GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Sophomore tailback Howard Alexander carried 46 times for 196 yards and one touchdown to help St. Lawrence break its 22-game losing streak and defeat Gettysburg 14-6 in non-conference football action on Saturday.
Jesse Hoffman returned an interception 34 yards for a touchdown on the third play of the game to put the Saints ahead to stay at 7-0 en route to their first victory since September 26, 1998. The Bullets fell to 0-8 despite outgaining St. Lawrence 392-260 on the afternoon.
Gettysburg fullback Jay Toscano (Seaville, NJ/Ocean City) carried 20 times for a career-high 134 yards, including a 71-yard scamper in the second quarter to set up the Bullets' lone touchdown. Dennis Flaherty (Oreland, PA/Bishop McDevitt) completed 16 of 34 passes for 184 yards and three interceptions.
St. Lawrence took advantage of two costly Gettysburg turnovers to stake itself to a 14-0 first-quarter lead.
On the third play from scrimmage, Flaherty overthrew Pat Jordan (Bethesda, MD/Gonzaga College) on third-and-6 from the Gettysburg 29. Hoffman intercepted the pass and galloped 34 yards into the end zone to make it 7-0 Saints only 1:19 into the game. The seven points were St. Lawrence's first in four games, dating back to a 41-7 loss to Hobart on September 30.
Midway through the first quarter, Matt Hiller picked off a Flaherty pass to set up St. Lawrence at its own 39. With Alexander carrying eight out of the 10 plays, the Saints marched 61 yards in 4 minutes, 24 seconds to take a 14-0 lead.
Gettysburg answered with its only points of the game with seven minutes left in the second quarter.
With the Bullets at their own 10, Toscano broke a 71-yard run up the middle to the St. Lawrence 19. Six plays later, Alex Nicholas (Far Hills, NJ/Bernards) scored from one yard out to cut the Saint lead to 14-6. Dan Evanko's (Trenton, NJ/Ewing) extra point attempt sailed wide, however, to maintain the eight-point deficit.
From there, the Saints used Alexander and key defensive stops to notch the victory.
The Saints opened the half with a 17-play, 64-yard drive that produced no points, but consumed 7 minutes and 20 seconds before the Bullets touched the football. Alexander carried 11 times for 72 yards on that march alone.
The Bullets had a number of opportunities to tie the game in the final quarter.
With 14:09 left, Flaherty hit Jordan on a 33-yard strike down the middle of the field to give Gettysburg a first-and-10 on the St. Lawrence 37. The Saints, however, held on a fourth-and-4 to take the ball back with 11:58 remaining.
The Bullets' next possession stalled on the Saint 39 with 2:54 remaining, but Gettysburg stopped St. Lawrence on three plays to get the ball back on its own 20 with 1:19 left and no timeouts.
Flaherty connected with Nicholas and Toscano on four consecutive passes as the Bullets marched to the Saint 22 with 13 seconds left.
On the next play, Nicholas hauled in Flaherty's pass, but was tackled by Hiller well short of the first down, allowing time to expire.
St. Lawrence safety Mark Van Dien keyed the Saint defensive effort with a game-high 14 tackles and a clutch interception on the last play of the first half. Matt Wightman added 13 tackles while Frank Civitella made eight stops, including the game's only sack.
Ryan Moore (Glenolden, PA/Interboro) and Keith Adams (Hanover, PA/New Oxford) paced the Bullet defense with 13 tackles each. Starting fullback and team rushing leader Bryan Pojanowski (Rockaway Twp., NJ/Morris Knolls) carried nine times for 17 yards before leaving the game in the second quarter due to injury.
Gettysburg returns to action on Saturday, November 4 at Dickinson College. Game time is 1 p.m.
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