Box Score

SELINSGROVE, Pa. – In the annual “Goal Post Trophy Game” between Susquehanna and Juniata, SU held on to the goal post for the third straight year with a 45-3 vicotry on Saturday afternoon at Lopardo Stadium.

Susquehanna (1-1, 1-1) would have been hard pressed to be any more dominant in all three phases of the game as the Crusaders picked up the resounding conference victory in their 2010 home opener.

SU, competing in its first home game as a meber of the Centennial Conference, gained 466 yards on offense, gave up only 153 on defense and scored its most points since November of 2008.

A 24-point second quarter proved to be the deciding factor, as the Crusaders found the endzone three times and senior kicker Bobby Eppleman (Chester Springs, Pa./Great Valley) added a 35-yard field goal to help put SU up 24-3 at halftime.

Junior quarterback Rich Palazzi completed 14 of his 22 passes for 199 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. Susquehanna's large lead allowed junior quarterback Matt Lottes (Muttontown, N.Y./Long Island Lutheran) and rookie QB Mark Rosenbaum (Long Valley, N.J./West Morris Central) to take their first snaps of the season.

Palazzi spread the ball around to eight different receives, led by Mike Ritter's 97-yard, two-touchdown effort.

Not to be out-done by the throwing game, SU's running corp gained 252 yards on the ground, highlighted by Greg Tellish's (Mount Airy, Md./South Carroll) 180-yard, one-touchdown afternoon. Freshman Duke Hyacinthe (Maplewood, N.J./Saint Peter's Prep) took Juniata (0-2, 0-2) by surprise, rattling off 40 yards on eight carries late in the game.

Defensively, Susquehanna limited Juniata's running and passing games in a well-rounded effort. Louis Wyley (Reisterstown, Md./Franklin) and Jack McCarty (Westminster, Md./South Carroll) tallied five tackles apiece while Jesse Eggerton (Montoursville, Pa./Loyalsock Twp.) and Mike Brown (Lewisburg, Pa./Lewisburg Area/Waynesburg) came up with the team's first two interceptions of the season. Sophomore Jalon Scott (Albany, N.Y./Albany HS) proved his rookie year was no fluke with 2.5 tackles and two pass break-ups.

Despite the final outcome, SU got off to a rough start with a block on Eppleman's first punt of the game, but no harm was done as the Eagles eventually turned the ball over on downs.

It took just over 10 minutes for the Crusaders to take the lead, one they would not relinquish, when Palazzi found Ritter for a 19-yard score. An Eppleman PAT made it 7-0.

Ritter and Palazzi teamed up again early in the second quarter, this time for 59-yard score and a14-0 SU lead.

Juniata made it a 14-3 contest with a second-quarter field goal, a 31-yarder off the foot of Scott Andrews.

From there, however, it was all Susquehanna. It took less than 30 seconds for SU to add another seven points to its lead, thanks to a Justin Stover (Selinsgrove, Pa./Selinsgrove Area) touchdown reception from Palazzi. Susquehanna added its second touchdown in less than a minute of action on a Matt Knouse (Elliottsburg, Pa./West Perry) touchdown off a five-yard Palazzi pass for the 28-3 SU advantage.

Eppleman closed out the first-half scoring with a 35-yard field goal attempt, making him 3-for-3 on the season and handing his squad the 31-3 halftime lead.

The Crusaders went to their bench for a large portion of the second half and tacked another 14 points over those final 30 minutes of play.

The second half's first touchdown came via a Tellish six-yard rush into the endzone with 7:52 on the clock.

Hyacinthe saw his first action with 4:42 remaining in the third quarter and was handed the ball on four consecutive plays, but the drive was halted at the 50-yard line and it remained 38-3 Susquehanna with 15 minutes remaining.

The final scoring was of a different variety, as SU's special teams got in on the action. Teighler Doak (Selinsgrove, Pa./Selinsgrove Area/Robert Morris) returend an Owen Phillips punt 15 yards into Juniata's endzone. Eppleman's successful PAT upped SU's advantage to 45-3.

Juniata put together one final, lengthy drive but Brown's interception at the Susquehanna two sealed the game.

Postgame Notes:

- Susquehanna's honorary captains were senior Bobby Eppleman and junior Trevor Terpening (Mount Airy, Md./South Carroll).

- During halftime, Susquehanna recognized the championship teams from the 2009-10 year: Football (Liberty League Champions), Men's Golf (Empire 8 champions) and all of the University's Landmark Conference Teams who earned the President's All-Sports Cup.

- The eight players who caught passes were more than in any game all of last season, when the highest number of receivers for SU was six.

- The interceptions by Brown and Eggerton were the firsts of their careers.