WARRIOR FOOTBALL ENDS SEASON ON HIGH NOTE

WILLIAMSPORT, PA – The Lycoming College football team ended the 2002 season with a 55-24 victory over Juniata College, Saturday afternoon. The Warriors piled up 536 yards of total offense in the game and scored five rushing touchdowns. Lycoming ends the season at 6-3, while the Eagles drop to 5-5.

Jared Morris (Sr./Canton, PA; Canton) led Lycoming with 201 yards rushing and three touchdowns on 21 carries. Quarterback Phil Mann (So./Mill Hall, PA; Central Mountain) completed 10-of-15 passes for 177 yards and a touchdown in one half of play. RJ Kreutzer (Sr./Sea Girt, NJ; Wall Twp.) finished the game behind center, throwing for 67 yards and a score on 5-of-6 passing. Sean Hennigar (Jr./Philadelphia, PA; Father Judge) led the Warriors in receiving with five catches for 97 yards and a touchdown.

Craig Moshier (Jr./Coudersport, PA; Coudersport) led the Eagles with a single-game record 222 yards on 35 carries. He also found the endzone three times. Quarterback Greg Troutman (So./Meyersdale, PA; Meyersdale) completed just 6-of-22 passes for 76 yards. He threw one touchdown and three interceptions. Nate Leach (Sr./Central City, PA; Shade) caught three passes for 32 yards and a score to lead Juniata’s receivers.

Defensively, the Eagles’ Peter Thomas (Fr./Mechanicsburg, PA; Mechanicsburg) led all players with 10 tackles in the contest. For Lycoming, Jason Brandemarti (Sr./Mantua, NJ; West Deptford) led the squad with six tackles. He also intercepted a pass, returning it for a touchdown, and blocked a punt.

The Warriors got off to a fast start, running the ball six times for 59 yards and a touchdown on the first possession of the game. Morris capped the drive by going in from three yards out.

Brandemarti then put Lycoming up 13-0 by intercepting Juniata’s first play from scrimmage and returning it 24 yards for the Warriors’ first defensive score of the season.

The Eagles, however, responded on the ensuing possession when Moshier broke a 61-yard run for a touchdown to pull his team back within a touchdown.

Lycoming kept the pressure on offensively, scoring on their next two possessions to move ahead 28-6. Morris capped a four-play, 68-yard drive with a 42-yard run, followed by a two-point conversion reception by Hennigar. Neve finished off a five-play, 56-yard drive with an 11-yard touchdown run around end.

Juniata opened the second quarter with a seven-play scoring drive that covered 66 yards. Leach caught a 10-yard pass from Troutman for the touchdown. The failed conversion left the score at 28-12.

The Warriors ended any hopes of an Eagles’ comeback with a fifth touchdown just prior to the half. Receiving the ball with 2:38 left in the first half, Mann directed Lycoming on a 10-play, 79-yard drive in just more than two minutes by completing 5-of-9 passes for 77 yards, including a 19-yard touchdown pass to Hennigar.

In the second half, the Warriors got touchdowns from Morris and Brandon Johnson (Jr./Franklin, PA; Franklin) to increase their advantage to 49-12. Morris tallied his third score of the afternoon on a 30-yard run, and Johnson caught a 28-yard pass from Kreutzer for his second touchdown of the season.

Moshier added two touchdowns for the Eagles on runs of eight and one yards, but it was not enough for the visiting team.

Lycoming sophomore John Bickford (Emporium, PA; Cameron County) broke a 55-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter to make the final score 55-24.

Notes: Moshier’s 222 yards rushing broke a single-game record for Juniata, the previous mark was 213 … With 1,177 yards for the season, Moshier also set a single-season rushing mark for the Eagles, the previous record was 1,173 … Morris’s 201 yards gave him 1,005 for the season … The Warriors have had a running back rush for more than 1,000 yards in each of the past three seasons.