April 21, 2007

The Duquesne defense, led by senior linebacker John Simmons (Pittsburgh, Pa./Plum), senior defensive end Travis Decker (Allentown, Pa./Parkland) and sophomore safety John Guthrie (Bethel Park, Pa./Seton-La Salle) recorded 14 sacks (two points each) and scored on an interception return to post a 55-29 win over the offense in the annual Red/Blue game at Rooney Field on Saturday.

Scoring was based on a point system that awarded various plays on both offense and defense with the first team offense going against the first team defense, second team offense against the second team defense and so on.

The game, which was played on a picture-perfect afternoon, brought spring practice to a close for the Dukes.

"The offense came out and executed early on, but the defense fought back and was able to make plays late in the first half," said Dukes head coach Jerry Schmitt. "Both sides really competed, and that's what you like to see in spring ball."

Junior quarterback Scott Knapp (Pittsburgh, Pa./Perry Traditional Academy), who looked sharp in completing 7-of-11 passes for 146 yards, found All-America receiver Bruce Hocker (Upper Marlboro, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) for a 47-yard gain on the game's first play to set up a three-play scoring drive capped by a 19-yard touchdown run by junior running back Dennis Void (Bronx, N.Y./Mt. St. Michael Academy/Chabot CC).

On the first team offense's third possession, Knapp completed a pair of passes for 66 yards and Void carried five times for 11 yards including a one-yard plunge to end a seven-play, 77-yard drive. A 61-yard pass from Knapp to Conrad Carter (Clinton, Md./Archbishop Carroll) on third-and-three gave the Dukes first-and-goal from the nine - setting up Void's touchdown.

The defense, which had just one sack on the offense's first six possessions, posted four sacks on the next five plays from scrimmage to end the half with a 23-19 lead.

The offense did not score in the second half, with the only touchdown coming on a 55-yard Guthrie interception return of a Jake Mitchell (Windermere, Fla./The First Academy) pass.

Freshman defensive lineman Frank Marano (Northampton, Pa./Northampton), playing with the second team defense, recorded a game-high 4.5 sacks. Second team linebacker junior Jason Knight (Pittsburgh, Pa./Gateway) led all defenders with 6.5 tackles (5 solo).

Void led all rushers with 54 yards on 10 carries including the touchdown runs of 19 and one yard. Freshman Silas Wonderling, playing with the second- and third-team offense, added 44 yards on 7 carries. Duquesne finished with a deceptive total of 60 yards rushing on 49 carries considering minus 77 yards came as result of the sacks.

Andrew Rossi (Turtle Creek, Pa./Central Catholic) led all receivers with three catches for 29 yards. Carter finished with two catches for a game-high 77 yards. Hocker added two receptions for 52 yards. Ten different players combined for DU's 16 receptions.

Back-up quarterback Kevin Rombach (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) - who was sacked nine times - managed to complete 5-of-10 passes for 35 yards. Mitchell was 3-of-6 for 34 yards.

"I'm very pleased with spring practice overall," said Schmitt. "We improved in a few areas and got to find out a lot about some of our younger players. Everyone competed hard."

Duquesne, which returns 16 starters from last year's 7-3 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Football League championship team, opens the 2007 season at home versus Bucknell on September 1.

2007 DUQUESNE RED/BLUE STATISTICS
April 21, 2007 • Rooney Field • Defense 55, Offense 29

** UNOFFICIAL STATISTICS **
RUSHING	                No.	Gain	Loss	Net	TD	Lg	Avg.
18  Dennis Void	        10	56	2	54	2	20	5.4
28  Silas Wonderling	7	45	1	44	0	26	6.3
37  Nate Kriger	        4	21	0	21	0	12	5.3
27  Jovan Martinez	3	19	0	19	0	16	6.3
25  Cleodis Williams	4	19	2	17	0	13	4.3
30  Todd Jackson	3	22	0	14	0	14	4.7
 5  Brian Smoot	        3	4	1	3	0	4	1.0
 8  Conrad Carter	1	0	3	-3	0	-3	-3.0
12  Scott Knapp	        2	0	7	-7	0	-1	-3.5
10  P.J. Horne	        1	0	9	-9	0	-9	-9.0
15  Jake Mitchell	2	0	11	-11	0	-5	-5.5
 7  Kevin Rombach	9	0	50	-50	0	0	5.6
TOTAL	               49	146	86	60	2	26	1.2

PASSING	             Att.-Comp.-Int.	Pct.	Yds.	TD	Long
12  Scott Knapp	         11-7-0        .636	146	0	61
 7  Kevin Rombach	 10-5-0	       .500	35	0	11
15  Jake Mitchell	  6-3-1	       .500	34	0	15
16  Kent Scheerer	  2-1-0	       .500	17	0	17
10  J.P. Horne	          1-0-0	       .000	0	0	0
TOTAL	                 30-16-1       .533	232	0	61

RECEIVING	       No.	Yds.	Avg.	TD	Lg
86  Andrew Rossi	3	29	9.7	0	15
 8  Conrad Carter	2	77	38.5	0	61
 4   Bruce Hocker	2	52	26.0	0	47
85  Peter Malamet	2	31	15.5	0	17
18  Dennis Void	        2	13	6.5	0	8
45  Greg Forse	        1	11	11.0	0	11
42  Geno Lodovico	1	5	5.0	0	5
83  Michael Rasky	1	5	5.0	0	5
 5  Brian Smoot	        1	5	5.0	0	5
34  Joe D'orsie	        1	4	4.0	0	4
TOTAL	               16	232	14.5	0	61

TACKLE LEADERS:
42  Jason Knight	6.5
28  John Guthrie	5.5
95  Frank Marano	5.5
11  John Simmons	4.5
91  Travis Decker	4.5

SACK LEADERS:
95  Frank Marano	4.5
91  Travis Decker	3
52  Brendan O'Malley	2

INTERCEPTIONS BY:
28  John Guthrie	1	(55-yard return for a TD)