By Tonie Snyder
After a win against No. 2 Delaware last weekend, the Northeastern football team was more than ready for Saturday’s game with the 2-7 Richmond Spiders — as evidenced by NU’s 45-0 romp on Senior Day at Parsons Field.
With the season coming to a close, thoughts of NCAA Division 1-AA playoffs are everywhere for the conference preseason favorite as chosen by conference coaches.
For No. 21 Northeastern (7-4, 5-3) to make the playoffs, the Huskies needed a pair of losses by A-10 foe Villanova coupled with two NU wins in the final weeks, according to NU coach Don Brown. After NU’s win, and ‘Nova’s 14-10 loss to Maine, NU’s slim playoff hopes are still alive heading into the final week of the year.
“Our job is to make it very difficult for [the playoff selection committee],” said Brown. “We’re just going to try to take care of business; take care of what we can control and let the chips fall where they may.”
To say the game started well for the Huskies would be an understatement. The Huskies took the kickoff, and, five plays later, senior running back Tim Gale scored on a 53-yard touchdown.
“The offensive line really did their job today,” said Gale. “They gave me huge spaces to run and then downfield, the fullbacks and wide receivers were putting guys on the ground, which made it easier for me to run.”
Halfway through the first quarter, Gale was already over 100 yards, and at the beginning of the third quarter he had rushed for 193 yards on only 10 carries. By the time the game was over, he had run for a season-high 202 yards.
The scoring didn’t stop with Gale’s touchdown.
The Spiders fumbled the ensuing kickoff, which was picked up by linebacker Mike Hall on Richmond’s 29-yard line. The ball was quickly run in for a touchdown by senior running back Peter Harris to make it a 14-0 game with 12:19 still to play in the first quarter – before Richmond had run a single offensive play from scrimmage. Harris ended the game with 116 yards rushing.
“I can’t say enough about the way we started the football game,” Brown said. “The offense goes right down the field, scores, we get the big play in special teams, and then we score again, and kind of never looked back.”
The power in the Husky defense continued as senior free safety Anthony Nolen caused a fumble seven plays later, which was quickly recovered by Gene Rich. This possession, which lasted under three minutes, also resulted in a touchdown. The five-yard scoring pass from Shawn Brady went to wide receiver Quintin Mitchell.
The scoring continued in the second quarter as kicker Miro Kesic put three more points on the board with 13:19 left in the half. Kesic kicked his 22nd consecutive field goal, tying him in third place in NU history. The 52-yard field goal is the second longest in NU (and AE) history, the longest being Kesic’s 57-yarder to defeat Richmond last year.
Later in the half, NU had a 64-yard drive on only eight plays, which ended in a 15-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Cory Parks. Parks’ touchdown allowed Kesic to kick his 47th consecutive extra point, breaking his own school record.
With all the accomplishments created by the offense, however, the defense was no slouch either.
“Our defense just seems like it’s getting better and better and better,” Brown said.
The defense held Richmond to 107 rushing yards, compared to the NU’s 351. Defensive players caused Richmond to turn the ball over on downs four times, and held the Spiders scoreless despite three trips inside the Northeastern 20-yard line. NU put Richmond quarterback Stacy Tutt on the ground early and often, getting sacks from Antony Nolen, David Williams, Scott Quimby, James Abosi and Gene Rich. Just about every defensive player for Northeastern registered a tackle, including corner backs Joe Okrah, Charles Cameron and linebacker Jamil Young.
The defense’s intensity and effectiveness was consistent throughout the game.
“We kept up the intensity, came out in the second half and got things done. The seniors left in a great way: shutout,” said Nolen, who was named Atlantic-10 Defensive Player of the Week for his nine-tackle, one sack performance, which included a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
NU’s defensive dominance struck again early in the second half, as Ezekiel and Rich combined to force another Richmond fumble. The NU possession following the turnover lasted for 1:05, spanned 94 yards in only four plays, and ended with another Husky touchdown carried by quarterback Shawn Brady.
The last touchdown of the game was scored with less than a minute left to play in the third quarter. Brady threw a 26-yard pass to Cory Parks, to end the game at 45-0. Parks now holds the third highest number of touchdown catches in NU history, at 15.
Senior Day couldn’t have ended any better for the Huskies.
“It means a lot,” said Nolen. “I mean, you leave this field with good memories and you didn’t want to leave it with a loss. Like senior year in high school – you didn’t want to leave with a loss either. We’re leaving here, in college, after a lot of hard work, and it just feels good.”
The Huskies head to James Madison University next Saturday for the last regular season game of the year. Kickoff is scheduled for noon.
1-AA Top 25 Poll 1. McNeese State 2. Wofford 3. Delaware 4. Montana 5. Southern Illinois 6. Massachusetts 7. Northern Iowa 8. Colgate 9. Western Illinois 10. Pennsylvania 11. Grambling 12. Western Kentucky 13. N. Carolina A’T 14. Fla Atlantic 15. Southern 16. Bethune Cookman 17. Northern Arizona 18. Villanova 19. Jacksonville St. 20 Northern Colorado 21. Northeastern 22. Maine 23. Georgia Southern 24. Idaho State 25. Fordham
