Kean Remains Unbeaten at Home with 20-17 Win
over WPU
UNION, N.J. - (10/28/06) Kean University rallied from a 10-point
halftime deficit and had to withstand a last minute attempted
game-tying field goal to defeat William Paterson University, 20-17
this afternoon in New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) action on
Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Cougars improved to 5-3 and
3-2 in conference play, while the Pioneers suffer their fourth loss
of the season by less than four points and drop to 1-7 and 1-4 in
the NJAC. The five wins for the Cougars are the most for the
program since 1994 when they went 7-2-1.
William Paterson got on the scoreboard first with a 28-yard field
goal by Ricky Krautman (Wyckoff, N.J.) with 32 seconds left in the
quarter. Kean answered right back when Brian Williams
(Pleasantville, N.J.) returned the ensuing kickoff 100 yards for a
score to take a 7-3 lead. The kickoff return was the second longest
in school history. Later in the quarter the Pioneers took advantage
of two Kean turnovers to put up 14 points. With just over four
minutes to go KU quarterback A.J. Roque (Matawan. N.J.) threw a
pass that went right through the hands of a Cougar receiver and
into the hands of Dan Cassasnovas (Belleville, N.J.). The Pioneers
then marched 76 yards on five plays capped by a 45-yard TD pass
from Bryan Petite (Center Reach, N.Y.) to Kareen Moon (Staten
Island, N.Y.). The point after gave WPU a 10-7 lead with just 1:13
left in the half. On KU's next possession once again a Roque pass
went threw the hands of a receiver and WPU's Harold Green (Boonton,
N.J.) picked it off and returned it 33 yards down to the 11 yard
line. Three plays later Mike Vicci (Clark, N.J.) plunged in from
the one yard line to put the Pioneers up 17-7 at the half.
In the second half, the Cougars took their first possession and
marched 80-yards on 12 plays capped by a 2-yard TD run by Anthony
Stewart (Atlantic City, N.J.). Kean followed that up with a 13 play
83 drive that ended with a 15-yard TD screen pass from Roque to
Jared Chunn (Eatontown, N.J.). On that drive the Cougars converted
four third downs that were all 8-yards or longer. WPU who managed
just 14 yards of offense on its first four possessions of the
second half had one last shot to tie the game. With 3:32 left in
the game WPU took over on there own 43 and proceeded to march down
to the Cougar 23 yard line to set up a game-tying field goal.
However, Krautman's 41-yard attempt into a stiff wind fell short
and left of the uprights to end the Pioneers upset bid.
Overall in the game, Stewart led the Cougar offense with 44 yards
on the ground with one score, while also hauling down a team high
four receptions for 38 yards. Roque completed just 10-of-17 passes
for 107 yards. For the Pioneers, Moon hauled in seven passes for
113 yards, while Kieron Gardiner (Bloomfield, N.J.) had a team-high
39 yards rushing on 13 carries.
Defensively for the Cougars, William Parks (Newark, N.J.) made 12
total tackles, including 2.5 for losses. Sophomore Guy Ulmer-Santos
(Jersey City, N.J.) made nine stops, two for losses and one pass
defended.
For the Pioneers, Cassasnovas was a standout with seven tackles,
three pass defended and two interceptions. Green picked up a
team-high 10 tackles and one interception, while Jared Burke (Egg
Harbor Twp., N.J.) had eight stops in the loss.
The Cougars return to action on next Saturday when they host
Western Connecticut State in a pivotal NJAC match-up at 1 p.m.,
while the Pioneers will look to bounce back against rival Montclair
State University also at 1 p.m.
