Football Falls to TCNJ in Regular Season
Finale
EWING, N.J. (11/11/06) - The College of New Jersey scored twice
in the fourth quarter to slip past visiting Kean University 14-10
and cap the 2006 season on a winning note on Saturday at Lions
Stadium.
With the win, the Lions snapped their three-game losing streak and
finished the season with a mark of 4-6 and 2-5 in the New Jersey
Athletic Conference. The loss knocked the Cougars to 6-4 overall
and 4-3 in the conference.
Kean led 10-5 heading into the final frame after Kevin Trump
(Medford,N.J.) drilled a 41-yard field goal, but the Lions
responded less than a minute later to take the lead for good.
Trump's field goal was the program's fifth longest field goal in
school history.
Freshman quarterback Chris James (Brick, N.J.) completed a short
pass to Chris Opdyke (Lambertville, N.J.) and the Lion junior then
took care of the rest racing up the near sideline for a 52-yard
scoring play on the third play of the final quarter. After an
unsuccessful two-point conversion, the score remained 11-10 with
TCNJ clinging to the lead.
The Lions tacked on three more points midway through the quarter as
Matt Dalessio (Martlon, N.J.) kicked a 31-yard field goal making it
a 14-10 game.
The TCNJ defense then sealed the win forcing two turnovers as Gary
Bach (Upper Saddle River, N.J.) recovered a fumble and Ryan
Flannery (Galloway, N.J.) picked off his second pass of the
game.
The Lions used special teams to open the scoring on its first drive
as Dalessio booted a 40-yard field goal 3:27 into the game.
TCNJ's defense added two points to that lead in the latter stages
of the second quarter as Derek Tranchina (Piscataway, N.J.) and Joe
King (Mountainside, N.J.) teamed up to tackle Kean's James Felton
(Plainfield, N.J.) in the end zone for a safety.
The Cougars needed just one play to overtake the Lions as
quarterback A.J. Roque (Matawan, N.J.) hooked up with Durell Dukes
(Elizabeth, N.J.) for a 73-yard scoring strike, tied for fifth
longest pass play in program history, with 41 seconds remaining
before the half. Trump then kicked the extra point putting Kean in
front 7-5.
Roque bounced back from a quiet first half to finish the game with
185 passing yards hitting on 13-of-32 attempts with Dukes on the
receiving end of four of those passes for 112 yards and
touchdown.
Fullback Walter Kumka (Hillsdale, N.J.) came up big for TCNJ as the
junior led the Lions on the ground with a game-high 91 yards on
just nine carries.
