Game Notes as a PDF

HITTING THE ROAD ONE LAST TIME
The Southern Connecticut State University football team looks for its second win in a row on Saturday when it travels to Merrimack for a 1 p.m. start. It's the final road game of the year for the Owls, who conclude the regular season on Nov. 13 with a home game against Saint Anselm. Fans who can't make it to the game can follow all of the action with Don Boyle on the call at www.sportingnewsct.com.

UNANSWERED AND UNDISPUTED
Trailing 21-13 in the second quarter of its last game against Stonehill, SCSU scored the final 32 points of the game to post a 45-21 win over the Skyhawks.

WIECHMAN NAMED TO WEEKLY HONOR ROLL
Senior running back John Wiechman was named to the Northeast-10 Conference weekly honor roll for his play against Stonehill. Wiechman finished with 133 yards on 24 carries and two touchdowns.

COLLINS HAS A CAREER DAY
Sophomore Patrick Collins registered a pair of touchdown runs in the win over Stonehill. It was his first career multiple touchdown outing.

MCWILLIAMS TAKES IT TO THE HOUSE
Defensive back Josh McWilliams recorded the Owls first interception return for a touchdown in nearly three years last time out against Stonehill. He picked off a pass and returned it 24 yards for a score. Martin Manson was the last Owl to do it, back in the 2007 season against Saint Asenlm.

DEFENSE DID THE JOB AGAINST STONEHILL
The SCSU defense merited just one touchdown against Stonehill last time out, and that score came following a fake punt that gave the Skyhawks the ball inside the Owls' red zone. Stonehill's other two scores came on a kickoff return and fumble recovery.

JOHNSON SETS NEW PERSONAL TACKLES MARK
Sam-uel Johnson set a new single-game high with a dozen stops against Bentley. He also had a sack in the contest.

DOES HALF THE GAME TELL THE STORY?
The Owls were 0-4 when trailing at halftime so far this year, but bucked that trend last time out against Stonehill. SCSU trailed 21-13 at the half but rallied for a 45-21 win.

OH SO CLOSE
Prior to the 23-22 loss to New Haven on Oct. 9, the last time that the Owls dropped a one-point decision was in 2008, a 13-12 loss to AIC. The last time that the Owls won a one-point decision was in 1995 when they had three such wins - consecutive wins over Montclair State (15-14) and Rowan (21-20) followed by a 24-23 win over C.W. Post later in the year. 

HAZELTON SETS NEW CAREER-HIGH
Junior kicker Christopher Hazelton connected on all three of his field goals against New Haven and also matched a career-high with a 37-yarder.

BREAKING OUT
Junior running back Rashaad Slowley rushed for 202 yards on 16 carries in the win over Assumption. It was the second time in his career that he has rushed for more than 200 yards in a game and the fifth time that he has broken the century mark. For his efforts, he was named as both the ECAC Division II and Northeast-10 Conference Offensive Player of the Week.

CHAFFIN IN UNFAMILIAR TERRITORY
Sophomore offensive lineman William Chaffin scored his first collegiate touchdown against Assumption when he recovered a fumble in the end zone for a score.

DEFENSE DOES THE JOB
Despite being on the field for nearly 20 minutes than Assumption, the SCSU defense was stellar against the Greyhounds. They held Assumption to 323 yards of total offense on 83 total plays. In addition, running back Herb Woodard was held to just 77 yards on 24 carries. The Owls also picked off two passes.

DOING MORE WITH LESS
The Owls attempted only 12 passes during their 43 plays in the win over Assumption. Quarterback Kevin Lynch finished 4-of-12 for 124 yards and a touchdown in the contest. The four completions were the fewest since Steve Armstrong had five completions against Merrimack in 2006, while the 12 attempts were the fewest since Armstrong went to the air 13 times against St. Anselm in that same season.

ECONOMICAL EPPS
Sophomore wide receiver Willie Epps had just two catches against Assumption, but he totaled 102 yards and a touchdown.

IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR
SCSU has now posted a 30-4 mark in its last 34 regular season games that take place on or after Oct. 1.
CUNNINGHAM CATCHING ON
Sophomore tight end Jerome Cunningham has caught four passes in three of the last seven contests for the Owls. He posted a career-high with 56 receiving yards and added his first career touchdown in the win over AIC. Cunningham had four catches for 31 yards and a touchdown against Bentley.

WIECHMAN FINDS PAYDIRT
Senior running back John Wiechman scored his first two touchdowns of the year in the win over AIC. He led the Owls with 68 yards on 19 carries in the game.

LYNCH LOOKING TO GET BACK TO OLD WAYS
Over the course of the past four games, quarterback Kevin Lynch has completed 43-of-87 passes (49.4%) of his passes for 733 yards and seven touchdowns. However, over the three outings prior, he completed 62-of-92 (67.3%) of his passes for 836 yards and nine touchdowns without an interception.

JOHNSON OFF TO A STRONG START
Junior linebacker Sam Johnson has paced the defensive unit with 67 tackles in the first eight games. He's also led the club in that department five of those contests. He had nine tackles - including six solo stops - in the season opener against Indiana (Pa.) and followed that up with 11 tackles and a sack against West Liberty. Johnson registered five stops and also tallied an interception and two fumble recoveries against Pace. He posted 10 stops and recovered a fumble in the win over AIC. He led the way with eight stops in the game at New Haven.

EARNING THE ACCOLADES
Thanks to his 10-tackle effort against AIC, Johnson was named Northeast-10 Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 27.

GETTING DEFENSIVE
The seven points allowed by the Owls in the win over AIC was the fewest by the team since a 56-0 shutout of St. Anselm on Nov. 18, 2008.

SACK IT TO ME
Southern Connecticut had a season-high four sacks in the win over AIC. Dan Lamberton had a sack and a half, while Ricky Kirk and Gavin Nelson each tallied a full sack. Ike Igbinosun added a half sack for the Owls.

IN THE WIN COLUMN WITH A VENGEANCE
The Owls picked up their first win of 2010 with a convincing 55-12 win at Pace. Five different players scored touchdowns for SCSU, who led 28-0 after one quarter and 42-6 at halftime.

A LONG TIME COMING
The longest touchdown pass in Southern Connecticut history had stood for 48 years, but that all changed on Sept. 18 when Jacob Jablonski connected with Carlton Staggars on a 92-yard scoring reception. Ironically, it was the first career completion for Jablonski and the first career reception for Staggars. The old mark of 87 yards - set on a scoring strike from Bob Griffin to Roger Milici came in a 28-21 win over Geneva during the 1962 season.

LIKE CRIS CARTER, ALL HE DOES IS CATCH TOUCHDOWNS
Let's just say that senior wide receiver Brian Tourtelott has a knack for finding the end zone. For his career, he has 12 receptions and five touchdowns. He hauled in the fifth of his career in the win over Pace.

MAGEE IMPRESSES AGAINST THE SETTERS
Redshirt freshman Vaughn Magee, seeing his first collegiate action as a running back, led the Owls with 95 yards on 15 carries in the win over Pace.

WE'RE LIVING HERE IN ALLEN-TOWN
Senior captain Daniel Allen had a stellar effort in the win over Pace. He registered five tackles, two sacks and forced two fumbles in the game.

HAZELTON DIALS LONG DISTANCE
Junior kicker Chris Hazelton connected on a career-long 37 yard field goal in the win over Pace. His previous best of 32 yards coincidentally also came against Pace last year.

HITTING ALL THE TARGETS
Southern Connecticut quarterbacks completed passes to 11 different receivers against Pace. Even quarterback Kevin Lynch managed to complete a pass to himself after it was batted down at the line of scrimmage in the first quarter. Redshirt freshman Carlton Staggars and sophomore Robert Moores also both registered their first collegiate catches in the game.

MAKING THE MOST OF IT
Wide receiver Willie Epps has registered 20 catches through the first eight games of the year. However, seven of them have gone for touchdowns. Among the regulars, Epps also leads the team with 72.0 receiving yards per game. He is first in the Northeast-10 Conference in yards/catch (28.8) and ranks fourth in receiving yards per game.

