Dukes Host Wagner on Sports Hall of Fame Weekend
Oct. 29, 2009
Game #9 - Dukes host Seahawks on Hall of Fame Weekend RADIO: WMNY-AM 1360 with Alex Panormios (play-by-play) & Tad Maurey (color) DUKES HOST WAGNER: Duquesne (2-6, 1-4), coming off a 31-14 loss at Saint Francis, returns home to face Wagner (4-3, 3-1) on Saturday, Oct. 31 at 12:00 p.m. The game is part of Sports Hall of Fame weekend. 2009-10 inductees Leigh Bodden (football), Candace Futrell (basketball) and Damien Pottinger (soccer) will be recognized at halftime of Saturday's game. This is the first time that Bodden, the starting cornerback for the New England Patriots, will be back on campus for the game. Bodden was a two-time AP All-America for the Dukes from 1999-02. The Dukes will be looking to snap a three-game losing streak against a Wagner team that is coming off a 49-28 win over Sacred Heart. The Seahawks are 2-2 on the road this season with an NEC win at Monmouth (27-24). Wagner has won three of its past four games. DUKES AND SEAHAWKS: Duquesne tied the series at 2-2 with a 14-0 win at Wagner last season ... the meeting was the first between the two schools since the 1995 ECAC Bowl ... in the first game between the two schools, Wagner defeated then-Division III Duquesne 31-6 at Staten Island on Nov. 14, 1992 ... the next season - DU's first at the I-AA non-scholarship level - the Seahawks defeated the Dukes 27-24 at South Stadium ... DU posted its first series win in the ECAC Bowl on Nov. 18, 1995 by a 44-20 score at Rooney Field ... current DU receivers coach Dave Loya, a sophomore quarterback at the time, completed 16-of-26 passes for then school record 333 yards and three touchdowns to earn MVP honors in the win ... the bowl appearance was Duquesne's first since the 1937 Orange Bowl ... last year, in a game played in steady rain and fog, Duquesne's defense stood tall, holding Wagner to 118 total yards ... Cleodis Williams carried a career-high 28 times for 114 yards and Kevin Rombach, in his first start of the season, completed 10-of-20 passes for 112 yards and one touchdown ... the DU defense, which entered the game giving up an average of 208 rushing yards per game, held Wagner to 26 yards on 29 carries.
RANDOM NOTES: Wagner, led by freshman quarterback Nick Doscher, enters Saturday's game ranked eighth nationally (out of 118 teams) in the FCS in scoring offense (35.0 ppg.) ... the Seahawks have scored 40 or more points four times ... Duquesne has given up 117 points (39.0 ppg.) during its current three-game losing streak ... Doscher, who has been named NEC Rookie of the Week three times, accounted for 280 yards of total offense and three touchdowns (two rush, one pass) in Wagner's 49-28 win over Sacred Heart last weekend ... the 6-1, 220-pound Doscher rushed 19 times for 123 yards while adding another 157 yards through the air on 11-of-17 passing ... Saturday's game features the FCS's top two freshmen running backs in Wagner's Dominique Williams (77.3 ppg./38th nationally) and Duquesne's Larry McCoy (72.3 ypg/47th nationally) ... Williams suffered a first quarter leg injury vs. Sacred Heart and is not listed on the Wagner 2-deep for the DU game ... Duquesne opponents have scored a total of 11 touchdowns covering 50 yards or more ... seven have come against the defense ... the others include a 56-yard fumble return (at Albany), a 78-yard punt return (at Albany), a 65-yard interception return (at Monmouth) and a 63-yard run on a fake punt (at Nicholls State). SAINT FRANCIS LEFTOVERS: The win was just the sixth in the 36-game series for Saint Francis (DU leads 30-6) ... it was the Red Flash's first win over the Dukes since Nov. 7, 1992 (23-13), ending a series streak of 10 consecutive DU wins ... junior Connor Dixon (South Park, Pa./South Park), who has 11 career starts at quarterback, made his first appearance as a wide receiver ... the 6-5 junior led the Dukes with seven catches for 68 yards including a 20 TD reception in the fourth quarter ... senior quarterback Kevin Rombach (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) came off the bench to complete 16-of-31 passes for 139 yards and two touchdowns in the second half ... he was also DU's top rusher with 20 yards on three carries ... the Dukes managed just one run of over seven yards, a 12-yard scramble by Rombach ... safety Willie Milhouse (Waldorf, Md./Thomas Stone) had a career-high 14 tackles ... freshman Horvin Latimer (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty) matched Milhouse's total ... Latimer has 27 tackles in DU's past two games ... redshirt freshman Sean Patterson (Toledo, Ohio/St. John's Jesuit) made his second career start at quarterback ... he completed 5-of-10 passes for 100 yards - all in the first half ... the Dukes lost two more starters at SFU ... junior linebacker Nathan Totino (Pittsburgh, Pa./Seton-La Salle) was forced to leave the game with a first quarter knee injury ... he is doubtful for Wagner ... senior safety Bill Poletti (Carnegie, Pa./Chartiers Valley) suffered a season-ending ankle injury in the second half. OUCH!: Three players expected to be the heart-and-soul of the 2009 receiving corps have been lost for the season due to injury. Preseason All-NEC tight end Sean Bunevich (North Ridgeville, Ohio/North Ridgeville) saw his season ended before it began with a non-contact knee injury suffered at practice on August 11. Promising sophomore receiver Akeem Moore (Pittsburgh, Pa./Brentwood) was sidelined with internal injuries suffered on the first series at Nicholls State on Sept. 12. Moore who started 10 times in the defensive backfield as a freshman, had four catches in two games (20.4 ypc.) prior to the injury. Michigan State transfer Dave Williams (Monroeville, Pa./Gateway) went down with a shoulder injury in week five versus Robert Morris. Williams was leading the Dukes with 29 catches for 385 yards at the time. Moore and Williams, who were the Dukes' top two deep threats, combined for 15 catches for 227 yards in the opening day win over Bucknell. In addition to the starters lost, sophomore Brian Layhue (Belle Vernon, Pa./Belle Vernon), who filled in when Bunevich injured the same knee late last season, was expected to inherit the starting TE spot until he was sidelined with a back injury (he is out for the remainder of the season). QUICK HITS |
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