts.
{Ithaca College information provided by Ithaca Sports Information Department}