AERIAL ASSAULT BY LYNCH
Junior quarterback Kevin Lynch etched his name in the Owls' record books against West Liberty. He set new Southern Connecticut single-game records with 30 completions and 46 attempts in the game. Lynch finished the day with 376 passing yards and three touchdowns on the day. The old mark of 45 attempts was set by Len Maiocco against Springfield in 1987. Steve Armstrong held the old mark of 28 completions, set against Merrimack in 2007.

AND AS A RESULT...
Lynch was named to the Northeast-10 Conference weekly honor roll on Sept. 13.

A DYNAMIC DUO
Wide receivers Andre Privott and Willie Epps both reached the 100-yard plateau against West Liberty. Epps had four catches for 151 yards and three touchdowns. Privott hauled in seven passes for 100 yards. It marked the first time that two Owls' receivers hit the 100 yard mark in the same game since Chris Bergeski and Privott did it against West Chester in a 2008 first round NCAA playoff game.

TRIFECTA
Epps became the first Owl to secure three touchdown passes in the same game since Jim Lukowiak did so against Pace during the 2004 season.

HOLT BACK IN THE FOLD
Jayson Holt, who missed most of last season due to injury, returned to the Owls' lineup against West Liberty and had two catches for 14 yards. He followed that up with a catch for 25 yards in the win at Pace.

UTILIZING THE BACKS
Tailbacks John Wiechman and Rashaad Slowley both set new career-highs for receptions in a game against West Liberty, as both hauled in four passes in the game. Coincidentally, the previous career high for each was two catches.

MANY HAPPY RETURNS
The Owls had success with their punt and kickoff return units against West Liberty. Andre Privott had four punt returns for 82 yards, while true freshman J.W. Forte finished with five kick returns for 107 yards in his Owls' debut.

NEWCOMERS MAKE A QUICK IMPACT
Junior linebacker Gavin Nelson registered eight tackles, including two for loss, in his debut with the Owls against IUP. He also forced a fumble in the game. Fellow linebacker Chevar Rankins had six stops for the Owls in his SCSU debut. Kamal Magaresh tallied an interception and broke up three passes against West Liberty.

STOPPING A STREAK
The Owls' defense prevented West Liberty quarterback Zach Amedro from extending a NCAA record streak of 300-yard passing games. The run ended at 14 when the Owls kept him to 242 yards through the air.

SPREADING THE WEALTH
Quarterback Kevin Lynch completed passes to eight different receivers in the season opener against IUP.

DONNELLY JUMPS RIGHT INTO THE FRAY
Sophomore wide receiver Sean Donnelly registered his first four catches as an Owl against IUP. Donnelly led the Owls in that category and totaled 28 receiving yards.

SCSU PICKED FIRST IN NE-10 PRESEASON POLL
The Owls were selected first in the Northeast-10 Conference preseason poll for the fourth consecutive year in a vote of the league's coaches.

A PRESENCE IN THE AFCA POLL AGAIN
Southern Connecticut received six votes in the first American Football Coaches Association poll of 2010.

ALL-AMERICA HONORS COMING ALREADY
Two Owls - seniors James Economou and John Wiechman - were named preseason All-Americans by various media organizations. Wiechman was selected by www.d2proday.com, while Economou took home honors from Consensus Draft Services.

THE CAPTAINS
Seniors Daniel Allen, Richard Kirkland and John Russell, along with junior Kevin Lynch, will serve as team captains for the Owls this fall.

OWLS FARE WELL IN THE CLASSROOM
Thirty-two members of the football squad were honored as Northeast-10 Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll selections during the 2009-10 academic year.

CHARETTE COLLECTS ACADEMIC LAURELS
Junior Spencer Charette was named to the Northeast-10 Conference Football All-Academic Team for his efforts in the classroom and on the playing field in 2009.

SLOWLEY NEARLY SETS A MARK
Rashaad Slowley finished the year with a yards/carry average of 7.9, the second highest single-season total in school history. Tom Sacramone, who rushed for 8.2 yards/carry in 1955, still holds the mark. 

HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS
SCSU has posted a 25-9 (.736) record at Jess Dow Field over the past six seasons.

ON DECK
The Owls conclude the regular season on Nov. 13 with a home game against Saint Anselm.