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Printer-Friendly ModeCards bounce back by crushing Gannon
September 10, 2007 —
This time, Randy Awrey got the best of one of his former assistants.
After being torched for 442 yards by his former quarterback and assistant coach Matt LaFleur in a Sept. 1 home loss to Ashland, Awrey's Cardinals beat former SVSU offensive coordinator Jim Kiernan's Gannon squad 49-7 in Erie, Pa. on Saturday.
Awrey's defense set the tone early in the victory, allowing just 34 yards in the Golden Knights' first five drives. The defense's strong play over the game's first 25 minutes allowed the Cardinals offense to catch up, and when it did, the rout was on.
Senior quarterback Chris Dougherty connected with his brother Joe for a 6-yard touchdown on SVSU's first drive, which went 81 yards over 7 plays in 2:34. But the offense sputtered after that, fumbling on its next drive and punting on three more, the last of which a three-and-out that gave the Knights the football at their own 36.
It appeared Gannon had the momentum and the field position and drove all the way to the SVSU 17, but Jeremy Ditzler missed a 35-yard field goal that would have brought his team within four.
That's when Dougherty took over, guiding the Cardinals on two quick touchdown drives to close the half. He went 7-for-7 on the two drives, including a 60-yard bomb to fellow senior Ric Cottengim that concluded the first drive, an 80-yarder that took just four plays. Dougherty and the offense got back on the field about two and a half minutes later and picked up where they left off, going 70 yards in six plays and scoring on a 15-yard fade pass to Cottengim.
The Cardinals went three-and-out to begin the second half, but wouldn't see fourth down for the rest of the afternoon, scoring on their final four drives of the game.
Dougherty hooked up with his two senior tight ends, Steve Brander and Kevin Kelch, for two scores to put SVSU up 35-0, and redshirt freshman quarterback Dan Stiefel came on in relief to captain two more scoring drives, one of which ended with another touchdown reception for Brander, his third of the season.
The Knights scored their first touchdown under Kiernan with 5:08 left in the game, a 20-yard pass from Bob Bartley to Levar Goff. Even with the 64-yard scoring drive, the Knights were held to 236 total yards, including just 135 through the air.
The Cardinals, meanwhile, gained 641 yards, including 284 on the ground. Dougherty finished 26-for-36 for 322 yards and tied his own school record with five touchdowns.
Cottengim caught six balls for 140 yards and the two scores, which brought his season total up to a team-leading four. Junior Brandon Emeott set a career high with 112 yards on 14 carries, and freshman L.J. Robertson saw his first action of the season, gaining 51 yards on six carries and scoring the Cardinals' first rushing touchdown of the season.
SVSU held Gannon to just 2.9 yards a carry Saturday, an improvement over the effort against Ashland, when the Eagles ran right up the middle all day for 229 yards. The Knights' rushing average was deceiving, though, as the team's two running backs, Jarrett Beavers and Jon Richardson, gained 104 yards on 21 carries. The Cardinals used eight tackles for loss to push the Knights back a total of 38 yards.
The Cardinals will need to bring that improved run defense against Ferris State on Saturday, which will undoubtedly be a revenge game for the Cards. The Bulldogs crushed the Cards' season last year and did so while running for 225 yards in the same smashmouth style the Eagles used. The Bulldogs will be looking to even their GLIAC record to 1-1 after losing to Mercyhurst 42-23 Saturday night.
Kickoff at Wickes Stadium is scheduled for noon.