Frostburg State Cruises To Their 7th Victory, Downing Southern Virginia, 35-3
Buena Vista, Va.- The postseason push for the 2017 NCAA Division III Football Tournament stopped The Fields Friday night, when #18 Frostburg State Bobcats took on the Southern Virginia Knights.
The only blemish (and it’s a huge blemish) so far on Frostburg State’s (7-1; 6-1 New Jersey Athletic Conference) was three weeks ago when they lost to then-ranked #19 Wesley three weeks ago in overtime, 27-24. That loss gives Wesley the one-game lead over the Bobcats and should Wesley remain undefeated, they will receive the automatic bid from the New Jersey Athletic Conference to the 2017 NCAA Division III Football Tournament that will start touards the end of November. The Bobcats need to continue to win to bolster their resume for one of the few at-large bids.
A trio of juniors were the offense engine for the Bobcats. QB Connor Cox went 17 for 28 and 222 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. RB Jamaal Morant had rushing touchdowns of two and 11 yards and WR Sergio Andino caught both touchdown throws (a 15-yard & a 18-yard) from Cox.
For the Knights (1-7; 0-7 New Jersey Athletic Conference), Sophomore QB Ty Jones only threw two passes for the entire game, completing one of them for five yards. Sophomore FB Simi Moala ran the ball four times for 47 yards, though he gained 43 of them on a single play. For the game, the Bobcats dominated the total yards over the Knights, 410-156 and held a 27-9 advantage in first downs.
The very first play from scrimmage would set the tone for the rest of the game. Southern Virginia received the ball first and started from their own 25 yard line. But Ty Jones would fumble the ball and the Bobcats would recover at the Knights 31 yard line.
Only five plays later, Morant would punch the ball into the end zone from two yards out, giving Frostburg State the early 7-0 with only 2:18 off the clock.
On their second offensive possession, the Knights could only muster 11 yards on five plays and had to punt the ball away to the Bobcats own 32 yard line.
Cox would complete four of six passes for 45 yards on the Bobcats second possession and would connect with Andino for the first of their two touchdowns, this one was a 15-yard touchdown catch for Andino, that expanded the lead for Frostburg State to 14-0.
Southern Virginia would finally have some success on their next drive as Moala had that 43-yard (of the 52 yards total for the entire drive) rush. But the Knights would stall at the Frostburg State 23-yard line and Freshman K Jackson Hatch would drill a 40-yard field goal, getting Southern Virginia on the board, but still trailing to the Bobcats, 14-3.
The effectiveness of the Bobcats offense in the first half was on display as their third offense drive would end just like their first two, in a touchdown. Morant would score the second of his rushing touchdowns with an 11-yard burst that gave the Bobcats a 21-3 lead in the second quarter.
Downing the ensuing kick-off in the end zone, gave Southern Virginia the ball to start their next drive at their own 25. But, like the first offensive play from scrimmage, the Knights would fumble the ball again, and Bobcats Freshman DL Trevor Booker recovered it at the Southern Virginia 27-yard line.
You weren’t having deja vu as the fourth offensive drive for the Bobcats resulted in their fourth overall touchdown of the game. In a role reversal, Bobcats Freshman LB Jake Broschart became a running back and would register a two-yard touchdown run and the lead grew to 28-3 and eventually they would go into halftime with that score.
Marred by sloppy play from both teams seemed to be the theme most of the third quarter. The first four drives would result in two Knights punts, one Bobcats punt and a Bobcat fumble by Sophomore RB Gavin Lavat that was recovered by Knights Senior MLB Bill Katoa. Unfortunately, the Knights could not turn that into any kind of score.
On the very last play of the third quarter, Cox would hit Andino for a second time, this one was an 18-yard touchdown pass, giving the Bobcats the 35-3 decisive victory that would remain the same throughout the fourth quarter.
Next up for Frostburg State, will be the Kean Cougars (3-4; 3-3 New Jersey Athletic Conference) on November 4th. The game is scheduled for Bobcats Stadium and kick-off is slated for 1:00 pm.
